SLOG – 2010 Olympic Lockdown | Day 1

2010 02 04 Olympic Lockdown.

Think Jason Bourne – but Shawna Bourne – ok, not quite THAT on the verge of assassination, but definitely on mission critical. I can’t tell you exactly WHY I am doing this – it’s secret. I can’t tell you WHAT I am doing – I signed an NDA.

Best of all, I’m not getting shot at – my other option was Afghanistan. My mom was against that one.

I am sitting for lunch at an ocean side  Hotel and I feel like I am in the middle of MIPCOM in Cannes, France – or any other major international film market or festival for that matter… Official badges (dog tags with bar codes), sign-in desks, special bus stops, special buses, special visitor info signage, red carpets, color coded volunteers, the list goes on and the event hasn’t even started.

I am not in Cannes, I am in Vancouver, Canada and today is the official first day of the 2010 Olympic city lockdown and, well, to be honest, I’m not really sitting for “lunch” – I am just sitting over the lunch hour and indulging in a crisp glass of water. Ha, I know what you’re thinking, “cheapo” – ok, that’s what I was thinking but it did take everything in me NOT to order my signature tall glass of amazing Argentinian Malbec to toast off all the international media arriving today.

Glass of water = $0 and I pre-ordered my lunch to go to eat later. My new ‘not eating or drinking’ during ANY meetings in cafes OR restaurants OR lounges OR airports OR planes OR…

To sum it up, NO multi-tasking. Focus 100% on one thing at a time and since I am choosing to engage in lunch meetings / adventures, “Sans water d’Argentina *wink* and a doggie bag to go, please” is my new policy. Everyone thinks I’m staying in the hotel – or perhaps, meeting someone in the hotel. What do I do again? Haha.

So, it’s my new thing WHICH is a little awkward as I still gravitate to cozy relaxing lounges to whittle away that oh so precious time, in true Draconian working population stylesk, doing the quick and dirty feed deed – except I will feed later and get the deed of business done  now – chow can be consumed later in the sanctity of the cube (‘cubicle’ for those of you not so hip to the office).

I need my cubicle job. My recent film project sent me kicking and screaming through 2008, a year long denial from bankruptcy and an even deeper  denial through the deserts of Morocco, Libya and Tunisia chasing a dream turned day AND nightmare. I finally resurfaced last spring, 2009, on the shores of Marseille, France. Exhausted, burnt out and with my pride washed out, I filed my bankruptcy papers from the Hotel where my American Express sighed just as it was cancelled.

I filed bankruptcy from France just in case the Canadian government would confiscate my passport and thwart my absolute dependence on international travel for my emotional well being / sanity.

Back to 2010 – iPhone at my side, my trusty reminder of which world I am in today. I am not in a foreign country, chasing my latest adventure. I am in Vancouver, Canada and on a 60 minute mini-escape from cubicle world. I am Canadian Film Girl for exactly 60 minutes or I “will be fired”.

I don’t fit in, in cubicle world.

SO, nothing like an international sporting event – ok, the biggest sporting event in the world – to get you out of a way too long funk.

Some history: more than 15 years ago, I was training full time for the Olympics. Cross-country Mountain Biking had just been announced to become a new demo sport in the WAY TOO LONG AGO Olympics. Odd to be sitting here years later, another Canadian winter Olympics about to be notched onto my bed post – Summer Olympics, a distant celebrity crush in my dreams. Summer is my season, just a regular summer – any old beach and campfire summer, is still half a year away today…

So, again, this media and sport mix. I barely survived the whole last three years chasing the elusive Dakar Rally around the globe for my film. Can I get myself up and launch out of this final month of my bankruptcy terms on an Olympics Gold-like high? Maybe. I have a little help this time to align my ‘hit and miss home grown philosophy’ so, I think the answer to that question is a “yes”.

I won’t be monitoring heart rate, recovery rate, resting rate. I won’t be swimming in lactic acid or riding the adrenalin pre-race rush. No flat tires, broken chains, maxed out brake pads (I was pre-disk brake era – JUST dated myself – haha!)

So, back to Jason Bourne – I change my perspective, not my locale. I don’t need to move to another country to have the traveller rush, Gastown is pretty damn cool – pubs, cafes, architecture, cobblestone streets. I already have an amazing historic brick loft as my film office / bachelorette crash pad. Add hoards of international pedestrians descending and taking ownership of the streets I stroll through and the stools I perch on.

So, international travel came to me this time. I am locking out my reality, spinning it around a bit, imposing “I have just landed in a cool coastal Canadian city, about to play host to the largest sporting and media event in the world.” Media and sport appear to be two of my favourite things, I guess, if my past trailblazing reveals any telling stories about my deep psychological desires – it screams them all loud and clear. So, Olympic lock down it is and I am ESCAPING inside the perimeter. Ok, so, I guess it is really a reverse escape but an escape none the less.

So, PRESTO CHANGO, goodbye friends, family and daily routines – I’ll send you a post card from Canada.

But I will let you in on my take of it all – being on this ‘other side’ of reality. We will see just how far this ‘shift in perspective’ will have on my system – maybe, just maybe – I won’t want to shift back out. Maybe there will be no going back, no reversal. Maybe, 4th gear wide open will be my only ‘NEXT MOVE’.

It’s 2010, February 4th and all Olympic rules just came into effect. Military style policing and international event style security measures. All this means to me, is that one just has to be a little more creative and a little more covert. Sounds like fun to me.

Welcome to my new reality. 2010 is going to be an interesting year.

XO / CFG

SLOG – so this is all you need | LOVE

It’s not easy…but I think it’s what we are supposed to do.

Funny, I am labeled a mid level producer, but I feel like I haven’t earned it yet. Same old same old – some times success isn’t material – isn’t something you can show. Success is movement, steps, stages. No one will ever know what you have done to get there, so be gentle with yourself and give the same credit to yourself that you observe in others… You are well on your way.
Learning to give a ‘day’s’ win a place in your heart without the need for a prize – this is all you need to make what you dream a reality.
This I am working to remember. I moved pretty quickly the last few years and never looked back OR even gave myself the time to see where I even was at the moment! I am only now, looking back and saying “holy shit woman… No wonder you are so tired and no wonder people are asking you ‘how?’

So, back to the advice…

#1. fall in love with your vision – it and you are what will carry you through

#2. take good care and special attention to your health – there are NO execptions to this

#3. find people like you – a moment or a life long friendship… These people will be the shelter, food and warmth to enjoy those ‘daily wins’…

Warmth and Dreams;  a whole New Year…

New Years Eve 2009

Shawna

FilmREEL – 3WayCafe FILM scene 34 ‘notebooks’ | D-EDIT

Jumping into a rough director’s edit for scene 34 ‘notebooks’ for my feature film ‘3Way Cafe’.

Some behind the scenes photos:  CLICK HERE FOR FULL SET

Here’s the script for the scene with lead in and out, page 53-56:

33 33

INT. DELI/CAFE ‘BEAN HERE’, SEATTLE – MORNING

A small, very New York deli/cafe – large oversized Paris

posters, tables, stools.  A man clicks away on his laptop.  A

couple are engrossed in conversation.

The Barista steams drinks as Mark disappears around the back.

A phone rings that ‘funky dance tune’ – Mark’s phone on the

table.  It rings, defaults to ring-vibrate – jumps all over

the table, rings even louder.

Laptop guy looks up – exasperated.  The couple turn and look -

annoyed.

Sera grabs the phone, flips it – call instantly connects.

SERA

(to self)

Oh, damn.

Silence.

DANA (CELL)

Hello?  Hello, Mark?

Sera reluctantly pulls the cell to her ear.

SERA

(to cell)

Hello?

Long Pause.

SERA

(to cell)

Mark’s not here right now.  Can I

take a message?

DANA (CELL)

It’s Dana, his fiance.  You are?

SERA

(to cell)

Ah…  Sera?

The phone drops from Sera’s ear – she is instantly solemn.

34

INT. SERA’S CONDO/LIVING ROOM – DAY (FLASHBACK)

Lucas on the phone, boxers with golf clubs, T-shirt -

searches a bookshelf.  The ‘make-shift office’ is littered

with Sera’s work – space where the laptop usually is.

LUCAS

(to phone)

Black notebook?

SERA (PHONE)

There’ll be a group of them – the

one on the far right -  sketches

inside.

Lucas runs his finger over seven black notebooks on the

shelf, locates the farthest right.

LUCAS

(to phone)

Yeah, got it.

Lucas pulls out the one on the far right.

SERA (PHONE)

If that’s not it, just make your

way to the left, K?

LUCAS

(to phone)

Alright.  I’ll have it ready!

SERA (PHONE)

In 5!

Lucas hangs up, leafs the first couple pages – stops, smiles

as he sits, reads intently.

He turns solemn, agitated – looks to the door, lock turns.

Sera bursts in, beaming.

SERA

You should see the storyboards!

Find it?

LUCAS

Why did you want me to read this?

SERA

What?

LUCAS

This your way of telling me.

SERA

What?

LUCAS

You’re seeing him.

SERA

No Lucas, I’m not.

LUCAS

Sure, yeah.  You can tell me.

SERA

Tell you what?

Lucas throws the book at her feet – she looks to it, to

Lucas, picks it up.  She opens it, face drops.

SERA

How much did you read?

LUCAS

Right book, wrong guy.

SERA

I have to find that book.  They’re

waiting for me.  I don’t know why

you read it – it was personal.

She goes to the bookcase, grabs the right notebook.

LUCAS

You said it was that book.

She hesitates, grabs two more from the shelf, walks out with

the books in her arms.

LUCAS

This isn’t right.

SERA

Yeah, what you did was wrong.

Sera leaves, never looking back – door closes behind her.

Lucas looks at the door – walks to the bookshelf, pulls out

all the black notebooks.

54 54

INT. DELI/CAFE ‘BEAN HERE’, SEATTLE – MORNING

Mark is nowhere to be seen, Sera sits at the computer – she’s

composed an email to Lucas.

EMAIL

(text on screen)

“Hi, been busy, decided to stay an

extra day – waiting for Peter to

make up his mind.  Let’s meet for

dinner when I get back – we should

talk”.

MARK (O.C.)

(suddenly)

Latte!

Mark snaps off a series of pics of Sera’s reactions.

SERA

Jesus!

Sera nearly falls out of her seat.

MARK

I think we’re even now.

Mark reads the screen – Sera quickly closes the email.

SERA

Caffeine quota!

Sera watches Mark walk to the table, assesses him, caution

replaces her spunky demeanor – Mark is oblivious.

MARK

It’s Decaf.

He sits, looks to her just as she looks away.

SERA

Decaf isn’t good for you.

MARK

Live in New York and the smog isn’t

that great for one either, but hey,

you’re welcome – Now drink it.

She looks to Mark.

SERA

I love New York.

Silence.  They both take the other in – Mark looks away.

MARK

New storyboards?

She leaves the net, sits with Mark – avoids eye contact.

SERA

No – just the old ones.  Peter’s

waiting, I’m stalling.  No mail, no

calls – no one.

DakarLOG – Final Fantasy | 2010 Dakar Rally

This is where it all stands:

I am anxiously awaiting the fate of my great little story as it now stands up against the GREAT BIG WORLD of IMAX.

A few months ago, I had put a call in to ASO, the Dakar Rally’s organizing body.  I was informed that IMAX had signed the theatrical rights for the 2010 Dakar Rally, but it was confirmed that the broadcast rights were still available for my 2010 Dakar documentary which focuses on Mark Miller’s drive to win the 2010 Dakar Rally.  So, I proceeded with seeking co-production partners and financing.

2 weeks ago, I was engaged in discussions with a producer of the 2010 Dakar Rally IMAX.  I initially called thinking I was extending a greeting, offering support or advice to their production:

“We may be going in as two separate production camps, but when the rally gets going it’s mass chaos and the the nature of rally culture is to look out for one another – even if you are on separate teams,” I chirped.

Well, the results of that conversation were a little more than eye opening.  Good and bad news…

Bad news first.  In their understanding, our storylines conflicted and mine would violate the agreement/licensing contract they signed with ASO back in 2008.

Translation: no 2010 documentary for me.

Good news: IMAX would try to find a spot for me on their crew…  IF they could fit me in this late in the game.

Today, I just put a call in to ASO to confirm where my project stands up against the 2010 Dakar Rally IMAX production contract.  Email is waiting in their inbox…

Either way – I just want Mark Miller’s story documented.  One day, 3 years ago, Mark told me a little story about the Dakar, and it wasn’t the rally he talked about…

There was something else – something so powerful.  Something that would inspire more than a winning title.  It is this story I hope reaches an audience the same way it reached me.  It reached inside me and inspired me to dream – dream a little bigger and never quit.

I also met a few other racers over these past 3 years, whose stories also shifted me, moved me.  One namely, another North American, Jonah Street, who I have also set under my documentary’s wing.

I shall know in the next 24-48 hours how much life is left in my own Dakar Rally dream, my documentary – but I hope in the end, regardless of outcome, that if it isn’t me to carry Mark’s story – I only hope that someone does.

It’s a great story and I can’t wait to see how the end is written – I hope someone is there to capture the core moments.

It’s gonna be a hell of a ride – the ride of a lifetime.  I guess only time will tell what happens between IMAX, ASO and me.

x-fingers.

-Shawna

SLOG – Light Relativity | the way home

I see a lantern ahead, held by someone I don’t know – can’t see, but trust deeply.

Ragged from time, experiences beyond this place – safe, on this path.

In the first time beyond my knowing, I feel a haven – ahead what must only be home.

I lift within thoughts, who await my return – float on beauty, anticipate wisdom to seal fate.

Destiny has walked with me.

Love whispered to me, bound me, bewitched me.

Before me, light walks darkness – I traveled blind.

There are no words, only of light – darkness of destiny.

There is feeling, a return.

I am coming home - I once, and never have known.

~Shawna Cox, 2009

SLOG – Fate, LOST TV and a little Tale to tell | SOLO

I was asked to be a guest blogger on SoloTraveler and was supposed to type a gaunty 250 post, but I got a little lost along the way.  Here’s the version that WON’T make the cut, but I RECOMMEND the read until the final choppy-chop.

 

 

Entry 001 CFilmGirl: Fate, LOST TV and a little Tale to tell.

 

I feel like a covert operative most days, in reality I am just a film girl who just can’t stop getting on the plane.  There is no one else who is willing or able to keep up with my adventures other than at my side via Twitter and FaceBook. I am a solo filmmaker / traveler (which means I am the producer, director, writer, camera operator, sherpa, self-guide, bad-translator, travel-advisor with a break-the-budget love of late night wine, local yums and cool-unique sleeps).

 

The line has long been blurred between a story I was chasing and the story I am now shaping so I can keep on ‘chasing’. Cradling my MacBook Pro, in Air Canada Exec class (Aeroplan points) on a direct flight from Calgary, Canada to San Diego, USA, checking out my latest tweet on my iPhone (ok – I have a few/many sanity/insanity tools/tricks to travel).

CFilmGirl: Missed Banff TV Fest but hit Exec Prod / Director of #Lost “did you write it with the end in mind?” haha http://yfrog.com/5cn6ej

I jump over to FaceBook to see if Twitter auto updated my status, upload and tag myself on the same photo I tweeted.  

 

I always feel like I don’t have enough time to ‘tweet’ let alone eat, I don’t even know if I ‘hashed’ properly (not talking weed or pot here) but sharing these updates and nuggets of travel and film makes me feel a bit less guilty about this pseudo lifestyle and leaving my loved ones behind… most of the time. There is still the guilty pleasure of disappearing – going ‘off grid’ and THAT is the freedom of going solo.  The choice to share VS to have a secret moment.  In the end, I am the only one in the conversation “what happens on a solo trip – stays on a solo trip…”

 

Going solo, like going to a party solo (one note here…  I am shy & single) gives you the time to experience everything around you in a completely different way.  Much like a writer or a director, you become immersed in a world and have a heightened, focused experience that we yearn for in many aspects of our lives but rarely are able to achieve.  For some they find it via adrenalin, drugs or even rock and roll – for me, it’s travel and I am a bit different person when I step out of my life and into a solo experience without any of regular daily life’s gauges, labels or distractions.  But I am preaching to the converted and hope to convert a few of my shy and curious peeping toms that I know have been watching with a longing curiosity.

 

Back to me and Jack Bender, mastermind behind ‘Lost’, arm in arm in the Calgary Airport. A happen-chance meeting while in line at the USA customs began with a simple comment about a photo mural hanging overhead to kill time directed to no one in particular…  “Mount Rushmore – I don’t care to go”.  I bit the bait, answering “I think I was there when I was young. I think I was sick – I think maybe it dreamt I was there”. A Kiwi solo traveler piped up “who’s the guy with the mustache?” We all shared a short trivia moment, killing time.  

 

Jack was there for the Banff Festival, which I couldn’t afford to attend.  Funny cause he was the only person I would have wanted to meet at the festival if I could have gone.  Funny, cause I don’t even watch Lost.  Funny cause he was standing right there, solo and we naturally lead into conversation.  This is what we call in the media industry a ‘slow pitch’ environment.  Outside the industry, I call this a ‘slow experience’.  Others call it FATE and fate doesn’t happen if you are not open and AVAILABLE (like dating) to new experiences.

 

Maybe you’ve heard of ‘slow foods’ dining where instead of the typical fast-food choke-it-chow-it down-get-the-’F’-out-of-here race, a meal could last 4 hours or longer into the night and is typically shared with a larger group, turning a meal into a shared experience. 

 

Well, I collect ‘slow experiences’. I don’t expect something to happen at first point of contact, I don’t hit the typical tourist sight or follow an itinerary.  I shoot the same way – I don’t have a shot list, I don’t have a set cast of characters – I wake up, start moving and I let a story guide me. When I am solo, a voice seems to call out softly, demurely and it playfully beckons me to follow it.  It’s not long until I am under it’s spell, like a new  romantic interest. It grows into an intimate and at times even sensuous experience but it never fails to develop into a deeply honest and revealing journey – both for myself as a filmaker and as a human being.   

 

There is something uniquely beautiful to be surrounded by so many undiscovered locations, cultures, characters, behaviors and story-lines.  Traveling and shooting solo, void of negotiations, justification only instinct and whims.  Yes, there are times of danger, extreme risk and emotion but even though I am solo, I have learned to reach out wherever I am and ask for help and guidance to those who ‘happen’ to be at my side at that moment.  Places do not seem so foreign when you can be one on one, face to face with strangers and has never failed for a friend to show up just when I needed one most – I just didn’t know they were a friend until they said ‘hello’.  

 

It’s a shift from “who is at my side and needing someone there right from the beginning” to “I am beginning and I wonder who will grace my journey along the way”.  With that shift and a little faith and patience on my part, the world around me opened my eyes and allowed me to keep my wits about me when surrounded by the strangest of languages and in the deepest recesses of the desert.  I now truly don’t feel that traveling solo translates to traveling alone.

 

Through my journey, I also recently came to understand that the world bears a strong and mischievous sense of humor.  I now take each victory and each fall in stride with a crooked grin of my own as if I secretly immersed in a game of practical jokes, witty tests and a never-ending treasure hunt with a storyteller much larger than myself.  Someone, something out there is scripting a grand adventure of which I am unable to uncast myself from.  I faithfully listen to the whispered words on the wind and just keep on trekking towards the next bump or fork in the road. Taking it all in stride as I travel to gather a better understanding of my place in the world and fill an unquenchable curiosity of the world and it’s mysteries, romances, dramas, adventures, comedies and hopefully not to many more horror or war stories… 

 

What better way to discover the next amazing story than to step out of the known and explore solo, your own amazing unknown, yet to be discovered life.  You never know where you may end up and who you may friend along the way.

 

Happy Tales to you – until we meet…  

 

A quick note on attraction cause I am always asked what qualities I look for in a partner (dating, working or traveling).  I always pick ‘personality’ which I define as personal behaviour shaped by personal experience.  I always hit the ball into their court afterwards with: “Take the time to question, explore, discover and shape your own world – inside and out.  You will stand out in my books – I will be curious and want to know more and remember, you don’t always have to go a far as you think to find some interesting answers…”

 

 

Safe Travels

Shawna

aka ‘Canadian Film Girl’

DakarLOG – Rally Tunisia Libya 2009 invite | Miracle

April 19, 2009 – 9:00am - Marseille, France

Writing this, the time and location, it all seems a little too unreal.  Just one week ago, I had a completely  different week planned for myself.  One of reflection, redirection and a new beginning.  One that would put me on the road to my parent’s cabin in British Columbia’s Kootney Lake for a few weeks.  One that was to turn me and my film career (if you could call it that just yet) from the off-road adventures of “Chasing the Desert” – which had become more like a black comedy of sorts – and back in to the writers seat for a while, to dream of a few new beginnings and hack at a few of the old ones…  Time to start over again, time to start fresh.

That lasted all of 24 hours, as all my grand plans seem to these days, right up till  3pm on Easter Sunday…  Sitting on the beach at Crab Park, Vancouver, just outside my Gastown loft, another call to adventure – actually something larger than that, dropped into my iPhone from France, beckoning me back overseas, back into action, offering me up my one last shot at recovering from an unpredictable and unfortunate turn of events back in January of 2008.

On January 4th, 2008, an event, a story…  a dream I risked far to much on an idea of an experience and that experience ended up becoming far different than I could ever have expected.  Fact is, the event never ended up happening.  The event was the legendary Dakar Rally, a 15 day, 5000KM endurance and navigation rally race through Europe and Northern Africa.  But on January 4th and 12 noon, the rally became more than a legend – it wrote history.  12 hours prior to the start of it’s 30th edition, the race organizers cancelled the entire rally after a series of terrorist actions in Mauritania the week before which culminated with deaths of French tourists over the Christmas holiday.

The famous Paris-Dakar Rally had become the flagship of off-road rallies for professional and amateur racer and everyone stood that day, lost.

I stood there that day lost and broken, and literally broke.  I, like many of the competitors, gave everything to be in the rally even just once in a lifetime, to be a part of this seemingly unstoppable event that many only dream of setting foot inside of.  Like the Titanic, this event sank and not all had access to lifeboats to make it ashore.  A part in all of us died that day.  Not just a childhood dream, but a belief that anything is possible… that if one is strong enough, courageous enough, give enough, one can live a dream. 

We all risked more than most would to get there and like in that nightmare poker game, all saw it swiftly disappear when the cards hit the table on the first hand.  I alone was out my day job, roughly $50,000, 8 months of production and no way to get home to Canada.  I’m an independent filmmaker, this was to be my first documentary that I was self funding at that point and my insurance didn’t cover an event cancellation – no one’s did.  I am still one of the lucky ones with only bankruptcy staring at me on the near horizon…

Jump ahead 6 months…

I guess I am a little crazy, or so I thought at Easter, but a competing race organization to the Dakar Rally contacted me to assist them in securing a North American broadcaster to air their daily race summaries and to introduce their 10 day rally in Tunisia and Libya to a North American audience.  Basically what I have been fighting so hard and long to do with the Dakar Rally for 2 and a half years now.  This offer was different.  They turned the tables and instead of the 20,000 Euro entry fees and the 20,000 Euro license and rights fees, this organization had just invited me out AND offered both my footage and their footage for free – no cost.  A bit of a shocker on Easter afternoon (I am starting to like the Easter Bunny for more than the rice-crispy-chocolate treat in bunny form) – and a lot unexpected as I would have to be on a plane in 4 days to France to catch the boat…

So, do I give up everything again?  Risk my own sanity again?  Walkaway from my family who I was going to meet at the lake?  My friends who I had committed to plans with?  Myself and this so called life I keep trying to wrangle up and set on a sane course?  Will things wait for me this time when before they slipped through my fingers?  What will 3 weeks from my life look like this time, especially since I seem to be in a vortex of very odd occurrences as it is?  

One thing it did mean – ok, 2 things…  

#1: I will have the professional footage I need to complete an amazing documentary on my own personal journey chasing the Dakar Rally  AND have more than enough for an incredible episodic pilot that would lead up to both the Moroccan Rally AND the Dakar 2010 Rally to sell to a North American broadcaster.

#2: Originally, before the documentary was even conceived, I was just writing a feature dramatic film with the rally event as a backdrop to a brother story.  All I initially wanted was to participate in the rally to write the most realistic action sport adventure script possible…

This Easter egg….  this Easter Miracle…  just put me back in the driver’s seat and into the heart of the African desert and into the heart of an endurance and navigation rally.  This means that at the end of the most trying and difficult creative, financial, personal and professional journey I have ever taken to this point in my life…  I am given back more than just my first little dream when I thought it was long lost.  I am given the chance to finish my dramatic feature film script that I started over 2 and a half years ago…  and, I am given the chance to give back.

So, what did I do?  I put everything on the line again.  My day job, friends, family, my health…  my life.  Of course this time I called everyone before hand because this would have to be something I can share and celebrate on my return.  It’s no longer my journey – me, my family and friends have all invested to much to date and this is my last shot at finding an end to a story long over due.  

That little dream I watched die away on January 4th, 2008, has come back to life.  It looks a little different, but it feels right.  I think there is something exciting we can do with this.  For me, my project and for the desert.  I may be filing for bankruptcy this week (funny to do from France), but all my work and what I ultimately envisioned, still has a fighting chance…

The boat to Tunisia leaves tomorrow from the Port in Marseille.  I am sitting in my hotel recovering from a fever break at 39 degrees celcius just a day ago in the Frankfurt Airport, but I am recovering, charging my batteries and holding onto the hope that this time – it’s the right time for this little story of mine.

Shawna

EventREEL – Media That Matters Retreat | Brainstorm

iDream Films | CFilmGirl,  will be on the Master list, participating in Media That Matters, May 13-17, 2009.

“Media that Matters is a retreat and brainstorm for digital visionaries who are building bridges to new audiences and wider worldviews.

This intimate, multidisciplinary gathering is aimed at sharpening skills, strengthening leadership, expanding professional connections, fueling passions, and navigating the currents of today’s dynamic media climate.

Google Earth Outreach is coming to Media that Matters this year, looking to launch a Canadian campaign before the year is out. Join us for a kickoff strategy session on how this technology can blend with other media strategies to bolster some of our key environmental efforts — starting with the Alberta Tar Sands.

In the midst of the breathtaking environment of Hollyhock, we’ll have a broad slate of sharp minds exploring how the narrative of the virtual world can deepen our stewardship of nature”

Check out the website for more details on who’s coming and what’s happening.
Here’s a video of some of last year’s participants talking about the magic of MtM.

By Invitation or Application Only

NewsREEL – The Lucky Break, Pecha Kucha, Skewed Mag

It’s been a busy beginning to 2009, mostly around settling into my new digs, playing with the locals, ending the “Lucky Break” streak and taking everything to date (the last 2 years) onto the stage in Vancouver for one whirlwind night that took my breath away, literally…

The OFFICIAL end of the “Lucky Break”, February 20 2009

With the Dakar Rally focus set to 2010, I finally made a date with my surgeon and after waiting 2 years, had the bionic elements removed in February and I am back to being 100% human again – sort of…

2 years earlier –>  Lucky Break to the Baja 500

 

SKEWED MAGAZINE FEATURE, March/April

Me, my filmmaking life and Vancouver Gastown Loft are featured in a 7 page layout in the Studio edition of UBC’s online magazine.

“Working in the right space can make all the difference, and for the past couple of months we’ve been looking into different artists and their creative spaces. And so for our fourth edition we’re giving it a  theme: The Studio Issue. “

Check it out online –>  SKEWED MAGAZINE, March/April

 

Pecha Kucha Night, “The Little Dream”, March 26 2009, Vancouver

I had the amazing experience of speaking at Vancouver’s 5th edition of Pecha Kucha Night.   

It is a “mix of show-and-tell, open-mike night and happy hour, it has become the forum for ideas on design, culture and a lot else that has swept the world in just four years now having taken place in over 180 cities globally.”

For “The Little Dream” Slide Photos  —>  Click here

 

In just 6 minutes and 40 seconds, I take you into “The Little Dream” and takes on a 2 year journey with a live audience, Fast cars, globetrotting, terrorists and some “hot scenes”. This is a “Little Dream” that leaves us with a endless universe of possibilities…”

For “The Little Dream” video –>  “The Little Dream” – Pecha Kucha Night – Vancouver from CFilmGirl on Vimeo.

 

“Pronounced “peh-cha-ku-cha’’,  Each presenter is allowed 20 images, each shown for 20 seconds each – giving 6 minutes 40 seconds of fame before the next presenter is up. This keeps presentations concise, the interest level up, and gives more people the chance to show.”

 Check here for YOUR city –> Pecha Kucha Night

 

So, if you watched the video, you will know that I am rolling up my sleeves this year and making the most out of this Little Dream I had one day, taking what I’ve got in my hands,  2 great projects, a life in a great neighbourhood and taking it all one (or 2) steps at a time.

See you out there on the streets, in the desert and somewhere completely lost in between!

Shawna

NewsREEL – 2009 Dakar Rally Documentary | Canceled

Well, it has been a journey – a 2 year journey facing the 2008 Dakar Rally cancelation and now the 2009 Dakar Rally Documentary… Cancelation.

No filming in the 2009 Dakar Rally for this film girl.  Yup.  Cancelation.  I didn’t see that one coming.  2 years in a row, some odds!

I would like to wish Mark Miller, driver (with Team Volkswagen Motorsport) and Jonah Street, Motorcycle rider (with Team Rally Pan Am) – the best of luck in the 2009 Dakar Rally.  They both have the heart and the mind to make history this year to be the first North Americans to capture a Dakar winning title.  Mark and Jonah were the main subjects of the Documentary and a director’s dream…  Two very humble and genuinely talented men.  Both are inspirations on so many levels.

I wish a special thanks to Mark Miller.  

He’s got his head on right…   

In one his first emails, 3 simple words set the stage for the whole last 2 years of chasing the desert…  ”enjoy the journey.”  

From that, it was easy to understand that it wasn’t the win that was driving this dream.  Many of us spend so much time ‘chasing the desert’ or chasing our dreams that we can’t see that we are already lost in the middle of it!  Mark is lost in the middle of it all and loves every moment.  Even if he wins, he has his heart set on the next adventure…  Something about a 2008 Baja 1000 race with his North American home team and a recent Jetta Series he built from the ground up where he mentors young drivers.  Something about setting his sights on home…  Mark helped me to see how to navigate the desert and endure it’s tests but most of all, not lose sight of the big picture – that journey home.  

Thanks Mark, for inspiring my journey.