Four Nuu-chah-nulth girls had a chance to look behind the scenes at a working TV/film studio on Jan. 30.
The road trip came about thanks to local Aboriginal Policing officer, RCMP Cst. Scott McLeod, who has a connection at North Shore (formerly Lions Gate) Studios, where crews were just wrapping up the season-ender of I Zombie, which is a cop-show set in Seattle.
“This was the same production group as Veronica Mars,” McLeod said. “Our kids didn't get to be extras because they were just taking it down. Now, if we’d been there the day before, it would have been fine, but this was the final episode.”
The four students, ages 12 to 14, are taking part in a drama program at the Port Alberni Friendship Centre. When McLeod heard about the program, taught by local actor Teresa Drew, he asked if they would be interested in visiting a working film studio.
So on a Friday morning before dawn, Katana Woodward, McKenzie Clayton, Catherine Thompson-Joe, and Chelsea Thompson-Joe hit the road, accompanied by Celestine Andrew and Teresa Drew.
“We met at the Friendship Centre to catch the early ferry. We had to be up and running at 6:30. I know teenagers aren't usually morning people, but they were there and they were ready to roll,” McLeod said.
McLeod explained that over the past 12 years he has made a series of documentaries, and in the course of his work, he met and developed a working friendship with North Shore Studios president Peter Leitch.
When the students arrived, Leitch welcomed the students and gave them a nuts-and-bolts tour of the operation. They discovered that, besides those actors out on the soundstage and those technicians behind the cameras, a movie production requires an amazing range of skilled workers, from set designers and sound engineers, scriptwriters and directors, carpenters and electricians, all the way to the labourers who move the sets and the caterers who feed the crews.
“When you see the end credits of a movie, there are usually 200 to 250 people listed in the credits, which means 200 to 250 careers in this industry,” McLeod said.
After seeing the vast range of opportunities in the film industry beyond “movie star,” McLeod said he hoped the students might be inspired to think seriously about investigating the career opportunities while they are still in school.
Following the studio tour, the students presented Peter Leitch with a traditional bentwood box crafted by Tseshaht carver Wayne Dick.
Then it was off for the second leg of the trip, to the North Vancouver campus of Capilano College, which offers a four-year bachelor degree program for the film industry.
As it turned out, Peter Leitch had arranged a full tour of the campus.
“We got to walk into the classrooms and watch students work on animation, actually directing films on the soundstages…
“We got to walk into all the production stages that they use for practicing the productions at the university. And we also got to mingle with the First Nations students in the Aboriginal Movie Production Program who are creating their own films. The ones that we saw there were mostly documentaries. The students got to chat with them.”
They also got to tinker in the soundscape studio, where the soundtrack is engineered, as well as checking out the props and the makeup artists and costume designers at work.
“We also went to the amphitheatre where they show the films. That's where they do the [graduation ceremonies], as well.”
McLeod said he believes the trip was an eye-opener for the young people.
“Most of the students were in awe of the situation. Some came back inspired, saying, ‘I’m coming here.’
“I’m hoping that, if they keep this in the back of their minds, issues like substance abuse will just ‘fade to black.’”
Much of McLeod’s documentary work has had an aboriginal focus. Starting 12 years ago, while he was posted in Powell River, he shot a documentary on the theme of substance abuse. Set in the Downtown East side of Vancouver, it featured an aboriginal man named Steve.
A second documentary, Aboriginal Justice, focused on the traditional circle justice practiced by First Nations, contrasted against the Canadian court system. A third film, following the Port Alberni midget hockey team all the way to the provincial championships, was co-produced by students at Alberni District Secondary School.
It was local students who inspired him to make a follow-up to his first film. Asked to make a presentation to the ADSS Law class, McLeod showed Steve’s Story. ADSS students suggested it should be shown to students at the junior high school level.
“So I showed it to the junior high students, and what was interesting, there was a Q&A at the end. The students kept asking me if Steve was still alive. And I didn't know.”
After three months of digging, McLeod was finally able to make contact with Steve, who was both still alive and still living in the Downtown Eastside.
“I did the interview last week at the Native Mental Health Centre on Hastings Street. I have a professional filmmaker who’s helping me, and hopefully, I will get it to a film festival this fall.”
