May 5, 2024
Is the Documentary Coming Back to the Monarch?
Apr 30, 2024
Hometown Series at the Esplanade Gallery
If you find yourself in downtown Medicine Hat, Alberta over the next 5 months, have a look at the Tumbleweed Spaces that line the exterior of the Esplanade gallery.
Since 2012, I've sporadically shot thousands of images of Medicine Hat as part of a collection I've referred to as "the Hometown Series" and if you've followed me at any point in the last decade there's a good chance you've seen a part of it randomly pop up in your feed. The Hometown Series became so popular over lockdown that you may even have a print from it hanging in your home at this point.
As I described in my notes it's become a digital tapestry of my community, but in its simplest form, it's really just an excuse to look at the familiar in a less familiar way.
Of course, this exhibition wouldn't have happened without all of you and your support. It also wouldn't have happened without the amazing team at TREX Southeast who were the ones who nudged me to consider doing this and presented the opportunity a year ago.
It's amazing what time and a little creative energy can turn into. Thank you all for the push and for continuing to share the ride!
Apr 22, 2024
Your Cinema Needs You In Tokyo, Japan
The latest official selection on the spring film festival run for my documentary, Your Cinema Needs You was received this past weekend. The feature documentary about the Monarch Theatre, Canada's oldest surviving cinema, is off to Tokyo, Japan where it has been accepted as part of the Lift-Off series - a collaborative, international festival that takes place in various cities around the world. This edition in Tokyo was my first submission to this film festival series, but I'm excited to see how the film performs with a new international audience.
More updates to come as Your Cinema Needs You continues its festival tour.
Apr 18, 2024
Another Round of Travel Shoots in New York City
This spring I was back in New York City to add to an already extensive collection of travel shoots around the five boroughs. Making this series particularly memorable was the timing of the solar eclipse and some ongoing discussions about my documentary "Your Cinema Needs You", which inspired me to search out the oldest surviving cinema remaining in NYC.
These latest shoots included new observation decks, popular filming locations, and hotels, but to an even larger extent, a lot more general street photography to round out some of the more specific shoots from past visits. The weather was incredible and I managed to cover a lot more ground than I had planned for which was all a bonus. Expect to see a lot more New York City highlights from this series in the months ahead.
Apr 17, 2024
Festival Nomination: Art Film Spirit Awards
Apr 3, 2024
New Art Installation: Coming Soon!
Mar 31, 2024
Official Selections & A Best Director Nomination
Mar 21, 2024
Monarch Documentary: Spring Film Festival Run
Feb 29, 2024
And Just Like That, 10 Years
Feb 20, 2024
Your Cinema Needs You: End of the Premiere Run
On February 17, 2024, the 11th screening of "Your Cinema Needs You" took place at the Monarch Theatre in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Amazingly, all 11 of the premiere screenings of this feature-length documentary were sold-out shows, meaning the entire premiere run of "Your Cinema Needs You" became a sold-out event that welcomed just shy of 4400 people back through the doors of the cinema at the centre of this story.
The big question now is what's next? I have still been receiving messages asking if the documentary will return to the Monarch Theatre at some point, and the short answer is, yes, we will likely try to have this run in the Monarch Theatre again later this year. It's difficult to make any firm predictions right now as the next step of this release is a spring film festival run. The submission process has been an ongoing effort since the beginning of the month, and hopefully there will be some updates to share in the weeks ahead.
As for the promised wide-release or the potential for a streaming option, this has been further delayed by the festival run. The strategy for where something plays, the rules of eligibility, etc. vary dramatically between film festivals, but the main criteria is that (generally speaking) a film can not have been released publicly elsewhere before certain dates or in certain regions to be eligible for official selection.
Is the film festival run necessary? Not exactly, it is a bit of a "prestige tour", however it does provide additional press and further promotional opportunities to showcase the work. Because this production lasted several years there is a concerted effort now to feel like the film is given its due. The success and record attendance of the premiere run at the Monarch Theatre has also suggested this is an avenue worth exploring.
So much time and energy went into finally making the premiere screenings happen that these next steps are really just the beginning of a new chapter. It's the reason why I'm not immediately stepping into another project or treating the end of the premiere run as the conclusion of this experience. There's still several stages of the release ahead, and not only does that take time, but with this project in particular, it feels like there are more opportunities to consider.
Naturally, there will continue to be a lot of questions about what's next for the Monarch Theatre, how the documentary could play into that, and where else the documentary ends up now that the main goal of having it reopen the Monarch Theatre has actually been realized. I don't have easy answers for any of this yet, but I am excited to see this play out and want to savour this experience now that it feels the public response has been so overwhelmingly positive.
In short, thank you to everyone who has already been a part of this and who made the premiere run of "Your Cinema Needs You" such an incredible success. There is still more of this story ahead, still lots of unknows, but I can't wait to share what happens next.
Feb 10, 2024
Last Chance to Catch Documentary at Monarch Theatre
My thanks to the Medicine Hat News for their coverage of the final screenings of Your Cinema Needs You at the Monarch Theatre. Tickets for the February shows are available here.
Jan 28, 2024
Documentary's Success Pushing Need For More Shows
What was originally envisioned as a single premiere night grew into 11 screenings, the last 4 of which will take place at 7 PM on February 14th, 15th, 16th, and 17th. Any way you slice it, the success of this debut has created a new chapter in the history books for the Monarch Theatre, and has setup the introduction of Canada's oldest, surviving, purpose-built movie theatre for a national audience as the details for the wide release are organized for later this year.
I just wanted to once again express my thanks and heartfelt gratitude for all of the support you've shown me, my crew, this film, and the Monarch Theatre over the last few weeks. This feels like an ending and a new beginning all at once, and I'm excited to see what happens next.
Please join us for these final shows (in what I'm referring to as "the encore of the encore screenings") in the very building where it all unfolded. Full details and tickets here.
Jan 20, 2024
Your Cinema (Continues) to Need You
New screenings of the Monarch documentary, "Your Cinema Needs You" are returning to the Monarch Theatre at 7 PM on February 14th, 15th, 16th, and 17th! Click here to purchase movie tickets to one of these newly added screenings.
In addition to an enjoyable night out and an opportunity to learn about a largely undocumented chapter of Medicine Hat's cinematic history (experienced from within the very building that it happened in) I also wanted to also point out some of the knock-on effects that your support of "Your Cinema Needs You" are having.
2. The extensive research that went into this documentary is already showing potential to aid in future grants, designations, and direct supports to further the plans for the Monarch Theatre's revitalization. The popularity of the documentary has helped to reveal new clues and contacts just from people talking about the movie and spreading the word (and this is before we've even finalized plans for the Canada-wide streaming release). This is a huge bonus in the roll that this documentary can play in the future, that honestly, we hadn't even really thought much about until the premieres happened.
3. Contrary to popular belief, this documentary was not "actually" a local production. A professional, feature-length budget had to be greenlit from out of province to even be able to dedicate this much time and energy to a film that involved a cast and crew of more than 50 individuals. None of the funding to produce this was local.
The reason I want to point this out, is because deciding to tell a Medicine Hat story that we believed would resonate with a wider audience (at this scale) was seen as a risk. The success of this project, the sold out premieres, etc. are all part of a proof of concept that show that taking these risks are worth it, viable, and something that needs to happen more often. Not just because these stories are culturally significant, but because they can be just as entertaining too! You've already helped to prove this!
In short, your support of Your Cinema Needs You is having a lot of impact outside of just Medicine Hat. There is a lot more happening behind the scenes then people realize, and it's opening a lot of doors that were previously closed.
That's a lot of good coming from people just showing up - and a really good sign for the future of the Monarch Theatre stemming from the success of a single movie. I can't say it enough - thank you for being there and thank you for making this happen!
Jan 19, 2024
February Screenings of the Monarch Documentary
Jan 16, 2024
New Screenings Announced For February
Jan 6, 2024
Monarch Documentary: Movie Premiere A Success!
Jan 4, 2024
Monarch Documentary Continues Successful Run
Following the first run of screenings last week, the Monarch documentary has continued its run of successful screenings with more dates added. My thanks to the Medicine Hat News for all of their continued coverage following the premiere screenings of Your Cinema Needs You at the Monarch Theatre in Medicine Hat, Alberta. The response has been incredible, and these stories have been a fun addition to the experience. Full story here.
Jan 3, 2024
2023: Top @editingluke Instagram Posts
Jan 1, 2024
2023: Top Photo Essays of the Year
The 10 images shown here represent complete photo essays that were released on the Editing Luke site in 2023 - ranked as the 10 most viewed collections on the site this year. Thank you all for coming on this ride with me. Here's to continued adventures in 2024!