52 - Jay Lawrance

This episode’s guest is a man of many hats, Jay Lawrance, the owner, director, producer, and cinematographer for Two Words Productions. We talk about how a project for Toyota ended up changing his life, reminisce about Speaker’s Corner, and chat about music videos and how they’ve changed over time.

While attending university Jay got asked to host a campus TV show, which sparked a desire to get behind the camera. After a short two years in his university’s Media, Information, and Technology program he would start working with Speaker’s Corner. For those who may not remember, Speaker’s Corner was how Canadians got their voices heard before the age of Twitter. You’d head on down to the box, press the button, say your piece, and with some luck it just might end up on TV, and this was famously how Canadian band The Barenaked Ladies got their start.

After moving from Ontario to Alberta Jay would spend a period working with a video production company that specialized in promoting brands like Willow Park Wine and Spirits, but as the digital age dawned and businesses would evolve how they did their marketing and promotion Jay saw an opportunity to go out on his own and Two Words Productions was born. Most recently Two Words has had the privilege of working on a video series for Toyota, which originally would be a series of 37 videos in 37 cities across Canada, but the scope expanded and gave him the opportunity to travel to Ethiopia to film with Canadian Humanitarian, an organization based out of Medicine Hat that does incredible work helping to cure poverty through education, which Jay tells us has been a life changing experience.

Two Words also plays a part in Calgary’s BIG Winter Classic music festival, and since Jay had a desire to be a musician while growing up this allows him to continue to be part of that scene, but with a camera in his hands instead of a bass guitar. We also chat about his approach to music videos and they way this staple in the music industry has changed, particularly now that most people are watching music videos online instead of through traditional channels like MTV or Much Music.

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Get your own copy of the books and music discussed in this episode:

Melinda Gates | The Moment of Lift

Kurt Vonnegut Jr. | Slaughterhouse-Five

Dave Bidini | On a Cold Road

Tom Robbins | Still Life with Woodpecker

Tom Robbins | Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas

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Let’s Meet For A Beer!

Alberta Beer Festivals: website | twitter | instagram

Jay Lawrance - Two Words Productions: website | twitter | instagram