The Blog of Greg Hemmings

"The Last Airplane Journal! 100 Blog Posts!"

2010-05-11T09:19:00.000-03:00

January 31, 2010

“The Last Airplane Journal?”

Soundtrack: “The sound of an airplane”

One of my joys of my experiments in writing is listening to wonderfully inspiring music as I write, and of course I typically write while flying in airplanes. If you note the date of this blog post you may recall that this past Christmas some yahoo tried to explode an airplane flying into the USA, they failed. I apologize mister bomber, but you are a loser. Because of that complete misfire attempt of being a hero in the terrorist circles, Americans reacted the way they always do…with what I would argue is their best friend, and that is a friend named fear. Fear is the middle name of America, the United States of FEAR America. As a result of the fear, afflicted American Homeland Security geniuses decide to put yet another restriction on our travel experience…no bags for carry ons, and “hey look at me naked” scanners that allow pervert Homeland Security monitoring guards to see the moste detailed dimensions of my intimate bits and pieces. Are we not customers? This is a lame business, can you image us at Hemmings House Pictures forcing people to take transparent photographs of customers before entering our office so we see every physical secret a customer has before entering? Ok, so that’s the worst example I could come up with, but the point of this whole paragraph is that I don’t have my headphones because they wouldn’t let me bring my bag…just my laptop and medicine if I needed it for reasons of staying alive. So all I have is the sound of the turbines jets blowing mass amounts of energy through their casings blasting us from Montreal all the way to the center of the American universe, Washington DC. By the way President Obama, “great job on the state of the union speech, I was impressed. Although your audience house right were really boring, they never got up and cheered and clapped for any of the great things you were saying…maybe they were tired from a long day of working hard keeping the great country of America from moving forward…hmmm.”

I am heading to Washington DC to attend one of my favorite television industry events called the Realscreen Summit. Wrestler Rick Doyle, aka Trash Canyon is joining me so we can pitch our next evolution of Wrestling with Reality…in fact we won the opportunity to be one of five producers to pitch in front of an audience of about 500 people, many of them being broadcasters, for a pitch contest called “So You Think You Can Pitch”. It will be a trip.

A lot has happened since I last wrote in this blog, and when I say a lot, I mean a lot. Things just feel right, we are entering a new decade I need to tell you, I’m stoked, things are looking up, I’m ready to commit to living LIFE!!! We just finished filming our latest CBC documentary for Land and Sea, the documentary is called “Winter Wave Riders” and it is all about these amazing surfers in Nova Scotia who surf all year round. Janine Stricklen, Nico Manos, and Leslie Choyce were featured. It inspired me to learn to become a better surfer, I need to be a daily surfer, and it’s in my blood. There’s a fellow named Fred Hemmings who was a world surf champion from Hawaii, if he has the Hemmings name and is a dope surfer, then why can’t I be? That’s enough motivation I would think! The show airs in March, and I’m excited to start editing.

So here’s the thing, many months ago I said that my post was the last of the “Airplane Journals” (which is the name of this blog. I mostly update this blog when I fly on planes). Embarrassingly it wasn’t my last post, I kept flying, and by habit I kept writing. I started this blog for two reasons, one to learn how to express my feelings and views of the time in words, and secondly to document my life so when I get older, and my baby Kaiya grows up, I can remember the adventures I had, and she can be inspired by them. What if I died today? I would not want to leave this world without my sweet and beautiful Kaiya knowing who her daddy was and what he was all about, that’s a great thing about words; once you write them they can stay for ever…I guess it’s a bit of a legacy thing. I have been very open in this blog, even though there are parts of this blog that discuss supposed taboos like my Christian faith, like my experiences with psychedelic drugs, like my innermost love for my wife and baby, my political views, and my unorthodox adventures.

As a business owner, many of my most trusted advisors and friends have cautioned me about writing too much truth about who I am in my blog. I can understand their perspective as there are some people, maybe some being potential customers, who are diseased with the same affliction that the American public has, the contagious disease called FEAR. People are fearful to express themselves, to express emotions, to cry, to love, to jump off cliffs, to live on the creative edge of life. I was tempted at one point to keep my blog private and not available to people who don’t know me, this was a result of me almost buying into the disease. I value authenticity. When I do business with someone, I need to know they are real. If a potential customer does not value authenticity, I don’t think I want to engage in an intimate working relationship with them, because my business is a business of Holy Spirit inspired creativity. The Creator Of All created truth, art, love and everything else north of the line that separates truth from darkness. Four Letters that form one word from I and I, L-O-V-E. Love is truth, and I try to be as truthful of a human as I can.

Thank you for reading my blog over the last few years. I am convinced that this is my last blog of the “Airplane Journals”. For now on I will be writing authentic blog posts on my company website at www.hemmingshousepictures.com. Go to the blog section. I promise I will try to stay true and authentic, life is way to short to live a lie. I want to BE, and I want to RESPECT, as much as I LOVE. To you the reader I urge you to celebrate truth, be creative, and if you don’t mind me referencing a popular bumper sticker “Dance like no one is watching”. Peace.

"Japanese Website Pirates Kardinal Sinners"

2009-12-20T20:52:00.002-04:00

Hey Friends, funny adventure in social media experimentation last week for us...because of Google Alerts we found a Japanese website that has pirated our premier episode to Kardinal Sinners (our TV series about professional wrestling). As an ironic revenge, I requested people on my Twitter network ( @HemmingsHouse ) to click on the site and write random jibberish. The results are hilarious!

We had over 50,000 words written in 24 hours, it went viral. So much content went on the site that it completely slowed their server down and they caught on top it and deleted our comments. Comments still are showing up, please do your part in supporting irony by clicking on the site, watch a few minutes of our show, then write a random piece of knowledge.

Here are some stats...

STATS FOR MOCO SILLYNESS IN ONE DAY:

How many comments? - approximately 252

How many words? - 49,525 words

How many lines? - 5,431 lines

Example of silly comments:

Biography of former Premier Frank McKenna

“Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto!” references

The Seventh Draft of Dune by David Lynch – December 9, 1983

Definition of a supernova

A series of courses in the program “Renaissance and the Invention of Modern Europe”

Dubious Advice from Copyright Lawyers

Appreciation of British Columbian natural beauty

Seinfeld style “Super Terrific Happy Hour” references

Application and assessment forms for government agencies

List of actors in a leading Finnish comedy film

Biblical texts from revelation

Instruction on the construction dynamics of Martello style towers

An advertisement for Snuggie™ blankets

Someones grocery list

Instructions for exiting Charles de Gaulle airport

A consumer complaint regarding Linksys routers

King Richard the Third

Definitions of Existentialism

Bathtub Gin!

“These are not the droids you are looking for.”

the Romanian Penal Code

"Gone Phishing - A few journals from my trip into nostolgia"

2009-12-02T22:15:00.007-04:00

Following is a collection of a few journal entries I wrote while connecting with old friends, old passions, and old vibes on a short 2 day Phish run.

ENTRY 1

Friday Nov 27^th, 2009

“The bus, Brian Borcherdt, a small bottle of wine and a Mac Book.”

SOUNDTRACK

Brian Borcherdt

“The Remains of Brian Borcherdt”

“What type of drugs are you on now, when you came here with your friends, danced till the morning came” – Brian Borcherdt

Brian’s music puts me into that place, the place that brings me down to a place of truth almost, that sounds far too pretentious, but its not…listening to his music is so sad and truthful, the builds the builds the builds. What can I say, it makes me want to hop on a bus and travel alone across the country with no destination in mind, just nighttime reflections on the inside pane of the window from the light of my computer screen as I write this blog post. The other side of the country is a million light years away on this bus, but Moncton is only another 2 hours, I have been on the road for 38 minutes and my pizza and travel bottle of wine are now in my bus seat traveling belly.

The bus has its downs and its ups, one of the ups is that I don’t have to drive; the other up is that there is a plug beside my seat to power my laptop. The real country is in the bus; the real country is in the train. Sucks that the bus is so hard on my ass, the train at least has the bar car, I had to pack my own wine on this short leg. VIA Rail, if you are listening, open up the lines! Get me from not only Halifax to Vancouver, but Halifax to Saint John, and then what about Saint John to Portland Maine to hop the new Obama train from Maine to Miami? From Miami I could take a rowboat to Cuba and get away from the race. The mountains the surf, the honesty.

The bus, Brian Borcherdt, a small bottle of wine and a Mac Book. In a few hours I will be waking up on a couch in Moncton, hoping in a cab and catching a 4:30am cab to hop into an airplane to pay a visit to New York, Albany fashion…

”HARRY! HARRY! HARRY, Where do you go when the lights go down?!?"

ENTRY 2

November 28, 2009

“Bouncing Around the Room”

Moncton – Toronto – Albany

SOUNDTRACK

Emmylou Harris

“O Evangeline”

My bus arrived in Moncton last night around 9pm, Tidby picked me up and we joined Moncton’s Progress Group fundraiser at St. James Gate. The fund raiser was based on beer sales, so I had a beer, I am these days a 97% red wine drinker, 2% Scotch drinker, and 1% beer drinker…weird, I do love beer, but that’s the way my jib is cut these days I suppose.

After a late night I grabbed a few hours on Tidby’s sweet girlfriend Jocelyn’s couch. I woke up this morning at 4 am to make my 5:30 boarding time, made the flight, fell asleep, woke up at YYZ. I’m off to Albany New York today (to reach way back to one of my roots of inspiration from an age gone by). I’m hitting a couple Phish shows! I used to follow Phish a lot; I was what some could call, a bit of a Phish head. After the band took a handful of years broken up, they decided to regroup and now they are tour again reviving a touring culture that is probably younger than the one I was involved with, and my assumption is that there will be harder drugs on Shakedown than back in my day (I am old now see.) Oh to do a documentary on this culture! Hmmm, I could call it A Head’s Tale maybe?

Usually when I hit the American customs officers at the international airports it’s a painful experience, they in many cases are very insecure people who were bullied all of their child hood. Typically the power trips get them really excited and they ask you questions that imply a certain guilt, I’m not sure what their real motive is? Well if its validation by having a teaspoon of power, then I guess it works for them, floats their boat almost. I have so many stories of funny interrogations! Not the least of them was when the prick face security official in Caracas Venezuela stole my Blackberry phone when we were filming El Sistema.

I get in line, I am very tired, I see American flags, armed officers, no smiles, I think to myself…”ok, here we go, what am I going to be made to feel guilty about this time?” I decided not to B-S where I was going, I was going to tell them I’m heading to a Phish show. Usually at the border the word “Phish” is the secret code word for: “That hippy terrorist has drugs, get out the gloves, we’re going in to strip him of his manhood and send him back to the communist country of Canada from whence he came!” I was ready to take the risk because I’m just a real bad liar to be honest, I cannot tell a lie to a border guard without looking obviously guilty, so I just take the huge risk of being honest.

“Good Morning” me says to the stern looking African-American border guard

“Where are you heading sir?”

“Albany” me says

“What are you doing in Albany?
“Going to hit a Phish Show” me says smugly

“BOUNCING AROUND THE ROOM!!!” She yelps!

Mrs. Border guard is a Phan!!! Ha ha, she told me that her kids take her to Dave Mathews shows. My faith was renewed that not all border guards are insecure annoyances, God bless America eh?

Live music has always stoked the fired in my soul to live, love and be creative. It is clear the God’s great spirit drives around in music to touch as many souls that held within bodies with ears open to hear. Music and my work has always been synonymous, everything I edit together has a strong soundtrack inspiring it, even if it doesn’t end up in the final edit. It is very exciting for me to tap back into what used to inspire me so much, the live show surrounding by such a unique culture.

I will be seeing Phish in Albany tonight, then joining my old pals Chris Gorman, Andrew Butler, and Bruce Devlin on the road trip to Portland Maine where we will see another show Sunday night, Monday morning I need to hitch a ride back to New Brunswick with my other beautiful friends Ryan and Beth Edison, this is a reunion of reunions really, these are the friends that are friends through music. I need to get back Monday night to Moncton to be there for our DVD release party of the NBYO and Matt Andersen DVD. Its going to be a busy few days me thinks.

ENTRY 3

November 28, 2009

“November November!”

SOUNDTRACK

Matisyahu

“Fire of Heaven / Alter of Earth”

Jewish Orthodox Jah Reggae, “One pair of eyes, but see 2 different things, one person cries, while the other one sings.” Matisyahu fills my headphones as I fly somewhere over upstate New York. We are flying in one of those ooober small Beech 1900 planes, I am pretty much in the cockpit with the captain and co-pilot, there are 4 other people traveling in what I am trying to pretend is my own private jet. The plane is very small, and we just broke through the clouds, ALWAYS my favorite experience while flying, coming up out of a dreary and grey day through a puff of white and then into a land of sunshine with billows of marshmallows and white cotton candy below! Its interesting I just took a few pictures out the window, the propellers are obviously rotating at a frequency that doe not align with my I-phone shutter! Very interesting patterns, you might say that the propeller is PAL video, my camera is NTSC, and my tired eyes are SECAM!

Change of musical grooves, The Sea and Cake are perfect cloud skimming songsters. It has been a busy month man, wow. Of course Jess, Kaiya and I moved cities for a few months we are back in Saint John, New Brunswick until February, great to be back home…maybe now I can watch our Chris Cummings music video with new perspective!

After enough travel to fit a lifetime for little Kaiya, when we got back from Vancouver I decided not to continue the travels with Jessica, but rather stay home and be a single dad for a bit. Jessica had conferences in Chicago and New York City, both fantastic locations, but I really needed to dig down and restructure the company. The times are tough in the industry right now, no one is working, no broadcasters are buying, its grim. The HHP team got together in October on the LaHave River at a rented farmhouse to drink some wine, jam some tunes, hear some strategic speakers, and figure out our future. We decided to keep being world class production players, but to re shift the business model to a contractor base instead of salaried employees, this will fix a lot of cash flow, and help us all in the long run get paid to do what we do best, create and tell people’s stories.

We had a great few screenings of Melting lands this month, one of them was at the Imperial Theater, very cool…basically it was a film night featuring all of Hemmings House Pictures. The marquee on the front of the Imperial read “NB Film Presents GREG HEMMINGS”! ha-ha, I was blown away! We had a great crowd, and we even had the honorable Lieutenant Governor Grayden Nicholas join us with Minister Ed Doherty and a four hundred other interested documentary fans! We screened our new demo reel, Papikatuk, El Sistema promo, and of course Melting Lands. All of the money raised went straight to Romero House food bank and kitchen, we raised about $1600. What a buzz!

A few days later I headed up to Freddy beach to the opening screening of the Silverwave Film Festival. Jeff Wheaton of SIM Video and myself had the chance to sponsor the night’s activities including the after party. Jeff and I got up and said a few words before the film American Sunset played. My bros down at the Postman (Marc Savoie and the lads) did a bang up job on the film, only great things for their company in the near future. I couldn’t stick around at the party for very long, Steve Nickerson of Rapid Mind Solutions, Terrie Riedley of Revolution Strategy and I needed to blast down to Alma for our monthly business strategy camp out with the Wallace McCain Institute. This program truly is a great expansion, it stretches and connects, breaks down and builds up, all on a lake and log cabins. After 2 days of “growing up” in the woods, I scooted back to Saint John to see my beautiful wife (I hadn’t seen her in 10 days). The next morning I drove back to Fredericton to present Melting Lands as the feature documentary for the Sunday series.

As it turns out Melting Lands won Best Documentary at the festival! And not only that, our short film called “Julie’s Story” won the honorable Errol Williams Award! (please click on the link to read about NB Filmmaker Errol, he will be missed). Julie’s story was a commissioned short film funded by an organization called “Healing and Cancer”. They are a group whose mission is to empower cancer patience to find healing in as many ways as possible. We recently filmed another one of these short films, the next one is called “Andrew’s Story”. We had a few other films in the festival, my brother Mark’s film “

Japan

” was another nominee and did really well. We screened Papikatuk, and forgot to submit “King Brand”, not sure how we forgot that film, oh well, next year right? Canadian Geographic just called me yesterday, they want to feature Papikatuk and Melting lands next month in honor of the International Polar Year. Lots of fun and great HHP evangelism opportunities popping up!

A few other cool notes, we just received the final DVD package for our Jessica Rhaye DVD, its beautiful on the inside and out. We recently filmed a new concert DVD for Matt Andersen at the Phoenix, we filmed a concert DVD for John Campbelljohn in Halifax, and we are still rockin' on the “Sistema” front. The story is developing in front of our eyes! I film as much as I can, but we still do not have a broadcaster on board for this VERY relevant film. Want to invest in it??? We just filmed the Moncton Sistema kids receiving their real instruments for the first time, VERY touching.

I was able to also attend the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for excellence in the arts; this took place at the Governor’s mansion, what a gorgeous building! Great to see my NB Arts Board Members and of course the Lieutenant Governor Nicholas again. I also got to eat fantastic food and drink red wine at this event, this was all prepared by my good ole pal Robby “Hegar” Egar, the Lieutenant Governor’s personal chef! Great part about this is that not only am I taking a selfish “Greg time” vacation this weekend to see Phish, so is Rob, well deserved breaks from the race I must say.

I’m about to land in Albany, The Shins just popped into my headphones, the cloud line is approaching, back to the dark and dreary day, goodbye sunshine! The wind is crazy because the plane is being thrown all over the place, it feels like I’m on a carnival ride. If I land alive (haha), my friend Penny (who I haven’t seen in over 10 years), Chris Gorman, Andrew Butler and Bruce Devlin will meet me in Albany to help me transition myself back into a care free parking lot Phish head once again, if only for two nights! GOTTA JIBOO!

ENTRY 4

November 30^th, 2009

“Phish – Albany to Portland”

SOUNDTRACK

Elisapie Isaac

“There Will Be Stars”

The chair I slept on last night was actually more comfortable that I thought it would be, maybe I was that tired? The Grateful Dead was blaring on my buddy Chris Gorman’s Stereo until about 7am. The Moncton Fryballs were all down in Portland to see the Phish show, and everyone ended up at Chris’ place afterwards, yes the party went all night. One hour after the music shut off and the place was lined with sleeping bodies, I packed my backpack, grabbed my chunk of Parma cheese, and started hiking in search of coffee. Portland is a great city, it has the charm of New England, the sea side appeal of Halifax, and the blue collar – meets – underground artistry of Saint John New Brunswick. My beautiful friends Beth and Ryan picked me up outside the coffee shop around ten after eight; I got into the car and crashed hard. I was very happy to get a ride so early because I had to pick Kaiya up from the baby sitters by 4:30, get her home, then drive straight to Moncton for our DVD release of the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra and Matt Andersen. The event happened earlier tonight at the Delta. I got up and managed to gather the energy together to do a speech, show a few clips of the DVD and socialize with a glass of red before booting it home to finally get some sleep in my own bed.

How did my Phishing trip go? Well after the turbulent landing in Albany Chris and Butler picked me up at the airport, it looked like they were still wired from the Albany show the night before. “It’s gonna be a shit show” I thought to myself. In the end it wasn’t, (am I growing up?!? I hope not!). We spent the day watching South Park and drinking a few beers, this is something that I literally haven’t done in years, I know that sounds unlikely for me, but seriously, I am on the go so much, to stick around a hotel room all day on a Saturday doing absolutely nothing is a complete novelty to me. I was happy to see my friend Bruce Devlin also in the hotel room, as there were 3 dudes in one room I decided to rent my own room for a good sleep after my first Phish Show since “IT” in Maine, maybe 5 years ago?

Let’s rewind a few years back to 1995, well I guess that was almost 15 years ago! Dang! I was in my first year of university at UNBSJ. I met a life long friend in art class, Shannon Armstrong. Shannon introduced me to her good friend Jason Tippet, the three of us became inseparable. We would climb building roof tops, see music, go on road trips, anything and everything, including tenting on the side of the 401!

One thing we ended up doing a few times was hitch hiking major trips. I remember hitching through Southern Ontario on the QEW, the 401, and the country roads down to London Ontario and across the border into Michigan, Pennsylvania, Vermont and back home. Hitch hiking was just a thing I used to do back then. In fact I hitched to Florida a few times with a buddy of mine, we ended up sleeping in the dunes on Clearwater Beach for a few days then getting back home to Welland in time for class to get back into session after a week long march break.

Man those adventures are littered through my younger years. Maybe sometime I will be able to write more about these days of hemp necklace selling, sidewalk food cookin’, music festival goin’ care free adventures of days gone by. One of the hitchhiking adventures Shannon Jason and I hitched to a Christian music festival somewhere in Pennsylvania. We didn’t have tickets, but after selling our goods outside the gate, we raised enough money to buy tickets and get in. At this festival (I can’t remember what it was called) I met a young girl wearing a Grateful Dead long sleeve shirt, her name was Penny. We became really good friends and were in touch for a few years, I took her to her first Phish show…Clifford Ball. As years went by Penny and I lost contact, this was before the days of Facebook, email was pretty much a new thing for me at the time as well. We wrote letters, talked on the phone for a few years, but then life goes on. Of course 15 years later, when I finally give in to join Facebook, Penny and I reconnect! I was so stoked to be in contact with her again! As it turns out Penny makes a lot of very cool clothes and patchwork blankets and dresses. She made one for baby Kaiya…very special.

Penny called me and told me she had an extra ticket for Albany 2^nd night, and this is why I ended up there. Chris, Butler and Bruce chilled at the hotel, and I went to meet Penny and her husband Mike to check out Shakedown Street. Penny and Mike had dresses, patch work pants and hula hoops to vend on the parking lot, I was more than happy to take it all again, it has been years since I took time to enjoy Shakedown. The “phatty” grill cheese, the fingers in the air looking for miracles, the sweet smell of ganj in the air, the police politely asking people to keep their drinks in cups…the sub culture always intrigues me. I am getting old now it seems, ha, Penny and Mike have 4 kids, I have a career and family that keeps me rockin the straight oath, partying and seeing shows non stop is only a memory for me now, but what a trip to get back to it.

The show was stellar, I drank more water than I ever had at a concert before! Ha-ha, seeing Phish completely sober is awesome! Ha-ha. We danced our asses off, highlight for me was the “You Enjoy Yourself” closer and the vocal jam. The show was great, I was in the best company in the world, Chris, Penny and Mike…what a perfect night. It was really sad to say goodbye to Penny and Mike, but a friendship has been revived, and for that I am excited.

After the show we got back to the Days Inn, the whole second floor was a big after party, I snuck into my room and went immediately to sleep…where do they get their energy? I think I know the answer. We got up early for a 4 hour road trip across the Appalachians into Massachusetts, New Hampshire then Maine. Chris has been living in Portland for a few years, so we headed to his house. It is the first of December and it was so warm! Chris let me take his Harley out for a ride…it felt sweet to get back on the hog…I get the motorcycle itch every once in a while, this helps!

When I drove the Harley back to Chris’ place, a driveway full of New Brunswick Fryballs greeted me with an Alpine beer! How incredibly loyal! A good crowd of old friends hung out at Chris’ before the show, we had a campfire, drank some wine, played some guitar then hit the Cumberland Civic Center for another stellar Phish show. At the show I bumped into so many old friends that I haven’t seen in years, following live music was my identity back in the day, lots of old “family” were here, it was just nice. Shakedown afterwards was filled with Burritos and way too many garlic grilled cheese, but were they ever good! The Party at Chris’s place went all night, I crashed as early as I could so I could meet Beth and Ryan to get a ride home to as I said earlier, pick up baby, drop her off to Jessica, drive 2 hours to Moncton, release our NBYO DVD, then drive back to Saint John to write this post…time for sleep, tomorrow is the H1N1 clinic...time to get stabbed.

"Nova Scotia Open to the World article with Greg Hemmings"

2009-11-20T23:36:00.009-04:00

This has been an abnormally great year for free publicity! I have ZERO marketing dollars for HHP, so I am always stoked to have some press opportunities. Recently I have been featured in three differencet magazine publications; Nova Scotia Open to the World, Halifax Magazine, and Innovations Magazine! Take a read, if the words are too small just click on the image and it will expand!

"Article about PARTY CULT HOST beginnings of Hemmings House Pictures in Halifax Magazine! haha!"

2009-11-20T23:22:00.011-04:00

Very cool, Halifax magazine published a pretty major spread about what we are doing at HHP and where our roots were at Acamac. If anyone wants to know what Acamac was, ask any cabbie in Southern NB...its where Hemmings House Pictures was born, a place where working hard so we could play hard was our code, I would never consider myself a "party cult host", not even sure what that is! haha, but its funny and I'll roll with it! If the magazine scan is to small click on it and it will expand. I didn't crop any of the ads out, sorry, just no time!

"My Arctic Adventures in INNOVATIONS MAGAZINE!"

2009-11-20T21:58:00.008-04:00

Innovations magazine hosted a few pages from this very blog! Here are the scans! If you want to read more check out the original blog entry HERE and more about my arctic travels HERE. Hope you enjoy, if the words on this scan are too small just click on the photo and it will expand!

"NBYO / Matt Andersen DVD Blues on the Boulevard DVD release party!"

2009-11-20T11:04:00.007-04:00

Hemmings House Pictures is kicking out the jams this year with great concert DVD releases from the Jimmy Swift Band, Matt Andersen, Jessica Rhaye, Thick 'n Thin (Ross Neilson / Matt Andersen), New Brunswick Youth Orchestra, and more in the pipe! Please come join the celebrations as we release our latest concert film for the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra!!! This film features Matt Andersen and Les Muses! For a tease check this clip.

http://vimeo.com/6699503

Matt Andersen New Brunswick's Matt Andersen has a larger than life showmanship that has been earning him a fervent and steadfast audience wherever he graces the stage. Matt's sprawling blues, roots and rock musical hybrid with his sorrowing and soulful voice has sparked a phenomenal buzz.

The New Brunswick Youth Orchestra A recent winner of ECMA 2008 Classical Recording of the Year, has been described as “one of the best Youth Orchestras in Canada”. They performed for Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II and on the most legendary of stages in New York City, Carnegie Hall. In July 2005, NBYO performed and recorded the program Virtuoso Italia, at the Auditorium Paganini in Parma, Italy. And in July 2007, NBYO completed a tour of China.

Les Muses This female vocal quartet has captured everything good in music and song. They were met with enthusiastic appreciation wherever their love of music has taken them; from Acadie, to Québec, Ontario, Louisiana, as well as France, Belgium and Switzerland. From 2000 to 2005, they presented well over 500 concerts and today, although the quartet no longer exists, they still get together for their annual Christmas concerts and are delighted to reunite for the NBYO’s fundraising concert. Isabelle Bujold, Nadine Hébert, Monique Poirier and Isabelle Thériault make up this dynamic group. Their great love of harmony, words, and beautiful melodies, has helped these four young women to effortlessly evolve into a unique style that makes their songs come alive.

“RIP MAC TONNIES”

2009-11-19T22:51:00.019-04:00

October 22^nd, 2009

"Godspeed Mac Tonnies!"

I was saddened to hear that my friend Mac Tonnies, a legend in UFO research, died of natural causes, man he was so young, only 34. I read the news HERE

A while back we were shooting a series for Vision TV about the paranormal; one of the episodes was about life on other planets. You can read some of context earlier in my blog HERE and also HERE

The host of this episode was UFO researcher and respected blogger Mac Tonnies. Man we had some great times on the road, he awkwardly fit in with the film crew just perfectly as us filmmakers are just as up in the stars as the UFO community are! Mac Tonnies introduced me to Twitter, I remember driving up to an astrological observatory atop a mountain outside Laramie Wyoming, he was leaning out the window taking a picture of me filming him, he told me this was for his twitter. I had no idea what he was talking about, but as the man was far more in the future and ahead of the times as I ever am, Mac introduced me to social media phenomenon that wouldn’t take real grip for another 12 months! Unreal!

Check out some of Mac’s blog about our trip together HERE as well as HERE

Check out Mac’s blog about our time at the University of Wyoming at our visit the SETI Institute HERE

Check out the video trailer for our show “Supernatural Investigator” with Mac as the “Life on Other Planets” expert HERE

Check out my friend Mike MacDonald’s blog about Mac’s passing, Mike was our director for the episode, check Mike's post about Mac HERE. Also referenced from Mike MacDonald’s blog, check this:

Here's a link to Radio Misterioso. Paul Kimball,

Greg Bishop, and Nick Redfern remember Mac Tonnies.

Smart men talking about a wonderful guy.

Here are Mac’s internet homes:

http://www.mactonnies.com/

http://posthumanblues.blogspot.com/

Mac you made an imprint in my life buddy! I wish I kept the drawing we did together, I know you said you were going to hang it up in your apartment. Be at peace on the other side my man!

Mac and I both drew this picture on the paper table cloth of a random bar in Laramie, this was moments before the Jagger, Mac never drank alcohol, so he was very kind to drive us back to the hotel.

This was our Twin Peaks ballroom moment! Agent Cooper joined us for Cherry Pie soon after.
Meal together on the road somewhere outside Denver?

We made it to Haight Ashbury, Mike and I ended up in the bar asking folks where the Grateful Dead house was, but decided to just stay in the bar instead of continuing our search, Mac wondered the hippie mecca taking photos of the interesting people and places of the area.
Mac did not drink or smoke, but for the camera an unlit cigarette ended up in his mouth.

Mike MacDonald, Steve Outhitt, Mac and I.

A composite ooglie and punch!

I think this was Santa Ana California the night of our filming at the SETI institute.

Our fearless producer Jenn Adcock, me and Mac.

Please take the time to read some of the links I posted about this amazing guy. If you knew him please post links in the comments section.

“ #VIFF and the Rheos ”

2009-11-19T21:46:00.007-04:00

October 15th, 2009

Vancouver

Picture: "Califonia Dreamline"

Sound Track:

Artist – Rheostatics

Song – “Claire”

Ahhhh, sweet Claire…that takes me back a few years, it must have been 1992 when the Paul Quarrington’s book “Whale Music” was made into a feature film. Of course all the Rheostatics fans of the world were stoked to find out that the Rheos would be recording the soundtrack for the movie. Of course the irony of this is that the Rheos released an album a few years previous named “Whale Music” in homage to the book! So yes the Rheostatics have two record releases by the same name! Two very different albums, and two very fantastic albums. “Clarify me, Clarify me Claire, C-L-A-I-R-E confide in me!”.

Here is a random question, how does the Rheostatics relate to Purolator Courier? Great question! A fantastic artist named Scott Guigze many years ago took a picture of me filming the Rheostatics at the Evolve Festival. It was a shot of my on the hybrid dolly filming Martin Tielli rocking on stage.

The photo ended up back in Scott’s art studio and many years later (6 months ago or so) a friend called me from Ottawa telling me that he saw an art piece at an exhibit and I was in it! I thought this to very cool, so I contacted Scott to see if I could buy it, he was very happy to send it to me, but now many moths later Purolator has closed the account because they lost the package…no compensation, just a “sorry we lost your piece of art, oh well!”. This isn’t the first time Purolator has boned me, I bought a DVCAM deck for $2500 USA, it got here mashed….they gave me $100 and said sorry. Wow. Anyway, this blog is not about the Rheostatics, Purolator or DVCAM Decks, this blog has everything to do with my trip to Vancouver!

Jessica, Kaiya and I are on yet another flight together across the country, travel is non stop. We just spent a few days in Van because Jessica had a medical conference and I tagged along to be a daddy sitter, have a couple meetings, seeing some friends and hitting the Vancouver Film Festival. I got to see my friend Raj Panikkar’s film, it was fantastic…I got to watch all of it with baby Kaiya until the last 10 minutes when a loud crash happened in the film and woke Kaiya up and she screamed. Ha ha, it was hilarious, no one in the theater knew there was a baby in the back row…I dashed out as fast as I could. I try to take Kaiya to as many things as I can, she made it through 2 hours of films at the Atlantic Film Festival the night they screened Papikatuk, she did great, I assumed she would here as well, she did pretty well however. My friend Emily Davidson joined me for that film, then joined me again later that night for the film festival closing night party, it was wild. My other great friends Erika and Miller (the models as they are known) joined us with one of their other actor friends, it was a night of Bollywood and red wine.

I love Vancouver, the last night before we had to go home I hooked up with one of my favorite people in the world Sarah Hedar, Sarah is an awesome editor in the city, and she was my “trailer” mate in film school. Yes Sarah and I were so broke in film school that we ended up buying a motor home for $800 and lived in it for almost two years parking it in vineyards, orchards, and friends driveways. Every time in rained or snowed there would be multiple leaks through the roof, and our propane furnace didn’t have a fan to blow the heat around, so instead the furnace casing would glow so red hot that you could almost see through the metal, if the motor home wasn’t so water logged, I’m sure it would be a lovely fire hazard. This motor home was named Ethel. In fact to bring this all the way back to the Rheostatics, Sarah and I painted a scene on the side of the motor home of the two of us on a beach with palm trees. On top of our portraits were the words “California Dreamline”, Rheostatics fans would appreciate. One more random Rheostatics moment now that I’m on the topic, no wait two more…

Where were you the night Princess Diana was killed? I was at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto standing beside Tragically Hip’s very own Gord Downey as a pumped audience was breathing in the Rheostatics vibrations “Do you get the urge when winter comes!”. Above the stage was a small TV that probably typically has the “game” playing on it, only this night it was a closed captioned shock to me as Tim was singing “It’s a bad time to be poor”…Princess Diana was just run over by a jackass paparazzi, what’s with our pathetic culture…why do we give a damn about seeing a picture of celebrity doing every day human things? I guess Diana’s real killers were the billions of grocery store line up tabloid magazine cover addicts.

The Evolve Festival filming of the Rheostatics was never edited. We shot 6 cameras with a killer dolly wide. James Shaw from Red Fish Audio multi tracked the whole show as well. Problem is I haven’t found the time or money to edit this together, or to get James to do the audio mix. I should let the Rheostatics know we have this raw footage. Maybe someday we can put it together. That would be awfully nice. “No matter who you vote form, you always end up with a king, bon Bob, do do do do, Peas and Rice”.

"Riversongs and Melting Lands press release"

2009-10-20T12:40:00.011-03:00

2 fun press releases!

Hello friends, family, and all of the incredible people! Next week is a fun week for Hemmings House Pictures and I would love for you to be a part of it! Following are two press releases

1) Riversongs - Our latest TV output for CBC's Land and Sea, airing this Sunday at 12:30 pm...hope you can watch and be reminded of how incredible the St. John River is!

2) Melting Lands Screening - Hon. Hédard Albert, Minister of Wellness, Culture & Sport, and the Hon. Edward Doherty, Minister for Supply and Services, and New Brunswick Film are stepping up to help us share our film Melting Lands. Check the trailer here. We will be screening this at the Imperial Theater in Saint John Thursday Night October 29th. Proceeds to go to Romero House. Social gathering after the film to be held at Happinez Wine Bar. If you miss this screening you can check it at this year's Silver Wave Film Festival in Fredericton Sunday Nov. 8, 2:00pm at the Charlotte Street Arts Center. Check the festival here. Please read on, we would love for you to all watch our show on Sunday and come to our screening on Thursday!

If you could do us the favor of passing this along to anyone who you feel would be interested, add it to your Facebooks, Twitter it, get a megaphone and yell it, whatever it takes! ha ha. Have an AMAZING week! I just moved back with the family to Saint John for 4 month, I'm stoked to be back! Greg and Hemmings House Pictures team.

“River Songs” (for CBC Land and Sea) Saint John, New Brunswick, October 19, 2009 Hemmings House Pictures in association with CBC Land and Sea is proud to present their Land and Sea episode, “River Songs”. Singer/songwriter Brent Mason takes a journey down the Saint John River to reconnect with the people and places that inspired his album 'River Songs'. Through a compelling fusion of music, stunning scenery and lively conversations, the Saint John River is brought to life. Brent's journey begins at the banks of the Saint Mary's Reservation in Fredericton, continues on to the Black Loyalist settlement of Elm Hill then winds downstream to Evandale, home of one of New Brunswick's cherished cable ferries. From here, he continues his canoe trip to Indiantown in the north end of the city of Saint John, following a historical portage route which leads him into the heart of the downtown. Throughout this journey, music is the connecting thread with songs such as Elm Hill Blues, Woolastook and The Angel of Acadie, spotlighting the lives of the the many generations of people who have lived along the banks of the Saint John River. Executive Producer Greg Hemmings is excited that 'River Songs' will be the first show kicking off the new season of Land and Sea. This is the first year that Land and Sea has outsourced production to outside production companies, so to have the lead off position is an honour and we are thrilled to have had the opportunity to contribute to such a well respected and loved show. River Songs can be watched on CBC Atlantic on the following date: Oct. 25 12:30 (AT) CBC main network

NEW BRUNSWICK FILM SCREENING SERIES Hon. Hédard Albert, Minister of Wellness, Culture & Sport, and the Hon. Edward Doherty, Minister for Supply and Services cordially invite you to attend the screening of New Brunswick’s Hemmings House Pictures Inc. “Papikatuk” (5 min.) and “Melting Lands” (52 min.) Thursday, October 29 @ 7:00 p.m. Imperial Theatre 24 King Square South Saint John, New Brunswick In lieu of an admissions fee, cash donations to Romero House welcome. Greg Hemmings, a Saint John film-maker, won First Prize in this year’s Commonwealth Vision Awards at a ceremony held at the Commonwealth Club in London. The Vision Awards, open to filmmakers under 35, across the 53 member states of the Commonwealth, is now in its eighth year. This year’s prize was presented by Lord David Puttnam, the Academy Award winning filmmaker. Hemmings’ entry “Papikatuk,” looks at the effects of climate change and cultural transformation in a small community in the Canadian Arctic region of Nunavik. It is narrated by a young Inuit boy named Papikatuk. “Melting Lands” is a documentary that explores the affects of Global Warming to Inuit peoples of the Canadian northern Nunavik community named Kangiqsujuaq. The documentary revolves around Inuit villagers; hunters, elders, and fishermen and even takes the cameras under the sea ice at low tide filming the tradition of under ice mussel picking. Check the trailer here.

"Postcards from Greg Hemmings #26" Avontuur - 4 Parts

2009-10-15T21:19:00.005-03:00

My Adventures on the Avontuur
In memory of Captain Paul Whalen

August, 2004

Sail Away Captain Paul

PART 1

It all started at the Tidal Pool in Saint Andrews in 2001. To make a legendary story very short, I met a wonderful woman dancing beside me at a Hot Toddy show named Charlene. After having some conversations with her as Tom and Joel laid down their sweet danceable blues rhythms, she told me about a good friend who was a Dutch sailing captain that lives in the Caribbean. Captain Paul Whalen was his name, and he was one of the very last independent sailing cargo ships in the world, his ship was called “Avontuur”, such a fitting name considering the global adventures she would have experienced in her lifetime being sailed to all corners of the world. She was a steel hulled 120 foot gaffed rigged schooner.

Charlene told me that Captain Paul was looking for crew. The rest of the story is a major part of what has made me who I am today. A few days later I was on a plane to begin an adventure through the Caribbean and South America that would inspire me to become not only the documentary filmmaker I am today, but an adventurous lover of living. Captain Paul recently passed away and has sailed upwind to his next avontuur. I can not think of any other single period of my life that was more self-realizing for me, and more shaping than my time on the Avontuur. I took this picture 3 years after my time sailing with Captain Paul. I was visiting the island of St Maarten, where I had lived for many months as my home port back in 2001. With no surprise the grand ole ship was moored in the Marigot Bay. I saw Paul on the docks. It was like seeing a great uncle who I hadn’t seen in a while. He took me back out for a brief visit on my old home on the water, this was to be the last time I would see Paul and his ship together again.

In honor of Captain Paul I will be submitting 3 more postcards from my adventures with him in the South.

Avontuur Part 2

“Montserrat”

After a month of getting the Avontuur ready for the next cargo run through the Caribbean islands, and South America, we were finally ready to set sail for my first time since I flew down to St. Maarten. The night I flew in I was picked up by a Dutch pirate who rowed me in his dinghy from the airport out into the Marigot Harbor. What was I doing here? Was this guy a drug runner? Arms sales? Or was he just a regular Dutchman keeping a dying industry alive by ocean currents and wind? I honestly didn’t know, but I was very excited to find out. As it turned out Captain Paul was not in any illegal trade business, he - now we - were in the business of using the wind to transport tones of goods around the Southern seas.

Paul has been sailing cargo on the Avontuur for well over 30 years all around the world. The crew was my good friend Jayme Fougiere from Hampton, Charlene Hamley from St. Andrews, and a crew drifter from Holland named Marcus. Jamie took this picture of Marcus and I on the bowsprit as we de-rigged the jib sails before entering the port on the volcanic island of Montserrat. We were delivering salt cod, freezers and believe it or not, a pick up truck on this trip. When we landed and unloaded, Jayme and I explored the island and I got a great photo of the volcano that in 1995 buried their city of Plymouth under a lonely expanse of harden lava. This was the beginning of a great adventure!

Avontuur Part 3

“Suriname Sail”

It took us a little over a week to sail from St. Maarten, passed Barbados, East of Trinidad, Venezuela and Guyana, until we reached the great Paramaribo River; the front door of the country of Suriname. It was amazing to me the morning we arrived how the crystal clear green water so quickly turned deep brown as we approached the outflow of the muddy river into the warm South American Atlantic. We sailed up river until we found a mooring just outside the tropical jungle city of Paramaribo. We were here to load a very special and selectively cut wood from a mill that custom cut planks for wooden boat builders in New England.

After a long day of loading tones of wood, my good friend and crew mate Jayme and I found ourselves on a rickety old cargo truck that was filled with women and children who would sell their produce in the city. It was the end of the day so they were all getting rides back up to the mountains where their villages sat. Jayme and I had no idea where we were headed, but 4 hours later we were dropped off at the end of the mud road line. We were told that there would be no other way back out of the jungle until the morning. We hiked up a mountain, then at nightfall found an old bus that we found shelter in for the night before we found a way to get back to Paramaribo where Captain Paul would no doubt be wondering where we disappeared to. The sounds of jungle animals and critters make it difficult to have a peaceful sleep. The screeches of monkeys and the buzz of bats were soon drowned out by the sound of a small generator coming from a shack in the distance with a single light bulb and a group of musicians jamming reggae tunes in the distance brought peace to me knowing that where ever I am, there’s a probable chance that there are good people close by.

Avontuur Part 4

“Homeward Bound”

July, 2002

Simon & Garfunkel wrote the beautiful song Homeward Bound which played continuously in my head during the last week as crew on the Avontuur. It’s not that I was excited to leave this wholesome life of hard work on the seas, I was just excited to get back home after being away for months. My friend and crew mate Jayme took this picture of me the day after we outsailed a hurricane that hit the Grenadine islands pretty hard. We were sailing north from Suriname to Martha’s Vineyard to deliver another load of wood for a New England wooden boat builder (this was a regular delivery route for the Avontuur). The plan was to drop me off on the island of St. Vincent where I would say goodbye to the Avontuur and crew, and say hello to my best girl who was doing a Crossroads International term on the island assisting at medical clinics. Of course that girl was Jessica, now my wife.

We had no communication on the Avontuur, the last message Jessica received from me was from an internet café in Paramarabo many days earlier. Jessica was expecting me right in the middle of a mmuch anticipated hurricane. The storm hit, and there was a lot of damage on the island. I never showed up. Captain Paul made the decision that we had to sail through the storm and keep on track to drop me off at a safer port where I would have to get a flight back to Canada. I wasn’t going to be able to see Jessica, and I couldn’t get a hold of her to tell her I was safe. Jessica, as I found out later, entertained the worst of scenarios.

Looking at this picture I can still feel the mixed feelings I was having that day; the adventure of a lifetime was coming to a close, we just got out of a major adrenaline-inducing storm, I was about to say goodbye to my crew and captain, and Jessica not only wasn’t going to see me, she had no way of knowing that I was ok. Three days after this picture Captain Paul dropped me off on the island of St. Maarten. I said goodbye and flew home to start a series of lifelong adventures. My time on the Avontuur, though extremely hard physically and mentally, was probably the single most important time of transition in my life which has led me to be who I am today. Thanks Captain Paul, your legacy will continue to stay alive in my life as I avontuur around this amazing world we live in, much like you did!

"Postcards from Greg Hemmings #25" Kite Flyer

2009-10-15T21:17:00.002-03:00

July 10, 2009

“Kite Flyer”

Photo Credit: Greg Hemmings

My brother Mark and I climbed to the top of a large hill to take pictures of the sunset over the Atlantic Ocean. The view is spectacular over the body of water that crashes against the rugged cliffs of Ile du Havre-Aubert, Quebec. The wind was very powerful, the view was awe-inspiring, and the sunset was one of the most vivid I have seen in a long time. Mark brought a small kite with him up the hill to show me his new talents, and I must say after a day of practice he has become a pro kite flyer! I took this picture as I experimented with different setting on my new Nikon D-90. I didn’t manipulate the picture in Photoshop at all, the colors I caught with Mark’s kite flying silhouette are as close to the real view as a camera could capture. Capturing moments in time, like this quick slice of my brother playing with the wind, is what makes photography so magical.

"Postcards from Greg Hemmings #24" Very Expensive Scotch

2009-10-15T21:16:00.004-03:00

“28k Scotch” - Bologna Italy

July 28^th, 2007

I must apologize for the poor quality of this photo, it was taken with my cell phone and is the only proof that this incredible story actually happened! Tonight we are dining at a country side family restaurant, about an hour drive outside of Bologna. Italy. My camera man Al and I are sipping on one of the world’s most expensive scotch whiskies. The bottle comes from a batch that was produced specifically as a gift for Prince Charles and Diana’s wedding in 1981. The batch was comprised of a blend of the 1948 and the 1961 MaCallans. (1948 is Charles’ birth year, and Diana’s was 1961).

This morning Al and I where filming an episode of Planet Luxury. Our assignment was to film as much as we could about a Whisky collector named Guiseppe, who lives (and drinks) in Bologna. Guiseppe showed us his collection of 9000 bottles of fine and rare Scotches…I am sure not one bottle was a penny less than a thousand dollars. In his back warehouse he has another 40,000 bottles of whiskies that he trades so he can grow is collection…yes my mouth was watering all day!

After a laborious day of filming what many would consider a fine-drinker’s paradise, Guiseppe turned the key to his limited edition red Ferrari Super-America. Al and I hopped in our Fiat rental and attempted to keep up with Guiseppe as he drove like a madman through the winding and narrow Italian country side roads. This is where he brings us to where we are right now…living the true Italian experience at one of Giuseppe’s mafia-like family restaurants. Dinner was compliments of the chef. I never in my lifetime would have imagined that a plate full of North Italian, $1000 per ounce truffles would ever end up on a plate in front of me!

The highlight of this whole day, and the reason that I am writing this postcard is that Guiseppe just cracked open the Royal bottle of golden dreams. He elegantly poured Al and I a glass…we asked him how much the bottle was worth. Giuseppe purchased the whole remaining collection of this batch of Scotch for $28,000 per bottle! I was speechless. The three of us drank more than half of the bottle (cheers Princess Diana!). Maybe Guiseppe will let me drive his Ferrari home….no wait, according to my math, we each just drank Four Thousand, Six Hundred and Sixty Six dollars at Sixty Seven cents worth of Scotch! I’ll take a cab.

"Postcards from Greg Hemmings #23" Evolving Xavier

2009-10-15T21:14:00.004-03:00

July 18, 2009

“Evolving Xavier”

Photo Credit: Greg Hemmings

It amazes me that it has been 10 years that the Evolve Music festival has been bringing good musical vibes to the country side of Antigonish, Nova Scotia. It was also 10 years ago that I was using free internet in the public library of Hamilton Bermuda when I first read online about the first Evolve Festival. Bands like Grand Theft Bus, the Jimmy Swift Band, The Great Balancing Act and Fat Tala would joining many more bands and DJs for 3 days of musical bliss and dancing in the sunshine. I emailed Jimmy Dorey, one of the organizer of the event, that day from the Bermuda library asking him if I could come film the festival, he said yes. A month later my friends Chris Gorman and Randy Cable (RIP) and I packed the trailer with gear and a video camera and went to shoot what would become my very first documentary; REVOLVE. It’s fun and slightly embarrassing watching this documentary now, but it really helps me realize how much I have evolved as a filmmaker, and as a person in the last 10 years. Saturday night I took this picture of Xavier Rudd on the stage at Evolve (moments before I was politely asked to get off the stage!). For those who don’t know Xavier’s music, do your self a favor and check him out (www.xavierrudd.com), he is one of the truest musical artists that embodies the word and spirit of Evolve. I took this picture of Xavier as he was singing

“I want to be free now,
Oh, free to see,
Want to walk away, oh oh
Let me feel my feet
Let me be, free!”

If you want to learn more about my friend Randy's story, check this video we did in his honor.

http://www.vimeo.com/4648277

"Postcards from Greg Hemmings #22" Art of Reflection

2009-10-15T21:13:00.004-03:00

June 23, 2009

London, England

“Art of Reflection”

Photo Credit: Greg Hemmings

I am writing this postcard as I fly home from a great week in London, I love that city! I was there as the recipient for the Royal Commonwealth Society’s prestigious Vision Award for one of my short arctic films called “Papikatuk”. The day before the award I was exploring the shops and scenes around Oxford Street when my travel mates Gary and Allen spotted this particular art dealer store front. I was pleasantly surprised to have accidently taken my own reflected portrait as I attempted to capture the little clay people climbing the ladder. I saw the small characters climbing to be set free into the upward universe as they reached the top! I need not to go into detail about my “reflections” of this interesting piece of art, but I will say that after studying it for a few minutes I realized I needed to take a photo to remind me continually to climb life’s ladder until the natural forces allow me to fly!

"Postcards from Greg Hemmings #21" Magdalen Photo Class

2009-10-15T21:09:00.006-03:00

July 18^th

Magdalene Islands Photo Class

Photo Credit: Mark Hemmings

My brother Mark is the photographer of the family, I am the documentary filmmaker. When we were visiting the Magdalene Islands last month, Mark took me to the top of a grand hill that overlooked the water way and sand bar (the Sandy Hook) that almost connects the Magdalanes to the only English speaking island; Entry Island. Despite its proximity to Prince Edward Island, The Magdalenes are a part of Quebec. This of course means the majority of the population (save for Entry Island) consists of a happy blend of Quebecois and Parisian French. The sandy beaches are some of the best North of the Carolinas, and the wind surfing, kite surfing, and sailing can not be topped in my opinion. I recently purchased the Nikon D90 digital SLR camera. Having a quality camera has inspired me to take photos non stop. Mark showed me some photographic tips that night that changed the way I take pictures. The best part of this story is that as I am entering the world of photography, Mark is entering the world of filmmaking. Two weeks ago his most recent film called “Japan” won viewers choice award at the Prince Edward Island International Film Festival. I reckon I ought to start taking some award winning photos sooner than later!

"Postcards from Greg Hemmings #20" Caraquet Nets

2009-10-15T21:06:00.002-03:00

June 28, 2009

“Caraquet Nets”

This year I have the honor of serving on the New Brunswick Arts Board. As an entrepreneur whose business revolves around the art of filmmaking, I want, and need, to support the growth and awareness of all arts in the region. We recently had our board meeting in Caraquet, one of New Brunswick’s best kept secrets. Driving the coastline from Shediac, through Buctouche, across the Mirimichi River, up to Tracadie and then Caraquet makes me wonder why our province is not the tourism destination that it should be. If you want true maritime charm, meet some of the friendliest people in the world, and drive by picture perfect landscapes, then take the time and explore this part of our province. New Brunswick is often overshadowed by the other eastern provinces in many ways, especially in the world of tourism. We as a province can change this, but we first need to know and experience the gems of this province first hand ourselves. I encourage you to plan your next vacation, road trip, or adventure in your own backyard. You will not be disappointed. I took this picture on the fishing warf in Caraquet, a town that drips the true Maritime Province experience!

" Your Check is in the Mail! - Southern France "

2009-10-14T22:35:00.005-03:00

Sept 28^th, 2009

Cannes France - Halifax

“ #MIPCOM ”

Sound Track:

Artist – Wilco

Song – “Deep Down”

I am flying somewhere close to Iceland back across the Atlantic after a bit of a cluster F-bomb of a trip to Cannes. Sometimes I wish I could just jump out of the plane and see where I would land, would I land in the ocean? Possibly the Faroe Islands? Reykjavik maybe? Greenland? Newfoundland? Wilco is always a great blogging soundtrack, that reminds me of Quentin Tarantino actually…I was recently listening to the Coffee House channel on Sirius Satellite Radio and Quinton was doing a guest DJ spot playing all the tunes that he listened to while writing his latest screenplay “Inglorious Bastards”. It was funny hearing that one of Quentin’s favorite channels is the Coffee House, its such a chill channel as its name implies. If there is one thing that Tarantino is brilliant at, it is his amazing ability to choose the fucking best soundtracks for his films. I have always appreciated that about his films, however I am not the biggest fan of the ultra violence that he throws up on the screen, but I do respect his work rightfully so. For me, the best part of the editing experience is the marriage of the most divine music to the perfect images. Sometimes when freestyle editing I chose a random song, throw it in and it just works, the pictures is to the rhythm, the emotion is created…that’s divine editing.

Before I go into my random ramblings of my trip to the old world, I have to let you read my latest postcard that I just wrote before this post. I will be posting the postcard itself very soon.

October 3, 2009

Postcards

“Papikatuk Enroute”

I am currently flying somewhere above the French Alps on the way to Nice France. Typically I use my time while flying writing journal entries for my blog that I appropriately call “The Airplane Journals” (www.greghemmings.com), and when I am not writing I browse through the Air Canada onboard television channels. Today marks a real fun milestone as I was just able to watch one of my own films on the screen. Air Canada has a film festival called Enroute Film Festival that features short films from filmmakers across the country. My short film “Papikatuk” was chosen as one of the finalist so I just had to take a picture of the screen for the novelty of it all. You can check the film out and vote online at www.enroute.com. Once I land in Nice I will take a bus to Cannes where I will be trying to sell my television content. It is a great satisfaction to see my own productions on the air, and as I have just witnessed, the icing on the cake is when I get to see my productions in the air!

So if you want to watch Papikatuk, go to http://enroute.aircanada.com/films/en-index.html and PLEASE vote for it! I may win a lease for 2 years on a car! OOOOOH! Very fun!...Ok, back to my blog…

This was my 6^th time to Cannes for MIPCOM. I think it will be the last for a while. It costs me so much money, but it’s a catch 22, the TV industry of the world meets there, and when I’m not there I feel like I am missing out on the world. This of course is not true, the world actually keeps going and I am able to be aware of its direction whether I spend 10K every 6 months or not. To be brutally honest, I just love travelling to the Mediterranean, drinking red wine, swimming, absorbing French culture, great parties, and well yeah I guess the business part id pretty stellar as well. Its not being brutally honest I guess, there is nothing brutal about that, except for the fact that my credit cards seem to bleed every time I get sucked into the MIPCOM vortex. I had a great one this year for businesses, some movements on El Sistema, a sale or two for Melting Lands, and a strong expressed US interest for Kardinal Sinners.

This time Andrew Tidby, Alistair Meux , Cindy D’Orsay, John Wesley Chisholm, his wife Leanne and two kids Emily and Jack and I rented a mansion up in Cannet, a mountain side suburb of Cannes that looks over the city and the bay. When I say mansion, that’s what I mean, this place was sick…the swimming pool was the perfect temperature, yes I felt like I was living the life of Vince and the guys of Entourage (without the half naked women though of course!). It was great.

After a week of “bidness” with a touch of late night disco parties and midnight Mediterranean swims, Tidby and I rented a car and hit the mountains like we did last year…only we were missing Matt Webber and Gene Fowler this time. A lot of the Canadian production contingent didn’t go this year, you want to know what’s brutal? Its our Canadian TV industry, its bleak man, no one is buying, I am investing my whole professional life and career in one of the most unstable industries. If you are looking at getting into the TV world in Canada, do yourself a favor and wait a few years…right now it’s a great way to spend your hard earned cash! Things will change I hope. So our road trip up the winding roads was of course breathtaking, the cliff side 17^th century towns, the mountains, valleys, rivers, old world culture, it was all there. We ended up driving so far up a mountain and the road got so thin and unworn that we were literally driving on a grassy goat path until the car would not go any further. We ended up at only a few scrappy remains of an old castle. We were hoping to find the castle that we found last year but to no avail, but we did find something almost as cool. Magic hour was upon us and to be honest we were getting a wee bit peckish! We were winding up this mountain that would eventually lead us to Nice, the hopes of finding our last year’s castle were on our minds, we were determined to open a bottle of wine when we found it and live if only for 10 minutes the life of Santiago from the Alchemist, or of Paulo Coehelo’s other brilliant book “The Pilgram” (which I have only gotten through 10 or 11 pages of...I will finish it one day I promise!).

About 15 minutes up the winding road from the town of Roquebilliere-Vieux heading South towards La Tour, I pulled the car over to the side of the road… remember these are French Alp roads that have no guard rails and are so thin that 2 cars can barely share the same paved real estate without one falling hundreds of meters off the Cliffside to a fiery demise (oh so dramatic!). I stopped the car because there was a small sign that said Aubergerie Du Campo. We were hungry so we pulled over, there was a VERY small area where we could park the car, but there was no restaurant in sight. We went over to the sign and realized that there was a long and steep path that led down the cliff face down through lush vegetation to a small building with no other access. So old world. We went down and ate and incredible French meal with great French wine and French cheese that was so old and strong that I can still smell it on my fingers…uggg, yeah.

The view off the terrace where we ate was ridiculous looking over the valley with the raging Riviere St. Jean flowing past mountain cliffs with multiple waterfalls lining its river sides up hundreds of meters. Yes it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever eaten. The topper? When we asked to pay with credit card he said no, then handed us a pre-stamped envelope with 8 Euros change…change for a bill I hadn’t paid for yet! He said he has been feeding people for 17 years and has billed them with an envelope since the beginning with 100% success. Basically if you don’t have cash you go home and when you can afford to pay the meal, a week later, a year later, whatever, you pop in cash in the envelop and mail it to him! CRAZY!!! And he tried to give us change! Ha, I said “no keep the change for a tip for goodness sakes”. I can’t believe how trusting this guys is, he will be getting more than the bill when I send him payment I know that for sure…hey maybe that’s his experiment, I bet he makes more money that way because I do believe that deep down the majority of people on this earth are honest people. What a trip!

As Tidby said as his Facebook status:

Greg and I just had dinner in the French Alps. When it came time to pay, the chef (as he cooks and serves the food), gave us an envelope with the bill, and a mailing address and told us to mail him the money! The reason: "When you eat my food,... I do’nt want you to think of the cost". AMAZING!

So what made this trip so anxious for me? Well I had to leave Jessica and Kaiya alone and Jessica had become a single mom….again. We had some visitors at our house in Halifax when I was gone…unwanted guests of the rodent variety! So in the middle of the night Jess and Kaiya packed up and moved to a hotel for a week, and I was across the ocean feeling horrible. But that’s the risks of being a traveler. Our family travels a lot together, and I want to do that as much as possible because travel is fuel for my soul, but not at the expense of being with Jessica and Kaiya. Lots of stretching life lessons as a new father. I love Southern France. Almost back home now. When I get there Jess and I have 2 days to pack our whole house as we are moving to Saint John for 4 months, after our packing job we drive to Saint John to hit the airport and fly to Vancouver together…ahhh travelling with my girls, that’s way better than red wine and Mediterranean adventures any day!

"International Polar Year Film Festival & Riversings CBC"

2009-10-14T21:29:00.003-03:00

Sept 28^th, 2009

Halifax – Ottawa

“International Polar Year Film Festival”

Sound Track:

Artist – Phish

Song – “You Enjoy Myself”

I am on the airplane flying from Halifax to Ottawa, You Enjoy Myself (ambient jam) is playing on my headphones, my beautiful wife Jess and sweet baby Kaiya are sitting beside me to join me on my adventure to the capital city of O-Town, it’s a good day. I have been invited to screen our film Melting Lands at the International Polar Year Film Festival. When my Italian partner Federica and I first came up with the idea to shoot a documentary in the arctic we both could never have imagined that not only would we end up finding a way to shoot the film but also that it has been given such an honor at prestigious film festivals like this one, to be held at the Canadian National Archives and Gallery.

When did I travel last? It must have been the trip to Ontario for our road trip, this flight and the one home will be Kaiya’s 6^th time on a plane, and she is only 18 months old! More travel for her soon, Vancouver in a few weeks, Chicago, then New York City, I’m sure we will get South at some point as well. This weekend I fly to Southern France after my sessions with the Wallace McCain Institute to hit Cannes for the 6^th time in 3 years for MIPCOM. The time has come where I need to start making a proper income in television, sadly you have to spend tens of thousands of dollars to make this happen by attending events like that, oh well, can’t complain too much I guess.

Last week we shot a very cool episode for CBC’s Land and Sea. All about one of my favorite places on Earth, the St. John River. We based this river doc after singer song writer Brent Mason’s album entitled “River Songs” which gives homage to this great and beautiful river. Basically we spent a week on the river with canoe, motorboat, car and ferry to capture the essence and the spirit of this infinitely giving resource. We shot scenes at the St Mary’s First Nation’s reserve as they built birch bark canoes, we filmed at Jemseg where there was an old de-commissioned cable ferry, we hit Queenstown which is one of the most beautiful riverside communities North of the Mississippi, then Elm Hill which was one of Canada’s first black settlements, then down river to Evendale to spend a few nights at the Evendale Inn for live music and rhubarb wine with a cable ferry backdrop, then a paddle past Nerrapis through Grand Bay to Indian Town, then portaged over the Reversing Falls via the Harbor Passage to the mouth of Saint John harbour at Fort Latour. Keep an eye out on CBC and you will be able to see what I’m writing about!

This is a stellar version of You Enjoy Myself….how soon do I forget how incredible the band Phish is…I haven’t seen them in years, I miss the tours, the shows, the campgrounds, the balloons?!? Haha. I have had 3 tickets for this summer’s tour and wasn’t able to make any of them, I must say however its so worth it that I did not get to go on Phish tour because I need and want to spend every spare minute with my sweet Kaiya…gotta have Kaya now (thanks Bob). Since baby has come to bless our lives I have put a lot of stuff on the back burner, and its all good. Having a baby completely changes a man for the better; Kaiya has brought me joys I can’t find words to write.

Back to the bass…(if you wonder why I always say that when trying to focus myself, then look back a few years and get to know the band Fat Tala…the bass the bass the bass….back to the bass…it makes sense and is easy to type. Now that I’m back to the bass I am reminded that this post is about our tip to Ottawa, oh yeah…we landed in Ottawa, got into out sweet suite, invited my main boyz from the old skool Mike and Mike, as well as Mike’s lovely wife Tammy and sweet little baby Madeline, Madeline was born a couple weeks before Kaiya..they will best friends and dangerous together I am sure when they get older!

Had a great night with the extended friend-fam and then went to sleep, dreamt a little bit then woke up, hit the mall of all places then screened my film that night! Melting Lands was the last feature of a 3 day film festival; it was an honor to be there. I introduced the film and had a question answer period after, Mike and Mike showed up, as well as one of my other old skool friends Mary McFarland and my Cruise Ship friend from back in the day Jamie. One of my favorite people and marketing guru Kim Houlahan had lunch with us and also showed up at the screening, its so great to have such supportive friends! Check out Kim’s blog here http://fanaticalsabbatical.blogspot.com. I also met up with some other stellar arctic filmmakers for drinks after, great conversations and great local beer.

My computer battery is about to die..Bouncing Around the Room is surrounding my skull taking me way back to memories of carefree summers! Gotta run!

"ECMAs drop DVD Catagory - We are sad"

2009-08-23T09:46:00.005-03:00

August 23, 2009

I was disappointed to hear that the East Coast Music Awards are dropping the DVD category from their awards slate. As you all know music is our passion, filming is our love, and filming music makes us feel like we are on cloud 9, it's what we do best!

Here is an email I just sent to our friends at the ECMA's. I really do appreciate all the ECMA committee have done, thjey put on a stellar conference, I've been going for years and always look forward to it! But like I said, I am a bit disappointed. The much anticipated hurricane has just begun in Halifax, so I'm gonna blog before the lights go out! haha.

Hi there ECMA friends!

Hope you are bunkering down for a windy day!

I have copied a group of artists and management that we have worked with over the year into this email, I am however only speaking on behalf of myself and my company Hemmings House Pictures.

I was disappointed to hear that the DVD category has been dropped for this coming ECMAs. Our company has filmed hundreds of bands over the years (and have filmed the ECMAs for the last 5 for Aliant.net) and this year we have invested heavily into the local music scene by producing very high quality live concert DVDs for artists of note,

By the time ECMAs happen, we will have released the following for 2009

1) The Jimmy Swift Band - Live from the Marquee (Dolby 5.1 Surround)
http://www.vimeo.com/2774795

2) Matt Andersen and Ross Neilson - "Thick and Thin" (Imperial Theater SJ)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuoO3u0muaQ&feature=PlayList&p=F7127DA54D6F3EEC&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=4

3) New Brunswick Youth Orchestra featuring Matt Andersen (Live at the Moncton Wesleyan Celebration Center)
(In the edit suite as we speak, looks amazing!)

3) Jessica Rhaye " Good Things"
http://www.vimeo.com/2081606

4) Matt Andersen "Live at the Phoenix"
(filming in October)

OTHER RELATED PRODUCTIONS

5) Sam Roberts
http://www.vimeo.com/1085099

6) Kings of the East (Breakdancing)
http://www.vimeo.com/5194605

7) Chris Cummings (Welcome Back Video)
http://www.vimeo.com/1983987

And to see a much larger selection of our previous years work, check
http://hemmingshousepictures.com/hemmings/1184/Music

The artists have invested a lot of money into these projects, and we have invested alot of in-kind time, we would have loved to have the opportunity to showcase these projects and put them in the running for an ECMA. Is there anyway we can get that award back for the industry awards?

On another note, we still want to showcase these products and let people know we exist and can produce high quality live concert films. We may look into renting a room at the Delta and get a projection system or something of that nature and invite the industry in to check out soe of the films. Who would I contact to arrange this?

Thanks so much!

Greg

--
Hemmings House Pictures Ltd.
www.hemmingshousepictures.com

HHP HALIFAX
1660 Hollis St, Suite HS1
Halifax, Nova Scotia
(001) 902.422.6466 X 219

HHP SAINT JOHN
115 Prince William
4th Floor
Saint John, NB
(001) 506.642.0872

Twitter: www.twitter.com/greghemmings
Blog: www.greghemmings.com
Skype: greghemings
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/greghemmings1

"Summertime! Thats it... just summertime"

2009-08-21T23:25:00.013-03:00

August 8, 2009

Toronto – Halifax

Soundtrack: War

Artist: Sinead O’Connor via Bob Marley via Haille Salassie The first (Ras-Tafari)

(Google search Sinead O’Connor vs. the Pope. Follow that up by watching her version of Bob Marley’s “War” (a song that Bob wrote based on the speech of King Salassie of Ethiopia, asking the world to help stop war in Africa, starting by the end of Italy’s bullying tactics against the weakly armed country). Sinead is now on the top of my hero list, thank you Sinead for standing up….get up stand up! Down presser man!!! Where you gonna run to? You gonna run to the rocks, the rocks will be melting, you gonna run to the sea, the sea’s gonna be boiling, you gonna make your bed in Hell, I’ll be there….Down Presser Man!

Heres the link for the SNL clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5SRwuo3fOk

Here is the clip from the Bob Dylan tribute concert where she was thrown thousands of voices of hatred towards her. This brings tears to my eyes, so powerful

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCk2YQS8vaw

Soundtrack: The Dead Flag Blues

Artist: Godspeed You Black Emperor

All I can say is buy a Godspeed Album, turn off the lights, turn on your noise cancelling headphones and BE PREPARED.

Back to the bass

Jessica, Kaiya and I are enjoying the benefits of a successful upgrade certificate on our flight home from our Ontario adventure. Kaiya is feeding from the bottle, Jessica is being lovely as usual, and I am thinking about some of the things that has gone down of significance since my last post. A lot has gone down, this is a quick flight, how do I go forward? Point form usually works pretty good for me! Typically I like to write a blog in a narrative, but I am on such a short flight segment, and the wine is going down quite smoothly, business class wine is far superior by the way. Man I am a flight snob…Air Canada did this to me. Funny, last night we were at the KOA campground in London Ontario and we met up with my dear ole travel friend Shannon Armstrong for a few drinks.

Shannon read my blog about my loss of the ole Elite Status, and she thought I was serious…”Greg how you have changed!!!”. I KNOW Shannon from countless adventures hitch hiking around Eastern Canada and the Eastern States, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Lorneville! The usual! Ha ha. Anyway, I am going to blast through this past month...here we go…

· Caraquet – NB Arts Board Meeting

Jessica and Kaiya joined me the day I got back from London on an amazing road trip to Northern New Brunswick so I could attend to my duties as a board member of the NB Arts Board.

New Brunswick is one of the most freakin beautiful provinces in Canada…and NO ONE KNOWS IT! Why does Nova Scotia get all the praise and glory? Yes Nova Scotia has great beaches, but so does New Brunswick, and I’m sorry, East Coast hospitality in NB would win in an arm wrestle against East Coast hospitality in NS any day. We had a great Arts Board meeting, the arts in New Brunswick are alive and well and REVOLUTIONARY!!! There is a sentence that I like to repeat in my head from time to time, and the NB Arts world fits well with it…”Lets just fucking do it!’. There should be no barriers in creating art….if its money, lets provide the artists with money, if its inspiration, well we have plenty of it to share, if its market presence, lets FORCE our communities into supporting the arts, checking out gallery hops, going to a local pub to see a band, checking out the local theater...WE HAVE THE POWER…Lets just fucking do it!

Jack Kerouac Quote

When we produced the Grave Concerns episode about Jack Kerouac we got in deep with the family and friends of one of my favorite authors, and certainly one of America’s most profound adventure writers. When Brent and I were drinking a brew at one of the local brew pubs, we ended up chatting with the family doctor of one of Jack’s childhood best friends; Billy K. Billy K has a nephew named George who is a musician and producer who is working on a project that I can not disclose any info on at this time, but its about Jack and his relation with George's uncle Billy. George honored Brent and I with the request to provide a quote to be written that would last the test of time. The quotes would be on the packaging of the up and coming tribute media presentation I will await George’s consent to write anything else in detail. If you are a beat fan, and if Kerouac is one of your spiritual guides of travel, adventure, jazz, love and booze, then I am sure you will want to tune in as this project develops.

Grand Lake Visit to Krista Bishop

After our visit to Caraquet Jess, Kaiya and I tripped though miles of mid New Brunswick woods and finally made it to Chipman, the through to Grand Lake where we met up with both of our childhood / teenhood (respectively) best of friends Krista Bishop’s camp on the lake. A fantastic reunion of friends, of moms, of children. A jump into the lake for swim number one of the summer, then a 6 hour drive back to Halifax. Yummy.

NB Merit Award

WOW. New Brunswick Day is a day I am proud of, if you haven’t guessed it I am a fan of my home province. This year they honored me…the city of Saint John wowed me with an award in recognition of my input into the NB arts and culture scene, man, I must say, of all the honors that I feel I do not deserve, this is at the top of the list, but what an honor. Thank you New Brunswick.

· Fredericton Wedding of Vicky Scholten.

Big wedding last Saturday night in Fredericton. Vicky is one of Jessica’s med school running friends, There were a lot of amazing people there, the party was great, Kaiya loves Daft Punk.

· Wallace McCain Institute session 1

All you need to do is check out Wallace McCain Institute online and you will see what a ridiculously incredible program I have been accepted into. This program chose 12 other executives, CEOs and presidents of other NB and NS business to meet once a month for a whole year to share, to grow and to learn. That’s all I need to say, I want tow rite a whole book on my first experiences at the cabin in Alma NB lakeside, but we have vowed confidence. I will say no more, accept the fact that I am more excited about this adventure in business then of any other amazing and life changing thing that I am witnessing this year. Enough said.

· Magdalene Islands Adventure

As an entrepreneur it is near impossible to TURN OFF and take a vacation, well I did. Right when I said goodbye to the Wallace McCain crew I drove to Truro Nova Scotia, met Jess and Kaiya, hot the PEI ferry, drove to Souris PEI, the took the all night ferry to the Magdalene Islands, we arrives at 9 am to our rented house. We met my brother Mark and family, and Jessica’s brother Chris and family. We had a great week of beaches, kite flying, and relaxation. It was worth it I feel like I don’t care anymore, If my soul needs some time, I want to grant it. Check out this group of islands, its magical it’s very Sigur Ros “Heima”. Wild horses, big cliffs, big winds, WOW. Magic.

· Evolve Music Festival 10 years

After our week of R&R in Magdalene’s, Jess, Kaiya and I crossed the ferry again and ended up outside of Antigonish, Nova Scotia. We cruised into the farm land that occupied a few thousand music fans at the Evolve Music and Awareness festival. This was to be Kaiya’s first live music. We entered during Mishka (Jah Live!) and left after a sweet set of positive vibes from Xavier Rudd, our Australian Didge playing, good vibrations creatin’ spirit man! “I want to be … FREE E E E E E E! Let me be now! Let me be free, I want to be free!

· South Shore Pleasantville

Time off for one night, hanging with my family, my cousin Martha from the UK was here with my brother’s kids, drinking red wine on the La Have River reminds me of one week ago drinking quality beer on the beaches of Grand Bay when got to visit Anthony and Amy and their new little creation Samuel. What is life without rest? What is rest without inspiration. I would rather sleep under the sun if I was exhausted after a marathon then inside on a bed. Experience, adventure, unlike Kim Mitchell, I am not a wild Party I am a wild broken and predictable record.

· Rock Fest on Citadel

Hemmings House was hired to film this year’s Rock Fest in Halifax. Alistair had the full switcher set up under the stage as Sammy Hager, Chad Smith, Joe Satriani it the stage with their new rock’n’roll formation; Chickenfoot.. Rock on Farrell.

· RV Ontario Road Trip

Muskoka. The cottage country of Ontario is nothing but inspiring and life breathing! Jess, Kaiya and I rented a motor home and drove up to meet our good friends Raj Panikkar and his lovely lady Glynis (the baby whisperer!) We had a great relaxing time on the side of the lake, swimming, drinking craft brew and red wine. A true summer experience!

George Town. Jessica’s mom grew up on a farm in Georgetown Ontario. This place is amazing, its full of incredible artifacts and memories! We pulled the motor home up and camped beside the soy bean field that Jessica’s uncle John farms. This property in 2 years will be a new urban sprawl cookie cutter home development. Tis the cycle of life I guess on the upswing?

London. After our visit to Georgetown we cruised down the 401 to the KOA outside of London Ontario. Great times dealing with exploding motorhome sewage pipes and overflowing toilet water. Joys of motorhoming! Jessica’s brother Chris, Beth and family joined us as did my old adventurous friend Shannon Armstrong.

Ok, I’m sorry for the relatively lame blogging style (rushed and bullet formed), so much has happened in the last few weeks, I can’t believe I resorted to bullet form, but what the “H”, “E”, double hockey stick, time is a luxury these days…in fact I have such little time that I haven’t checked my Facebook inbox in 3 months….I am afraid,. Time time time,is not on MY side! Fire, fire fire on my mountain of my human existence. Talk soon!

“And the Vision Award goes to……………”

2009-07-05T21:10:00.012-03:00

June 25th, 2009

Soundtrack:
Artist: Amadou
Album: Welcome to Mali

Africa Unite! African music sucks the tears right out of my musically sensitive emotion filled head…what did Bob Marley do to me? Every time I hear Reggae I get shivers, now I’m branching out to the new wave of African vibes…CHECK THIS ALBUM OUT!!! Amadou is an incredible band that is on the edge of the new wave. The first song on the album reminds me of an East Indian meets African version of Metric with lots of Korg synch loops, mixed with a bit of Sigur Ros droney electric guitar waves. The next song “Ce N’est Pas Bon” is far more African with great vocals and K-Os style electric guitar. Sets the tone perfectly for this blog.

I am flying home now, I am somewhere close to Iceland. All I can say is WHAT A WEEK. Can I keep this short I’m not sure, let’s see where the spirit leads. I need to take a quick red wine break…mmm, wine out of a plastic bottle, classy and tasty!

When I arrived in England on Monday, my friend Gary Davis and I checked into the hotel. Gary is the father of one of my great friends Anthony from growing up. Gary is the vice chair of the Royal Commonwealth Society in Canada. He was the one who encouraged me to submit my film into the Vision Awards. The Vision Awards accepted over 200 films this year and mine made it to the top 3! Very prestigious award as it turns out! It is actually the most diverse global film award on Earth representing 53 countries, that’s way more than the Oscars or any other film award that I am aware of.

I spent the first few days exploring the city with Gary and his brother Allen, a very cool cat who works on the creative edge of Price Waterhouse Coopers. He designed a thing for the film industry tax credit system called the Big Table for Film and Television. I am excited to check it out actually! I hooked up a few meetings, one with ITV Channel 4 for Kardinal Sinners, and a great lunch meeting with Cineflix for possible distribution of Kardinal Sinners. I am holding this show close to the heart as we HAVE to find the right fit to champion this show for us. It is CRUCIAL that we take this show to the next level. I also met with Trevor Showler from Big Red Sky Pictures and his partner Oliver (who is currently a head of department on Ridley Scott’s current film “Robin Hood”. Trevor and I have met multiple times all by coincidence, starting on the elevator for the Supernatural Investigators Chaos Magick shoot in a hotel in Chicago. Elevator doors open, and there is a hallway of new doors to try to walk through,, this is what I love about life, choose your own adventure! As I mentioned in an earlier blog, we have Andrew working for Trevor and Oli right now on their garbage home show. Andrew is in Montana somewhere right now learning more than he ever learned before and probably getting his ass kicked as he is a one man crew. YOU CAN DO IT ANDREW!!! Thrown in the fire bro! We had drinks in the hipster East End and ended the night with Spanish Tapas in a market that I forget the name of, but it had the sound of “Spittle Market”, I know that’s not it, but check it out, its off Commercial street, can’t miss it!

So last night I show up to the Commonwealth Club for the awards dinner, it was riddled with fancy people! This was truly an honor of honors just being there. I had a chance to sit with some great people at my table, including the deputy high chancellor. Lord David Putnam who used to run Columbia Pictures, and who won an Oscar for “Chariots of Fire”, amongst many other films like “The Killing Fields” was our keynote and when he called me up for first place I was caught off guard! I WON! Amazing! The runner up was a fantastic animation called “Mooo Moo”. It was very tough competition! It was a great night, I was glowing. I was on CBC radio before the awards, and again this morning to tell of the great news of the win!

Here is the press release!

NEWS: Canadian wins 2008 Commonwealth Vision Awards

A Canadian film about Inuit boy’s views on climate change and cultural transformation wins prestigious Commonwealth film prize.

Greg Hemmings, a young Canadian film-maker, won First Prize in this year’s Commonwealth Vision Awards at a ceremony held at the Commonwealth Club in London . The Awards, open to filmmakers under 35 across the 53 member states of the Commonwealth, is now in its eighth year. This year’s prize was presented by Lord David Puttnam, the Academy Award winning filmmaker.

Hemmings’ entry ‘Papikatuk’, looks at the effects of climate change and cultural transformation in a small community in the Canadian Arctic region of Nunavik. It is narrated by a young Inuit boy named Papikatuk.

The second prize Pooja Pottenkulam of India/UK and Ambjorn Elder of UK/Sweden received the Highly Commended prize, for their joint entry in the competition, ‘The Boy Who Spoke Moomoo’, an animated and allegorical story, illustrating how according to reports by UNESCO, that by 2100 half of the more than 7,000 languages spoken on Earth may disappear, many without ever being recorded or documented, resulting in a wealth of knowledge about human nature, history, culture and the natural environment, also vanishing. Four other short-listed entries came from Uganda , India , South Africa and the United Kingdom .

Lord David Puttnam, presenter of this year’s Award, said:

“This innovative award encourages talent across the Commonwealth, with themes that provoke and stimulate creative films and to date, have helped convey the Commonwealth message in an exciting and imaginative way.”

Dr Danny Sriskandarajah , Director of the Royal Commonwealth Society, said:

“Greg Hemmings’ film is a poignant and beautiful account of how rapidly the world is changing, climatically and culturally, for communities around the world.

Greg saw off some stiff competition. This year’s entries showcase the best of filmmaking around the Commonwealth but also highlight the inspiring ways that young people across the Commonwealth are addressing the many challenges that face them.

Not many film competitions can boast finalists from Canada , India , South Africa , Uganda and UK – a testament to the diversity of the modern Commonwealth.”

Notes to Editors

The prestigious Commonwealth Vision Awards, launched in 2001, are jointly organised by the Royal Commonwealth Society (www.thercs.org) and the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association (www.cba.org.uk). Filmmakers across the 53 Commonwealth countries are invited to send proposals for a short film (3-4 minutes) on this year’s theme (‘Global challenges and the new generation’). A judging panel, chaired by Keshini Navaratnam (former BBC World presenter) and including broadcasting experts and representatives of Commonwealth organisations, commissions a short-list of films and a final top prize is awarded each year.

The Awards are supported by Warburg Pincus, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the British Council, the Commonwealth Foundation, and the BBC World Service.

The Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) is the oldest and largest civil society organization devoted to the Commonwealth. Founded in 1868, the RCS conducts a range of events and activities aimed at promoting international understanding. It is an independent registered charity that has its headquarters at the Commonwealth Club in London , some 5000 UK members and a presence in some 40 Commonwealth countries through a network of branches and Commonwealth societies.

Lord David Puttnam is one of the world’s leading film producers, whose credits include Bugsy Malone, Midnight Express, Chariots of Fire (which won the Academy Award for Best Picture), Memphis Belle, The Killing Fields and The Mission (which won the Palme d'Or). He was Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Columbia Pictures from 1986 to 1988. He was awarded a CBE in 1983, was knighted in 1995 and was created a life peer in 1997, as Baron Puttnam, of Queensgate.

The winning entry can be viewed at http://vimeo.com/4914156.

Photographs from the ceremony are available from Alice Kawoya (contact below).

The format for next year’s awards will change as they are to be included in the new Young Commonwealth Competitions being launched in 2010. More information and entry forms will be available from November 2009.

Contacts:

Alice Kawoya, Project Manager
Phone: +44(0) 20 7766 9206
Email: visionawards@thercs.org
The Royal Commonwealth Society
25 Northumberland Avenue, London WC2N 5AP
Reg. Charity No: 226748
Website: www.thercs.org

“GOT ME STATUS BACK!”

2009-07-05T21:08:00.002-03:00

June 25th, 2009

Soundtrack:
Artist: Tosca
Album: Hassle

I need to start this blog post by giving props to Air Canada (pardon the airplane pun). If you have been following my blog you would remember that I lost my Aeroplan Elite status. This means that poor ole Greg couldn’t get into the executive lounge, couldn’t get the free drinks, couldn’t arrogantly walk past everyone in line and have priority boarding, you know, all the stuff I used to be spoiled with. Well I did an experiment, and I think it worked…if you work for Air Canada and are reading this, and then I would like to buy you a beer!

I had a chat with social media guru David Alston of Radian 6 a couple months ago in Halifax; he was explaining to me exactly what it was that Radian 6 actually did. I know they are always on Twitter, and are true digital media renegades, but I was still not totally sure what their products were. David explained that they have a very edgy product that tracks info on the web similar to Google Alerts, but far more robust of course. For those who don’t know what Google Alerts are, check them out…if you are interested in seeing if anyone is writing about you anywhere on the internet, then you can enter your name in Google Alerts and you will get a notification every time your name is mentioned. Or if you were a company like Air Canada, and you wanted to know if there were bloggers bitching about loosing their Elite status, then something like Google Alerts would be very beneficial for you. Google Alerts is a very elementary product however in comparison to Radian 6’s product. I am not about to explain their product to you because I have no clue of what else to say, but if David Alston or any one of our friends at Radian 6 get a notification about my mentioning of you, please feel free to explain in the comments field in this blog! Let’s see this in action!!!

When I wrote that initial Air Canada blog, I made sure that I used tags that would help me make sure that someone from Air Canada would find the blog; I used words like “Air Canada”, “Maple Leaf Lounge”, “Aeroplan”, “Elite Status” etc. I was hoping someone from the marketing team at Air Canada would read it, feel pity for my case and re-upgrade me back to my sacred Elite status…hey don’t roll your eyes at me, this is serious stuff…when you travel, and have the privileges and the ability to go into a comfy room with comfy leather chairs, free scotch, internet, food and a shower, you can’t imagine travelling any other way! Can’t you see? Its like my brother Mark who was always an incredible snowboarder, when he rode out West in the powder fields of the Rockies, he had a very hard time snowboarding again on our dinky east coast hills. I can relate with him! Ok, I’m just being a spoiled brat, but I love travelling in comfort.

So what happened? Well I show up at the airport Sunday night, got to the ticket counter, and as it turns out I have my ELITE STATUS BACK!!! I don’t know how it happened but it did! The magical Aeroplan Fairy must have paid me a visit whilst I was asleep. I am impressed! I proudly walked into the Maple Leaf lounge, tipped my hat at the staff at the front desk and poured myself a glass of Port, brewed an espresso, and ate a pickle…breathe it in baby! I might not have this forever! I also got an upgrade to the blue lit “Tron”-styled comfy pod beds in first class, there is nothing like stretching out 6 feet and having a full nights sleep on a red eye. Out like a light after the stewardess welcomed me with a glass of Champagne.

I have a theory that some social networking savvy cat from Air Canada read my blog, and gave me my Elite status back….to that I sad “RAD!!!”. Thank you! Hey, if you are the Air Canada guy or gal who hooked me up, let me know in the comments area, I want to prove that tag words work. If Air Canada never did read my blog, then I think Radian 6 should give them a call and get them to read my blog and sell them their product…I can see the POWER!!! The power of communication on the web never ceases to amaze me. TARGET THAT MARKET!

"A week teeter tottering between provinces"

2009-07-05T21:05:00.006-03:00

June 21, 2009

Soundtrack:
Artist: Ziggy Marley
Album: Family Time

I am now going to start titling my blog entries with my journal writing “sound track”. Music in the air as I fly is the great seed that grows my madly scattered experiences into semi focused ramblings. Ziggy Marley just released an INCREDIBLE children’s album called Family Time. It is a fantastic album. You don’t need to be a kid to love this album; I can’t stop listening to it. There is a song called “Cry Cry Cry” which has lyrics that tells that sometimes Ziggy needs to go on long trips far away from his child…I can relate now. Travelling is part of my DNA, but wow I didn’t realize the emotion involved in having a baby and not being close to her. Baby Kaiya is the blessing of blessings truly a gift from the MOST HIGH!!! This blog post is in honor of her.

I am flying across “the pond” to London England now to go to the Royal Commonwealth Society’s Vision Awards for my film Papikatuk. Papikatuk is a film that came from the footage that Federica and I shot for our film called Melting Lands. It is now in the top 3 of a couple hundred film submissions, pretty amazing honor just to get this far. Oh, here is the press release that was in the Telegraph Journal:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New Brunswick Filmmaker is finalist for Commonwealth Vision Award
Saint John, New Brunswick June 17, 2009

Saint John filmmaker Greg Hemmings, of Hemmings House Pictures, is one of three finalists for the prestigious 2009 Commonwealth Vision Award. Competition for the award was open to filmmakers up to age 35 from 53 Commonwealth countries. Hemmings was encouraged to enter the competition by then-Chairman of the New Brunswick Branch of The Royal Commonwealth Society, Gary Davis. “I have seen the quality of Greg’s work and I knew he would have a very good chance in this competition”, Davis said. Hemmings’ film made the first cut to 15 in 2008, and then was selected as one of the final three in May of this year.

The Commonwealth Vision Award is supported by investment banker Warburg Pincus, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Commonwealth Foundation, the British Council, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the BBC World Service. The winning film will be broadcast nationally in the United Kingdom on BBC Channel 4.

The competition celebrates a different theme every year. This year it is “Global Changes for the Next Generation”. Hemmings’ film, “Papikatuk” was shot in the arctic. The narrator, Papikatuk, is an 8 year old Inuit boy who travels with his grandfather, Lukasi, and he learns the traditional ways of living off the land. Lukasi is worried that the world is changing so fast. He is afraid that he may be “teaching his grandson the wrong things to survive in this changing world”.

The Royal Commonwealth Society is an international educational charity. Working to inspire and engage young people, the RCS promotes understanding of the modern Commonwealth. As an educator, it encourages young people to develop their skills, to realize their ambitions and, to engage with key challenges facing the international community. It also provides a platform for leading voices across politics, media, the arts, academia and business. The RCS has 11 branches and a national office in Canada. Gary Davis is national vice-chairman.

Greg Hemmings has been producing documentaries for over 10 years in many parts of the world. “It is a real honor to have one of my films honored at such a prestigious event. I am very excited to represent New Brunswick in London this week”. The winner will be announced on Wednesday June 24th at the Commonwealth Club in London, England. Academy Award Winning producer Lord David Putnam (Chariots of Fire) will be keynote speaker at the event.
-30-

Contact: Greg Hemmings
Telephone: 902-240-6785
Email: greg@hemmingshousepictures.com
www.hemmingshousepictures.com

So let’s rewind a bit. A week ago we flew back home from Banff. Jessica and my little lady Kaiya did amazing on the plane.

Kaiya celebrated her 4th week of life in Banff, quite an accomplishment for such a young little angel. We got home Saturday. Sunday morning the three of us hopped into the car to head to our new church…the beach!

We still go to the Vineyard church, but lately we have been getting our coffees and cruising to some of Nova Scotia’s best sandy beaches for our own time of prayer, meditation and thanksgiving. We are so thankful that we are here and healthy and alive. Anyway, this Sunday we went to a beach called Crystal Crescent Beach. This beach is actually a collection of three sandy beaches. We saw a huge whale, listened to the waves, said a prayer of thanks, and Jessica fed Kaiya. On a side note breast feeding is a crazy experience, Jess is doing so amazing, but what a fully life changing experience. The responsibility of always being able to feed a baby at any random part of the day or night can be taxing. Jess has had to change her whole life to accommodate this and I am so grateful for this.

We decided to take a walk and explore the other 2 beaches. Beautiful little hike over a small boardwalk. We finally got to the third beach. I said to Jess, “babe, there is a naked guy over there!”, she didn’t believe me, she thought it was just a guy in his bathing suit, but it wasn’t…wait there was another, and another! We were on a nude beach! Ha-ha, it was hilarious! We had no idea this place even existed! The nudists were really nice engaging us in small talk. We sat down on the beach, and laughed at the experiences Kaiya has had since she was born in the last 4 weeks.

Kaiya has:

1. Experience birth “from the inside”
2. Kicked it back in the ole jaundice tanning bed for a few days
3. Hung out at the Economy Shoe Shop in Halifax
4. Had a late night back deck party hangin with a bunch of ma and pa’s friends
5. Went on major hikes
6. Flew to Banff
7. Went to a dance bar
8. Went to a nude beach
9. Travelled to Moncton for Awards event
10. Travelled to Saint John for a party in her honor

The last two points are the next part of my little blog post. The next day after our visit to the nude beach / church I had to drive to Saint John for the day, 4 hours each way. I went to pitch our services to a pretty significant client. We are hoping we can get the gig. I missed Kaiya so much I had to drive right back. The next day the three of us drive to Moncton because I was honored with the nomination for the New Brunswick Earnst and Young entrepreneur of the year award! We were VERY late, when we arrived to the Delta I walked through the doors and they just called my name to go up and accept my nomination certificate. Most of the HHP crew and my dad drove down from Saint John to be there in support as well! It is always touching to have such stellar support. Oh by the way we must welcome our latest members to the Hemmings House Pictures team!

1. My brother Mark Hemmings! (Yia Yia!)
2. Andrew “Beans” Embury (Hells yeah!)
3. Jenny McLean (Boo-ya!)
4. Greg Knudson (put your hands in tha air!)
5. Nicky Nuts Leblanc (wave em like you just don’t care!)

Jess and I drove back to Hali that night, we brought Lauchlan with us, he was heading down to New York with one of our fav ladies / actress extraordinaire Suzanne Hawkins. After a week end in New York City, Lock will be joining Beans and David Alston from Radian 6 to film and deliver a Radian 6 presentation that we all hope is going to seriously kick ass. Check out Radian 6 online at www.radian6.com they are leading the social media revolution, we are honored to be partnered with them to help produce for their video explorations and experiments in the new media playground.

While those cats are in Boston, Andrew MacCormack is in Montana filming for the Discovery Channel series that we are hoping to co-produce with my ole friend Trevor from the UK. If you go back in this blog to last summer when I was in Chicago and I met a guy named Trevor who worked for BBC, then I met him again in Washington at Realscreen, well this is the same guy. We sent Andrew down to New Mexico a few weeks ago to start filming this very cool show with them. The show is about a team of guys who build incredible homes out of garbage…wild! Andrew will be rockin it for a few weeks, when I go to London next week I hope to meet with Trevor again, hopefully over a pint in the East End!

I spent one day at the office on Thursday, I feel like I am neglecting our kickin’ office space at Power Post this summer, but I guess being busy is a good thing right? Thursday night we packed the car and headed back to the Delta in Moncton. The next morning I had an all day meeting with other New Brunswick producers and Film New Brunswick about the state of the industry. It was a production discussion. We don’t know where the future is, one thing we do know though is new media is now an integral component to the survival of content producers. After the sessions, Jess, Kaiya and I stopped off at Mark Savoie’s Postman studio, man Mark is doing great over there. Real fantastic spot, you should check out his new lighting!!! Great ambiance!

After a very quick visit we cranked the tunes, Kaiya pooped herself, we changed her, then drove south to Surf City Saint John for our 4:30 pm release party / screening of Airplane Journals! I can’t believe that we have almost seen the end of this project! We are so close! We had a great turn out at our new office, the new office is amazing! It’s huge and super cool. Great environment to work in, I look forward to when I move back to hang there, we have a kitchen, beer fridge, and balcony, everything you need in an office! It was very cool to see Airplane Journals again, we really have as a company gone a long way in a few years, in the film you see me start Hemmings House Pictures as one guy, to a much bigger and busier company. We now we have 7 full time employees plus a few other part timers and interns! Coach Dave from Vision Coaching has so much to do with the growth and success of our company, many props Dave and Vision!!! If you are in business and want to stretch, I highly encourage you to contact the coaches at Vision, great results! The adventure of growing and molding and stretching!

Diversion…there is an Indian family in the seats next to me as I write this blog post on the plane, they have a newborn, man I am changed! I need to get back home as fast as possible! I have 2 heart melting ladies awaiting me after this trip…

After a very successful night at Hemmings House world headquarters Jess, Kaiya and I headed back to nanny and grampy Hemmings’ place for a drink on the back deck (a place of good memories and peace!) and had an early night. The next day Jess and I looked at a new house and property up on Highland Road (I am in love with this house); it butts against my other piece of property which is the cliff face waterfront piece that runs up the Saint John River from Reversing Falls. I WILL turn that land into something one of these days!

We then my folks had a party for Kaiya at their place, lots of family friends, beers and cheers! Welcoming a new life can be overwhelming but it is so good to see the love of everyone and see the magic that babies have on adults! Kaiya has probably been in the hands of over a hundred people already, I don’t think that I am exaggerating! The next morning we made a father’s day breakfast that was HUGE and tasty then hit the road back to Halifax. We put in a lot of kms this week! Jess dropped me off 4 hours later at the Halifax airport where I met Gary Davis at the Maple Leaf Lounge to get ready for our red eye flight to England for a few days of meetings, explorations, and awards celebrations! ENERGY!!! I NEED SOME MORE!!!

This is a picture of me...yes I am going bald.

"Postcards from Greg Hemmings #19" Rockies Avelanche

2009-07-05T19:34:00.003-03:00

Telegraph Journal entry #19

“Rocky Mountain Avalanche”

Photo Credit: Andrew Tidby

Spring time in the Rocky Mountains is a magical time. There is still plenty of snow, but the sun beats hot, and all you want to do is take your shirt off and lay on the snow to get a tan just for the sake of irony. Filmmaker Andrew Tidby and I were hiking as far up as we could with our camera gear to film time lapses of clouds, mountains and sun positions. Despite the warm sun, it was quite windy and cool when we got to the point in the climb where we could go no further. As I was filming this panoramic view of the valley below, we were both startled with a sound similar to that of a giant bomb exploding a few hundred feet away. We both looked around surprised to see a massive avalanche of snow racing down the mountain side. We were almost too close for comfort, but the awareness of nature’s power was awesome. We hiked back down the mountain to where we our camp was set up for a good night’s sleep before another big day of mountain adventure!

"Postcards from Greg Hemmings #18" Barbadoes Cliff Jumping

2009-07-05T19:31:00.007-03:00

“Barbados Cliff Jump”

Telegraph Journal entry #18

I have always had a love for heights. Growing up I would constantly be climbing trees, hiking mountains, exploring roof tops of abandoned General Hospitals! My love for heights comes from my desire to see new landscapes, have new perspectives, and of course, have adrenaline rushes! One of my favourite summertime hangout spots when I was in high school was a place we called the Hole at Silver Falls on the East side of the city, close to the Irving refinery. Silver Falls has an incredible cliff that at its highest point measures about 30 feet. My friends and I would spend days on end jumping off that cliff into a very shallow pool of water at the bottom of the falls. I am sure that now at 200 pounds, jumping that cliff would lead to many broken bones! As an adult I seem to have tamed my lust for adrenaline. I was working in Barbados and found this incredible cliff on the East side of the island. Jumping off the rock face into the warm Atlantic brought back that thrill that I have not had since the days at the Hole.

"Postcards from Greg Hemmings #17" Banff Baby Iphone

2009-07-05T19:25:00.003-03:00

Telegraph Journal entry #17

June 10, 2009
Banff, Alberta
“Banff Business with Baby”

Photo Credit: Jessica Hemmings

Less than 4 weeks ago we brought our new baby Kaiya into the world, and since day one, she has experienced more in live than I probably have in all of year one of mine! Last week I had to leave her for 6 days as I was in Venezuela shooting a documentary. I ended up missing Kaiya (and my wife Jessica of course!) more than I had expected I would. When I arrived home, I convinced Jessica to fly out the next morning with the baby, to join me on my trip to the Banff International Television Festival. This way I wouldn’t have to miss my new little family! We made the 6 hour flight with out a peep from the 25 day old “filmmaker to be”. The conference was an interesting one this year. The traditional global broadcasting industries are falling apart before our eyes, they seem to be moving backwards as the universal digital space is taking major leaps forward. Jessica thought it would be funny to act like paparazzi and take this picture of me outside the conference at the Banff Springs Hotel with I-phone on the ear, and baby carriage on the hand. When people tell me that having a new born brings your life and business to a halt, I now can tell them that they aren’t trying hard enough!

"Postcards from Greg Hemmings #16" Venezuelan El Sistema

2009-07-05T09:26:00.005-03:00

Telegraph Journal Entry #16

June 5, 2009

Caracas, Venezuela

“El Caracas Sistema”

Photo Credit: Mark Hemmings

I brought my brother Mark and one of my crew Lauchlan Ough on my latest documentary expedition to Caracas Venezuela. Mark took this photo as Lauchlan and I were swarmed by excited young musicians as we rolled an interview on a brilliant 6 year old violinist. The documentary is about a revolutionary after school classical music program called “El Sistema”. This program has over 300,000 kids starting as young as two years of age. The children who are part of El Sistema are not only becoming world class musicians, but also world class citizens. This segment of the documentary follows Ken MacLeod from the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra, David Adams from the Saint John String Quartet, and David Hawkins from communications firm Couleur NB, as they explore how the Venezuelan government and private sectors support such a robust music program that creates such positive social change. The goal is to bring the “system” to New Brunswick. El Sistema has transformed the lives of so many children who may have otherwise had no opportunities in life. Poverty does not only exist in far away developing countries, it is right in our backyard in New Brunswick. Music has the transformational power to inspire and empower the underprivileged youth population in our province. Classical music sounds much sweeter to me today as I write this postcard in the Air Canada Lounge in Toronto reflecting on this amazing week of musical discovery!

El Sistema - Caracas Venezueala

2009-06-06T13:23:00.018-03:00

June 6, 2009
“Itchy itchy I-I, Venezuela!”

I have always loved that tune by Slowcoaster…”Itchy Itchy I-I, Venezuela! Cape Breton Island yeah!”. I asked Steve from the band what that song was all about…its’ reggae vibes had everything to do with the Sydney Tar Ponds and the shitty itchy itchy that resulted in Venezuelan oil deals. Seems like a common theme in Atlantic Canada, how can we forget the NB Power/Venezuelan ore emulsion debacle? Our socialist friends of the deep and dirty south play by their own rules that is for sure. Chevas is fighting to become the “president” for life, true sarcastic democracy! I must be clear however; this is not however a blog post about Venezuelan politics, oil or Slowcoaster…this is a blog post about CLASSICAL MUSIC!!!

Lets rewind 2 months…we filmed Matt Anderson and the New Brunswick Orchestra at the Moncton Wesleyan mega complex, wow…what a great concert! We are in post production currently for it and it is looking great! We are all very excited to release this on DVD. Like every other door I have opened in my life, the door of the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra opened me to an incredibly bright and colorful hallway that had a million other doors off on each side. After we filmed the concert in Moncton, Ken MacLeod from NBYO invited me to come to Venezuela with him and a small mission to explore what they were doing as a government and a culture in the world of classical musicians. Who would have thought? Venezuela is producing more world class classical musicians than any other country in the world, it is truly outstanding.

Back in the early 1970’s an economist / musician named Jose Abreu invited a few kids from the slums to join him in a parking garage for their first music lesson. 30 years later, there are musical training facilities all over the country, and over the world, that have stemmed from Maestro Abreu’s initial parking garages session! Venezuela alone has over 300,000 kids learning how to become global leaders in music.

I could not resist. I gathered a crew together consisting of Lauchlan, my brother Mark, and myself to join Ken from NBYO, David from Colour Communications, and another fantastic David from the Saint John String Quartet. They all came down with their wives for a week in paradise. Well Venezuela isn’t actually a paradise, its closer to a hellish feeling in most public places to be truthful. Caracas is a mad city that has a thick thick thick spirit of fear laying over it. Kidnappings, murders, theft and violence are everywhere you look.

I found it very curious that gas was literally 40 cents American to fill a small car’s tank…I am not joking. Less than 5 Bolivars for a 50 liter tank. I figured they could wipe out crime completely if they had gas taxes similar to ours! Ah the ever confusing and repeatedly failed communist arrangements! Despite the “axis of evil” – style anti Americanism, there sure are a lot of MacDonalds and TGI Fridays!

The music system that Maestro Abreu created is called El Sistema, and it is creating MAJOR TRANSFORMATIONAL SOCIAL CHANGE. Kids who live in the ghettos (bourios) with no money, no education, no support systems and no opportunities are being recruited into El Sistema and are coming out on the other end has radical musician citizens This system is amazing, I saw it with my own eyes…thousands and thousands of kids passionately learning classical music. It was the most amazing social organization I have ever witnessed. Ken and the NBYO share a vision to bring El Sistema music program to Canada via New Brunswick. New Brunswick has over 25,000 kids who live well below the poverty line. The similarities between Atlantic Canada and Venezuela are stronger than I ever thought, just on a smaller scale. Music has the power to change people’s spirit, heart, live and position. Music is one of God’s most exciting mediums to create major life changes in my opinion. The spirit vibrates with music; the music vibrates with the Spirit.

Here is the treatment for the documentary we started to shoot:

Il Sistema is a documentary that follows board members of the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra as they learn from Venezuela as they have developed the world’s largest export of professional classical musicians. The government funded after school program, “Il Sistema” has put instruments into the hands of children who would never otherwise have a chance to be transformed by music. The youth orchestra, based out of Caracas is considered to be the best on the planet. There are more professional musicians working globally that came from this orchestra than from any other country in the world.

We will follow the director of the famed New Brunswick Youth Orchestra (Ken Macleod) from Canada on his odyssey to Venezuela to adopt the program and bring it North. Despite Canada’s recognition as a “developed” country, child poverty rates are extremely high.

Ken is passionate about seeing the same social change happen in Canada via music programs. The New Brunswick Youth Orchestra (NBYO) is award winning, and eager to become revolutionaries. Over the period of a year, Ken plans to bring the Venezuelan orchestra to Canada to tour with the NBYO, and in turn establish Canada’s first radical music program based on the model of Il Sistema.

Ken will meet the founders and directors of Il Sistema, explore the city of Caracas and surrounding areas to show the viewers where these revolutionary “Nuclei” of orchestras were born from. This documentary will not only educate, it will entertain as the brilliant classical soundtrack is complimented by stunning cinematography. The rags to musical riches story has never been told before as it will be in this epic journey…the journey of El Sistema.

El Sistema - Background

“There is nothing more important in the world of music than what is happening in Venezuela.”

-- “Land of Hope and Glory,” Charlotte Higgins, The Guardian, Nov.24, 2006

Throughout Venezuela, a quarter of a million kids annually are studying classical music; a radical social project where children, living in unthinkable circumstances and conditions, are succeeding with the help of skills learned through music.

El Sistema, born 30 years ago, as a brain chilled of award winning economist & philanthropist Jose Abreu. Il Sistema is funded by private sponsors and government and offers free music classes to any child regardless of their ability to pay for them. It also provides the instruments. Not only is it a flagship of national achievement, it is also creating transformative social change, artistic excellence, and producing and exporting musicians of extraordinary quality.

It is based on the premise that it is not just the lack of a roof, bread, or literacy skills that holds kids back; it’s also a spiritual lack – loneliness, a lack of recognition and of achievement. It is based on the belief that children are born into the world as assets – not liabilities and that poor people deserve to experience the riches that gifts like music can offer.

Il Sistema has demonstrated that children can acquire spiritual wealth through music. They have shown that art is not the property of the elite, but the heritage of the people – and is within the grasp of every citizen. They have shown that great art is for everyone and that it has the power to improve the lives of citizens as well as transform and enhance society.

Venezuela has verified the possibility of transformative social change through music.
For poor, the at-risk, disadvantaged children, music is the way to a dignified social destiny. Poverty means loneliness, sadness, anonymity. An orchestra means joy, motivation, teamwork, and the aspiration to succeed.

It all starts with children, it is possible, it is deserved, it is incredibly fun – and it changes the future for all who are involved.

The El Sistema program

• Children are given an instrument as soon as they can hold it;
• Tuition, outings, and music are furnished free of charge in return for the child’s agreement to play in one of El Sistema’s ensembles;
• Orchestral playing is a part of the program from the beginning;
• Lessons are in groups;
• Children who have mastered a scale or two are delegated to teach younger children; peer support is fundamental;
• Practice is supervised;
• Six days a week, four hours a day, the children play music together.

The El Sistema spirit

• Music is taught as play rather than a chore;
• The objective is discipline, respect, and achievement through work;
• The goal is excellence: the point is not to be the best, but to be the best you can;
• Everything is communal, everything is about the team; the culture is one of mutual support.

Under these circumstances the rate of progress is astonishing. In an atmosphere of encouragement, affection, mutual support and sheer, unfettered joy in the music, the children reach impressive levels of performance by their early teens.

For the government, Il Sistema is essentially a social project, an engine for human development. Music becomes the path to a dignified social destiny. For the children of Il Sistema, an orchestra means joy, motivation, teamwork and the aspiration to success.

Music changes the lives of the children, of their families, and of entire communities.

I am now at the airport about to leave Venezuela, it’s late and I am tired and can not wait to see my little girl again! Caracas was crazy, El Sistema was Inspiring. We need to take this project further, it is an amazing story, and if Ken and the NBYO crew are successful bringing the system to the far north then get ready! Canada is about to be transformed.

My good friend and Journalist Katie Wallace was originally going to come with us on this project, here is what she write for the original pitch, I thought it should be shared!

There is a story coming out of South America that sounds too good to be true: 30 years ago, Jose Abreu had a hunch that music could help break the vicious cycles of poverty in his native Venezuela. So he put orchestral instruments in the grubby hands of a cluster of poor children. Amazingly, his plan worked. Today his program, El Sistema, is a national phenomenon. Six days a week, for four hours a day, more than 300,000 Venezuelan kids gather to make music together.

Some of these prodigies will go on to join their young countrymen in becoming the best musicians in the world. Many will not. But what they will have gained, and what they will give back to their families and communities as a result of El Sistema cannot be measured in accolades or encores. These budding musicians are literally changing Venezuelan society from the inside-out, taking the skills they learned playing violin or trumpet or oboe and applying them to life.

More than music, El Sistema has given these kids hope.

I want to travel to Venezuela to see the El Sistema story with my own eyes, to hear it with my own ears.

I also want to understand how an after-school music system developed in sultry South America for some of Venezuela’s poorest kids could possibly translate to a small, quiet province in cold, comfortable Canada.

The New Brunswick Youth Orchestra wants to bring El Sistema to Canada. It will be the first organization in the country to do so. In June, a small contingent led by the orchestra’s energetic, indomitable director Ken MacLeod will travel to Venezuela to meet with Abreu and study the program firsthand.

What, you may ask, does a program designed to save children from the streets of some of Venezuela’s poorest, toughest barrios have to do with New Brunswick?

A lot, as it turns out.

Despite stark differences in language, weather, society and politics, there is one terrible shared characteristic between the countries: poverty.

Canada might rank a lot higher than Venezuela on most social and economic indicators, but its rates of child poverty are still abysmal and are especially shameful considering the country’s overall prosperity. Twenty years ago, the House of Commons voted unanimously to eliminate child poverty in Canada. Two decades have passed and not only has the problem not been solved, it has gotten worse.

Despite perennial hand-wringing the statistics in New Brunswick, my home province, just keep getting worse. In recent years, New Brunswick’s child poverty rate has risen so much that is now exceeds the national average. Nearly one in six children in this province lives in poverty. That’s more than 20,000 kids.

Nearly that many poor people live in my small city. All around me, in uptown Saint John, where one in four people lives below the poverty line, the effects of deeply systemic, intergenerational poverty are glaring. It is a strange, jarring duality to be an educated, privileged person with a good job and a nice house living in one of Atlantic Canada’s poorest neighborhoods.

That’s why I want to make this documentary. I want to show how the crushing dehumanization of poverty is universal. I would share this story through interviews I conduct in Venezuela and New Brunswick and by writings from a journal I would keep to chart the migration of an El Sistema-like project to New Brunswick, as well as to record my personal reaction to what I’m seeing and hearing. As a newspaper reporter with experience in writing for TV and radio, I have the technical skills to host the project and write scripts. As a journalist living and working in New Brunswick, I have the local contacts and physical proximity to follow the story back in Canada. I don’t pretend that this is my story. I see my role as that of a guide, a proxy for the audience.

If the effects of poverty are universal, so, too, is the power of music, a statement that would sound corny is not for El Sistema’s glaring success. It’s a success story I want to follow as it unfolds in my home province.

"Postcards from Greg Hemmings #15" - Gotta Have Kaiya Now

2009-06-06T13:08:00.005-03:00

May 12, 2009 – “Gotta Have Kaiya Now”

I am a lover of adventure, life and experience. My work as a filmmaker has allowed me to travel the world and have some of the most amazing experiences of my life on the road. The craziest journey that I have ever experienced started last night around 7:30pm. Jessica and I packed the Subaru for what was to be the shortest, but most important road trip of our lives, driving two kilometers from North Street to University Avenue to the IWK Childrens’ Hospital in Halifax. I had the honor to experience my daughter’s first breath of life early this morning after an intense few hours of labor. A new and far more relevant chapter in our lives has begun. Baby “Kaiya” has just entered a world where there are limitless possibilities, adventures, and love.

"Postcards from Greg Hemmings #15" - How Karaoke Killed the Great Wall

2009-06-06T13:04:00.003-03:00

“How Karaoke Destroyed the Great Wall”
Photo Credit: Paul Mantz

If you have ever been to the great city of Beijing China like I was, you most likely have visited the Forbidden City, climbed a part of the Great Wall, and sang some awful Karaoke. I was in China filming a documentary about New Brunswick entrepreneurs, politicians and educators as they travelled to the Far East to explore and encourage closer relationships with their Chinese counterparts. After filming many trade mission type events like ribbon cuttings, hand shakes, toasts and red carpet rollouts, I was very excited to finally get a chance to see a bit of the real China. The real China of course started with a very late night of Karaoke. Everyone from the trade mission who came out for the night of singing 1980’s pop classics, and one too many “I will survive’s” ended up going to bed hours later than they probably should have. The next morning we were too climb the Great Wall of China!

The next morning came far sooner than I was prepared for, and my friend Janet knocked on my hotel room door telling me that the bus was waiting for me…I had slept in. I slumped onto the bus and apologized to all for making them wait. We hit the narrow roads and made it to one of the most iconic structures of mankind’s history. I groggily whipped out my video camera to start shooting, but the batteries were dead. In my state of Karaoke bliss coming back to the room the night before, I completely forgot to charge my batteries. My climbing companion Paul was kind enough to take this picture of a defeated me. When I visited the Forbidden City later, still without a working camera, I submitted to my Eeyor-inspired self loathing and thought that no one probably would want to see my sad video anyway. To justify my embarrassing error, I decided that taking mental images of the structure would be far better in the end. Consider yourself warned, Karaoke nights in China can destroy any decent man’s ambition to film the wonders of the world! \

You can see Greg’s documentary “Chasing the Sun” at http://factualtv.com/documentary/Chasing-the-Sun

"Postcards from Greg Hemmings #14" - South Bay Sterns

2009-06-06T13:01:00.004-03:00

“South Bay Sterns”
Photo Credit: Gary Davis

As you drive towards Saint John on the old Westfield Road, there is a bend just before you hit the Gault Road that has a train bridge traversing a small body of water emptying into South Bay. If you park your car just before the train bridge there is a path that takes you to the top of a large meadow that overlooks South Bay. There are ruins of an old farm house on the hillside. The farm once belonged to Samuel Stern. Samuel was an immigrant Jewish Romanian farmer who moved north of the border from Staten Island, New York, where he and his family operated a farm.

In 1919, Samuel’s daughter Anna convinced the rest of her family to move north after she married a Saint John business man named Herman Wiezel (who co-owned the Wiezel shoe shop on Union Street, later on King Street). Samuel set up his farm in South Bay and raised a large family until the end of the 1920s at which point most of the family moved south to Vineland New Jersey. Anna and Herman had three children, one being Gladys who married an engineer who became one of Saint John’s most beloved mayors, Samuel Davis.

Sam’s son Gary Davis and I travelled to Vineland, New Jersey to film part of a family tree documentary about the Stern family. Not only did we get to give Samuel Stern’s only surviving son Alfred a piece of rock from the South Bay farm, we also had the chance to explore all the old remnant sites of the Stern family farm and business. Gary took this picture of me filming inside the remains of the Stern produce distribution center. There was nothing inside the building but a few beer bottles and some graffiti. The sign bearing the Stern family name still stands bold and strong, bold and strong like the family stories that make the heritage of Saint John so rich and so very interesting!

"Postcards from Greg Hemmings #13" - Kerouac for Rent

2009-06-06T12:58:00.005-03:00

April 25 – Kerouac for rent!

Folk singer, and my hearse-driving television host Brent Mason and I were visiting Lowell Massachusetts shooting a documentary for CBC called Grave Concerns. Our first episode was about the life and death of iconic “Beat Generation” author Jack Kerouac. We were both stunned that Jack’s birthplace – 9 Lupine Road – was only identified by a small plaque stating that Kerouac was born here. The larger “For Rent” sign, however really drove the point home that legends actually do fade away into the dust of time, even legends like Jack Kerouac. Like thousands of others, Kerouac had inspired me as a young adventurer to hit the road in many ways in my life and breathe in every experience possible! The following quote sums up Jack’s impact on my life perfectly.

"They danced down the streets like dingledodies, and I shambled after as I've been doing all my life after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones that never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn..."
- Jack Kerouac, On the Road

If I lived in Lowell, rest assured, I know the house I would be renting.

(NOTE: Readers can watch the “Grave Concerns” trailer that this article refers to at Hemmingshousepictures.com in the “Screening Room”)

"Gotta Have Kaiya Now! - MY NEW BABY!!!"

2009-06-06T12:52:00.002-03:00

April 22, 2009
“The best day and gift of my life”

This blog post needs not to be long winded, I just need to make the point that when you see your partner in life give birth to your child, you think nothing else but “wow”. When I say wow, I mean the ultimate, Holy of Holy “wows”. This is life’s revolution; a new creation, a new shining – SHINING – and brighter than bright star has appeared in the sky above the dancing Northern Lights. She is the most beautiful little angel. I only now understand how amazing my parents are for giving birth and raising me…my mom went through what my wife Jessica just went through. I am speechless and amazed. Baby Kaiya has arrived and has flipped my life around. I love love love love love love her. That magic moment went she took her first breath was like a lightening bolt. We are now three.

Kaiya (Japanese) – Forgiveness
Kaia (Hawaiian) – Ocean
Kaya (African / Rastafarian) – Enlightenment!!!
“Gotta have Kaya now, for the rain is falling (Bob Marley) – A Prophet

Jessica and I both know that Kaiya is going to be a Holy light to the world, she has already made a pretty bright impact.

"Postcards from Greg Hemmings #11" - Wrestling With Reality in Ottawa

2009-04-27T11:03:00.002-03:00

Telegraph Journal Entry #11

April 18 – Wrestling With Reality in Ottawa

Growing up I spent a lot of time building tree houses, swinging off birch trees, and exploring the great unknown wilds of Milledgeville. The last thing I ever wanted to do on a Saturday afternoon was to be inside on a sunny day, watching WWF wrestling on television. In my mind there was too much life to explore to find time to watch TV, and there certainly was no time to watch wrestling. So what do you know, I am all grown up, and now I am producing my second television program about the real lives of professional wrestlers. We just finished our television series called “Kardinal Sinners” (www.wrestlingwithreality.com) which is a show about the life struggles, passions, hurts and wins of being a professional wrestler on the road - truly an eye opening exploration into this misunderstood subculture. This photo was taken as I was interviewing pro wrestler Rick Doyle (a.k.a Trash Canyon) after he wrestled what he thought was the worst match of his life in a small town in the outskirts of Ottawa. This particular night was literally the end of an epic 5 year odyssey that he and his best friend Peter Smith (a.ka. Brodie Steele) had together trying to get their lives documented on television. A few hours after this photo was taken, the two friends had a very REAL fight outside the ring that led them to vow to never speak to each other again. The passion and drama that was captured in this television series is eye-opening and heart wrenching. You can watch episode one this Monday night at 9:30 AST on Rush HD (www.rushhd.ca). Who would have thought that I would go from building go carts and attending Boy Scout Jamborees as a kid, to hitting the road with testosterone filled, drama queen wrestlers…I love it.

"Postcards from Greg Hemmings #10" - Indonesian Haircut

2009-04-27T11:01:00.002-03:00

Telegraph Journal Entry #10

April 11, 2009 – Indonesian Hair Cut

I was visiting a producer in Singapore to discuss a possible upcoming co-production that we both were keen on developing together. After a couple days of meetings, I left the bulk of my gear in Singapore, packed my video camera, and hopped on a small ferry that went from Singapore to a variety of small Indonesian islands. I had no idea where I was going, but decided to get off on an island called Bintam, an island where I am sure I was the only person who spoke English. Apparently this island is void of tourism because of alleged “safety” issues. I was sure that I had no danger to fear, what with all the machine guns, and watchful eyes of the Indonesian military at every street corner. A very kind woman saw me walking the streets, I was obviously out of place. She convinced me to hop in the car with her, she recognized me from the ferry. In very broken English, she told me it was unsafe for me to be walking in this area alone. So I got in her car, looked in the rear view mirror and realized how out of place I actually did look! Tall white guy with a beard, curly hair and backpack. As it turns out my new friend was a hair stylist from Singapore. She took me to her cousin’s dirt floored shanty that was converted into a beauty salon. I sat in the makeshift salon chair, laid back, and let the two women take the straight razor to me for a beard trim and a hair cut.

"Postcards from Greg Hemmings #9" Venezuelan Horse

2009-04-27T10:58:00.004-03:00

Telegraph Journal Entry #09

April 4, 2009 – Venezuelan Rocking Horse

We struggled with the customs officials at the port of the Venezuelan island, Isla Margarita. The armed soldiers went through the bags and boxes of toys, and food supplies, that we had gathered over the previous week to donate to a small orphanage. The orphanage sat in the valley of a lush mountain side village on the West side of the island. After paying some bribe money to the soldiers and after they selfishly had their choice pick of the “spoils”, we hopped on the bus with a smaller load and made it to the orphanage. I filmed the afternoon for a small documentary I was making about the experience. The children loved the toys, loved the attention, and loved the camera! The plastic toys that we brought to the orphans however were way less interesting to me than the ones they had already, like the rocking horse made from the skin of a real horse. I took this odd picture of the horse right before we said goodbye to our new young friends.