Film Takes 2nd Place

Outdoor School film takes "silver" at Capilano University Film Awards

At the 2008 North Vancouver Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards, the Outdoor School was one of three finalists in the category of Sustainability.  Finalists in each category were assigned a team of bright and talented film students from Capilano University’s School of Motion Picture Art. Teams were tasked with creating a short clip capturing the essence of each of the 26 nominated businesses.

Filmmakers James de Boer and Blake McRitchie were awarded second place, and $1000 for the North Vancouver Outdoor School film presentation.“We both thought that going out to the school and filming was a great experience and wished that when we were younger we could have had the opportunity to go to something like North Vancouver Outdoor School”, says James. “We both really want to thank the Outdoor School for a great experience and the District of North Vancouver for sponsoring such a great event and just an overall really fun contest and opportunity. We would also like to congratulate the First Place winners, Dianna Donaldson and Leanna Harbourne.”

The Motion Picture Arts program at Capilano University is designed specifically for emerging, entrepreneurial filmmakers. Both James and Blake plan to pursue a career in the film industry. James' career goal is “to basically be able to travel and do the things I love while making money and being creative with film and video work.” Blake hopes to “make a reliable living off doing film and video work and perhaps have a lengthy career on set.

The student videos were judged by a local panel that included Peter Leitch of North Shore Studios, Dee Dhaliwal of The North Shore News, and film director Warren Carr. First place and $2500 went to Diana Donaldson and Leanna Harbourne for their Thomas Haas presentation. In third place, students Steve Ardnt, Carrie Hookham and Kana Sawamoto were awarded $500 for the Seymour Art Gallery video.