Vernon filmmaker Stirling Peters underscored the importance of showing up to dinner on time in the third-place winning short film at the 2019 Reel Peach Film Festival.
The film, Dinner in the Okanagan, sees Norco Canadian Enduro Team mountain biker Jacob Tooke riding the chairlift up SilverStar Mountain Resort as he gets a text from mom saying dinner is in 15.
And Tooke is determined to get to the table on time.
Not only does the short three-minute film showcase some awesome features on the ski hill, but it highlights that the natural terrain of Vernon is just as bikable.
The criteria of the film festival specified videos must entertain and creatively tell a story about the Okanagan that evokes community pride.
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Peters said he’s pretty happy with how the film turned out.
“I knew I wanted to shoot it with Jacob because he’s talented and local and we grew up filming lots,” Peters said.
The hardest part of filming the piece, Peters said, was finding the time to shoot with Tooke.
“It was prime racing season,” he said.
Co-ordinating schedules proved difficult with Tooke slated for races on SilverStar and Kicking Horse and Peters was racing to finish his semester at school—he’s studying carpentry.
“I think I will keep (filmmaking) on the side unless it really takes off,” Peters said.
In the meantime, he will pursue his education and take side jobs.
He said he worries that if he were to make filmmaking a full-time job, he may not enjoy it as much as he does.
Making movies was an early passion for Peters. He said he was given his first handheld camera when he was only 12. He would shoot videos of his brothers jumping on the trampoline. Shortly after, he was given his first DSLR camera and the quality of his photographs and films blossomed—as did his passion for the medium.
Although the director was unable to attend the premiére at Reel Peach Fest in Penticton on Aug. 9, due to school obligations, he’s pleased with the final result.
The third place earned Peters $250. First place went to the Fermentation Project for its film The Millennial and second place went to the Perfect Peach Pie by Tyler Messervey and Noah Dorsey.
For more information or Stirling Peters’ body of work, visit stirlingimages.com.
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