TAKE ME ON A JOURNEY...

I've always been a huge documentary fan and find that lately I just can't seem to consume enough of them! Fortunately, I live near an amazing video store called Videoflicks that carries so many titles, especially ones that have done well at Hot Docs. It never ceases to amaze me just how many ways directors play with the genre.

I have seen a good number of "survey" docs on interesting subjects (including several on body parts!), but I still find myself a big fan of the "cinema verite" style. Perhaps it's because I entered the industry during the age of Reality TV? But even more so, I remember back to my experiences filming on SWAP-TV (a show I co-created with a group of my Ryerson classmates). This series has left a life-long impression on me. Being able to witness the incredible and genuine emotions of children as they explore worlds they never knew before brought me so much satisfaction. It allowed me to realize the power of documentary to reach out to an audience.
And of course, I was honoured that I was able to go along for the ride and share in their discoveries.

MTV's had an impact too. I recently completed a contract with the Canadian channel -- a place that holds verite filmmaking in high regard. Though I worked exclusively on the series "Diary" (a "day-in-the-life" style documentary, narrated in first person by a celebrity), it was the series "True Life" that most left an impression with me. We were able to obtain episodes from the US and watching this award-winning series made me realize how much documentary (and telling the stories of my generation FOR my generation) was important to me. The show is shot intimately and often gritty with no fancy editing or slick narration or graphics. And yet the characters are so well selected that the journey the viewer is able to go on with them is often an incredibly powerful one.

So my challenge now is to find characters that not only celebrate the beauty of the butt, but are at a point in their lives where we might follow them on a new journey or towards a turning point. It's a tall order, considering how many women have contacted me to share how they've ALREADY acheived success or experienced influential events. I don't just want to sit my characters down and hear in interviews what they've already experienced -- I want to share in the experiences with them as they unfold. This is the type of story I'm compelled to tell. And... it's going to be a ton more work to locate those special subjects... But then again, I never was one to take the easy route...

Tatyana