Halloween Mural

Ok you've caught me - Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year. All the scary and infinite possibilities to dive into the creative imagination is hard to resist. Hence I offer this little gift to celebrate the season:




Mural Artist: Kneil Spek
Song: Yelle - Safari Disco Club
Director/Producer: Lisa Kannakko
Editing by Andrei Ionescu

Live at the Belljar: Kira May

We had the pleasure of having Kira May play a Live At The Belljar music session:



Director/Producer:  Lisa Kannakko
Sound Engineer: Ben McPeek
Editor: Andrei Ionescu
Camera Operators: Lisa Kannakko and Andrei Ionescu
Promotion: Sparrowtree Productions

Year 2: Rocco DeLuca & Daniel Lanois

It was one year ago this month that Rocco DeLuca and Daniel Lanois performed in the first "Live at the Belljar" session, on the back patio of my little spot the Belljar Cafe, in the west-end neighbourhood of Parkdale/Junction/Roncesvalles.  

Well they've done it again! This time they performed for a delighted audience in the front window. Lanois walked across the street from his studio to play the show with DeLuca, and basically blow our minds as we sat within a few feet of the deeply creative duo. 
California based artist DeLuca released his self titled album this month. It was produced by Lanios who has produced albums for a wide variety of artists, including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Emmylou Harris, and Willie Nelson. Lanois also collaborated with Brian Eno: most famously on producing several platinum albums for U2, including The Joshua Tree. 

"Live at the Belljar" is a music series that I started as a way to combine my love of music with my love of filmmaking.   




Rocco DeLuca performing "I Trust You To Kill Me", "How Many Times" and "Congregate", with Daniel Lanios on accompaniment.

Director/Producer: Lisa Kannakko
Sound Engineer: Ben McPeek
Editor: Andrei Ionescu
Camera: Joshua MacDonald, Lisa Kannakko, Andrei Ionescu

Live at the Belljar: Clinton St. John

another taste of musical delights. this show happened at the Belljar a little while back, we just finished up the edit.

Director/Producer: Lisa Kannakko

Sound Engineer: Ben McPeek

Camera Operators: Lisa Kannakko, Andrei Ionescu

Editor: Andrei Ionescu

Live at the Belljar: Jordan Klassen

Here is the latest addition to my ongoing video series. Love the approach Jordan Kassen - and his band, are taking towards their music. Very creative and smart.



Director/Producer: Lisa Kannakko 
Sound Engineer: Ben McPeek
Camera: Lisa Kannakko, Andrei Ionescu
Editor: Andrei Ionescu

On a separate note - some of what I've been cooking up has leaked out into the world.  Read this lovely little article about how things have come together at the Belljar, and how my music series started with Daniel Lanois.  Pretty neat to hear it reflected back.

Whitebrow - Live at the Belljar Video Series

For over a decade I've been a huge fan of Vincent Moon's Take Away Shows, drawn to the idea of having a creative project which encompasses music and motion, that fuels and furthers my constant need to produce new work. Through a series of events, such as opening a bar, returning to writing music, and connecting with new people, I realized that I had all the ingredients to move in this new direction. Hence, please be introduced to the Live at the Belljar Series, which started a little while back (with the Rocco De Luca & Daniel Lanois piece) and has finally found its feet.



Director/Producer: Lisa Kannakko
Sound Engineer: Ben McPeek
Camera: Lisa Kannakko, Thomas Lee
Editor: Andrei Ionescu

Honest Ed's - Duets

When I shot the "Duets" piece at Honest Ed's a few months back with Worn Fashion Journal, it hadn't been announced that the end was near for the historic business. As I passed through the hidden passageways of the building I felt there were many more stories to be told about this place and those who had kept it going since 1948.

Most of my memories are of my Great Grama Rose coming to visit from Los Angeles and just going bananas over how great the deals were.. She always had her eyes on the "BEST DEALS IN TOWN!", was pretty comical, and easily as much of a character as Honest Ed was himself.


Behind the scenes video Shot & Edited by Daniel Reis

Worn Journal shoots at Honest Ed's

Gotta hand it to Worn Journal - they got creative mojo. We shot these portraits at the famous Honest Ed's a few days before the big announcement (the location is for sale), and I remember thinking to myself "this place is a goldmine on so many levels" with the interior dating back decades, broken down and beautiful inside, while being centrally located - it is a dream for artists, shoppers, realtors and potential land developers. 

When I was a kid my crazy cool Grama used to bring me here to buy under-garments and fresh turkeys for cheap.  Be sure to take a moment out of your day to marvel at its wonders, you will never regret taking in this historical fun spot and you might find jazzy panties too!

These images will be featured in the next issue of Worn Fashion Journal, launching on November 23nd at Dovercourt house (going to be a great dance party, come dance with me!)  I'm shooting the cover of Issue 17 this week - will keep you advised.

Living in Print - Behind the scenes

I always love behind the scenes videos of shoots I've been involved in, what took us a full day to shoot replays in mere moments and all the best moments are there to invoke memory.



Taking full advantage of the unique details and beauty of the new offices of Worn Fashion Journal, here's a look behind the scenes during the photo session of Living in Print, Issue 16.

Shooting Jes Sachese - Behind the scenes

Jes Sachse was full of humour and generosity on our latest shoot. here's a look at how the shoot unfolded:

“Growing up, I felt like I had to pick between something stylish and something I could actually wear. It would be nice to realize a future where retailers and the fashion industry stop forcing people to make that choice.” – jes sachse

How can fashion engage with disability? While we’ve recently seen a fair bit of progress regarding companies that accommodate wardrobes of folks of varying bodies and abilities, it’s not exactly a one-size-fits-all solution. Clothing is an incredibly personal and political choice, and no two sets of needs are exactly alike.

In our most recent issue, we had an in-depth chat with artist and activist jes sachse about how identifying as disabled and genderqueer collides with their love of fashion. We had a great conversation full of new ideas, the re-telling of experiences, and hard laughs. Beautiful photos were taken, and feet were tap-tapping away during the whole shoot.

It was a damn good time.

text // Jenna Danchuk
video // Daniel Reis
end animation // Barry Potter

Read full article and view my photographic contribution in Issue 16 of  Worn Fashion Journal 

Fresh off the Press: Worn Fashion Journal - Issue 16

Worn Fashion Journal is releasing Issue 16 with a Dance Party on June 8th:  Second Hand Prom Party will take place at the Church of the Holy Trinity.  Here is some of the work I contributed to the issue - as always, it is a pleasure to work with a publication that is so full of creative innovators.

New Year. New Website (for moi)

My new website is now Online!  Looking forward to hearing your comments..