Northern Alberta

Hello everyone!

Well, here I am, settled into my new job in Cold Lake, Alberta. The crew here is great and I'm learning a lot about producing a TV show. While I do have mixed feelings about the military the little boy inside me is very excited by all the fighter jets and weapons being profiled in the show. The pilots are excellent too, some of the most solid people I've ever met in my life.

Northern Alberta is a whole other story. It's boom times here. The Oil Sands have sparked amazing economic growth and many people have moved further north for high paying jobs working on 'the rigs'. Everywhere you look there are help wanted signs. The local subway, rather then advertise their deals, has their starting wage spelling out on the large sign out front. It’s all trucks and quads, cowboys and ruffnecks. Lots and lots of extra money floating around.

Very fascinating stuff, growing up in an economically repressed place, I've never seen anything like it.

I even have to admit. It's tempting. I could take two years and save up a large amount of money by working in the Oil Sands. Would it be easier to create the positive change I want to once I'm no longer poor? Would I get more done in the long run by selling out and then going back to my work? Here's the kicker. Would I go back to my work once I had made the money? Or would I buy a house, truck, dog, get married, and forget about all these 'can capitalism be fixed?' questions.

Don't worry; I'm not going to do that. My focus is still the same. Create as much positive change as I can. Answer these burning questions I have.

What else can I update you on? The Submission is still in Global Television's hands, nothing back from them yet. Hopefully they come back with a "Yes, we love it!" and everything steams forward. If not, well then we'll move on to Plan B.

Always have a plan B!

Oh, and the new volunteer web team is making progress on getting the website up again. It's going to be great. I've very excited about the talent and skills this team possesses. The new website is going to rock. It's going to let the audience join us the on the filmmaking journey from the get go and provide a inside track on the development, production, and distribution of the film

The research continues as well. We are going to be speaking with Dr. Butler from The Adam Smith Institute sometime soon as well as two folks from the World Resources Institute (WRI).

If you're in Cold Lake, Alberta on the 30th be sure to check out Buddy Wassiname and the Other Fellers! I'll be there getting my Newfie on.

Much peace and many thanks

Adam

FINGERS CROSSED!

Fingers crossed

Ahem, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to announce that:

Tomorrow, September 6th we are submitting our new proposal to Global Television. If Global likes our pitch and comes on board with the project then things could role forward quickly and the film would get made and made well. We’re talking serious production funding and a broadcast premier on one of Canada’s major television channels.

The ‘stream’ we’re aiming for is called Global Currents, it’s Global’s new current affairs documentary strand. You can read more about them here:

www.canada.com/global/globalcurrents/index.html

For the past two months the bulk of our energy has gone into researching and writing this new proposal and no matter what Global replies we are much further along then we have ever been.

So, keep your fingers crossed that they like our submission. It really is the best option of producing Fixing Capitalism at the level that it should be!

________________________________________________

Oh, and ummm…. I’m moving to Alberta for a bit!

I’ve been offered a day job on a new show for the Discovery Channel so I’ll be moving to Cold Lake, Alberta for a bit to make some money. I will still be working on Fixing from online and my wonderful partners will be taking over the direct affairs while I am away. O, and our awesome new web team will be re-rigging the website to harness the full potential of the inter-nets.

Funny, I know. I have to take a break from Fixing Capitalism to pay off my student loan. Oh, the irony.

The show is about seven young men in fighter pilot school in Cold Lake. Lots of technical info about the planes and POV shots from the pilots Point of View. I’m going to be their Field PA. The pay is good and I’m going to learn A LOT about production.

………………………

Funny, trying to change a system while having to participate inside of it. Our submission to Global is entertaining, engaging, and educational… but probably not as radical as I would have liked it to be, but we want this to get this on TV and in front of as many eyeballs as possible… so we have to make it digestible for the broadcaster and the viewer.

And then there is the pressing reality of my student loan, which requires me to work all fall.

Not sure what I’m trying to say there. It’s funny that’s all. Reality. At the end of the day Capitalism is still making the world go round, if we want to prosper we have to keep dancing to its tune.

You can dance any way you want, but you got to dance!

It’s either that or go live in the woods and eat berries.

Ummmmm… berries.

Peace and luck

Adam

P.S. If you’re free tonight be sure to check out The Fugitives (www.fugitives.ca) at Café Deux Soleil. Probably my favorite band, The Fugitives speak truth and produce music like nothing you’ve ever heard before. They are astounding.

Why I want to Fix Capitalism

Hey Everyone. LOTS going on. A submission to a broadcaster on the 6th, exciting new web-team, and a new day job for moi.

I'll let you in on all the details on Tuesday. In the meantime, here is a letter I just wrote for the broadcaster, explaining my position on Capitalism and asking for their support. (for the record)

For anyone in Vancouver. We're having a party at my house tomorrow night. Feel free to get in touch for an invite!

Peace

A*

Why I want to fix Capitalism

By: Adam Cormier

August 29, 2006


Dear Friend,

If you want to change the world and make it a better place, you have to take a good hard look at capitalism. Whether you think it is at the root of the problem or the key to all solutions, understanding it is essential to the health of our civilization.

My deepest hope for our documentary, Fixing Capitalism, is that it will get the average person thinking about the world and about capitalism with the intention of making both better.

There are so many solutions out there! Share-holder activists, sustainable CEO’s, Base of the Pyramid ‘Micropreneurs’, Fair-trade products, cradle-to-cradle designs, and conscious consumers. Capitalism is undergoing a major evolution.

I first became interested in understanding capitalism on the morning of September 11, 2001. As I watched those two skyscrapers crumble on TV, my reality crumbled with them. That day I had my epiphany. Which was; if I have been blessed with some small amount of talent, how I can spend then rest of life only trying to make money when I could try and change the world, make it a better place. That morning in September I did a 180 degree turn and have not looked back since.

Up until September 10th, I hadn’t given much critical thought to the world or its economic underpinnings. I was in business school, determined to charm my way up the corporate ladder upon graduation. Everything changed for me that day.

Fixing Capitalism is the natural progression of the activism I began in my business school after I had my ‘epiphany’, pressuring my faculty to make the ethics course mandatory. Back then; I was a firm proponent of something called The Business Case Behind Sustainability, the idea that the progressive and sustainable companies will become competitively superior in the market place. While I still believe that, I now also think that a major revisiting of capitalism’s basics are needed before any real change can take place.

Capitalism is a very tricky word. It means different things to different people and is loaded with emotional references. Some worship it, some despise it, most take it for granted. Personally, I was raised to love it, and in many ways, I still do. Growing up in the 1980’s I dreamed of climbing the corporate ladder and having the freedom to do anything that I wanted to do.

All that changed for me that one morning around the turn of the century.

If you want to change the world, we have to look at capitalism. Whether you worship it or despise it, it has got to change. Like it or not, it is changing.

I am not anti-capitalist or pro-capitalist. What I am, is extremely interested in understanding the history, nature, and current evolution of capitalism, with the intention of making the world a better place. I don’t blame all our problems on economics but do believe that they are exasperating the environmental and international crisis of the day. Solutions, and the incredible potential of the market to spread them, are what really excite me. My research has led me to believe that a much better world is right around the corner, if we can only work up the courage to try a different path.

This is a letter asking for your support of the upcoming documentary film, Fixing Capitalism. I have been working on this film for three years now and am determined to see it through to reality. If you have it in your power to help make this dream come true, please consider doing so. If nothing else, thank-you for taking the time to read these words.

Yours in the evolution of our ideas,



Adam J. Cormier


Vancouver, British Columbia, 2006