A new documentary film about New Brunswick’s music scene is preparing for a unique screening event on Nov. 2.
Tim Rayne, a St. Thomas University alumni and local filmmaker, was a campus radio station manager at CHSR-FM 97.9 when he realized he wanted to take a deep look at the music scene of New Brunswick. The connections he made while at the station peaked his interest and once he left his position at CHSR, he started production on The Capital Project.
The Capital Project is a documentary film about the music scene in Fredericton and New Brunswick as a whole. It will be released as a feature film and as a web series of short episodes through Grid City Magazine’s website. The film presents more than 100 different performances from artists of a variety of genres and analyzes how and why so much success comes from these small-town bands and artists.
“The series itself is a deep look into a small city’s music community and how it became what it is, but I also think it’s a universal story,” said Rayne.
“Its very much a community project, everyone put in their own efforts in one way or another.”
To get the project off the ground, Rayne and another producer of the film, Arthur Thompson, filmed a trailer and submitted it for funding. They were the first in New Brunswick to receive Telefilm Canada micro-budget funding, which is a program that funds emerging content creators.
“I think because of the online capabilities to distribute and share your music, it has really leveled the playing field.”
The project was initially focused on those artists on the fringe, such as rap, hip-hop or metal, but has since grown to include all genres. Rayne did not want to limit the content of the project, noting that all genres are in someway on the fringe.
“We really want to find the roots of all these genres and how they culminated into the scene we have today.”
For the special screening of The Capital Project, a selection of clips from the web series will be played alongside live music. The audience’s reaction to this screening will be filmed and will be inserted as the final scene of the finished feature. This event will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. at the Fredericton Boyce Farmers’ Market.
