Having mostly focused on writing, filming and directing short films, St. Albert-based filmmaker and owner of DxE Productions Jason Jeffery said it was time to dip his feet into unknown waters.
So he created a music video with Calgary-based child artist Angel Berry. The video was filmed at Leo Nickerson Elementary School on a recent Saturday and was released on Berry’s website and social media sites this week.
“I try to watch what other artists are doing and she seems to be a young girl that is going somewhere,” he said. “So it was kind of an honour that she asked me to do it. I never made a music video before.”
The one-and-a-half minute video called No Matter tells the story of a young boy (played by Edmonton-based Kyle McNalley) who struggles with bullying at school and his parents fighting at home.
The boy ends up befriending 11-year-old Berry who pushes him to overcome some of his obstacles and “see happiness,” said Jeffery.
He said Berry had sent him a list of her songs (all of which are spoken word poetry) from which he was able to choose one. He picked No Matter because it had the most meaning to it, he said.
“In my work I like to have feelings, and I like people to feel something so to me this song gave me the opportunity to at least continue to express that,” Jeffery said. “To make people feel for this boy and hope we can make a difference in some kid’s life.”
Angel Berry said she was interested in poetry from an early age and started creating her spoken word songs about two years ago. She recently released her first album, but is also known as an actress, celebrity columnist and fashion designer, she said.
While her work usually takes her into the United States, she said visiting St. Albert’s Leo Nickerson school was “very, very cool” and she enjoyed working with Jeffery. She added that No Matter is an important song because it tells others to “never give up” and to overcome difficult situations.
“It’s just what happens to some kids but it’s just no matter what, never give up on yourself,” she said. “No matter how hard it is don’t become a bully.”
Working with his partner Melissa Trotter and co-director and friend Mack Lamoureux of Edmonton-based River Road Productions, Jeffery said they wrote the story for the video within a week and filmed it in one day.
The video has about 20 children in it, as well as two actors playing the boys’ parents. Most of the children were hired from an acting agency in Edmonton but Jeffery said they used the local school because his stepson went there and it’s close to his home.
Even though nobody received a script before they shot the film, he added that the filming went over pretty smoothly.
“I kind of gave them an overview … we just let them know what their scene was and they just went and did it,” he said. “It’s a minute and a half song so the scenes are pretty quick.”
He added that DxE Productions had won this year’s People’s Choice Award at the Edmonton Short Film Festival for his movie Family, but No Matter was his first paid production and he hopes to continue doing different projects.
The video is now available on YouTube and can be found by searching Angel Berry - No Matter.
