ORIGIN STORY: The Making of a Filmmaker
How a Chelan farm boy discovers the magic of video.
I use video nearly every week as a Realtor. With my phone, computer, and social media, I quickly produce short videos that sell houses. But my skills were honed nearly twenty years ago on a much larger project. Once upon a time, I dreamed of creating a documentary. This is that story.
The Artist’s Way
The story begins with The Artist’s Way. The book changed my life.
Dedicated to encouraging creative expression, the Artist Way charts a twelve-week path of discovery. In 1998, I worked through the chapters with some friends, and began to rise out of my dark twenties.
Within months I had produced my first video, an oral history of my Grandpa “Toad” O’Neal. A few months later, I started a videography business, Deep Water Creations.
Fast-forward two years and I am creating oral histories for other families and short commercial pieces. A college friend and I head to a concert at The Gorge, and during the drive home, we decide to create a documentary. He knows writing and reporting. I know video. A partnership is born.
Farmers on the Brink
We didn’t have far to go to find our subject matter. In the late 1990s, family apple orchards were literally going up in flames. Returns from the packing house were down. Costs were up. My own dad was at risk of losing his farm on the south shore of Lake Chelan.
I shot footage of bankrupt orchards being ripped out and burned. My partner, Jamie Howell, researched the origins of the economic storm. We took a short trailer to a film festival in Leavenworth, and documentarian John de Graaf encouraged us to pursue the project.
We received a $15,000 grant from the Icicle Fund to underwrite some of our expenses. A local fund-raising campaign offered more support. Stacks of footage tapes and interview tapes started to build up. We chased storylines down dead-ends and back again.
What a Debut
Finally, a date was set in the fall of 2003 for the debut of the film. Invitations were mailed to donors, the media. Final editing of the film continued at a feverish pace. At long last, with just eight hours to spare the day of the debut, we finished the film.
Or so we thought. The computer still had to assemble the video frame by frame, a process nearly forgotten in today’s age of fast processors. I hadn't planned for just how long this would take. Bottom line, we had a fun party, but no film to show.
Two nights later the completed film finally did debut at the Wenatchee Valley College. And gratifyingly for us, it turned out to be quite good.
I will never forget the sight of the room on its feet as the credits rolled. We had told a very important story for our region.
The Roll Out and Beyond
Following its completion, “Broken Limbs, Apples, Agriculture, and the New American Farmer” took on a life of its own. Bullfrog Films purchased distribution rights. The film was nominated for two Northwest Emmys. The film was shown on PBS throughout the Northwest the following year.
But the biggest reward was internal. Creating the film took Jamie and I to some dark and scary places. My faith muscle grew.
The project strengthened my ability to soldier on through the middle lands found in any endeavor – when the beginning is out of sight and the finish not yet found.
It was a good journey.
