I’ve been working with MUBI (formerly The Auteurs) since the beginning of the year on a project to put the MUBI experience on the Sony PlayStation 3 in Europe. It was this project that allowed me to go to the Cannes Film Festival for the first time, for the official announcement of the partnership between MUBI and Sony, where I had the privilege of meeting the likes of Agnès Varda. It’s a very cool and demanding project that has us working with the fine folks at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe to create an easy to use video-on-demand platform with social capabilities. When it launches, MUBI on PS3 will be available through the PlayStation Network in 18 countries and 7 languages.

As part of the development of this project, I’m moving over to London to establish the MUBI UK office with Efe and Ryan and to work closely (and finally in the same time zone) with the Sony team.

I’ve been living in Toronto for most of my life and I truly believe it’s one of the greatest, most liveable cities in the world, and to prove it to myself I’m leaving it behind to discover another great city: London. Living in Europe, and London in particular, is an adventure I’m excited to embark on.

Before we leave Toronto, Ryan and I are planning a send-off party on July 18th at Cadillac Lounge on Queen St. W. where we’re hoping a lot of our friends will join us for a drink. We’ll be there from 3pm onward so if you’ve got some time, try to stop in, it would be great to see you.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The final timelapse from the trip to Jamaica for Project Nine Mile. These bits of video might very well make it into the documentary we plan to edit together from the footage gathered during the trip.

I’m now ready to start experimenting more with the timelapse and stop-motion format and will hopefully be posting the fruits of those labours here on the site in the coming months. I’ve got a bunch of ideas and we’ll see where they take me.

Music: Melody Day – Caribou

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This is a timelapse of the night sky over Nine Mile, Jamaica. We were shielded from the strong winds by the mountains around us, but we were lucky enough to experience it through the swift movement of the clouds through the sky, which was completely captivating.

Music: Midnight in a Perfect World – DJ Shadow

We recently returned to Jamaica for Bob Marley’s Earthday to continue building Project Nine Mile. We hoped that the celebrations on and around February 6th would provide a good opportunity for us to meet many people and spread the word about what we were trying to do up in Nine Mile.

Our goals for the trip were to learn more about the needs of the community in Nine Mile, to determine what is currently being done within Jamaica for the community and the school at Stepney, and to see how we could fit into the mix. We shot a lot of video and stills with the aim of creating a documentary to assist in creating more awareness about Nine Mile and to assist in future fundraising endeavours.

The trip was amazing, we had a great time and built relationships with many wonderful people who are invested in working in the community, and developed a deeper appreciation of the needs of the people in Nine Mile and Stepney Primary and Junior High School. We’re still trying to sift through all of the materials and the knowledge we gathered now that we’re back in Toronto, so check back soon to see more photos and thoughts about the experience, and our plans for next steps.

Visit the Project Nine Mile website

View the photos from the trip!

Click here to view the embedded video.

I drove down to Washington DC with my friend Gordon to witness the historical moment when Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States of America. We stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the crowd of millions on that crisp afternoon and were swept up in the tide of hope and goodwill.

After the speech, we were essentially held hostage in the city by the local security forces, as subways closed and streets were cordoned off for the parade. With nothing else to do, we walked around the core of the city for hours trying to find a way out or, at the very least, somewhere to warm up and eat. That proved to be a considerable challenge.

The upside is that on our impromptu tour of the city I took many photos and made this timelapse video, which required us to stand outside, not moving, in the cold January wind for a good twenty minutes, a sacrifice I’m grateful to Gordon for making, however reluctantly.

The pomp and ceremony is over; it’s time for the work to begin. Show us what you can do, President Obama.

A picture from my recent trip to NYC, where I visited my friend Saira and had lots of fun. My memory is dying today so I can’t remember the name of their band (EDIT: Their band is The Wooden Sky), but these guys are friends of Saira’s and their names are Gavin and Colin, I think, although don’t hold it against me if I’m wrong (EDIT: I was right, thankfully). I’ll update this thing when I find out for sure, because no one likes to be forgotten (EDIT: This is still true).

One of a handful of interesting shots from my recent trip to New York City. I was walking along Fifth Avenue on a Monday evening, just before I headed over to Rockefeller Center, people watching and looking for the MOMA.

There’s a strangeness to this image that I really like. You can see more photos from NYC on flickr.

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I went on a small trip to Boston and New York recently to visit some wonderful friends of mine and get a little change of scenery. While in New York, after being a bit too late to visit the MOMA, I decided to create my own art. I walked over to Rockefeller Center (30 Rock, for those in the know), and scoped out a perch to make a short movie of the people skating on the rink. That’s when serendipity stepped in.

This little movie is, to me, a great allegory for the indifference of time, the cycles of life, and the beauty of simple moments. For the couple in the movie, their whole lives changed in an instant, but time continues on it’s relentless path, the slate is wiped clean, and new perspectives and possibilities open up.

I didn’t manage to catch up with them to let them know that I caught the whole thing in this movie and I’m hoping that serendipity will strike again and somehow make them find this video across the vast tubes of the interweb.

Shot on November 23, 2008
Music: The Kills – Last Day of Magic

I’ve been thinking about eating healthy recently, which led me to memories of my visit to Clermont-Ferrand this summer, where I stayed with my wonderful friends Laure and Aude. Their father has a garden in their backyard and we would regularly eat from it’s bounty. Squash, tomatoes, apples, zucchini, herbs and other goodness would spring forth, delighting my GMO-saturated palette.

These cherry tomatoes weren’t actually from their garden, but they were fresh and delicious and addictive. I was picking at them all afternoon and evening until only the bowl remained.

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A timelapse video I created of the beach in Nice during my visit this past August. This was done by taking one picture every five seconds over an hour and then animating them. The music is 7/4 Shoreline by Broken Social Scene.

This was the third and final timelapse video I made during my trip to France. This video and the others can be seen in glorious HD on the fightingtheboss Vimeo page.