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Tim Rayne Michel Guitard David Folster John Christenson Greg Hemmings Donovan Richard Delia Martin Colin Smart Dennis Poirier

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THE ORGANIC CO-OPERATIVE

By Saint John based member Greg Hemmings

May, 2009

The following is a few paragraphs of "written jam sessions" I had as I am preparing to write a contribution for an upcoming book about the history of the New Brunswick Filmmaker's Cooperative, an organization that I am a huge supporter and member of. Hope you enjoy!

The New Brunswick Film Co-op represents a few things to me.
1.Nostalgia. The film coop was, besides film school, the first film organization I was ever involved with.

2.Community. The collective of filmmakers and artists that make the coop’s heart beat is a true example of how a group of passionate and adventurous artists can just “make cool things happen”

3.Organic. The very foundation of co-operatives, whether farm co-ops, craft co-ops, grocery coops, or Mountain equipment co-ops is an organic phenomenon. People working together, pooling resources, sharing ideas, growing together. The NB Filmmakers co-op shouldn’t be left out of the list of definitive co-op experiences. The ORGANIC SOCIALIST’S CREATIVE ENGINE

When I started creating with the film medium, I was literally working with Silver Halide film. I didn’t have the luxuries of an Avid suite, or even a magnetic tape based AB roll system, I had an Aaton super 16mm film camera, a Nagra tape recorder, and a rugged old Steinbeck editing system. There was NOTHING like feeding the film through the heads of the flatbed editor, switching on the viewer, and slicing and splicing with razor and tape. The Steinbecks always had cigarette ash trays and drink holders. I, like many editors before me I am sure, developed a very functional dependence of red wine whilst editing my shorts and documentaries on these fantastic army tanks of editing tables, purely because the architects decided to add them it into the design!

I am now an “avid” Avid editor. I have edited with everything from Grass Valley, to Premier, to Final Cut and beyond. At the end of the day I have fallen in love with Avid, but I give all credit to my days of editing on a Steinbeck for the style and efficiencies of my current editing adventures. I have always said to people - when trying to describe my editing style - that I am an “organic” editor. I am not quite sure why, but this is the descriptor word that comes to mind when I think about the films I have spliced together. I rarely use any SFX, no glitz or glam (save for a few split screen and slow mos!). Don’t get me wrong, the fact of the matter is that I love watching shows with effects, and that are well polished. I just feel that if my “soul” were guiding my edits - not a client, other producers, or a budget - then I would edit shows in a simple and organic way. This has so much to do with my early years on the flat bed.

My experiences working in the film world in the middle of an industrial transition from linear to non linear digital editing is very similar to my experience with the film co-op transitioning into a careered producer. I feel that my sense of self, integrity, community, team work, passion and energy in my professional life as a producer, is a direct product of being a long time member of the New Brunswick Filmmaker’s Co-op.
The word organic, according to my experience and definition, describes fundamentalism, honesty, simplicity, integrity, and efficiency. Organic editing for me is the process of connecting my soul to the picture and sound in what I feel creates a divine spiritual experience identified as the creative experience. Organic also describes the community or the process that makes collectives like the New Brunswick Film Co-op a fundamental and foundational key to our creative human condition.