John Surette Wins Award

Airing this month on RCTV will be Ipswich River an award winning documentary film by John Surette detailing changes the river undergoes from spring through winter.

The project grew out of a film being made by Surette showcasing the Town Forest. Footage was gathered by Surette using RCTV's equipment from April through December of 2005. Surette grew interested in the river as fall approached and he noticed the river drying up.

Ipswich River is the third nature documentary that has been produced by Surette

"I started out in April doing a video on the town forest. The Ipswich River runs right by the Town Forest," said Surette. "By the fall the river had dried up and then I noticed wild life congregating around small pools.

Surette began focusing his efforts on the dried up riverbed as filming continued. Here he found an abundance of wild life including turtles and shore birds like blue herons. In one shot Surette catches a glimpse of seven blue herons together. Sights such as this convinced Surette that the Ipswich River was a show onto itself.

A lot of time an effort went into each of these programs. According to Surette he shot over 24 hours of footage while working on his Town Forest and Ipswich River programs. "Some of the things you might just shoot for one or two minutes but, if you're doing nature you might keep the camera rolling for 10 minutes just to get a good shot, which might only last 10 or 15 seconds," said Surette.

Surette first got involved with film when he was recruited to help film church services at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Reading. His interest grew over time and in 2004 he decided to film a variety show the church was conducting. Surette came to the studio looking to sign out an extra camera for the shoot. The staff at the studio suggested he come in for some classes in editing and camera operation. When Surette learned the studio would air his variety show, his interest was piqued.

Looking for a follow up project, Surette took a camera and went to Woburn's Horn Pond just to practice with the camera. That practice session grew in to full-blown program. Surette says that since so many people liked the program that he decided to keep it in the same vein. Surette's completion of that film led to encouragement from Philip Rushworth, RCTV's executive director, to film another program; one about the Town Forest.

After a nudge from Rushworth, Surette's Ipswich River video was entered in a film festival run by the northeast section of the Alliance for Community Media. Entries in the festival came from all over New England and parts of New York. Surette choose Ipswich River for the contest because it was his favorite of his three films.

"So I entered, I thought oh well, see what happens," said Surette. "So one Sunday night around 11:30 p.m. Phil called me and said, 'I hope I didn't wake you up. He said you won, you won first place in the science and nature category.' I was really thrilled."

An awards ceremony was held recently at the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton. Surette enjoyed the experience and was able to swap films with some of the other entries and was able to meet a friend group of people who shared an interest in filmmaking.

As for current projects, Surette is currently working on two new films. One film documents the "adopt an island program" in town and another which revisits Horn Pond. Surette's adopt and island program should air on RCTV later this month.