What they’re wearing, from main street to Saville row… it’s what you
wear from ear to ear… and NOT from head to toe… that
mahahaters….
*****
I met so many people yesterday! I took a trip into town to finalize a
couple of deals. One for the use of Bloor Cinema for our Shwatarded
premiere, the other to get our merch in at Machine! And finally meet
Spencer :) Hehe… tame as a bunny, dunno about this cage he belongs
in…
The Bloor is such a beautiful edifice. Old style, with the marquee
sticking out in front with the lights. Box office right there on the
street, and packed with shows! It is a family owned business, (In a
neighborhood of family run businesses, Honest Ed’s is on the next
corner) It runs just like a family business. I was very warmly
received by the manager, and look forward to working with him on this,
cause it’s a perfect match… we discovered we share a common creative
vision, and that is a comforting feeling.
I also happened upon some interesting characters along my travels on
the Go. There’s apparently a whole contingent of students in Ontario
trying to get the same points across as I am. I have a feeling that
the TIFF’s are going to be stellar this year.
And so is my premiere. I’m busy writing the ending, I mean, we can’t
leave it at this. As a director of reality, it’s hard to actually get
the things you want out of your players, especially when they are so
entrenched.
On the train home I met the most interesting character. Right out of
the blue, and the perfect addition to my cast. A pitbull…. hehe…
with balls (and a mouth… I told Kevin that I’ve never heard anyone
talk so much other than me!)
So, I am now representing in the People v. the People *giggles*
I’ll take this opportunity to reprint my letter to Barbara Hall..
Oshawa, July 13th, 2009
Barbara Hall, B.A, LL.B, Ph.D (hon.)
Chief Commissioner
The Ontario Human Rights Commission
Good morning Dr. Hall:
My name is Tamara Morahan, I am a producer/promoter/performer living
and working in Oshawa, Ontario. I am also a customer of The
Corporation of the City of Oshawa, Ontario by way of a rental
agreement for their property, Memorial Park, situated in downtown
Oshawa. Thank you for taking the time to read my story, I will try to
be brief, although the matter is quite engrossing.
Our agreement with the City, which had been contemplated for months,
outlined the terms and conditions under which I was to hold, film, and
broadcast a live music event, and Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation
fundraiser, on June 20th, 2009. This event, a first of its kind in
Oshawa, featured a popular headliner from Toronto, the 3Tards, as well
as three other bands, two of which are local to Durham Region.
Black Cat Attack, who performed just before our headliners, is fronted
by two of the few independent female musicians (proudly from Durham)
making any noise in the Greater Toronto Area. By way of note, and I’m
sure you can imagine, females in the rock and roll business are few
and far between. As I’m sure you can also imagine, this opportunity
took a great deal of time and care to create on behalf of all the
performers and crew, including several artists working behind the
scenes to assist in turning out all the resources necessary to present
ourselves at our best quality for such good causes, our fundraising
beneficiary, sponsors, performers, and most of all our audience. These
bands have significant followings among youth, in particular, troubled
youth. We all take our commitments to this audience seriously, and
endeavor to show ourselves as positive examples, by contributing our
productive efforts to causes greater than ourselves.
In addition to entering into this agreement, we enlisted the
promotional assistance of the Corporation of the City of Oshawa by way
of petitioning them with a fan driven letter campaign. The kids who
wrote in “demanding” that the City promote this home grown endeavor
over the current campaign to “demand” Kiss play the GM Centre,
prompted our Council to reluctantly post a news item on their home
page at www.oshawa.ca.
The City of Oshawa’s next move in regards our event was to shut it
down via a fleet of Durham Regional Police, including 1 paddy wagon,
12 police cruisers (driven onto the lawn), and 30 officers. Shocking
would be one word. This was captured on video which you can view here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWUIGQuZkwE (takedown camera 1 –
outside/backstage)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUqM2atUc7s (takedown camera 2 –
onstage/crowd shots)
The clauses invoked to shut us down include their clause no. 1 which
entitles them to shut down any event being held on their property at
their discretion, and no. 13 which states that no profanity be used.
There was also an altercation between one of our audience members and
a police officer. As you can imagine, the details of all this will
take months to sort out. In my point of view, the only breach we
committed was to go past our estimated end time of 8:00 pm. The plug
was pulled at 8:04 despite assurances prior that going overtime
wouldn’t be a problem.
Being a business woman, I am in the mean time, pursuing my avenues of recourse.
Aside the rain, which completely washed out any possibility of
fundraising, and the above gross display, our event had a good turnout
of approximately 200 kids, many of whom were contributing hours for
their volunteer credit at school. We produced a short film,
“Shwatarded”, which was shown on the big screen on June 26th in
Toronto, as part of Toronto Film Race:
http://www.phyte.ca/phyte/flash/anterock/ARmoments/AnterockstarTorontoFilmRace2009.html
Given the audience enthusiasm for more, and the interest generated by
this story, we have since decided to turn the footage into a feature
length piece to be premiered in Toronto in August, just ahead of Punk
Aid, another fundraising festival. (editors note: this event has been
changed to a cast and crew screening on Sunday, August 23rd to close
Punk Aid, look for your invite in your inbox!)
I have attempted to mitigate my misgivings with the City but am being
completely ignored. I have the ear of one or two councilors, but when
I attempted to speak to the matter at Council, I was denied. Council
has a recorded vote of this.
In my address to Council I proposed several mediatory measures which
would have enabled us all to recover a great deal of what was lost the
day of the show. If you take into account all points of view of what
transpired that day, several aggressive transgressions took place.
Aside the complete disrespect shown to myself, my performers, and the
audience members present in the park, the legacy of that day remains
that several young people now have a very negative view of authority,
and their role in their lives. My own 8 year old daughter is now
terrified of policemen.
This is not to mention the shatterred spirits of myself and my
performers. Under the Status of Artists Act of Ontario, artists are
recognized as a unique and valuable community. Our endeavours that day
were smashed, not to mention our psyches, when we were interrupted so
brutally mid performance. The amount of energy (emotional and
spiritual) it takes to pour out ones bare soul to a crowd is intense,
and fragile. It took us all several weeks to recover emotionally,
although we will always be marked by these events. Our reputations are
now been made by them.
Details of my proposal to Council can be viewed here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1Y9qeb3WZM
I had submitted my comments to Council beforehand, as well as many
written requests to the clerks office to be placed on the agenda, all
of which were absent from the council meeting binder, as well as
several letters from fans, performers, and other interested parties
which I know were sent, absent from the meeting binder. When it came
time to hear the motion for me to speak, I wasn’t even referred to by
name, I was simply referred to as “request to hear delegation”.
Insulting would be one word, degrading, and humiliating another two.
Scary would be another altogether.
I read in one of your previous addresses to my City Council, in
reference to their student housing issues, that:
“The Commission has a mandate under section 29 of the Code to initiate
inquiries into conditions of tension or conflict in communities and
encourage recommendations and activities to reduce or prevent these
conditions. As part of this mandate, we would like to assist Oshawa in
finding non-discriminatory ways to resolve its housing issues.”
I respectfully suggest that Oshawa, Ontario, is suffering from more
than just a discriminatory approach to housing issues, and that it
does not have the tools necessary to address the needs of the growing
urban landscape it has already, let alone what it is actively seeking
to establish.
I invite you to comment on my work, your perspective on all this would
be most welcome, and I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Tamara Morahan
Filmmaker