My Documentary Filmmaking Experience

My first company Two Wheels Productions completed Soop on Wheels in 1998. This multi-layered story on the life and contributions of Everett Soop (1943-2001) presents a brilliant yet under-recognized Blackfoot political cartoonist, journalist and public speaker, despite the affliction of muscular dystrophy. The film was shot in southern Alberta, Canada.

My Documentary Workshops

The Art and Business of Writing for Documentaries, May 2007, Writers Wordshop, Owen Sound, Ontario, organized by The Ginger Press

Creating Life Story as a Process of Transformative Learning, May 2004, Narrative Matters Conference, screening of Soop on Wheels with workshop, University of New Brunswick, N.B., Canada

"The video/Film Art Form as a Tool for Transformative Learning to Illustrate Ways of Knowing Beyond Intellectual Analysis" workshop with screening, Mar./Apr. 2001, at Beyond the Global Pillage Conference on Social Movement Learning, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto (OISE/UT), Canada

"Healing the Wounded Soul: Reconciliation Through Honouring Difference & Exploring What We hold in Common," Weaving a New Beginning, May 28-June 1, 1999, full screenings in 2 workshops, Phoenix, AZ, by National Conference on Peacemaking & Conflict Resolution, USA

"Transformative Learning" workshop with film clip of Soop on Wheels, at Toward an Ecology of Education International Symposium, Feb. 26, 1999, Harvard University, MA, USA

World premiere screening of Soop on Wheels for my workshop topic of transformative learning and the soul, May 1998, at I International Communications and Media Conference, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil

Film Reviews

"Native cartoonist Everett Soop may have been slowed down by muscular dystrophy, but his wit is still biting and his outlook on his life is droll in the extreme. Sandy Greer has made a delightful film about an amiable grouch..."
John Allemang, The Globe and Mail, September 30, 1998

Film Production Tasks

For filmmaker roles, I usually self-identify as Director/Writer/Producer. In this section, as per small independent documentary companies owned by one or two individuals, I outlline multiple hats worn by filmmakers working in art form of documentary as today's storytelling medium to inform on environmental, social justice, and other human issues significant to our time.

Related Filmmaking Activities

- Participant in Crowdfunding for Creative Social Change workshop, Toronto, Ontario, May 1, 2013, by Ian Mackenzie, media activist and filmmaker;

- Also Documentary Storytelling and Film Structure workshop, Toronto, June 2-3, 2012, by Tom Schlesinger, screenwriting trainer, story consultant & screenwriter;

Television Sales, Film Festivals & Distribution

Soop on Wheels has been licenced by six Canadian broadcasters and sold abroad to:

Vision TV, Bravo!, Knowledge Network (British Columbia), Access Television (Alberta), Saskatchewan Communications Network (Saskatchewan), and Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) in Canada, and also to Link Media, Inc. (American satellite network) and Maori TV (New Zealand).