The path of an independent filmmaker is by nature entrepreneurial. As opposed to the security of studio work, independents typically accept a less defined career path in exchange for more flexibility to pursue their own projects. For Justin Adam, working as an independent filmmaker means having an extensive repertoire of production skills including short films, music videos, promotional films, and photo shoots.
Since finishing the Film program, Justin has started his own film festival and created redPillow – a company that works on audio production, music videos, photography, web design, and audio production.
In addition to running redPillow and keeping his other independent projects afloat, Justin is also teaching digital video editing at VFS. “I want to focus on the small, intimate tools needed to get to the root of an artist’s message without a gigantic budget,” Justin says, describing his goals as a filmmaker.
Catching a Break on the Festival Circuit
After shooting nearly twenty short films, one of Justin’s films Man With A DV Cam earned international respect by winning the Audience Choice Award at the Brooklyn International Film Festival , and screening at Slamdance and The Modern Museum of Art in Rome .
The success of the movie started bringing redPillow more business, mostly in the form of corporate videos. “The film was made for nothing, but it really started my career,” says Adam. “Work wasn’t difficult to find after Man With A DV Cam, but locally I really wanted to show what I could do creatively.”
To do this Justin created Toquefest , an outdoor film festival based in Vancouver that allows filmmakers and musicians to publicly showcase their work. And it was at the 2003 festival that he met Leonard Paul, a VFS Sound Design instructor and the audio-mixer for Unspoken, one of the festival’s musical acts.
Forming Creative Relationships
At the time, Unspoken was completing the music for the documentary The Corporation and was looking to expand its notoriety by making a video. A professional relationship soon developed, and led to Justin shooting, directing, and editing the video.
Titled Déjà Vu, Justin’s experience as both a cinematographer and post-production expert resulted in an eclectic mix of visual art and sound fitting for Unspoken’s downtempo electronica music.
The video quickly caught the eye of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation , which recently aired it on the late-night program ZeD TV . The success of the video quickly led to more music projects with other Vancouver bands, including another electronica group called Dandi Wind . “I’m proud of Déjà Vu because it was done in a style that I love. The quality looks very high, but it was made for almost nothing,” Justin says.