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TORONTO ARTS REPORT

A blog following the developments of artistic communities relevant to a Toronto audience.

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BRENDAN PROST AND THE CREATIVE PROCESS

BRENDAN PROST AND THE CREATIVE PROCESS

Brendan Prost is a Canadian filmmaker. Interview by Rebeccah Love What was it like growing up in Calgary? What kinds of creative activities did you engage with as a kid? What movies stood out for you in your childhood? Growing up in Calgary left a lot to the imagination. My memories of it are as very spacious, vacant, and lonely, but marked by possibility. I spent a lot of time outdoors, and got involved in performance at an early age—first in theatre, and later in film and t

ALICIA K. HARRIS TALKS 'PICK'

ALICIA K. HARRIS TALKS 'PICK'

Alicia K. Harris is a Toronto-based filmmaker and director of 'PICK', screening at TIFF's Next Wave Young Creators Showcase (February 16, 2pm) Interview by Rebeccah Love What kind of creative activities did you get excited about as a kid? As a teenager? How, and when, did filmmaking come into your life? The first creative outlet I had was songwriting. When I was 10 I used to write about the love I heard about in love songs. I still love music more than anything! In high scho

EFEHAN ELBI ON RAINFALL, COLOUR PALETTES AND INTERACTIVE NARRATIVES

EFEHAN ELBI ON RAINFALL, COLOUR PALETTES AND INTERACTIVE NARRATIVES

Efehan is a Toronto based animator, filmmaker and digital artist. Interview by Rebeccah Love Tell me about your childhood experiences with creative endeavours. What were your favourite activities? I loved drawing as a kid. My favourite find (thanks to preservation efforts by my mum) is a series of large papers divided into 9 squares, with drawings in each, and absolutely no connection between frames. Why did I draw these things together? What even are some of them? Whatever t

AIDAN SHIPLEY ON COLLABORATIONS AND CARDINALS

AIDAN SHIPLEY ON COLLABORATIONS AND CARDINALS

Aidan Shipley is a Toronto-based actor, writer, producer and director. Interview by Rebeccah Love How did the world of theatre and film surface in your childhood? What creative activities did you most enjoy when you were a kid? I grew up about 100 paces from the Stratford Festival and my dad is a theatre director and arts programmer, so it was kind of hard to avoid. I immediately fell in love with the theatre community and the love and warmth that came with it. Being the youn

STEFAN KUCHAR ON THE SUDDEN IMPULSE FILM FESTIVAL

STEFAN KUCHAR ON THE SUDDEN IMPULSE FILM FESTIVAL

Stefan Kuchar is a Toronto based filmmaker and the host of the Sudden Impulse Film Festival. Interview by Rebeccah Love What is the Sudden Impulse Film Festival? The Sudden Impulse Film festival is a one night a year self-funded event that showcases funny, weird and inspiring short films from Toronto and the GTA. This is my 7th year running the festival which I run with the help of my friends and family. This year’s event is June 2nd at the Revue Cinema. The night starts at

INTERVIEW WITH JAMES BASTABLE

INTERVIEW WITH JAMES BASTABLE

James Bastable works in post-production sound in Toronto. Interview by Rebeccah Love How did you first develop an interest in sound? My love of music and movies came from my dad. Music was always playing in the house or in the car and my dad was always introducing me to key films at various stages growing up. I started playing guitar when I was 11 and as my musical tastes matured I became interested in ways of pushing the instrument beyond its traditional parameters. When I w

INTERVIEW WITH GRAYSON MOORE

INTERVIEW WITH GRAYSON MOORE

Grayson Moore is a Toronto-based filmmaker. Interview by Rebeccah Love What types of creative activities do you remember engaging with as a kid? I’ve liked writing as long as I can remember. I wrote a short story in the second grade that I had a classmate illustrate, and we sold copies of the story for $5 to parents who weren’t about to give a hard ‘no’ to a couple of six year olds. The story was called The Couch Potato and the classmate was called Heather. It was a redemptio

INTERVIEW WITH MATTHEW HORNICK

INTERVIEW WITH MATTHEW HORNICK

Matthew Hornick is a member of shy kids, a band of filmmakers from Toronto. Interview by Rebeccah Love 'Terminally in Love with You', a collaboration between shy kids and CHOIR!CHOIR!CHOIR! Do you think Toronto is an artist-friendly city? It certainly seems so to me. Ever since we started releasing music and videos as shy kids there's been a healthy dose of local support from venues, publications, and the music community in general. Even though some of the famous venues have

HEAVY WIND BY UNION DUKE & INTERVIEW WITH BANNER ISAAC

HEAVY WIND BY UNION DUKE & INTERVIEW WITH BANNER ISAAC

Union Duke is a Toronto-based folk-rock band. Earlier this month Union Duke posted their new music video for 'Heavy Wind'. The Toronto Arts Report is pleased to share the video along with an interview with director Banner Isaac. Banner Isaac is a Toronto-based screenwriter and director. Union Duke just released their new music video for 'Heavy Wind', which you directed. How did you get involved in the project? After sitting on my ass for five years as a staff writer and deve

INTERVIEW WITH KYRIA OSSA

INTERVIEW WITH KYRIA OSSA

Kyria Ossa is an Ottawa-based actor. Interview by Rebeccah Love You were born in Bordeaux, France. Wow! Do you have any memories from there? Have you been back to visit? As a kid I only spent 3 months in Bordeaux and after that we went to visit for vacation when I was 2 years old and ever since I never went back. My favourite memory was when we went to a fair and I got this huge cotton candy and it was bigger than my head. My mom still has a picture of it and it's hilarious t

INTERVIEW WITH GAVIN POOLMAN

INTERVIEW WITH GAVIN POOLMAN

Gavin Poolman is a London-based film producer. Interview by Rebeccah Love Many people see film producers as being strictly business people. Do you consider yourself an artist at all? In what ways does film producing require creative thinking? The best producers are very creative. Take the film Drive, for example - the main producer read the James Sallis book (which is terrific, by the way), bought an option on it, found a screenwriter (Hossein Amini) that shared and added to

INTERVIEW WITH BARRY HERTZ

INTERVIEW WITH BARRY HERTZ

Barry Hertz is the Deputy Arts/Film editor at the Globe and Mail. Interview by Rebeccah Love How would you describe your movie-watching experience growing up? What were some of your favourites? I was lucky enough to have parents who never really checked in on what I was doing with my afternoons, mostly, and at least three video stores within walking distance that didn’t pay much attention to the ratings of tapes or DVDs. This meant I was pretty free to explore almost anything

GLIMPSE THROUGH THE LENS OF ERIC ROWE

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