Deanne is a filmmaker and writer specializing in storytelling through documentary programs and convergent media. Her work focuses on story creation, oral storytelling, authorship, and emotionally-provocative content. She works to build multimedia literacy and create opportunities for people to tell their stories.
She worked on the CBC documentary series The Week the Women Went, produced by Paperny Films, on the HGTV breakout hit series The Stagers, CBC’s Emmy and Gemini-nominated arts and culture series ZED, contributed to the airwaves as the podcast host for Flight Check, History’s IcePilotsNWT series and populated their online platforms with content. Documentaries she’s researched, line produced and associate produced are Cartographies, Tailor Made, Not Just a Bad Day, Corporations in the Classroom and Branded: Saving Our Town. She writes study guides for the National Film Board and delivers media literacy workshops throughout BC schools.
She has held a faculty position at the Vancouver Film School since 2007 teaching writing for Film, Television and Interactive media and sat on the board of the Documentary Organization of Canada from 2006-2010.
Current Projects
With Laval University and Thompson Rivers University, we celebrate “historical consciousness in children” in this short documentary. The amazing CURA team have been researching project-based learning, an essential tool for any successful 21st Century learner.
In Modern Day Shaman, a documentary mini-series, we will witness the modern-day apprentices of traditional knowledge, ceremony and ritual. We will ask: who are the new generations of medicine man and woman? where are their teachings taking root and why? how are these apprentices making meaningful such ancient practices with their daily, urban lives? Ongoing research has taken me to Peru, where I travelled with students from Lesley College and Q’ero elders (the elders invited me back to continue to record the stories that they wish to preserve – what an honor!), to the Shuswap Lake Nation and, in 2011 a trip to Uluru, the red desert in Australia.
The Body/Earth Tracking Project is an interactive installation produced at The Banff Centre New Media Institute, Almost Perfect Residency. Presentations have been given at the Banff Centre for the Arts, Open Studios, Learning Through the Arts, Digital Media Training, SENSEARTH Artist Showcase, Recollective Studios and The Vancouver Film School. Locative media such as GPS and Google Earth were combined with audio, video, and biofeedback technologies such as heart rate monitors to create new works of art.
The filmmaker gazing at Mt. Salkantay, Peruvian Andes Mountains, 7000m
- Construction process, Studio, Banff Centre for the Arts
What others have said:
Deanne is a talented and proficient producer, organizer and facilitator with a knack for getting things done. Deanne’s energy, passion and insight are totally inspiring. ~ S. Rafuse, Interaction Architect, FCV
Deanne is one of those rare individuals whose presence makes everything better. Whatever she undertakes; it’s always with substance and style. Best of all, she’s a relaxed leader with a natural talent for drawing out the very best in people. ~ M. McDermott, National Representative, The Documentary Organization of Canada
