Charles's profile
I am a documentary filmmaker born out of two decades spent as a print journalist writing for local and national publications.
But while most people think of documentary as an extension of conventional objective journalism with 60 Minutes as the dominating archetype, I gravitate to the genre’s original definition which goes like this: “Documentary is the creative treatment of actuality.” These are some magnificent marching orders that are a lot more expansive than say “All the news that fit to print.” While I utilize a practical storytelling-sense forged in the newsroom, I relish the big sky possibilities that come with filmmaking. With each project, I have utilized musicians, still photographers and animators that has the stories more dimension. This year I found myself doing more street photographry or video using my camera as a form of advocacy, whether it's bringing context to the many murals throughout the city or launcing an innovative campaign where poster portraits are pasted up throughout the city and the videos are accessed througy a QV code at the bottom. This project is known as Speak for Peace, allowing grass-roots activists to talk on the violence plaguing the city but also address people on the streets at the very same time. Collectively these posters create an alternative narrative and a sense of empowerment that can't be found in standard media coverage.
I believe all my work is informed by the street even though some of my projects may physically be contained in its own environment. The approaching year is looking to be pivotal with several projects scheduled to be released and will propell me forward to further shaping a destinct vision, something that I have long worked towards.
