Dear Sir or Madam,
My name is Jordana Delgado. I am a musician and I have always loved everything around set design and
production design.
I am from Barcelona and relocated to Vancouver 2.5 years ago. I had some previous experience in set
design and decoration for theatre, and I wanted to get experience on the cinema side. Vancouver is the
perfect place for that but, of course, it is really difficult to get in, specially when you are new to the city, you
donʼt know anyone and you have zero experience in a movie set.
When I first heard about the Vancouver B Movie Factory, I had been here for only two weeks and my English
wasn't very good but, scary as it was, I went to my first meetup with them.
What I found there was a group of passionate people sharing ideas and putting them together to shoot a
short movie just 4 days later! That is how it works, they meet on Wednesday, decide on the plot of the movie
together, and on who is going to do what. Then, during the next few days, someone writes the script and
they shoot it on Sunday (or Saturday). I was truly amazed!
My role in my first movie with the Vancouver B Movie Factory (Card Game) was taking care of continuity. I
knew that existed, but I knew nothing about what to do! I remember going to the library the day after the first
meeting to borrow a book about it, just to have an idea of what I was expected to do. The shooting day
arrived, my first experience in a movie set ever! I was nervous but Jimi Stewart was there guiding my steps.
Everything was fine! We shot the movie in about 7-8 hours and I went back home bursting with excitement
and knowing a great deal more about movie sets.
After that movie, I kept going and many more came. I was mostly doing continuity and some set decoration.
The movie I have the best memories of is Speed Dating. For some reason I connected very well with the
director. We were in contact during the week talking about how to set the scenes and what props were
needed. We even did some drawings of the set! On the shooting day, we both ended up bringing lots of
props from our homes and we were able to transform the clubhouse into a little restaurant! That was for me a
very remarkable day and experience.
Also during Speed Dating, I met who is now one of my best friends. At the time he was preparing for
shooting one of his independent short films. He was impressed by my work and asked me to join his crew as
the production designer. Wow! That was big! I joined that project and it was a great experience for me. After
that project, I became part of a different film crew and so on. Those projects were outside the Vancouver B
Movie Factory but, obviously, I wouldnʼt have been able to do any of them without having had the Vancouver
B Movie Factory experience first.
The Vancouver B Movie Factory was very important for me and it IS important for different reasons:
- It is the place where anyone wanting to work in the film industry can get the required experience, in a safe
environment. No matter how green you are, no matter what big mistakes you do, Jimi is there to pick up
your pieces and to teach you every step of the way.
- It is also the place where you can meet lots of passionate people like you, and what is more important: in a
work environment. It is not only about networking, you can actually see them hands-on. That makes a big
difference.
- It is a place where knowledge is shared unselfishly. All these people come from very different backgrounds,
all of them with very different levels of experience in the film industry. You get to learn from some of them,
and you also get to teach others. It is a very enriching experience.
In the end, life got very busy for me and with a very heavy heart I had to stop going to those meetings and
shooting days with the Vancouver B Movie Factory. Unfortunately, I had to stop participating in other
independent short films too. However, despite my current situation, I keep reading about production design
and I am hoping to go back to the film production world soon.
If you can save the Vancouver B Movie Factory, please do! It has been important for many people working
now as professionals in the film industry. It is important for people who are part of it right now. And hopefully
it will be important to many more that will come in the future. The Vancouver B Movie Factory is UNIQUE,
there is no other place like it in Vancouver, and only you have the power to preserve it.
Thanks in advance!
Yours faithfully,
Jordana Delgado