[EDIT]ION 36

Sylvie Mazerolle is a photographer of rare talent. After many years as a successful make-up artist in Toronto, she moved back to the East Coast and her appetite for artistic expression heightened. She missed connecting with her subjects on an intimate level and collaborating with other creative minds and decided to go behind the camera.  As she tells [EDIT]ION's James Mullinger in this exclusive interview: “Photography gives me the freedom to express myself and explore the world around me.”
 
Places, faces and flavours are her subjects of choice and she says: “Life moves so fast these days - photography is the only thing that actually freezes time. Beauty is everywhere. Take a minute, slow down and really see it, taste it and get to know it.”
 
[EDIT]ION: When did you know that you wanted to be a photographer?
Sylvie Mazerolle: I don’t think I ever really wanted to be a photographer. But what I do know is I really always wanted to be an artist and express myself in some creative way. When I was on movie sets working as make-up artist, I would take photographs of the set details and locations in my down time or off days. Then one day a Director of Photography saw me and asked if he could see the images. He said I should keep it up because I had a good eye for it. That’s all the encouragement I needed. The advantage of being on movie sets is that the locations are always interesting and well lit. I had a lot to learn and am still learning. I think that’s why I like it so much. There is always something to learn. 
 
[EDIT]ION: What do you love most about what you do? 
Sylvie: I love making people see beauty in the every day mundane.  Textures, colours, shapes, light, something they pass by everyday and never noticed before. I love creating my own little world when styling food and props or creating an editorial series. I love connecting with my subject on an intimate level be it humans, a spiderweb, a bowl of soup, whatever is in front of my lens. I love creating a fine art. Most of my series are passion project that reflect a part of myself.
 
[EDIT]ION: What is the best thing about living in and working in and capturing the East Coast of Canada.
Sylvie: One of the best things about living here in New Brunswick is definitely the freedom of space. The main reason we moved back was so my son could have freedom to roam.  To head out on his bike with buddies, get into some innocent growing pains and mischief. It takes a village to raise a well balanced, independent kid. He’s 13 now and comes home starving, black, blue and banged up with a big grin of achievement in the leap he just mastered in the park with his bike.  He wouldn’t have had that freedom in Toronto.  

[EDIT]ION: When did this become a full time job for you?
Sylvie: I recently decided to pursue photography full time. I worked at a desk four days a week for the past eleven years.  When I first moved back, I was kind of blinded by my old paradigm of the east coast. That it’s just a sleepy place where people come to retire. But now with so many young families and creative people moving back or discovering what a gem we really have here, I feel so much more optimistic about art and creativity being valued and a way to earn a living. I’m excited about all the new opportunities out there. I feel like I’m reliving my childhood and bringing all my life experiences to the table then sharing it with the world. I’m having so much fun. Life is good.  
 

Nova Scotia native Floyd Kane was a sought-after entertainment lawyer in downtown Toronto when he decided to leave the trappings of his success to focus on his true passion: filmmaking.

DIGGSTOWN, the showrunner’s breakout series, will air its first episode of Season 3 on October 6^th on CBC. The hard-hitting season will not disappoint its millions of fans, and undoubtably, the buzz around the show will invite new ones to experience it. 

DIGGSTOWN portrays the professional and personal lives of those working in Halifax’s complex and strained Legal Aid system. The third season introduces the stellar returning and guest cast of characters to a post-covid society where priorities have shifted, and relationships have changed.

Kane created Across the Line and has worked on other notable, award-winning films south of the border, including Bowling for Columbine. With DIGGSTOWN, he takes great pride in showcasing the beauty and vibrancy of his otherwise underrepresented province, and while doing so, he relishes every opportunity to give Black Nova Scotians opportunities in the film industry – both behind and in front of the camera.
 

You’d be hard pressed to find someone more passionate about supporting local New Brunswick businesses and makers than Ingrid Munroe. In 2018 she was faced with a challenge when trying to put together a box of locally made products for her sister’s baby shower. Munroe scoured the area in her car and met with several makers in their homes or random parking lots to purchase their goods. The idea of the NB box, which is a curated box of hand selected local items, was born and she and her growing team haven’t looked back since. They recently moved into a 10 000 sq ft warehouse and they now offer quality goods from the four Atlantic provinces (which operate under the name Rising Tide). [EDIT]ION met with Munroe to learn more about the businesses’ success, the relationships she has formed along the way, and why the saying ‘business isn’t personal’ couldn’t be less true. 
  
[EDIT]ION: How has NB Box grown in recent months? 
Ingrid: Our growth has been explosive. Being an online company that is exclusively focused on local products, we could barely keep up last year. We had been steadily growing the first two years, but when we went into lockdown our sales skyrocketed. If it hadn't been for our amazing suppliers, we would not have been able to keep up with the demand. There have been so many people that see value in what we are trying to do and have supported us along the way, customers, and suppliers alike.
 
[EDIT]ION: How many employees work with you?
Ingrid: I hired my first employee in May of 2020, and I regret not doing it sooner. Now we are a team of six, and we increase staff seasonally to help us out during our peak seasons.
 
[EDIT]ION: You must need a lot of space. Can you tell us about where you operate from?
Ingrid: In February of 2021 we closed on a 10 000 sq ft warehouse and we have been working out of it since July. There are offices for a few of us, a large workspace for packing gifts, and plenty of storage space. I often can’t believe how much inventory we carry!
 
[EDIT]ION: Where do your customers come from? 
Ingrid: Our customers come from everywhere, but they all usually have a connection to New Brunswick. We have a lot of clients sending loved ones “little pieces of home” and many clients ship themselves their favorite products after they’ve moved away. We also work with hundreds of companies and businesses that want to give unique gifts that showcase the quality and abundance of what we have locally. 
 
[EDIT]ION: What are some of the challenges you faced?
Ingrid: For the first three years of the business, we operated out of our home and that was a major challenge. The larger the business grew, the more help we needed, and the less space we had. There was basically no boundary between the business and our personal space, and that was tough. Finding a commercial space to move into proved difficult as well. We were probably shopping for somewhere to move for about six months before we found our current space, and it took another six months to finalize the purchase and renovate to suit our needs.
 
[EDIT]ION: Can you tell us about some of the items that can be found in the box?
Ingrid: We carry unique and diverse goods. Customers can find anything from bath and body products to housewares to food and treats in our shop. We make sure that products are safe and easy to ship, and that we are representing makers from different communities.
 
[EDIT]ION: What is it like working with your suppliers and doing business in Atlantic Canada?
Ingrid: That old saying “business isn’t personal” could not be more wrong. Business IS personal, and it should be personal. My favorite part of this job is the relationship I have with our vendors. You get to know people so well, and you become invested in their lives and their business. I know the people and the story behind every item we carry, and it means so much to me that all these people want to work with us and trust us to represent them. Many of our makers have become close friends.
 

The three-part series A Man Called Charlie is the most important piece of Atlantic Canadian television you will see this year. Homelessness is the ongoing epidemic that has been neglected during a certain other - more ratings friendly - 'demic. 

The series that is available now to watch on Bell Fibe TV1 was conceived and created by critically acclaimed Moncton-based filmmaker Colleen Furlotte. Colleen's debut film was the award winning documentary, A Question of Beauty, she is a recipient of the Errol Williams Filmmaker Award and was recognized by the YWCA's Women of Distinction for Arts and Culture.

The Charlie of the title is Charles Burrell, the founder of The Humanity Project. He been working tirelessly to improve the lives of Moncton, New Brunswick's vulnerable population (and facing much adversity for his troubles along the way) for more than six years. He is a man of unwavering resolve who doesn't scare easy despite frequent opposition. He is a renegade, a disruptor and a revolutionary - all in the name of social change. He is on a hardcore mission to end hunger and homelessness in his community and Colleen and her team capture this ongoing journey in a profoundly moving way. 

James Mullinger meets Colleen Furlotte, the unstoppable filmmaker behind A Man Called Charlie to get the inside story of how this phenomenally powerful series came to be and what we can all do to make a difference.

Since 1974, the artisans at Amos Pewter based in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia have been hand-crafting world renowned designs of jewelry, ornaments, home décor and tableware. The meticulous process from hand-drawn design to wax carving, mold-making to casting and finally to finishing continues to be done in a former boat-building shop (circa 1888) and its heritage-building neighbour on Main Street, Mahone Bay.
 
Sébastien McSween is the creative lead at Amos Pewter and he exclusively told [EDIT]ION: “It’s incredible to think that it was almost 50 years ago when Amos Pewter first opened its doors here in Mahone Bay Nova Scotia. This is a humbling milestone for the entire Amos team, both past and present.”
 
When I asked him what motivates or inspires the work they do he said that he struggles to come up with something poetic that captures this accurately. After a pause, he elaborated: “Put simply, I believe it’s found in the discipline of making itself. There is a gratification in the work, in the process and challenge of creating something new. Much like a painting or sculpture, the finished product somehow captures or distills all the creative efforts, the successes, failures and experience gained along the way. What has remained consistent over the years is an unwavering care and commitment to the craft. We are and will forever be grateful to have the opportunity to serve our community and share our designs with so many visitors from around the world!”