Making My First Solo Film

I got into film because of the stories to tell, and that's a good trade to have in filmmaking. However, I wasn't the most tech savvy person in my class. I never even touched a camera until my first Ethnographic film class. Where I grew up, on Prince of Wales Island, AK, we didn't have real art classes, photography, filming - anything like that.

During my first year as a film major I enjoyed the whole process on what makes a film good and it was simple - story is king. I focused on the three act storyline and then moved onto the eight steps to make a story. With this, I thought the Canon 80D was good enough quality and doing voice over on my phone was better than the mic on the camera. Technically, I was right that it was better, but it wasn't good quality overall.

With my first couple of films, I laid heavily on others to do the technical side, while I focus on the stories. Well, that I had to change when I decided to take a documentary class and I had to make my first solo film. The concept didn't go as planned and half of the semester already passed. Some people were already done with their first class and I had to start all over.

That's when the concept of 'Voices of Our Ancestors' came to mind. With such short time, I briefly outlined on what I want from the film and written out the whole treatment before I pressed record. Again, that was my strong point. This saved me a lot of time so I didn't have to shoot a bunch of material that I wasn't planning on using.

Now, I shouldn't say that this was a total solo film, my Wife helped tremendously. She wasn't just one of the stars in the film, but she watched every single edit that I made and gave me constructive feedback. She had a lot of great ideas along the way of shooting the video and I couldn't done it without her.

With my wife's help, we won multiple awards across the globe. It solidified me that I am making the right decision of switching my career from working with kids to filmmaking.

Learning Who I Am

I was the quiet kid in the back of the class. Growing up, I sensed that there was something always missing. The summer before going to college, I was depressed. I couldn't find a reason to get out of bed. My cousin, who I was staying with, encouraged me to go. I applied two weeks before school started. With being broke, I received just enough money from our local church to buy a ferry ticket to Juneau. Without knowing if I was accepted or not, I stepped foot on the ferry.

I arrived in Juneau on a Sunday to attend the University of Alaska Southeast (UAS). The campus was empty. During that time, I looked online to see what classes to take. And there it was, an online Haida Language class. To put it simple, our class was pressing buttons and attempting to read the words out loud to yourself.

It wasn't until I went back home to speak at my uncle's funeral was when elders would ask me,

"What language are you speaking?"

When the elders put me under their wings, that's when my true love for my culture started. I ended up changed my degree from being a teacher to Anthropology emphasis on Haida History and Culture.

During my third year in college, I stumbled across an Enthnographic film class. I ended producing the Native Oratory 2011 film (you can watch the film on this website). I would skip classes and forget to eat. That's when I found my new passion, filmmaking. My ADHD mind was working on overload and it as all hands on. Mixing my two loves was the ideal situation.

It took me a few years, but I eventually attended the University of Alaska Fairbanks to pursue my degree in filmmaking. On my very first day my teacher asked me, "Why do you want to make films?"

"To help save my culture and others like me through the medium of film."

Why I'm Here

"If a young learner, 25 years from now who wants to learn their culture, my goal is it to make it easier for them than it was for me."

I found it difficult finding media that was made past 1976. While I was pursuing my first degree, at the University of Alaska Southeast (JC), Anthropology with emphasis on the Haida history and culture. I took an Ethnographic film class, basically documentaries studies on culture. By no surprise, I was the only Native in my class. Skipping 6-8 years, I decided to go back to school to receive a degree in Film with a minor in Photography at the University of Alaska of Fairbanks. Again, I was the only Native in each class during my three year study.

With growing up on an island, living in places with less than 50 people, living in a town without running water and learning my language for over a decade, I feel that I can relate with the clients who I want to work with, Alaskan Natives. Finding that blend of someone who is Alaskan Native and knows the artwork of film/photography is honestly rare. I know I'm not the only one, but it's still rare.

I'm here to use every bit of my knowledge of not just the artistic side of things, but my cultural side as well. Majority of my clients has been non-Haidas, but yet, I still put myself as if they are Haida...If that makes sense. There are less than a handful of Haidas who are fluent in the Alaskan dialect. Storytellers are just as rare to find. With that, there is a surge of people who are trying to keep our culture alive, which I 100% support. To round it back, I make my films/photography to the best of my ability not just for brand purposes, but to make sure our cultures are being portrayed the absolute best way.

If a young learner, 25 years from now who wants to learn their culture, my goal is to make it easier for them to learn than it was for me. I would love to capture our history, storytelling, language and of course our way of life. Bringing that culture awareness to outsiders who may not have grown up with the culture around them, showing them the absolute best of our people is vital. Showing them the strive people have to learn, growing as a person, to passing on our knowledge to the next generation is what I want to show.