When I first met Andrew Lavigne and Jon Ornoy they were two guys with a dream to tell a story. At first it wasn’t clear what or who that story would be about. That was almost two years ago and now that I have had an opportunity to see some of what they documented in the quest to make this film. I know they have succeeded in telling a story that is full of hope, possibility and change. A true story about an amazing time in the history of humanity and Vancouver.

The shooting of the 30+ hours of film is complete but post-production is a very expensive process to get done right so it’s time that we turn this project inside out and that’s exactly what we intend to do with a social media campaign unlike any other.

The campaign turns to community at-large to support the completion of these amazing stories. In a Tweet and Toonie ($2) Torch Relay we hope to raise the $10,000 necessary to complete post-production of the film. Some stories need to be heard and this is one of them. This is a story about communities, for communities and now with our efforts, toonies or tweets made by communities.

For just $2 you can become a producer: your name will appear in a word cloud much like this. A $2 donation will show your name in size one font while a $200 donation will show your name in size 100 font. All fonts are proportional to the largest contribution. An image will be posted of the cloud and made available as a poster.

Enter to win a producer credit and copy of the film with a tweet: You can also enter to win a weekly prize of a DVD or digital copy of the film and a $20 producer credit (size 10 font). Each tweet represents an entry. winner will be chosen at random. All you have to do to enter the weekly draw is tweet one of these messages:

• I am a proud supporter and hopefully winner of a copy of the film #withglowinghearts and a producers credit! http://wghthemovie.ca
• Only $2 makes me a movie producer #withglowinghearts http://wghthemovie.ca
• I am entering to win a film credit and a copy of the film #withglowinghearts http://wghthemovie.ca
• Support local documentaries. Become a producer #withglowinghearts http://wghthemovie.ca

The film follows four different people who all work and live in Vancouver’s downtown eastside (one of the poorest postal codes in Canada) and how social media acts a beacon for social change for each person in different ways.

This vivacious and energetic 23 year old April Smith originally hails from Chicago, but after coming to Canada to attend UBC, she decided to stay and make Vancouver, specifically the DTES her home. Creating media and inspiring her neighbors is not only April’s way of healing her community but of healing herself as well. Using her favorite Social Media tool, Twitter @aprilfilms, she can reach out to her followers and give them information or encourage them to rise up.

If I can turn out more empowered, more knowledgeable, happy, positive people in this area, I’d like to be able to say that it’s a showcase, on my résumé, that I helped the community grow. Working with W2 and Fearless, if we can help bring together all communities to work and learn and grow from each other, that would be a wonderful, beautiful thing….
from Georgia Straight interview, April 10, 2009

One of three members of ahamedia.ca, a website birthed from a Fearless City workshop. She calls herself “a hyperlocal citizen journalist”, reporting from the DTES capturing events and profiling her neighbors, she shares the heart of her city with the world, cell phone in one hand and rallying her community with the other. Her story is at the heart of the message in With Glowing Hearts.

The True North Media House is a virtual space for media creators to join together during the 2010 Winter Olympics. It began like this campaign and this film as an idea and a dream shared by a group of passionate individuals. Dave Olson and Kris Krug spearheaded the project and are featured prominently in With Glowing Hearts.

Irwin is the Executive Director of W2, a Dutch/Canadian artist and administrator doing cultural planning, cultural infrastructure development, and support for a media arts cluster in Vancouver’s inner-city. A long time DTES resident he has led such diverse ventures as the Under the Volcano Festival and Gallery Gachet.

The Press Release:

Password: hotdocs

Hey Everyone we attended HotDocs, the Canadian Documentary Festival in Toronto, rubbed elbows with some industry folk and created some excitement about our project. We also felt it only appropriate to host a Tweetup while we were there. So we asked a few SM types in the area and they suggested C’est What at 67 Front St (@Church) So that’s where we held our ‘HotDocs & Cinco de Mayo Tweetup!’ We had the party on May 5th and showcased our new ’sizzle reel’.  So thank you Toronto and those who came down for your support and your feedback.  If you were not able to attend and would like check out the video it is above. Enjoy

There were door prizes!! Thank you Vincor Canada for the wine and Manic Coffee for your donations.

the new doc kit.

In this pic is two DSLR’s-so we are shooting at 1080p HD at 30fps, which is amazing!  The two lenses are a 16-35mm 2.8 and a 28-135mm.  I like to shoot one camera wide and one tight at the same time.  We use two tripods and at the bottom of the frame is a linear bearing, by Glidetrack, just a little something to add to the top of one tripod the gives a little left right action.  It’s great production value.  There is a mini shot gun mic for one camera and a wireless lav for the other.  In the middle of the frame is a small level and a light I mount on the camera, just a small eye light that works very well.  Finally you can see my TNMH badge, camera tape of course and a lens cleaning kit.  There you have it….studio in a backpack.