Medicine Hat's Rebecca Stevens received a $10K grant from Telus Storyhive to create an episodic documentary series called Follow Us. - SUBMITTED PHOTO
Medicine Hat’s Rebecca Stevens has been selected by Telus Storyhive 2.0 to produce an episodic documentary series.
Stevens put together a demo in July, received acceptance on Sept. 7 and will get a $10,000 grant to produce her series, along with training, support and distribution.
The series is called Follow Us and will star a multi-generational cast of people with disabilities, including those who are 2SLGBTQIA+, Indigenous along with other visible minorities. The entire series will be a minimum of 160 minutes and Stevens is thinking of going for eight 20-minute episodes. The education sessions through Storyhive start in mid-October with production beginning in November. It will be available on Telus Optik TV once completed.
“I am very grateful to Telus and Storyhive for providing me with that distribution on the fibre optic network,” said Stevens.
Stevens added her dream is to promote inclusion and integration, one of Medicine Hat’s most admirable qualities.
“The story will be told through conversational interviews in a variety of setting across Medicine Hat,” explained Stevens. “To be acceptable to people with all kinds of disabilities, including developmental disabilities, I plan to use a variety of simple and non-distracting film elements. An important part of accessible visualization is colour blocking and that’s an element I’ll be making use of in my project. As well as sound is going to play a big role, I am going to have an original score of tranquil music.”
