For release: Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Yellowknife – We all have things we like to do in our spare time. Some people knit. Andrew Silke makes movies. And in May, one of his films will debut at the world’s most prestigious film festival.

All of the staff at Tait Communications are very proud of Andrew’s accomplishments and congratulate him on the selection of his short film, Amelia, to be shown at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival.

Amelia is one of 25 Canadian short films that will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival market as a part of Not Short on Talent, a program funded by Telefilm Canada that draws upon a diverse range of films from every province and territory. Amelia is the Northwest Territories only film in the program, and will be shown during two different screenings at the Marché du Film, premiering on May 22 at the Palais du Festival.

Amelia is an 18 minute film written, directed and produced by Andrew Silke. “It’s every director’s dream to showcase a film on this kind of stage,” says Andrew, “but having a film that was entirely created in the North recognized in this way is especially rewarding.”

At Tait Communications, we like to support our employees however we can. In fact, parts of the movie were filmed at the home of Tami Johnson, Tait’s Creative Director.

“Andrew hasn’t shown us Amelia yet,” says Tami, “but I’m afraid that I will never be able to walk into my downstairs bathroom again after I see it.”

Shot in Yellowknife, NWT in March 2011, Amelia tells the story of Diane, a sleep-deprived, post-partum mother who is feeling psychologically tormented by her ten year old daughter Amelia, and emotionally neglected by her unassuming husband, Stu.

When Diane discovers that Amelia’s habitual night wandering correlates with injuries found on the new baby, she delves into the disturbed world of her daughter while frantically trying to prove to Stu that there is something wrong with Amelia.

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For more information:

Tami Johnson
Creative Director
Tait Communication and Consulting Inc.
Phone: (867) 669-6211
Email: tami@taitcc.com

Over the long weekend  the Tait Hawks participated in the 32nd Annual First Air Tournament. Winning the Lake Awry Division of the tourney with a 6-3 victory over the Northbest Old Packers.  They advanced to the final with a 1-0 shootout victory Sunday morning over Ollerhead, and then avenged an earlier defeat at the hands of the Packers (7-5) in the final.

Congratulations to all the players and participants!

My adventure began this past summer when I travelled to Yellowknife for a vacation.  Not the typical destination for most, but I was easily persuaded by my two very close friends Kristen and Adam.  Adam, being a native to Yellowknife, boasted of all the new and exciting opportunities available here in the north.  Kristen, always the supportive friend, encouraged me to take initiative, update my resume and start handing them out.  I’m glad I took her advice!  After introducing myself to Tami Johnson, Tait Communication’s Creative Director and newest partner, we set up an interview right away.  I couldn’t wait to tell my friends that after only being in town for five days, I had landed an interview!  This sort of thing doesn’t happen down south in Ontario, so I was filled with excitement.  When my friends got home from work I shared my news and that’s when Adam said, “That’s Yellowknife for you”.  At the time I thought it was a very odd expression, but after living here for almost two months now, I’ve learned it’s an accurate statement.

On the day of my interview, I met with Leanne, the Owner and creator of Tait Communications, Tami and Marsha, Director of Operations.  I learned what the company was all about and did my best to sell my skills, knowledge, and why I would be a good fit with the company.  Afterwards, Tami mentioned I should check out “Come Make Your Mark”, a campaign to attract people to living and working in the north.  When I got home, I visited www.comemakeyourmark.ca and learned what I could about Yellowknife and the opportunities they offered.  The site even features a page dedicated to peoples’ success stories on moving to the north.  A few weeks later, Tami called with some exciting news!  I had been offered the position and I was heading to Yellowknife!  I spent weeks organizing and making lists of things to pack.  My boyfriend Adam planned our driving route while I packed all my worldly possessions (including my dog Roxy) and away we went!  After three days of non-stop driving, we finally arrived.  We stopped by the office and Tami mentioned they were looking for volunteers for “Champions for Children”, a charity event organized by Tait.  Wanting to jump in and get my feet wet, I offered to volunteer.  That night I met retired NHL players, Darryl Sittler who played for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Yvan Cournoyer, who played for the Montreal Canadiens.  That was just another example of “that’s Yellowknife for you.”

I started work on Monday morning and was instantly treated like one of the team.  It wasn’t long before I was introduced to YKBuzz, a new free app available to iphones that identifies all the upcoming events happening in Yellowknife.  One of my responsibilities is to help add events to the website.  This has been a great way for me to get to know the city and all the events taking place.  One of the events I had added was the ticket presale for the Wine Gala at the Explorer Hotel.  This is just one example of the handful of popular formal outings that occur throughout the year.  While out with a bunch of friends, Corey mentioned that he really wanted to go but last year they sold out of tickets in under an hour.  Funny enough, I knew when the ticket presale was and passed along the information.  Thanks to YKBuzz, I was able to experience yet another formal event.

I have been living here for about four months and have learned that in small communities, you meet friendly people easily and that word travels fast.  Even my captain from volleyball has been using YKBuzz to stay informed.  He pulled out his iphone and said, “Have you heard of this great new app?  It’s called YKBuzz and it has all the upcoming events that happen in town!  You should really check it out.”  I had to laugh because he didn’t know that I helped update the app with information at work.  I’m happy to see that word is spreading fast!  I guess that really is Yellowknife for you!

Being in Yellowknife has proven to be an amazing experience.  I strongly recommend visiting if the opportunity presents itself.  I can’t wait to see what random surprises Yellowknife has in store for 2012!!

Happy New Year and Best Wishes from all of us at Tait Communications

From all of us at Tait, We wish you all a very Merry Christmas &
Safe and Happy Holidays!

OK, let’s face it. It’s hard to toot your own horn. That’s why award programs exist, right? So that someone else can say you do a good job so you don’t have to say it yourself. And even when it is someone else who’s saying it, it still feels a little… shall I say “unCanadian” to shine the light on our own achievements.

Likewise, when I tell my team they’re rock stars and do amazing work, I hope they believe me. But it’s a little like a mom telling her daughter she’s beautiful or talented or smart. Mom’s (and employers) are supposed to say those things. But when it comes from someone else, then they take it to heart.

That’s why we’re so pumped about the recognition we received from the Association of Marketing and Communications Professionals in the form of three 2011 MarCom Awards. Immodest or not, we’re bursting with pride, and I’m delighted the Tait team has been recognized for the high calibre work it does.

MarCom gets thousands upon thousands of entries from around the world. Rising to the top to receive a Platinum Award – MarCom’s highest recognition – means our little 10-person firm in Santa’s back yard is doing work on par with the biggest and brightest agencies in New York, Toronto, and around the world. For a full list of winners visit http://www.marcomawards.com

Here are the entries that were recognized:

Platinum Award – Come Make Your Mark a brand campaign for the Government of the Northwest Territories that encourages people to come to live, work and invest in the NWT. Visit www.comemakeyourmark.ca and read stories of NWT residents making their mark.

Gold Award — designs for Yellowknife’s prime summer event, Folk on the Rocks. The theme ‘Eclectic Folk’ was brought to life with a collage of eclectic northern images forming the silhouette of a guitar. Images were applied to signage, the website and merchandise. Visit www.folkontherocks.com.

Honourable Mention – our own Tait rebranding. Tait completed its own rebranding this past year to reflect the growth of its creative department and capabilities in design, web, video and social media. Visit www.taitcc.com.

I’m proud of our team, no question. They do great work. And our clients are well served.

Reid and Seth introduce you to the staff at Tait Communications and ask them what they wanted to be when they grew up.

From all of us at Tait Communications, we wish you a safe and spooky Hallowe’en

A few weeks ago a casting call was passed around looking for extras for a new CBC series called ‘Arctic Air.’

The plotline of the show should be familiar to many people living in the North already: “ARCTIC AIR begins with an airline and the people who work for it, with their stories growing to include their families and the community of Yellowknife. In addition to the lead characters, each year a fresh crop of new recruits will arrive in Yellowknife, drawn from everywhere around the world. Almost none of these new recruits have any real notion of what they are getting themselves into, and more than a few get right back on the next plane south. Those who stick around discover that the effort required to stay in Yellowknife will be nearly super-human. But the ones who last – they’re in it for the adventure of a lifetime.”

So I sent in a picture and soon heard that they wanted me to play a mechanic for a couple days. Well alright, it sounded like something I could do – seeing my dad is a mechanic. So I got a basic outfit together and woke up very early one Saturday morning to get my TV career underway.

We were shooting everything at the Buffalo Airways hanger.  Joe and Mikey were kicking around making sure everything was taken care of. I get to my starting position and go through my actions for the first scene of the day, the main actors come in to take their marks and I’m standing right across from Canadian legend Adam Beach! He says ‘Hey buddy, how’s it going?’ and I tell him I’m good, ask him how he’s doing, it’s all very exciting for first thing in the morning!

The rest of the day was spent going over a few scenes; most background acting is limited to standing around waiting for the scene to be set up, going through your action during the scene (Walk over there, pretend you’re talking to that guy, then walk this way, etc.) The hours are long, and you have a lot of time for book reading  while waiting to be told what to do next,

It was great to see that many of the Yellowknife area film and television community were out working on the set and it was a great experience being able to be a part of a professional television film shoot.  Arctic Air premiers for the 2012 Winter season on CBC.  Be sure to watch for me, I’ll be in the background of the hanger looking busy and pretending to work