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THE BEGINNING
Mark Steinkampf Filming Carlee
In March 1998, seven Vancouver City Police Officers, all working the Downtown Eastside beat, an area with an international reputation for its street open drug scene, decided to embark on an educational video for youth on drug abuse. With a common agreement that there was a paucity of reality-based educational videos available for youth, Odd Squad created a Mission Statement: to ‘educate the public on issues affecting the community’. Odd Squad Productions was registered as a non-profit society and each member contributed money to help fund the purchase of a video camera. Camera in hand, the officers then secured permission from the Vancouver Police Department to film while on duty. With the willing participation of the individuals profiled, they immediately began video taping the disturbing lives of this core group of street-entrenched drug addicts on their beat. Little did they know it, but this work was to later become the National Film Board of Canada’s most successful documentary since its inception in 1939.
After a significant amount of video footage had been gathered, a trailer was put together and independent film director Veronica Mannix pitched the project to the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). The NFB supported the endeavour, agreeing to produce the educational video Flipping The World that the Odd Squad members desired for schools, as well as the completion of a one-hour documentary profiling the unique relationship that the police have with the addicts. In return for their footage and assistance, Odd Squad members were able to upgrade their video camera and partake in several workshops on filming. Work on the first documentary, Through A Blue Lens continued for almost two years as officers tracked the lives of their film subjects. |