Christine HINZMANN
Citizen staff
A local filmmaker got $20,000 from Telus Storyhive to produce a pilot for a documentary web series called A Piece of History: How It All Started in Prince George.
Ze Helios is researching how the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was a key stakeholder in the creation of Prince George and the pilot will showcase the plans designed by the American architectural firm Brett, Hall & Co., as they designed the new city while local surveyor Fred Burden helped with mapping and layout.
Helios of Uniters Media was one of 40 filmmakers who was selected from 326 applications to get the funding from Telus Storyhive Web Series Edition that supports storytellers as they create, pitch and produce comedy, drama and documentary web series pilots that reflect their local communities.
But that's not all. The best pilot from each B.C. and Alberta will get $60,000 more to help bring their series to life.
Helios was raised in Montreal and Vancouver and then moved to Prince George with his family 15 years ago. Helios owns Uniters Media, a production company and uses Prince George as his home base.
He's always loved film and studied at UBC to get his master's.
"I've been making films and doing branding and marketing ever since," Helios said.
Canada has a lot of beautiful cities and towns that are like gems, he added.
"Prince George has a lot of interesting stories about how the city was built," Helios said. "When I researched it I wanted to make a story. There's a strong community here and that comes with great stories."
Helios said he wouldn't get into too much detail about the pilot because he doesn't want to spoil it.
"It's going to be a nice surprise," Helios said.
The whole project is a six-part series and the 12-minute pilot, he said, is the most intriguing.
"It might be longer because we're going to make it like a cinematic film," he added.
Moving forward with the project it's now all about the research and then putting the project together.
"It's been a lot of work so far and we've been working on it for a long time," Helios said.
The pilot has to be ready for June 2020 when it gets presented to judges who will then decide who is awarded $60,000 to help complete their web series.
"I love filmmaking," Helios said. "I want to thank StoryHive for supporting us. It's very difficult to get grants and we are very grateful."
For more information visit storyhive.com.
