Stay Wild
2020 Local Heroes Documentary Edition
Funded

Stay Wild

Nestled in the Kootenays of BC, 90 year old Helen fights to save Canada's most iconic animals.

Length30:00
GenreDocumentary

Pitch video

Synopsis

Growing up in the small town of Castlegar BC, my community has always been taught to love and respect the wildlife, but what happens when your town expands, leaving less space for your furry neighbors to thrive? 90 year old Helen Jameson is known in my community for rehabilitating anything that needs her help. For the first time ever, we dive deep into her exciting and heartbreaking life, spanning 45 years of providing second chances. Even at her age, she is still giving speeches, hosting school field trips, and tirelessly educating our community on the power of compassion towards Canada's wildlife. After being widowed three times, and losing two children, her story isn't a fairytale, but it's filled with hope and love.


Production

Interview Roster

Heather Kraft
Heather Kraft

Heather is Helens best friend and neighbor, and has helped her out on the farm with many past rescues. She is a key part of our film, as she gives us a detailed outside perspective on Helens life and the struggles she has faced losing her husbands, children and her memory.

Helen Jameson
Helen Jameson

Helen is the hardworking, tough as nails, with a heart of gold Hero of our story. She opens up about her 45 years of experience rehabilitating wildlife and how that brought us closer together as a community. Her captivating stories and quirky sense of humour makes us fall in love with her immediately. Part of the film will explore her slow progression into dementia and how important it is to her that she gets her story out while she still can remember it.

Ben Beetlestone
Ben Beetlestone

Ben is the Conservation officer in Castlegar, BC and deals with most of the wildlife issues in the region. In order to make this film balanced and fairly represented, we will get his side as to what the procedure is once wildlife is found injured or orphaned and how they handle that matter. He will explain why he got into Wildlife Conservation and what his personal opinion is in regards to how wildlife is handled.

Production Design

Regardless of her age and battle with dementia, I was to paint Helen as the heroic individual that she is. I plan to keep this in mind while filming her, through different camera angles and lighting making her seem strong and confident.
This is one of the orphaned baby bear cubs that Helen had taken in and cared for, these will appear when we dive into Helens history. The use of these will be to show how long Helen has been doing this for and her relentless passion for caring for these animals.
The trees surrounding the Castlegar community, shows the vastness of Helen's area and the home to many of our wildlife community members.