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Celebrating Common Ground
Photo courtesy of Open Book.
In 2007, Open Book Toronto produced its Words With series that featured interviews with twenty creative Canadians. Because these videos were so well received, the literary website has now come back with a new set of conversations that they’ve titled Type—only this time there’s a slight twist in the format. Unlike Words With’s straight-forward interviews, Type features artists from different fields (e.g. culinary arts, music, TV) interviewing each other. A writer may interview a dancer; a dancer may interview a chef. There are no scripted questions and the conversation can flow in any direction. This format was selected in order to break down the walls that separate the different spheres of talent in Toronto, and Open Book hopes this simple gesture will foster cross-communication between both the interviewees and their respective communities.
The first and second interviews are now online. Filmed and produced by Matt Austin, these clips are relatively short and they end (unfortunately) just as the conversation starts to break away from nervous small talk. The first of these features author Terry Fallis and fashion designer Shawn Hewson, and the conversation sheds light on how they broke into their respective fields and the inspirations for their work.
In general, we’d like to see more depth—but that could very well come in future episodes. What’s already been shot does a good job at leaving you wanting more, and hopefully this desire will be satiated in the near future by other in-depth conversations. The series has great potential and it couldn’t have come at a better time, considering that this turkey-burger economy has a lot of people thinking about changing careers and following their creativity.
For more information on Type and for insight into Toronto’s literary world, check out Open Book’s website.