{"id":6281,"date":"2015-12-10T17:17:02","date_gmt":"2015-12-10T22:17:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alexz.net\/?p=6281"},"modified":"2015-12-10T17:17:02","modified_gmt":"2015-12-10T22:17:02","slug":"maple-ridge-brother-and-sister-win-grant-for-short-film-maple-ridge-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.alexz.net\/?p=6281","title":{"rendered":"Maple Ridge brother and sister win grant for short film — Maple Ridge Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Maple Ridge Times<\/a> printed a story about The Dishwasher and how Alexz and her brother Matthew are finally getting a chance to work together.<\/p>\n

\nSource<\/a><\/p>\n

by Ashley Wadhwani – Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Times
\nposted Dec 10, 2015 at 12:00 PM<\/p>\n

Born and raised in Maple Ridge, sibling duo Matthew and Alexz Johnson recently won a $10,000 grant towards their short film The Dishwasher, after being selected as one of 30 finalists in a competition hosted by the TELUS\u2019 program STORYHIVE.<\/p>\n

The first round of the competition asked filmmakers to create storyboards and pitch their film idea on camera, and then post it online.<\/p>\n

The community could then vote on short films they felt deserved the funding.<\/p>\n

For the siblings, their partnership on The Dishwasher<\/em> has allowed them to finally work together \u2013 something they\u2019ve wanted to do for some time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been wanting to work together for ages, and we just never found the right project to align on,\u201d Matthew Johnson said.<\/p>\n

Alexz Johnson, producer for the digital short, has always led her career by \u201ckeeping it in the family \u2013 friends included,\u201d and from a family of 10 has worked with two of her other brothers on past projects.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Matthew\u2019s] my older brother so there\u2019s always gonna be that natural respect, and I think he respects my experiences,\u201d Alexz said.<\/p>\n

Alexz attended Webster\u2019s Corner Elementary and then Garabaldi Secondary until Grade 8, when she landed the lead role on TV show Instant Star<\/em>.<\/p>\n

She has been pursuing a career in both music and acting, and recently co-produced and starred in the film The Wasting<\/em>.<\/p>\n

When Matthew sent his sister the script for The Dishwasher<\/em>, their partnership was decided.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Producing] kind of gave me the bug to want to get projects off the ground and help with things that I believe in,\u201d Alexz said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it was a story that needed to be told.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alexz will be creating the soundtrack for the digital short, and reached out to her fans in the first round of voting that would determine the 30 films and finalists.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like that [The Dishwasher\u2019s] shining a light on something that people like to turn a blind eye to because maybe they don\u2019t know how to deal with but I think that it needs to be addressed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dishwasher<\/em>\u2019s central character, a dishwasher at a \u201cgreasy restaurant\u201d is accepted into a prestigious cooking academy, but struggles. With the help of a new friend, a young prostitute in the area, he trades meals in exchange for her culinary advice.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a comment on love in this day and age, and the risks of prostitution and sex-trafficking and how that\u2019s an issue that\u2019s frequently ignored in the Vancouver area,\u201d Matthew said.<\/p>\n

Matthew, story writer and director for The Dishwasher<\/em>, has always \u201charboured a dream\u201d that one day he would be able to find a career in film writing.<\/p>\n

While attending Thomas Haney Secondary School, Matthew was an active member in the theatre program.<\/p>\n

The Thomas Haney graduate remained in the spotlight, working in local sketch comedies through comedy troupe YFG, and hosting CTV\u2019s Best of B.C., for three years.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t long before Matthew dove into his passion for creating stories with his notably \u201cambitious\u201d web series Coyote Mountain, starring Property Brothers\u2019 star Drew Scott.<\/p>\n

Currently, he owns renovation company, Placelift Renovations, out of Burnaby.<\/p>\n

For Matthew, The Dishwasher focusses on his interest in \u201csocially relative issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re flooded with zombie stories and space adventure and all these fantasy type stories,\u201d Matthew said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s refreshing for me and for her I think to invest ourselves in a story that\u2019s set in a reality-or as much of a reality as we can create on film.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now that the siblings have received the funding, they have 70 days to create their short film for the second round of STORYHIVE\u2019s competition.<\/p>\n

In the new year, The Dishwasher, and other competing films, will be aired online and TELUS Optik TV on Demand where the community will be asked to vote again.<\/p>\n

A winning project from each province will be announced in March 2016, and receive \u201ccustomized career training and mentorship programs, a scholarship to the Banff World Media Festival, and distribution on select TELUS platform,\u201d according to STORYHIVE\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

The fast-paced timeline for the film is something both Matthew and Alexz are ready for.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re constantly dealing with hundreds of unknowns,\u201d Matthew said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou learn to duck and weave and stay true to the vision you have, and somehow it works out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The siblings will be looking for a production crew and will be holding auditions for the character roles. More information can be found by clicking here<\/a>.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Maple Ridge Times printed a story about The Dishwasher and how Alexz and her brother Matthew are finally getting a chance to work together. Source by Ashley Wadhwani – Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Times posted Dec 10, 2015 at 12:00 PM Born and raised in Maple Ridge, sibling duo Matthew and Alexz Johnson recently won […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[72,930,926],"class_list":["post-6281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-article","tag-maple-ridge-times","tag-the-dishwasher"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t