Love him or hate him, filmmaker KEVIN SMITH is a popular and rather successful guy.
The foul-mouthed genius behind movies like Dogma, Clerks, Mallrats and Chasing Amy easily packed the 1,100-seat Sanderson Centre during his visits here a few years ago when he was drawn by the chance to play street hockey in WALTER GRETZKY's tournament.
Smith made it clear he loves Canada, Walter and Brantford.
So he considers it a favour to set his newest project here and he hopes to shoot it here too.
Prons is a you-can-go-home-again story of a porn star who returns to Brantford and Smith is starting work with a nice Brantford connection -- B.dot born and raised writer AARON MARTIN will help on the project. Aaron is best-known for his work as a writer or producer on shows like Degrassi, The Best Years, Being Erica and Saving Hope.
“My love affair with Canada continues,” Smith said this week.
Locals are excited about the pay-TV film that will likely hit The Movie Network.
People have been tweeting Smith hoping to be extras in the movie or offering him a place to crash while he's here.
* * *
You have to be exceptional to place in the finals of the American MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.
And you have to be exceptional to land an internship with the Toronto Argonauts.
You also have to be exceptional to get one of 10 Futures Fund scholarships awarded through Canada's Outstanding CEO of the Year program.
To do all three, you have to be MATTHEW JACKOWETZ.
This super-exceptional former BCI student is determined to bring the Moneyball concept, popularized by the Brad Pitt movie, to the game of football and we're betting he'll do it.
Matt graduated from Laurentian University with honours in Commerce, specializing in sports administration and has since snagged a nice spot with the group that runs the Ottawa Redblacks, the Ottawa Fury and the Ottawa 67s.
“The business side is where you get your start,” says the 21-year-old.
But applying the Moneyball idea to a football game is a lot more complicated than people know. Matt says you need to know the intricate rules of the game, learn how contracts and salary caps work, have the ability to create an analytic stream of information and develop a gift for conveying that info to the old-school football managers.
“You need a pretty diversified skill set.”
Matt, who played flag football in a youth league, says his family has always been big fans of the game. When he landed the internship with the Argos, his dad JACK JACKOWETZ, was able to help him use the season tickets he was given.
“The Argos have always been his favourite team and then he got to spend the season with them, interning and leveraging his sports analytics experience,” says Jack in amazement.
With the cash award from the Futures Fund Scholarship, Matt is now safely launched in his career.
While he's busy marketing and watching football games, you can bet some folks will be busy watching him.
* * *
It ain't easy being green.
Just ask GREG MCMILLAN, who for years has toiled to raise interest in living a green lifestyle through his www.TheGreenHub.ca website, newspaper columns and magazine editing.
“I guess I'm the green machine,” he says. But he notes it's been an uphill battle.
“My projects were ahead of the curve locally, including a green lifestyle column I did called This Really Old House Goes Green for The Expositor.”
So, after years of curating green lifestyle stories as a “labour of love” Greg is tickling some interest on a national scale after teaming up on a project of BEN PETERSON's.
The son of former premier DAVID PETERSON, Ben is running a web portal called Newsana, a subscriber-based news site at Newsanaplus.com, which allows people to publish their own digital news magazines.
“I curate items that I find on the green lifestyle and put them together for a subscriber list.”
Living frugally, organic food and solar power are some of Greg's areas of expertise.
“I've built myself up as a green expert around the world and feel like it's getting closer to a breakthrough.”
Mind you, a little “green” from investors would help the project grow a lot faster!
If you have news about something funny, interesting or quirky, contact Susan Gamble by phone 519-756-2020, ext. 2233, email susan.gamble@sunmedia.ca or mail Word Has It, 195 Henry St., Brantford, N3S 5C9. Follow her on Twitter: EXPSGamble
So he considers it a favour to set his newest project here and he hopes to shoot it here too.
Prons is a you-can-go-home-again story of a porn star who returns to Brantford and Smith is starting work with a nice Brantford connection -- B.dot born and raised writer AARON MARTIN will help on the project. Aaron is best-known for his work as a writer or producer on shows like Degrassi, The Best Years, Being Erica and Saving Hope.
“My love affair with Canada continues,” Smith said this week.
Locals are excited about the pay-TV film that will likely hit The Movie Network.
People have been tweeting Smith hoping to be extras in the movie or offering him a place to crash while he's here.
* * *
You have to be exceptional to place in the finals of the American MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.
And you have to be exceptional to land an internship with the Toronto Argonauts.
You also have to be exceptional to get one of 10 Futures Fund scholarships awarded through Canada's Outstanding CEO of the Year program.
To do all three, you have to be MATTHEW JACKOWETZ.
This super-exceptional former BCI student is determined to bring the Moneyball concept, popularized by the Brad Pitt movie, to the game of football and we're betting he'll do it.
Matt graduated from Laurentian University with honours in Commerce, specializing in sports administration and has since snagged a nice spot with the group that runs the Ottawa Redblacks, the Ottawa Fury and the Ottawa 67s.
“The business side is where you get your start,” says the 21-year-old.
But applying the Moneyball idea to a football game is a lot more complicated than people know. Matt says you need to know the intricate rules of the game, learn how contracts and salary caps work, have the ability to create an analytic stream of information and develop a gift for conveying that info to the old-school football managers.
“You need a pretty diversified skill set.”
Matt, who played flag football in a youth league, says his family has always been big fans of the game. When he landed the internship with the Argos, his dad JACK JACKOWETZ, was able to help him use the season tickets he was given.
“The Argos have always been his favourite team and then he got to spend the season with them, interning and leveraging his sports analytics experience,” says Jack in amazement.
With the cash award from the Futures Fund Scholarship, Matt is now safely launched in his career.
While he's busy marketing and watching football games, you can bet some folks will be busy watching him.
* * *
It ain't easy being green.
Just ask GREG MCMILLAN, who for years has toiled to raise interest in living a green lifestyle through his www.TheGreenHub.ca website, newspaper columns and magazine editing.
“I guess I'm the green machine,” he says. But he notes it's been an uphill battle.
“My projects were ahead of the curve locally, including a green lifestyle column I did called This Really Old House Goes Green for The Expositor.”
So, after years of curating green lifestyle stories as a “labour of love” Greg is tickling some interest on a national scale after teaming up on a project of BEN PETERSON's.
The son of former premier DAVID PETERSON, Ben is running a web portal called Newsana, a subscriber-based news site at Newsanaplus.com, which allows people to publish their own digital news magazines.
“I curate items that I find on the green lifestyle and put them together for a subscriber list.”
Living frugally, organic food and solar power are some of Greg's areas of expertise.
“I've built myself up as a green expert around the world and feel like it's getting closer to a breakthrough.”
Mind you, a little “green” from investors would help the project grow a lot faster!
If you have news about something funny, interesting or quirky, contact Susan Gamble by phone 519-756-2020, ext. 2233, email susan.gamble@sunmedia.ca or mail Word Has It, 195 Henry St., Brantford, N3S 5C9. Follow her on Twitter: EXPSGamble
