Ashley King has a conversation with Kent Nason & Teresa Macinnes, producers of the award-winning documentary “Norm”, which was over five years in the making. The documentary airs on Tuesday December 2nd at 11pm AST on CBC Newsworld.
NORM is a love story—pure and simple. But there is nothing simple about it. A loving sister decides to take her older brother with Down syndrome into her home, to provide the care and the sense of family and community she feels he has been denied since he was sent away to foster homes many years ago. Like many aging adults living with Down syndrome, he begins to experience the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. Her greatest fear has become a reality—what if she can’t keep him at home forever? NORM is an exuberant celebration of life and a universal story that speaks to all of us.
Kent Nason and Teresa MacInnes formed Sea to Sea Productions Ltd. in 1998 with a dream of making the films they felt were important. The husband and wife team enjoy working with young and old, providing an opportunity for people of all cultures and strata of society to share their stories. Together they have been the creative team on a dozen documentaries, which have been televised and featured at film festivals around the world. Their latest production, NORM, is a documentary project that has been a labour of love for more than five years.
KENT NASON CSC, PRODUCER / DIRECTOR / CINEMATOGRAPHER
Kent Nason began his career as a photographer in Saint John, New Brunswick. His filmmaking career began at Crawley Films in Ottawa in 1969 filming with the infamous Academy Award winner, Budge Crawley. Kent joined the National Film Board of Canada in 1973 as a cinematographer and participated in the formation of an NFB film production studio in the Atlantic region. He has photographed over 200 hundred films in his career and has traveled all over the world shooting films that have been broadcast internationally and screened at major film festivals. Kent has photographed a number of award-winning documentary series for television and enjoys shooting drama as well as documentary. He received a Gemini in 1996 for best Cinematography in a Documentary Series, (Gwynne Dyer’s The Human Race Series). Kent has also edited, directed and produced documentaries; in 1998 he and his wife Teresa MacInnes formed Sea to Sea Productions. Their documentaries have been broadcast nationally and internationally. NORM their most recent documentary won the Rex Tasker Documentary Award at the 2008 Atlantic Film Festival. A double winner, Kent was also honoured to receive the award for Cinematography for his work on the NFB documentary, Passages.
TERESA MACINNES, PRODUCER / DIRECTOR / EDITOR
Born and raised in Vancouver, B.C. Teresa came to the film and television industry from a background in social work and psychology. Her keen interest in the human condition led to the formation of the successful Vancouver film company, Starry Night Productions. Working as an independent producer and director Teresa has gone on to direct more than a dozen documentaries for television including; Generation XXL (2007); Hope for the Future (2006) Teaching Peace in a Time of War (2004); Learning Peace: A Big School with a Big Heart (2002) Waging Peace: A Year in the Life of Caledonia Junior High (2001) Lost (1999) The Other Side of the Picture (1998); Under Wraps; (1996); A Rough Crossing (1995); and Teen Rebel/Teen Mom (1994). Her films have aired on television nationally and internationally earning her several Gemini nominations and have garnered top awards at many film festivals including, New York, Yorkton, Columbus, Houston WorldFest, Silver Wave, International Family Film Festival, World Peace Film and Music Awards, Sprockets Film Festival for Children, ViewFinders International Film Festival for Youth, and the Canadian Film and Television Producers Association Indie Awards. Teresa continues to direct and edit her films, having just completed the award winning documentary, NORM.
