JAYMCKINNON.COM has always been the home page of The Athletic Nerd with tons of links to 17 West Productions and my second blog People Tales. To me the old design felt cluttered considering it was only meant to get people to this blog or to 17W.
Phase one of the transformation was The Athletic Nerd’s new logo. It was accompanied by new graphics, ads and animations on this site and now it’s made it’s way home.
The new page is extremely simple but achieves everything it needs to achieve. It points people to both my main sites and incorporates various social network pages from around the web. From a design stand point, I’m really proud of the simple minimalist look.
17 West Productions is pleased to announce the release of a brand new short film: The Climb. The movie centers on Cameron and Destiny and their struggles living on the street. Each of them must face their terrible pasts in order to move on. While Destiny lost all hope long ago, Cameron holds to his belief that he will find a way to change things one day.
The short film stars Michael Clarke, Alyssa LaPlume. It was written & directed by Jason McKinnon and produced by Eric Gamache.
Check out the trailer below and head over to 17west.ca for the whole film.
When I first decided to make The Climb, it was always meant to be an editing experiment. I just realized that’s a lot of pressure to put on myself as I took over a year and a half to get it done. It should be flawless right? I’m not the person to judge such a thing.
We produced The Climb with about 300 bucks and a lot of help from our talented cast and crew. We made it because it’s fun to be on a film set. It’s fun to make movies.
I’m a professional editor but my experience is almost entirely in a live television environment. Having footage to work with at home has been amazing… But as I exported the final film a few weeks ago, I found myself a little saddened. What footage am I going to work with now?
The obvious answer is to shoot another film but I’m getting married this year! 2012 is also a year I’ve dedicated to screenwriting in between planning the massive event this fall. And so I realized I probably won’t cut another short film for at least a year and half and potentially longer… It’s a little sad.
Having said that, I do plan on shooting some footage when I can in creative ways. I always like to have a couple active projects in After Effects to pick at. It’s addicting.
In the end, I think I cut The Climb using a variety of styles just to experiment and I had a blast. But a film is meant to be completed so I’m happy to have it done. I’m going to miss cutting footage for the next little while but, thankfully, developing new projects is just as fun.
The film tells the story of Brandon & Nathan. Two friends playing a round of golf terribly. While Brandon does his best to distract his friend, every thought Nathan has rests on a looming phone call. A call that will reveal whether or not he has been diagnosed with cancer.
The film stars John Steptoe, Michael Clarke & Alyssa LaPlume. It was written and directed by Jason McKinnon and produced by Eric Gamache.
I had an absolute blast making Playing Through. It was the first film I directed with a professional crew and it was also the first film I edited using Final Cut Pro. Software I purchased along with a sweet new iMac in order to complete the film. I’m extremely proud of the work our cast in crew poured into the short. I also have to thank Clear Springs Golf course in North Bay, Ontario for allowing us to make this film on their course. It was a gorgeous week I’ll never forget. I’m extremely happy it didn’t rain!
Hope you enjoy the film! Pass it along.
There is still one more giant announcement to come regarding this movie in 2012 so stay tuned.
While 17 West Productions didn’t produce any new films in 2011, it was still a busy year. I have a several big announcements to make:
17WEST.CA Relaunch!
The last time I updated 17 West site, it was purely to upgrade the look and integrate The Athletic Nerd a little more. I’ve been blogging online for over 2 years now and I’ve learned a lot about search engines and what it takes to attract an audience. Now it’s time to put that knowledge to good use.
A whole new look has arrived but this time it’s a fully functional WordPress powered site.
A NEW SHORT FILM RELEASED!
The new site just happens to coincide with the release of The Climb. Our new short film which will be up VERY SOON!
On a sad note, Strings has officially been cancelled. The film was in pre-production for over a year but after a couple hitches we’ve decided to move forward with some new ideas. 17 West Productions is now actively developing our next project which will be directed by Eric Gamache. There aren’t any timelines yet but updates will come fast both here and on the new 17west.ca.
