Ok…Somehow two years have passed without adding any “this is what I’ve been up to in film” posts.
Now. THERE HAS BEEN SOME STUFF. And half my brain thinks I should drop everything right now to make a post for every single cool thing I’ve been up to, BUT I HAVE CURRENT AND FUTURE STUFF TO WORK ON.
I’m behind on the updates. I keep thinking there are no updates but I think the headline proves otherwise.
The Jun 11th-13th weekend I rounded up some of the finest crew members in Vancouver – who hands down are some of the best crew worldwide – brought them to a luxury hotel in downtown Vancouver and made a new short, SHIT SPONGE. And you know what? It’s really good.
Like, really.
LOGLINE: A budding hotel manager must evict one of the world’s most notoriously volatile party girls.
“Shit Sponge” co-starring Arghavan Jenati
My first three asks were a MUST. I needed them
I asked Riley Madincea to come back and write again after my last short BOT PROX was such a success. He said yes. Then there was getting a location – thank you co-producer James Hutchison for introducing us to Nephi at The Douglas Hotel for elevating our location from small cramped/cold/wet parking garage (on BOT PROX) to MULTIPLE LUXURY PENTHOUSE SUITES in a CUSTOM LUXURY HOTEL that just happened to be closed – I guess there are pandemic silver linings for indie filmmakers?) I really feel like I don’t know how to make anything without Hutch because he takes care of all the organizing and logistics and all I have to do is buy the thank you beers and well…direct. BUT THAT’S THE FUN PART!
I NEEDED David Trevail. Editor I keep courting who GETS me. That’s a hard find. Someone who truly understands story, pacing, comedy. But also MY kind of story, pacing, and MY KIND OF COMEDY. But actually. He is a storyteller himself. He was also an instrumental part of our writing in the first hours of the competition. Also just a damn JOY. Thank you for leaving England and moving here.
Then there was getting phenom director of photography and camera operator Ryan Purcell on board. Any Nancy Drew or To All the Boys fans out there? I did that by taking a job as a cinematographer’s assistant for 6 months which turned into 12 months because pandemic, and being the person who turned bland necessary emails about gear list and blocking changes into amusing dalliances of a need for some creativity. Ryan liked the emails. I asked and he said yes.
Is this all seeming too easy to you?
It was.
“Shit Sponge” co-starring Caitlin McCarthy
I cast Caitlin McCarthy because she texted me and said “am I on your project or should I find another team?” and well she’s amazing (she’s KILLS in BOT PROX) so that was an easy, YES.
Arggy Jenati I’ve been hunting for years and she was finally available!!
We got out some returning collaborators and some new ones I am so glad I connected with and honestly it was the best weekend I’ve had in a really long time.
I REALLY LOVE DIRECTING.
But really.
Really.
Can I please just being doing it EVERY DAY?
BUT ACTUALLY.
So a month after the filmmaking weekend we got to meet IN PERSON at a REAL LIVE MOVIE THEATRE and watch the top 20 films jury selected out of the ONE HUNDRED FILMS made for this year’s RUN ‘N GUN Filmmaking Competition.
And we freaking WON. And there was some AMAZING films.
We won BEST FILM, BEST DIRECTION (by me!), and BEST PERFORMANCE (by Arghavan Jenati). Hot Damn.
I can also brag about the SIX other nominations we had. 9 category recognitions overall.
2021 Run ‘N Gun 48 Hr Filmmaking Competition Awards:
Winner, BEST FILM Winner, BEST DIRECTION by Brianne Nord-Stewart Winner, BEST PERFORMANCE by Arghavan Jenati
Nomination, BEST WRITING by Riley Madincea Nomination, BEST PERFORMANCE by Caitlin McCarthy Nomination, BEST ENSEMBLE by Arghavan Jenati & Caitlin McCarthy Nomination, BEST EDITING by David Trevail Nomination, BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY by Ryan Purcell Nomination, BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN by Neil Colango
So this pandemic has been challenging. That goes without saying but I’m saying it. But there is light. And I hope there is A LOT more to come.
HUGE THANK YOU to our sponsors without whom this film would not have been possible:
The DOUGLAS HOTEL / PARQ Vancouver, William F. White International, Copy That Walkies, Means of Production, and SIM complete.
This film looks amazing and that’s only possible because of yours support, so from all of us, thank you very very very much!
I’m about 8 months overdue in sharing this interview I did with Her Film Project! “The Ask” on Her Film Project is a series that aims to raise the profile of female media creators, artists, and decision-makers with the goal of facilitating open dialogue and proposing concrete action (“the ask”) towards achieving equality and inclusion in the media industries – and society at large.
I first met the author Stephanie Law as part of my first job after university which was sponsored by the Canadian Media Producer’s Association (CMPA) and I’m so happy we’ve kept in touch. Thanks for including me, Stephanie!
Honestly, so much press talk. Not sure where to start with this other than THE DANGERS OF ONLINE DATING launch day is tomorrow!
If you’re reading this on or before November 23rd, 2017, you can get your tickets to the Vancouver launch & screening by clicking HERE.
It it’s after November 23rd *tear* you can start checking out the weekly release of episodes on the brand spanking new YouTube channel by clicking HERE. Remember to click SUBSCRIBE!
Press links will come soon, but in the meantime here is THE DANGERS OF ONLINE DATING on the Vancouver Sun cover, and a picture of me with host Cory Price at Roundhouse Radio 98.3 earlier this afternoon. We closed out the interview by playing “Little Death” by the local Vancouver band, IMUR. Take a listen to that track and the whole album!.
Brianne Nord-Stewart & host Cory Price at Roundhouse Radio 98.3, Vancouver, BC
Cover page of The Vancouver Sun, November 16, 2017
Andrea Shawcross (Co-creator & Writer), Devon Ferguson (Co-creator & Lead Actor), and Brianne Nord-Stewart (Director, Producer, Co-Editor) are stoked for the IAWTV nominations! Congrats to our cast!
I’m having a very proud mama moment as the entire cast of YOUNG & RECKLESS has received a nomination for their work the webseries YOUNG & RECKLESS that I directed.
The recognized categories include: BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE in a COMEDY, Sierra Pitkin, IAWTV Awards 2017, BEST MALE PERFORMANCE in a COMEDY, Devon Ferguson, BEST ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE in a COMEDY.
Congrats. To. All. And big ups to Andrea Shawcross and Devon Ferguson for creating the show, and Andrea for writing such a great script that we all got to be a part of!
I think it can now be an official fact that whenever I am unable to attend a festival, we win an award. Basically, I should never travel and we’ll do really well!
Thank you to the festival for giving our film the recognition! And to all the below winners, congrats!
“Beat Around the Bush”, Winner of BEST ENSEMBLE CAST at the Atlanta Underground Film Festival
It’s been a busy August for BEAT AROUND THE BUSH, the little old lady orgasm movie that just keeps getting around!
It is fantastic to share that the entire cast of the film were acknowledged for their talent and hard work this past weekend when the Atlanta Underground Film Festival Awarded us and award for Best Ensemble Cast. Huge congrats to Brenda Matthews, Mary Black, Gina Stockdale, and of course, Kacey Rohl.
It’s been a pretty good run the last couple of months with numerous accolades and awards stacking up on my office shelf for YOUNG & RECKLESS.
It feels pretty stellar to also be receiving The Encore Vancouver Newcomer Award from the Women in Film & Television Spotlight Awards. Here’s what the award looks like:
The Newcomer Award from the WIFTV Spotlight Awards
Read the press release:
Established in 1999, the Spotlight Awards™ have brought together the BC Film community to celebrate the outstanding achievements of BC women in screen-based media.
This year’s award recipients are Liz Shorten, Tara Armstrong, Maja Aro, Karin Lee, Meg Thornton, Mark Leiren-Young, Paul Armstrong, Shauna Johannesen, Brianne Nord-Stewart, Lucia Cheung, Valerie Creighton, Heather Conway, & Carolle Brabant. Our award recipients have shown outstanding dedication, effort and ability behind the scenes, or behind the camera, and have made a significant impact on the screen-based media industry as leaders in their field and as advocates for women in the industry. WIFTV is proud to celebrate their contributions.
Want to find out more about who these other fabulous people are, and what we’re all winning? Head to www.womeninfilm.com
The Spotlight Awards Gala
Date: June 20, 2017
Location: Performance Works, Granville Island
Time: Red Carpet at 7pm, Awards and Gala Party at 8pm
Buy Tickets: Click HERE.
The YOUNG & RECKLESS team had a pretty stellar weekend taking home four trophies in two cities. Over on the east coast at the T.O. Webfest in Toronto, YOUNG & RECKLESS won Best Comedy and Best Supporting Performance by Sierra Pitkin.
Sierra Pitkin (L) & Paige Bateman (R) with awards they won for their performances in the YOUNG & RECKLESS series
Jason Leaver (Out with Dad) & Brianne Nord-Stewart (Young & Reckless) at T.O. Webfest’s opening night party at CN Tower
Paige also won Best Actress in a Short Film for LOVE, COLIN, and Sierra also won an award for her Special FX Make-Up work! Keep up to date with Paige’s work on her IMDB and Facebook pages. Keep up to date with Sierra’s work on her IMDB page.
All in all, it was a big rad weekend full of industry pats on the back for us and a number of fantastic other series.. I highly recommend checking out some of the titles at T.O. Webfest including: The New Adventures of Brobot Johnson by Darian Dauchan, Out With Dad by Jason Leaver, That’s My DJ (season 2) by D.W. Waterson, and High Life by Luke Eve & Glen Dolman. All of these shows picked up awards and they really really deserved it!
Brianne Nord-Stewart 