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Okanagan filmmaker, poet win at L.A. Film Awards

Spoken word artist Shane Koyczan wrote and filmmaker David Nault produced the commercial

An Okanagan filmmaker has won an award for a commercial he worked on for the Kelowna General Hospital (KGH) Foundation’s fundraising campaign in 2019.

David Nault, a film director at Kelowna-based State of Mind Films, posted on social media that “Where the Miracles Live” won Best Commercial at the Los Angeles Film Awards.

The short film uses a recording of Penticton spoken word artist Shane Koyczan performing one of his poems.

Completed in 2019, the film shows how giving to the foundation can help families who need help. The video was also used for the fundraising campaign for JoeAnna’s House, which provides accommodations for out-of-town families who have families receiving care at KGH.

During its first year in operation, 342 families have spent a combined total of 3,320 nights at JoeAnna’s House, according to the KGH Foundation.

“We have witnessed and experienced all that a warm and welcoming home has t offer for people who sometimes are experiencing their worst nightmare,” the foundation’s CEO Doug Rankmore said in a statement.

“Families have been able to grieve together. Loved ones have been able to be close when it matters. Patients have had the solace of their closest people being able to be there fully present to help them recover.”

The short film also won the Best Commercial Award at the Top Shorts, an international online film festival.

READ: Outbreak declared at Kelowna long-term care home


Twila Amato
Video journalist, Black Press Okanagan
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Twila Amato

About the Author: Twila Amato

Twila was a radio reporter based in northern Vancouver Island. She won the Jack Webster Student Journalism Award while at BCIT and received a degree in ancient and modern Greek history from McGill University.
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