In a project called Southern Souls, local filmmaker/musician Mitch Fillion attempts to capture an array of Hamilton’s musical talent and make it accessible to those beyond the exclusive confines of the local music scene.
Fillion has wanted to create a documentary about local music for years, and now after spending time honing his skills as a cinematographer, he is ready to capture the city. Though his plan had initially been to film in the typical settings of venues and house shows, watching Vincent Moon’s Take Away Shows gave Fillion the idea to expand his locations to include ones less conventional.
Fillion’s past projects have primarily been “short films and documentary work,” as well as recording local shows. Now that he feels more confident behind the camera, he’s excited to be working on a full-length feature, something he hopes will gain him some recognition as an aspiring filmmaker. Although he’s tackling the bulk of this project by himself, he has enlisted the help of local sound experts Sean Pearson and Brian Wirth to help him obtain a higher quality of sound.
Coming up with a name for this project was important, but proved difficult at first. “Names are hard,” Fillion admits. “I wanted it to reference the city without having ‘Steel’ or ‘Hammer’ in the name, and then the project extended a bit to artists in Burlington, Guelph, etc. So I thought of Southern Ontario, and voila!”
While most of his efforts thus far have focused on preparation, Fillion has already captured local artists Matt Paxton and Thin Lines, and has his coming weeks booked thoroughly. Fillion plans to have between 20 and 25 artists appear Southern Souls. Other acts scheduled to appear in the project include: Slow Hand Motem, Sandman Viper Command, Hoosier Poet , Phil Williams, Pete Hall, Cam Malcolm, Slides, The Sitcom, Annie Shaw, Young Rival, The Abbreviations, Vatican Chainsaw Massacre, Ulysses and the Siren, and Terra Lightfoot.
Fillion is optimistic that he’ll wrap the documentary by November of this year, but is prepared to spend more time on the project in order to accommodate the touring schedules of the artists he is featuring. When complete, Southern Souls will be screened locally and submitted to film festivals worldwide. Fillion also plans to release the documentary on DVD.
Preview Fillion's footage of Thin Lines
Thin Lines - One More Broken Heart from Mitch Fillion on Vimeo.
and Slides
Slides from Mitch Fillion on Vimeo.
