The Start of Something

Yesterday, my producing partner, Natalie Watson, and I sat in a darkened room and watched, not the work we had created, but people's reaction to it. And it was pretty fucking cool. The Vancouver Fringe Festival had generously put together an event for a select group of people in order for us to preview our upcoming documentary, On the Fringe. So far, no one outside of the production team had seen what we had been cooking up. While I'm confident in and incredible proud of the work Natalie and director Cory Thibert have been doing, I was still a little nervous showing anything for the first time. There was no need to worry, however, because the reactions were incredible. People loved it and were excited to see more.

And now, I am ready to share that with the rest of you. Click on the image below to see our preview!

This preview is a rough cut of the film's introduction. It is still a work in progress but it should give you an idea of where things are going. It is our hope to have a finished film by the Fall. Are you as excited as I am yet?

You may also have noticed, once you clicked on the image, that it takes you to our Indiegogo page. Thanks to a new program from the crowdfunding platform, past successful campaigns are able to re-open. Until we've built a proper website, this is a great place for you to pre-order the film, get updates on how things are going and help us raise funds for post-production.

If you already contributed to our previous campaign, THANK YOU! We wouldn't have been able get this far without you! You will still be getting your selected film perks once they are ready. If you can contribute again that would, of course, be amazing, but you can also majorly help us out by being our ambassadors and distributing it through your social networks.

We're also looking for some additional help behind the scenes. I need someone with experience in branding, marketing, graphic design and web building who can work within our Fringe budgets. If this is you or someone you know, please contact us.

So check out the video & the campaign, tell us what you think, and share share share with everyone you know.

A year ago, this documentary was just a pipe dream and now we are closer than ever to making it a reality.

Featured image in header "Waiting for Hulot" by blondinrikard licensed under CC-BY.

Documentary Sneak Peek

From May to September 2014, Natalie Watson, Cory Thibert and I travelled from across the country in our sponsored Volkswagen Passat to gather footage for what will eventually become On the Fringe, a documentary about life on the Fringe Festival circuit.

After 10 cities, over 18 000 kilometres, and countless hours of footage, we are finally ready to give you a sneak peak of what we have so far.

...

Tomorrow that is. We are ready to give you a sneak peak, as well as an opportunity to pre-order the movie, tomorrow night.

Stay tuned!

(And be sure to sign up for our newsletter if you would like this preview to be sent directly to your inbox.)

One Down, Seven to Go

Wow. Is it really over already? This morning, my producing partner, Natalie Watson and I packed up our VW Passat (courtesy of the fine folks at Hunt Club Volkswagen in Ottawa), said goodbye to our awesome billet, Peter, and headed out on the road to Montreal. See ya later, London! The London Fringe Festival went pretty well for me. I had decent sized houses, incredibly enthusiastic audiences (some people even saw the show twice) that bought plenty of RDSMS merchandise, and actually walked away with money in my pocket. I also love that my final payout was waiting for me by the time I was done my last show. The staff and volunteers were great and unbelievably supportive. I saw festival producer, Kathy Navackas, at everything, including the NO Show, which was the late-night cabaret organized by Jayson McDonald. The cabaret was tons of fun and the staff at the Poacher's Arms were the absolute best! If the Fringe could manage to keep that space as a venue while working out the sound issue, this place would be perfect. My documentary team also had a great time. Maybe too good...

We've collected awesome footage for the documentary. The team followed me to the Fringe Preview, tech rehearsal and first performances. They were at almost every NO Show and filmed plenty of the activities there. We have interviews with Kathy Navackas, Jayson McDonald, Keith Brown, Bill Pats, God, Kurt Fitzpatrick, a retiring Reverend Nudgent, and my billet, Peter Janes. Oh and not enough can be said about my amazing billet. Not only has he been a huge supporter of this tour and documentary, but he also generously took in 3 wandering artists who took over half of his apartment for almost 2 weeks. Thank you, Peter!

If you want to see more about where we were living, check out my director's earlier vlog:

VLOG - Filming away from Wolf Pelt Productions on Vimeo.

Other than that, he's a random list of things I really liked about my time in London, ON:

• Slushy sake drinks with umbrellas from the Poacher's Arms, which we often got for free because the manager is awesome.
• The Early Bird Dinner and their Fat Elvis - that's peanut butter, honey, panko crusted bananas and house cured bacon smooshed between French Toast and drizzled in maple syrup with powder sugar on top.

  

• $1 tacos & beers at Jacks - locals will tell you not to go, because it attracts just the type of clientele you imagine it would. But some on! $1 tacos!
• The weather was great! And we had multiple access to pools and gyms throughout our time here.
• High-fiving Fringe Volunteers!
• The Convent Gardens Market - fresh groceries and cheap eats. Not to mention random 6/49 hammocks & free lemonade.

  

Fringe Crushes:

For Nancy - Mike Delamont of God is a Scottish Drag Queen

For Natalie - Bob Brader of Spitting in the Face of the Devil

For Cory - Jayson McDonald of Magic Unicorn Island

And now, as I write this in the car, we are getting closer and closer to Montreal. The next leg of our adventure begins. I'm slightly concerned. Since I've been in London, Montreal has already started. I've had little to no advertising in the media, no posters are up and, since I have to tech right before my first show, I won't be able to flyer. So, I ponder: Is anyone coming?

Roller Derby Saved My Soul runs from June 16 to June 23, 2014 at the Montreal Fringe Festival.