From Thunder Bay to the World
THUNDER BAY – Lifestyle – Damien Gilbert, more affectionately known as Dman, has been making waves in the local film community for the past several years. He’s also been making quite the splash beyond the city limits as well. This week I had a chance for a quick one on one with Gilbert to look back on how he got here and where he’s going. We also discussed his latest project Epica, which has been getting some huge traffic on Vimeo.
Scott: Dman, you’ve come a long way since SPDST. Walk us through the evolution of your film making since those early days.
Dman: Well to be honest it’s been one hell of a rollercoaster ride that’s for sure. Never did I expect a career to come from my stunt videos. SPDST was definitely the foundation of my career and couldn’t have done it without the support I have been given.
S: You’ve been a busy guy the past few years… give us a rundown on some of your career highlights so far.
D: I mean some key highlights have been working along side some of the Jackass Members like Steve O and Bam Margera. Doing my placement at 900 Films (Tony Hawk‘s Company) and working on one of his productions. I have been in other countries shooting, working on so many different projects ranging from Film to Television.
Thunder Bay Videographer Reaches Out World Wide
S: What stands out as your favorite so far?
D: My favourite project was working on a little 24hr Documentary Challenge with Local Film Group Flash Frame. It was about Charlie Wilkins preparing to row across the Atlantic Ocean. Little did I know, this project stemmed into my going to New York, Morocco, Barbados, and most recently California. I would really like to thank Kelly Saxberg and Ron Harpelle for that opportunity.
S: Let’s talk about the Epica vid. How did that all come about? How long did it take to shoot/cut?
D: It was inspired by my buddy Greg who is a professional composer in LA. He had sent me a song he made for this trailer company he works for. The song was super epic and i’m like I gotta make something with this. The visuals came into effect on August 1st. I borrowed the camera from fellow Film Maker Ron Harpelle. I was curious about using the slow mo on the camera. I had 3 days to work with this camera so I didn’t waste anytime. From the 1st till the 3rd I lined up, Cliff Jumping , Skateboarding, Dancers, Dogs, Trampolines, Fire Spinners, and a Candidate to take a pie to the face. I was surprised how many people were willing to take a pie in the face. I started editing it on the 3rd and Released it on the 4th.
S: How’s it doing traffic wise?
D: The video has been doing really well. I decided only to release on Vimeo this time. It only calculates full plays instead of clicks unlike youtube. So right now in 3 days we are at 6.6K true plays. That well over 10K Loads. Stoked and has actually opened some doors, and I have been in talks with a company which I’ll later release.
S: What’s next on your agenda?
D: The next is working on another video of this nature. It has received some awesome feedback and now have some partners to help out and cross promote.
S: What’s the status of SPDST? Are you guys done or is there a chance we’ll see another film?
D: There has been talks of maybe another film but everyone is so spread out across the country now and we are all into careers now. Hard to say but it could happen.
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