As a kid, I read Ann Landers daily. Meddling inlaws and unfaithful spouses weren’t my concerns; I was researching ways of coping with adulthood. I’m still addicted to advice columns. The world is an advice-y place right now. Television teaches … Continue reading →

Doing research for The Grapes of Wrath at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, we were directed by members of the United Food & Commercial Workers to the plight of today’s migrant workers. I knew nothing about Canada’s employment of people from … Continue reading →

It’s the poetry you hear leaking from coffeehouses, pubs, gritty clubs, maybe a music festival stage. I’ve been to both the U.S. National Poetry Slam and the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word; each time I marvel at how powerful words … Continue reading →

As a filmmaker you are always looking for inspiration, and it can be found in the most obvious or the strangest of places. I am constantly motivated and inspired by what I see, read and hear. In short, I am … Continue reading →

In my early twenties, I decided to become an au pair in a tiny town in France. I could barely speak the language (or was too self-conscious to try) and was incredibly lonely. One day in the attic of a … Continue reading →