At this week’s session, we conducted interviews with Ines Garcia and Joel from CCEC, two Regent Park residents and community leaders. We became more familiar with cinematography, getting the room, camera and microphone set up in minutes. This helped us conduct rapid fire interviews; we needed little time to reset the space for the next interviewee. Now that we are confident as hosts, we had better success asking interviewees to incorporate part of the question into their response without being patronizing. We also found it easier to ask our interviewees to restate an answer using clearer language even when fully immersed into a conversation.
The interview with Ines was particularly interesting since she had a more negative opinion regarding the SDP. One of our primary research questions is on resident apathy (or lack of engagement) with the SDP, understanding why there might be a lack of participation and how we can encourage more RP residents to ‘champion’ it. Ines pointed out how in-group turmoil, egos, and staunch personal agendas sometimes hamstring decision making and alienate residents. Power has concentrated among a select few, and residents are hesitant to challenge the status-quo. Despite Ines’ differences in tone, we found it interesting that her concerns with the SDP were shared by our other interviewees.
Our interviews reminded us of one of this week’s lecture questions: to what extent does micro-level change impact the macro-level environment? That is, can grassroots action create societal change? The SDP is set-up to empower and encourage community collaboration. In theory, the decisions made in its working groups will influence decisions made by the developer and the City. It appears grassroots development has an impact after all. However, according to Ines, can we really be certain these decisions are made by and for all residents? What about the residents who are hesitant to join the SDP? Or feel alienated? Silenced?
We are beginning to uncover the dilemma of procedural and distributive justice. What is more important in the context of the SDP and community benefits: just processes or just outcomes? Hopefully we (or perhaps Susan Fainstein) can answer this question over the next few weeks.
Week 3 tasks accomplished:
Watch and transcribe raw footage
Conduct two interviews (Joel from CCEC and Ines Garcia)
Work with FOCUS team to outline B-roll
Schedule two interviews for upcoming Thursday
Tasks for week 4:
Work with FOCUS team to finalize documentary outline
Conduct last interviews (Ismail, Walied, Adonis)
Begin first draft
Pick Title
Next Steps:
Now that we have a significant amount of footage, the next step is piecing it all together. Kedar graciously offered to gather some B-roll footage from past events, which is a huge relief. We also need to consider what background music and transitions to add to the documentary to help the flow.
Our interviewees so far. From top left, clockwise: Deany Peters, Joel Klassen, Ines Garcia, and Mary Henkelman.
Documentary Outline: Running Time: 20-25 minutes
Section One: Early days of Resident Leadership
Introduction (2 minutes)
Quick Overview of Regent Park: Introduce RP and the concept of the SDP.
Maybe a clip of someone summing up the SDP’s significance to RP, Answering the question: ‘what does the neighborhood and SDP mean to you?’ Essentially the thesis statement of our doc.
State Documentary Aim: exploring the contrasting dynamics of resident involvement. (Can be dark screen, times new roman font.). Like Farewell Regent style.
Historical Context (4 minutes)
Origins and Evolution: Condense history of RP and the events leading up to the SDP into a quick narrative.
Farewell Oak Street clips
Elder stories of cabbagetown and first RP iteration in the 1950s
Key Milestones: Highlight pivotal moments that led to the development and implementation of the SDP = The Residents. How were the seeds of the current SDP planted back in the day? Who was responsible for that?
How did the actions of RP residents from the 1950s-onwards contribute to the SDP conceptualization? What sort of resident leadership existed before 2005?
Section Two: Resident Leadership in the Today’s Revite
The Leaders/mobilizers (5 minutes)
Leaders and Initiatives: insights from a few resident leaders and their contributions to the SDP, showcasing one or two significant projects or initiatives.
Interview Clips: short sound bites from interviews with these key figures.
Visuals/B-roll: before-and-after shots or quick montages of community events: want to highlight resident leadership in the community setting.
Sunday’s in the Park
The Other Side: Apathy and Disillusionment (3-4 minutes)
Personal Perspectives: Share brief stories from residents who are disengaged or disillusioned. Spend enough time here to make sure the film isn't too biased, but this section is not the primary theme.
Contextualizing Apathy: Offer concise expert insights into the reasons behind the lack of involvement: Ismail can speak to this maybe!
Section 3: What the future holds
Bridging the Gap (3-4 minutes)
Overcoming Apathy and tension: Highlight efforts to re-engage the community, focusing on innovative/successful strategies.
Community Voices: Include short statements from residents who have shifted from apathy to involvement.
Conclusion and Reflection (3 minutes)
Summarizing the Journey: recap key points, emphasizing the need for more resident leaders for the SDP.
Towards the Future: Offer a hopeful yet realistic view of Regent Park's SDP, with a call to action for viewers to reflect on community involvement.
The SDP Champions team members are Asae, Ismail, Jacob, and Jackson