Dancehalls, Deejays & Distortion airs Thursday at 9 p.m. and Friday at 12 a.m. on Knowledge Network. Victoria-raised filmmaker Carmen Pollard wrote, directed, and produced the four-minute episodes, which spotlight everyone from Comox-born Red Robinson, the province’s first rock and roll DJ, to Metallica and Michael Bublé producer Bob Rock, who attended Belmont high school in the 197os. The 150 Stories series is part of a larger Knowledge Network venture, the B.C. Documentary History Project. Following this week’s broadcasts, the films showcased in Dancehalls, Deejays & Distortion will move to knowledge.ca, where they will join previous profiles of Vancouver Islanders such as musician Nelly Furtado, writer Susan Musgrave and artist Roy Henry Vickers as free on-demand streaming options.
The Victoria writer, producer and director put forth a small library’s worth of Vancouver Island-related ideas last year 100, all told. Novak and the network eventually settled on 10 documentary shorts, which premiere today for free on all Knowledge Network platforms as Coastal Dwellers. “I had no shortage of stories,” Novak said. “What we landed on for Vancouver Island runs the gamut.” Indeed it does. The mini documentaries explore topics ranging from the origins of the Cowichan sweater to the story of the community of Sointula, the formation of the West Coast Trail and profiles of Port Renfrew surfer Leah Oke, architect Francis Rattenbury and wildlife artist Robert Bateman.