Following MondaySA国际影视传媒檚 announcement that Dead North is pressing pause on their annual film festival, founders Jay Bulckaert and Pablo Saravanja say itSA国际影视传媒檚 time to re-focus their energies in a new studio, Hyper Borea.

Saravanja recalls Dead NorthSA国际影视传媒檚 beginnings almost a decade ago, when Bulckaert approached him to create a festival showcasing Northern filmmaking SA国际影视传媒� something that, at that time, was minimal. Now, the pair says, there is an established culture of multimedia production in the North and the next step is to help those filmmakers see profits.

In its first year, four teams submitted Dead North films. Since then, 220 films have been made in what has become a globally recognized festival. 

As many of the production teams submit films year after year, "these people are not emerging filmmakers anymore,SA国际影视传媒� Bulckaert says. SA国际影视传媒淭hese people are semi-pro.SA国际影视传媒�

As a result he says SA国际影视传媒渢ons of community has been built, lots of experience has been gained, and now we have a thriving media arts community here.SA国际影视传媒� 

Enter Hyper Borea Creative Studios. 

Now that the appetite and the skill set exists for a filmmaking industry, Bulckaert and Saravanja want to help Northern filmmakers tap into the billion-dollar industry by helping to create jobs and improve the quality of production in the circumpolar region. 

Bulckaert says most Dead North filmmakers created their movie and SA国际影视传媒渙nce the festival was over, people just went back (to their regular lives).SA国际影视传媒� With Hyper Borea Studio, Bulckaert and Saravanja want to make filmmaking as a career more accessible to people in the North.   

While many may be grieving the immediate loss of Dead North, Bulckaert reassures that for those wondering when Dead North will rise again, SA国际影视传媒渋tSA国际影视传媒檚 already risen.SA国际影视传媒�

He acknowledges that, SA国际影视传媒渢here was an obvious awesomeness to Dead North that is different to this,SA国际影视传媒� but that SA国际影视传媒渆veryone can see this as an opportunity to be creating stuff all year long,SA国际影视传媒� as opposed to just annually for the festival. 

Bulckaert and Saravanja say they have been thinking about taking a break from Dead North for a couple of years to re-focus their efforts, but that the idea of having to do a SA国际影视传媒渨atered downSA国际影视传媒� version of the festival with Covid restrictions is SA国际影视传媒渞eally unappealing."

Dead North was SA国际影视传媒渄esigned to create a family of filmmakers across the circumpolar region,SA国际影视传媒� Bulckaert says. SA国际影视传媒淭his year that would have been different.SA国际影视传媒�

Saravanja explains that the highlight for many is getting all of the filmmakers into a room to screen the movies in front of a packed audience reacting in real time. This year that wouldnSA国际影视传媒檛 be possible.

SA国际影视传媒淒ead North was the right idea for the right time,SA国际影视传媒� Saravanja says. SA国际影视传媒淣ow weSA国际影视传媒檙e at a different time.SA国际影视传媒�

To pull the plug on Dead North for the foreseeable future, Bulckaert says has SA国际影视传媒渇elt like a weird breakup.SA国际影视传媒�

SA国际影视传媒淚 wonSA国际影视传媒檛 lie ISA国际影视传媒檝e shed a couple tears,SA国际影视传媒� he says. SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 been emotional but at no point did I feel it was the wrong move. WeSA国际影视传媒檙e building upon everything thatSA国际影视传媒檚 been created with Dead North.SA国际影视传媒�

He says Dead North created opportunities to explore "taboo subjects" and "wild visions." People have quit their jobs to become filmmakers after working on a Dead North film, Bulckaert explains.

SA国际影视传媒淚t has changed peopleSA国际影视传媒檚 lives. Categorically that is a true statement.SA国际影视传媒�

Hyper Borea aims to build on that and tackle the prohibitive cost of production, Saravanja says. He says the cost of labour and of travel are two of the biggest expenses with Northern filmmaking. 

One way they are working to overcome those costs is with SA国际影视传媒渧irtual production." The idea is that rather than spending thousands of dollars transporting an entire crew to film in a remote location, the studio can send fewer people for less time to shoot just the background and put it up on a green screen to film the rest in the studio. 

With Hyper Borea, they also want to ramp up post-production capacity so that even creators not using the studio can have access to colouring or sound suites rather than having to go all the way down to Toronto for example, for work that should only take a few hours. 

Bulckaert says the name Hyper Borea is from a Greek myth of SA国际影视传媒渕ajestic giants that live beyond the Northern winds.SA国际影视传媒� He says to him, local filmmakers are those giants. 

On Dead NorthSA国际影视传媒檚 legacy, Bulckaert emphasizes SA国际影视传媒渢his is not the end. This is only the beginning of the next phase.SA国际影视传媒� 

SA国际影视传媒淒ead North has been nothing but a blessing for everyone,SA国际影视传媒� he says. SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 hard to know how to express the gratitude.SA国际影视传媒�