5 hours Ago By By Sophie Henderson
When we think of Brandon, Manitoba, the glamour and excitement of the film industry isn’t the first thing to come to mind. However, we have several local artists who make films of their own right here in the Wheat City. One of them is Erik Fjeldstead, an industry professional of many years who has experienced it all.
Read this article for free: Already have an account? As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed. Now, more than ever, we need your support. Starting at $14.
99 plus taxes every four weeks you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website. or call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527. Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community! When we think of Brandon, Manitoba, the glamour and excitement of the film industry isn’t the first thing to come to mind.
However, we have several local artists who make films of their own right here in the Wheat City. One of them is Erik Fjeldstead, an industry professional of many years who has experienced it all. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? Opinion When we think of Brandon, Manitoba, the glamour and excitement of the film industry isn’t the first thing to come to mind.
However, we have several local artists who make films of their own right here in the Wheat City. One of them is Erik Fjeldstead, an industry professional of many years who has experienced it all. Erik Fjeldstead was born and raised in Brandon.
He graduated from Neelin High School in 1998, where he was an active participant in the school’s performing arts programs. He went on to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theatre production at Concordia University in Montreal. He continued to work in several cities such as Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, and Los Angeles for 25 years.
He works in the movie industry primarily as an actor and stunt actor but also has done work in theatre production in such diverse roles as set design, lighting design and direction. These days, he is back in Brandon. “I came back for a reason entirely unrelated to the professional world.
So while I’ve been here, I’ve produced a film of my own with another film production friend of mine who lives in town, and I’ve done a fair amount of stage plays with some of the local groups and stuff like that. I’m making do with what I can in terms of making my own work,” Fjeldstead said. Fjeldstead recently finished acting in the role of Bottom in Mecca Production’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
He is also working on an independent horror film shot right here in Manitoba. “I currently have a film that I have made and am the executive producer of, which is in its final stages of post-production. We made it down around Ninette, a little film we made at the old sanitorium up the shores of Pelican Lake.
It was all completely independent, so it features all local brands and local people in roles. It’s called ‘The Princess and the Dragon.’” Of course, Brandon isn’t exactly known for having a buzzing film industry.
When asked about the challenges of working in a city like this, Fjeldstead noted that there are less resources but much more support from the community. “It’s unlike a place like Winnipeg, which has a lot of the resources that you might normally use in a city. Brandon doesn’t have the same level of resources and support that it does for the actual technical aspect of making the film, but it does have a great deal more support in terms of the community aspect of it.
When we’re making a movie in Brandon, or stage play or anything like that, people are more willing to help at the local level than they would be if you’re a larger production with huge budgets and stuff like that.” To Fjeldstead, the people involved in the process of creation are extremely important. He draws inspiration from both a good story as well as the people he works with.
“What inspires me? It’s a good story and then good people to make that project they have come to life. For me, I like working with people.” He noted that despite his colourful and exciting career, the people he’s met along the way stick out to him more than particular projects.
“Every project you work on has its special people that you meet. So I’ve picked up many people along the way that I enjoy working with and when I make my own projects, those are the people that I make sure I try to bring on board. It’s less about projects and more about people.
” One of those people is Miles Crossman, Fjeldstead’s filmmaking partner: “He’s like my brother, so we work well together, but sometimes we also get into disagreements and arguments the way that brothers do. When we’re focused on a project [and] he thinks it should go one way, and I think it should go another way. But generally, we work really well together and that’s why we’ve continued to do so.
” Fjeldstead has been involved in performing arts for a very long time, being in Neelin’s major productions and choirs during his high school years. When asked if he considered his experience to be a good foundation for what he went on to do, he replied, “Yeah. 100 per cent.
If I hadn’t been into that during high school, who knows where I would have ended up? Definitely my choices that were made in high school and wanting to be in major production put me down the path. In a similar vein, Fjeldstead wholeheartedly believes in the importance of the arts, not just as a form of self-expression, but as a crucial foundation in our relations to others and to our communities. “The arts are a way for people to explore and understand themselves and their society.
And when you don’t have that, it becomes much more difficult to take a look at the way that you’re acting as a person, and as a group of people, and take stock of what you’re doing. To do art is to understand, I think, what empathy is. So, I think it’s very important because it’s the building block that everybody can use in terms of critical thinking and free thinking, understanding and empathy, understanding other people.
I think it’s one of the most important things that they should have in school.” To support local filmmakers and performers like Fjeldstead and Crossman, Fjeldstead emphasized the importance of an audience. “The thing is that we make this art for people.
So, the best way for people to support us is to go watch the art, which is the same thing as theatre. Like if you’re putting on a play, it’s because you’re putting it on for an audience, right? So, the best way to be supportive is to be the audience.” He added that the audience is also the most important part of any project he works on: “You want to reach out to an audience and make them feel something, make them think something.
And so, the most important part is having the vision and making sure you have an audience there to watch it.” Fjeldstead is currently unsure where his film “The Princess and the Dragon” will eventually be available to watch. “In this day and age, with all the wonderfulness of streaming services and that, you never know where it’s going to end up.
I know Miles has one up on Tubi right now. It’s currently called ‘The Farm Hand.’” Fjeldstead has experienced working in many cities with bustling industries.
But despite the challenges of being an independent filmmaker in Brandon, Fjeldstead emphasized how much he appreciates the passion that comes along with working in this type of environment. “That’s the beautiful part of community projects like the things that I do with my partner Miles and with the local theatre groups and such. It’s like the community itself coming together to make a piece of work, a piece of art, because they want to, because of the love of the craft.
Which is mainly the reason on our independent level – that’s why we’re doing it, for the love of the craft. We’re not making movies with $10 million budgets or anything like that. So the work you do, you do because you love it.
” » Sophie Henderson is a Grade 11 student at École secondaire Neelin High School. Advertisement Advertisement.
