Dan Gainsford has been a part of the Ottawa independent film and arts community since 1997. He is a producer, a filmmaker, an artist, an activist, a sustainable construction junky, a community builder, an organic slow food enthusiast and an optimist. He has a B.A. in Film Studies from Carleton University and practical film training from The Independent Filmmakers Cooperative of Ottawa (IFCO) and the Summer Institute of Film and Television (SIFT). He is deeply involved with IFCO and over the years has worked as a member, filmmaker, vice president and president. He is especially proud to have helped in the creation of IFCO's cultural equity committee in 2003 and continues to support the idea that film and video are powerful instruments for enabling social change.
From 2001 - 2005 Dan worked with The Canadian Audio-Visual Certification Office (CAVCO) within the department of Canadian Heritage. CAVCO provided Dan with the opportunity to experience a birds-eye view of the entire Canadian film and television industry. He has very strong opinions regarding film and television in Canada, and believes there is an urgent need for more development and marketing dollars to give Canadian filmmakers the further competitive edge they need.
Dan’s films have been shown in various festivals and galleries including screenings with the Available Light Screening Collective and the Ottawa Art Gallery. Through the use of film and video, his films display human patterns while questioning whether they are in or out of sync with nature or society. His current project, Searching for Dragons, continues to explore these themes alongside the larger question of what we as humans hold onto, both in physical and metaphysical terms.
By 2012 Dan plans to be exhibiting his artwork and feature films internationally throughout art galleries, film festivals and regular mainstream broadcast media.