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Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary February 20, 2007 REEL GIRLS MEDIA Phone (780) 488.0440 Ava Karvonen, Producer [email protected]

Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary · Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary February 20, 2007 Reel GiRls Media • Phone (780) 488.0440 ava Karvonen, Producer • [email protected]

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Page 1: Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary · Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary February 20, 2007 Reel GiRls Media • Phone (780) 488.0440 ava Karvonen, Producer • ava@reelgirlsmedia.com

Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary February 20, 2007

Reel GiRls Media • Phone (780) 488.0440ava Karvonen, Producer • [email protected]

Page 2: Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary · Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary February 20, 2007 Reel GiRls Media • Phone (780) 488.0440 ava Karvonen, Producer • ava@reelgirlsmedia.com

HOMEFRONTSHORT SYNOPSIS

Homefront is the story of five military families and the tremendous sacrifices they make to support loved ones engaged in Canada’s most dangerous mission since the Korean War – stabilizing Afghanistan. This one-hour documentary shadows families of soldiers serving with the 1st Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry from Edmonton, Alberta, over a seven-month tour.

In January 2006, 1500 Canadian troops deployed to Afghanistan to help restore democracy to a country devastated by decades of war, dire poverty, and terrorism at the hands of ethnic warlords, drug dealers and the fundamentalist Taliban regime. Homefront picks up where most media coverage of the war on terror leaves off – with the families left behind to fight their own daily battles in the face of omnipresent fear and relentless media reports on the war, not to mention loneliness and alienation. The families’ burden is mighty. Even as they pray there will be no deaths, they know that with the Canadian military specifically assigned to seek out insurgents in the remote villages and mountains of Afghanistan, there likely will be.

These families endure drama and emotional tumult that’s unlike anything in civilian life. Yet it’s crucial that they maintain normalcy and calm. They are under-appreciated links in the mission to keep our soldiers on task in a treacherous war zone.

HOMEFRONT Media Kit • Page 2 of 16

Page 3: Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary · Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary February 20, 2007 Reel GiRls Media • Phone (780) 488.0440 ava Karvonen, Producer • ava@reelgirlsmedia.com

HOMEFRONTLONG SYNOPSIS

Homefront is the story of five military families and the tremendous sacrifices they make to support loved ones engaged in Canada’s most dangerous mission since the Korean War – stabilizing Afghanistan. This one-hour documentary shadows families of soldiers serving with the 1st Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry from Edmonton, Alberta, over a seven-month tour.

In January 2006, 1500 Canadian troops deployed to Afghanistan to help restore democracy to a country devastated by decades of war, dire poverty, and terrorism at the hands of ethnic warlords, drug dealers and the fundamentalist Taliban regime.

Homefront picks up where most media coverage of the war on terror leaves off – with the families left behind to fight their own daily battles in the face of omnipresent fear and relentless media reports on the war, not to mention loneliness and alienation. The families’ burden is mighty. Even as they pray there will be no deaths, they know that with the Canadian military specifically assigned to seek out insurgents in the remote villages and mountains of Afghanistan, there likely will be.

These families endure drama and emotional tumult that’s unlike anything in civilian life. Yet it’s crucial that they maintain normalcy and calm. They are under-appreciated links in the mission to keep our soldiers on task in a treacherous war zone.

Homefront chronicles the emotional journeys of five families: newlyweds Cpl. Troy McEachern and Amanda Griffin-McEachern – with a baby on the way and a romantic vision of a wartime marriage, their future changes dramatically through the course of the deployment; Capt. Derek Chenette, the almost too well-informed soldier-husband who waits for his wife, Capt. Marilyn Chenette, to complete her first mission as a medical liaison while he copes as a single parent to their then two-year-old son; Nicole Whitton, who must endure a tragedy on her own when she temporarily loses communication with her husband, Cpl. Gordon Whitton, while he’s on a mission outside the wire; Zoë Cooper, the veteran wife of DCO Maj. Tod Strickland, who struggles under the pressures of her husband’s third and most deadly tour; and Carolina Hamilton, who tries to quell her rising anxieties about the danger her husband Capt. Jon Hamilton is in, while also managing one of the most aggravating realities of a military spouse. She is single-handedly planning a family move that must occur before her husband returns, to a new military posting and a destination that is still undetermined.

As Canadian soldiers die in the battlefield in an unprecedented spate of incidents, these spouses and families grapple with personal tragedies and a gnawing sense of panic that climaxes just weeks before their loved ones are scheduled to return safely. How they react to the darkest day for Canada’s military in decades – the Bloody Thursday of August 3, 2006 – captures the irrevocable loss of innocence that war brings to all involved.

Homefront views the story of our international reconstruction effort in Afghanistan through the eyes of those Canadians who shoulder and understand the sacrifice most acutely.

HOMEFRONT Media Kit • Page 3 of 16

Page 4: Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary · Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary February 20, 2007 Reel GiRls Media • Phone (780) 488.0440 ava Karvonen, Producer • ava@reelgirlsmedia.com

HOMEFRONTTHE FAMILIES

Maj. Strickland is the Deputy Commanding Officer for Operation Archer with the First Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry Battle Group. “This tour is probably worse than any of the other ones I’ve been on as far as stress at home,” he admitted. “Afghanistan’s a very deadly place and if you are thinking constantly about what is going on at home, you’re really not going to be as focused as you need to be.”

Zoë, his wife of ten years, is well aware that this deployment is by far the most dangerous of her husband’s career. “If he’s worried about if the house is falling down, or burglars, or who knows what else, then … he’s not paying attention to what he’s doing and he’s going to get dead. Or he’s going to get somebody else dead.”

But Zoë has always understood the nature of her husband’s job. “Tod joined the army to be an army guy, to do the GI Joe thing, to save the world. He didn’t join the army to sit at a desk.”

Tod agrees, but is sympathetic to his family’s situation. “In some ways it is a bit of a selfish profession,” he admits. “[We] join for one reason and then, come hell or high water, we go where that one reason takes us. For our families, they didn’t join at all, so when a mission comes up you’ve got to convince them that your going is right for not only you, but for your family and for your country. That’s a little bit harder to do.”

HOMEFRONT Media Kit • Page 4 of 16

Zoë Cooper and Major Tod Strickland

Page 5: Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary · Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary February 20, 2007 Reel GiRls Media • Phone (780) 488.0440 ava Karvonen, Producer • ava@reelgirlsmedia.com

HOMEFRONT

“I wanted to be a soldier since I was a kid,” Cpl. Whitton explains. “I was inspired by my dad who was a fighter pilot during the Korean War. My grandfather was a sniper at Vimy.”

On the Homefront, Nicole tends to their two children, both under the age of six, while holding down a full-time job. “You are a single parent for six months. You also have the added worry of your spouse being over somewhere which is extremely dangerous. Just the worry of getting that phone call or seeing something on the news, sometimes your thoughts run away with you.”

“When I have time to myself … that’s when things start going through my mind: How is he doing? What is he doing right now? Is he in danger? Is he handling things okay? I hear on the radio on my drive to work that a Canadian soldier’s been killed – your whole world stops at that moment. It’s just been an emotional roller coaster watching the news and hearing the radio … When you actually do see the pictures of the soldier that has died and then you see the families and the children that have been left behind, it’s heart-wrenching.”

Gordon shares an equally troubling thought. “One of my kids asked me if I shot somebody. And I didn’t know what to say to him. I didn’t know what to say to him because if anybody else asked me any questions, I just tell them the truth. But when he asked me I had no idea. I was just lost for words.”

For Nicole, things reach their breaking point when she suffers a miscarriage just a few weeks after telling Gordon they are expecting a third child. Worse, she must deal with it completely on her own for two weeks because she temporarily loses contact with Gordon while he’s outside the wire on an extended mission.

HOMEFRONT Media Kit • Page 5 of 16

Nicole and Corporal Gordon Whitton

Page 6: Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary · Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary February 20, 2007 Reel GiRls Media • Phone (780) 488.0440 ava Karvonen, Producer • ava@reelgirlsmedia.com

HOMEFRONT

Capt. Derek Chenette, an operations officer, and Capt. Marilyn Chenette, a health-care administrator, met in military college. This tour marks Marilyn’s first overseas deployment. “Being away from my son Tyler for the first time, [and] for such a long time, is actually the most difficult thing. You know, six months really is not a long time in a lifetime, but it is to a two-year-old child.”

With Marilyn away, Derek must rely heavily on both sides of his extended family for support. “There have definitely been some changes in Tyler. He’s become more needy, started to whine a little bit, started having accidents in bed. I tend to think that quite honestly, that does have a little bit to do with the fact that mommy’s away.” Both his mother and mother-in-law take turns traveling to Edmonton to lend their support.

“I am probably more aware than the average spouse who stays behind when their spouse deploys on operations, which is good and bad. Good, because I understand much better what it is that she is doing over there. Also bad, because I understand much better what it is that she is doing over there.”

“If she’s going to be halfway around the world, away from us for six months – you know, in harm’s way – then it’s important to me as a spouse [left] behind that she believes in what she’s doing. And that the mission is worthwhile. I believe it is and I know she believes it is.”

HOMEFRONT Media Kit • Page 6 of 16

Captain Marilynn Chenette and Captain Derek Chenette

Page 7: Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary · Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary February 20, 2007 Reel GiRls Media • Phone (780) 488.0440 ava Karvonen, Producer • ava@reelgirlsmedia.com

HOMEFRONTCarolina and Capt. Hamilton were already married when he changed careers to join the military. “I remember leaving Carolina with a six-month-old to go do basic training, showing up in Quebec and wondering, what the hell have I done?”

Before Jon’s departure, Carolina takes steps to protect her school-aged children from overexposure to bad news about Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan. “I’ve spoken to the teachers for the past three or four months about what is happening and that Joseph’s Dad will be going away … and [that] if anything is to happen, please try to avoid … concentrating [on it] too much so that he really doesn’t know too much about it.”

During Jon’s deployment, she must single-handedly plan a family move to a new posting scheduled to occur before his return – even though the destination is still undetermined.

Through it all, Carolina remains supportive of her husband’s career choice, but admits, “It doesn’t bother me that he doesn’t tell me each single detail. I know one day I will find out. … And there are some … details that I really … don’t want to picture him doing.”

But as Jon explains, “I hope that later down the road [my children will] look back and realize that it was something that Dad had to do; that Dad wanted to do for them. And that is certainly why I am here: so they don’t have to be.”

Not wanting to worry his family, he keeps certain details to himself while on tour. “I lean on my brothers. We’ve worked together for a long, long time. They’re my family here now. And I have to lean on them for support. It’s difficult to phone back home ... there’s things that are hard to describe.”

HOMEFRONT Media Kit • Page 7 of 16

Carolina and Captain Jon Hamilton

Page 8: Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary · Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary February 20, 2007 Reel GiRls Media • Phone (780) 488.0440 ava Karvonen, Producer • ava@reelgirlsmedia.com

HOMEFRONT

“I don’t think anything can prepare you for the fact you’re losing that one person that’s there everyday,” remarks freshly wed Amanda upon her new husband’s departure to Afghanistan. “They’re going to be gone for six months of your life… it’s kind of like… missing a piece of you.”

“It seems really romantic to get married before he goes on tour,” she continues. “It’s kind of like he is going to war like in World War II. But I would have married him a month after I met him because he is just a really good guy.”

“In the first month and a half they’ve had two casualties, and a whole bunch of injuries. I [initially] thought, I’m brave, I’m tough; I can handle this. But I wasn’t expecting it to be this bad,” says Amanda after enduring a miscarriage without her husband to comfort her. As Troy receives condolences from his fellow soldiers, he learns that miscarriages are disturbingly commonplace amongst military families.

From Afghanistan, Troy calls Amanda so often she sometimes runs out of things to say. He admits, “Just hearing her voice is enough to take the edge off a bit and help me relax.”

Despite the intense stress of his job, Troy remains committed to his mission. “It’s not just something where you can go over there, get in a fight, say, ‘Yay, we won!’ and leave. So I’m just figuring, we are going to be going back – it’s not just a matter of if, it’s more when. And … (when) it’s time to go again, we’ll do it all over.”

HOMEFRONT Media Kit • Page 8 of 16

Amanda Griffin-McEachern and Corporal Troy McEachern

Page 9: Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary · Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary February 20, 2007 Reel GiRls Media • Phone (780) 488.0440 ava Karvonen, Producer • ava@reelgirlsmedia.com

HOMEFRONTPRODUCTION NOTES

Homefront producer Jody Polowick also happens to be married to a soldier who was posted to Afghanistan in January 2006. “The military gave us a briefing about the upcoming mission for Edmonton’s Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. They told us it would be dangerous and to expect both casualties and fatalities – it was a huge revelation,” she remembers.

She soon realized that the mission to Afghanistan would garner a lot of talk about the soldiers’ sacrifice from the press, but not a great deal of recognition for the families left behind, making their own sacrifices. The idea for this documentary was born. Familiar with military procedure and personnel, Polowick was able to gain access and support for the production from the Canadian Forces, and very soon producer/director Ava Karvonen was in the living rooms and the lives of families facing the imminent departure of their loved ones.

With Polowick as a producer on the project, trust was quickly established between the production team and the military families. Originally, Karvonen had not planned to direct the documentary. The plan was to bring on a director who would travel with a cameraman to Afghanistan to tell both sides of the families’ stories, but the money to hire a director came together after the soldiers had been deployed. And since Karvonen and Polowick had already spent a few months getting to know the families, it no longer made sense to bring on another person to direct. With a one-year old at home and a husband already in Afghanistan, Polowick was not able to go. As challenging as it was for Karvonen to leave her own family for a war-torn country, she felt she couldn’t ask other crew members to go, or ask families to feel her complete engagement in the project without her own commitment to travel.

Producer Franco Dottor recalls, “Seven rockets landed on the base in Kandahar the same night Ava and cinematographer Daron Donahue arrived. It was a rather poignant reminder to all of us of the stakes involved.”

Ultimately, Karvonen’s journey was integral to telling the full story of Homefront. By interviewing the soldiers in Afghanistan, she was “able to capture details of the tour with the camera that the soldiers felt they couldn’t share at that time with their families back home.” So much so that, upon her return, she told her co-producer Jody not to watch the footage and interviews from Afghanistan until the tour was complete.

Daron Donahue echoes this sentiment, noting that, “Both the families and the soldiers censored themselves to protect the other. I can’t imagine how hard it must be to go to bed every night wondering if your husband or wife will still be alive tomorrow.”

While filming a VMO (Village Medical Outreach) in Pashmul, Karvonen was approached by the Afghan National Army and presented with a bouquet of wild flowers. “The interpreter translated, and the message from them to me

HOMEFRONT Media Kit • Page 9 of 16

Page 10: Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary · Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary February 20, 2007 Reel GiRls Media • Phone (780) 488.0440 ava Karvonen, Producer • ava@reelgirlsmedia.com

HOMEFRONTwas to ‘tell the truth about Afghanistan to the rest of the world.’ I was very touched by the presentation and didn’t have the heart to tell them that my documentary was a different type of story – that I was telling the story of five Canadian soldiers and their families. In the making of the documentary I felt it was important to try to present some of Afghanistan and not to only show the battles.”

Writer Helen Metella notes, “Before working on Homefront, it would have been easy to say I’d never go to war. But I was given the opportunity to examine my feelings, and that was enlightening. I still don’t know entirely how I feel about Canada’s involvement, but I did examine my feelings more deeply and profoundly. It’s a lot easier to have a more superficial idea about our involvement in the war when you’re not directly involved, whether on the frontlines or on the Homefront.”

HOMEFRONT Media Kit • Page 10 of 16

Page 11: Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary · Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary February 20, 2007 Reel GiRls Media • Phone (780) 488.0440 ava Karvonen, Producer • ava@reelgirlsmedia.com

HOMEFRONTTHE CREW

Ava Karvonen Producer/Director

“Both of my grandfathers served in a war, but this was something they never really spoke about and I have to say that I was not very informed about what the military does or what our soldiers do when on tour,” says Karvonen. “Making this documentary really opened my eyes. I had no idea how stressful this tour was going to be for the families. I have a lot of respect for the support they provide not only to their family members who are soldiers, but to this country as a whole. They are also heroes but they are not recognized for their contributions to a tour.”

She adds, “When we heard on the news that another Canadian soldier had been killed or injured in Afghanistan, we waited to find out the victim’s identity in case it was one of our subjects. One of the hardest things we had to deal with in the making of the documentary was respecting the privacy of the families and at the same time capturing the material you need to tell your story.”

For Karvonen, an important part of making Homefront was her trip to Afghanistan. “I was overwhelmed by the poverty in Afghanistan and it broke my heart to know that the majority of Afghanis do not have access to clean drinking water.” she reveals. “I really feel that we as Canadians have a responsibility to help out others on the planet – we have so much wealth in Canada.”

Ava Karvonen is a 20-year veteran of the film and television industry and founder of Edmonton’s Reel Girls Media. Not only does Karvonen work in the industry, but so does her family. Her father is a nature documentary filmmaker and cinematographer, her mother is a textile artist and documentary filmmaker, and her brother is a sound designer. Karvonen has produced almost 30 hours of television programming and new media projects, harnessing the latest technology in webcasting, podcasting and simulcasting. She has received over 30 awards for her projects including a Silver at the 2004 WorldFest in Texas for Children’s Programming and Best Interactive Website at the 2004 International World Media Festival in Germany.

Her past productions include Booked for CHUM Television, a 13-episode series on crime investigation; Out of the West for Bravo!, a literary arts documentary profiling six noted Canadian writers from the West; Return of the Peregrine for CBC’s The Nature of Things, and Wildfiles.TV for CLT, a 13-part interactive dramatic series for children exploring mysteries of the wild kingdom. Karvonen also co-produced the animated series, Stories from the Seventh Fire, and the companion documentary Shared Visions: The Art of Storytelling. These award-winning programs were produced in English and Cree, with characters created and based on the work of renowned aboriginal artist, Norval Morrisseau. This award-winning series has been screened internationally at over 40 festivals and received 13 awards.

HOMEFRONT Media Kit • Page 11 of 16

Page 12: Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary · Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary February 20, 2007 Reel GiRls Media • Phone (780) 488.0440 ava Karvonen, Producer • ava@reelgirlsmedia.com

HOMEFRONTJody Polowick Producer/Additional Directing

“Part of the inspiration for this documentary came from my grandmother,” explains Polowick. “When my grandfather went off to fight in WW II, my grandmother hired herself out as a farm labourer to support my 18-month-old mother. They didn’t have the internet, TV, or phone calls – all they had was Canada Post, and sometimes my grandmother waited a year to get a letter from my grandfather. There were times when she didn’t know if he was dead or alive.” Times have changed and with today’s technology, soldiers are able to communicate with their families via the internet, letter mail, satellite and land-line phones.”

The experience of families coping with the how and the why of military life is wrapped tightly around Polowick’s heart. That was especially true in early 2006, when her husband, Capt. Kevin Barry, was departing for Afghanistan and was about to miss marking his little girl’s first birthday with her.

“There were times when I felt it was just too tough, too overwhelming to conduct the subject interviews,” recalls Polowick. Though at times she felt drained by the intensity of maintaining her own Homefront while also being deeply involved in the emotional struggles of other military spouses, Polowick believes that making Homefront was ultimately very reassuring for her because she was constantly in touch with people who were undergoing similar strain. “My friends and family were wonderful, but other military spouses knew exactly what I was going through.”

Jody Polowick is a 20-year veteran of the film and television industry, and has spent 12 of those years as a film editor. For Reel Girls Media, Polowick cut two documentaries – Out of the West and Rock ‘N Fossil Road Show – and 13 half-hour episodes of the dramatic TV series WildFiles.TV. Jody also worked with Great North Alliance Atlantis where she cut all three seasons of the series The Things We Do For Love and a season each of Shiver, Journey Home and Who’s on Top. Jody also cut the feature film The Rhino Brothers. Now, with the completion of Homefront, she adds the title of producer to her list of accomplishments.

“This was all so close to my own heart. Working on this documentary during the tour gave me more of a sense of purpose – and it helped me stay focused so I could cope with my own loneliness and fears. I would hope that this documentary helps not only other military spouses, but that it is an eye-opener for the rest of Canada.”

HOMEFRONT Media Kit • Page 12 of 16

Page 13: Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary · Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary February 20, 2007 Reel GiRls Media • Phone (780) 488.0440 ava Karvonen, Producer • ava@reelgirlsmedia.com

HOMEFRONTFranco Dottor Producer

When Dottor embarked upon Homefront, his understanding of being “married to the military” was not quite complete. “While I am married to a woman whose father served in the military, and have heard the stories of growing up in a military environment, it still didn’t prepare me for the dramas and the stresses our participants faced during this deployment.

Witnessing first-hand the struggles faced by soldiers and their families had a profound effect. “I now have a unique perspective of what families and what soldiers go through over the course of a mission. Being an average Canadian, you read a bit here and there, or in Edmonton you’ll see soldiers around the city, but you don’t understand really what goes on in their lives.”

Dottor has worked in the film and television industry for over 15 years. During that time, he has been a production accountant and a production controller on a number of Canadian and US features, movies

of the week, documentaries, and television series. During the last five years, Dottor has been actively involved in business affairs and production management on projects including Reel Girls Medias’ WildFiles.TV, 13 dramatic half-hour episodes with multi-platform content; Booked.tv Interactive; a one-hour documentary entitled Out of the West; and Between the Stones and the Ocean: A Portrait of Rudy Wiebe. Homefront marks Dottor’s first role as producer.

“I couldn’t help but become emotionally involved with our subjects once they opened the door to their lives,” describes Dottor. “Listening to someone recount a painful or tragic moment is not only a moving, but a bonding experience. There were moments where I realized that their loved ones may never return – I really feel that I shared in some of their angst.”

HOMEFRONT Media Kit • Page 13 of 16

Page 14: Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary · Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary February 20, 2007 Reel GiRls Media • Phone (780) 488.0440 ava Karvonen, Producer • ava@reelgirlsmedia.com

HOMEFRONTHelen Metella Writer

When Metella began work on Homefront, she didn’t know much about military life, but how and why families survive it had often crossed her mind. “Seeing things on the news, it seemed a thankless role to be the person left behind – you’re hardly acknowledged unless something tragic happens.” When the producers invited her to join the project, she was keen to illuminate the often unseen struggles faced by military families.

She reflects, “People have been asking for millennia: Are there ways other than war to settle differences with tough enemies? Homefront is coming at this question from the emotional side, looking at people who are feeling the most raw and acute consequences of war. This documentary provides one more tool in sorting through that complicated question.”

Metella has been a working writer for over 25 years, first as a radio and print journalist at CBC Radio and the Edmonton Journal, and more recently as a writer and story editor for TV and film. She was the executive story editor for X-Weighted Season One, a 13-episode documentary series on diet and weight loss for Life Network, and the story editor and co-writer of the 13-part documentary series Taking It Off, Season Four, also for Life Network. She co-wrote the one-hour follow-up special Keeping It Off. As a dramatic screenwriter she’s been a finalist in the Praxis Film Screenwriting Competition. She is currently an associate producer for an online news service and the arts editor for Avenue magazine in Edmonton.

“With Homefront, we’re telling the story of the people waiting behind, their upheaval, and their reasons for submitting themselves to these terrible risks. They’re doing it because they believe in the right of oppressed people to be helped by a country as prosperous as Canada. These families have chosen to believe that their collective actions of support are more significant than their individual need to have their spouse at home. Their experience echoes the reasons behind Canada’s involvement in the war, and begs the question: Is it important that countries get together for the collective good as opposed to having some countries suffer while others flourish?”

HOMEFRONT Media Kit • Page 14 of 16

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HOMEFRONTDaron Donahue Cinematographer

“Very few people think about the families. They didn’t enlist but have got a call to duty as significant as their spouses, with little or no mention of them in the media,” says Donahue.

As a cinematographer, he is no stranger to working under adverse conditions in places such as Bosnia, Haiti, Malawi, and now Afghanistan. “This is what makes our country such a great place: as Canadians, we step up to the plate and try to make a difference.”

He has filmed many projects with Reel Girls Media including the 13-part, multi-platform science and nature show WildFiles.TV and the one-hour documentaries Between the Stones and the Ocean: A Portrait of Rudy Wiebe, How the Fiddle Flows, and Out of the West. He also filmed the series The Rig for Anäid Productions and both The Things We Do for Love and Adoption Stories for Great North Alliance Atlantis. Donahue also shot the one-hour documentaries Shadows of War, Mars Expedition, and Lost Canadians; and for the National Film Board of Canada the award-winning Honor of the Crown, Totem and Lost Over Burma.

“Making Homefront was about telling the families’ stories. This was really important to me. I was really touched by [these stories] and how much these people needed to be heard and understood. It felt good to listen.”

HOMEFRONT Media Kit • Page 15 of 16

Page 16: Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary · Media Kit • One-Hour Documentary February 20, 2007 Reel GiRls Media • Phone (780) 488.0440 ava Karvonen, Producer • ava@reelgirlsmedia.com

HOMEFRONTPROGRAM CREDITS

HOMEFRONT Media Kit • Page 16 of 16

Producers

Director

Additional Directing

Writer

Picture Editor

Cinematographer

Composer

Sound Design

Featuring

Franco Dottor Ava Karvonen Jody Polowick

Ava Karvonen

Jody Polowick

Helen Metella

Roley Wight

Daron Donahue

Becker

Downy Karvonen Jerry Krepakevich

Marilynn and Derek Chenette Jon and Carolina Hamilton Troy McEachern and Amanda Griffin-McEachern Tod Strickland and Zoë Cooper Gordon and Nicole Whitton

Homefront was produced by Reel Girls Media in association with Global Television

and with the participation of the Canadian Television Fund License Fee Program and Equity Investment Program,

the Alberta Film Development Program of the Alberta Government, Rogers Documentary Fund, Knowledge Network, Canadian Learning Television

and the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit Program.

Homefront was shot on location in Edmonton, Alberta and Afghanistan.© Homefront TV Productions Inc. 2007