For six decades I’ve witnessed change in Fernie. For each resident that leaves expressing discontent with change, someone new comes in that embraces it.
One such person is Rory Hinds. An avid traveller who could have nested anywhere in the world but chose to make Fernie home because, “I’m a keen snowboarder in winter and mountain biker in summer so I can see the world from unique angles both physically and creatively.”
As a youngster Rory was a successful vert skateboarder sponsored by Zorlac Skateboards, Island Style and Blitz Clothing, but he soon discovered a passion for being behind the lens, taking photos and filming daredevil stunts of friends using a Leica 35mm and Kodak 8mm cameras. Once home he edited the footage with two VHS recorders wired together.
Rory was born in Durban, South Africa but at age 18 after completion of his graphic design studies he immigrated to the UK and found work as a freelance designer and photo retoucher at top advertising and design agencies in London.
With a strong desire to keep learning production and design technology Rory improved his skills by developing and creating multimedia products for Hewlett-Packard and British Telecom while living in Australia. He became so good that he trained the advertising team of a firm on the tropical island of Mauritius and created the island’s first animated television commercial. On his return to London he founded a production company, Ignition, that created event presentations for BBC’s annual corporate conference and for music artist’s launch parties for Sony Music. This resulted in over 300 commercials for Sony music including for artists Mariah Carey, Offspring and Ricky Martin that appeared on major global and satellite TV stations like ITV, Channel 4, MTV and Sky.
Rory went on to colour grading and finishing and worked as a finishing artist on documentaries and a variety of feature and short films for many of London’s independent filmmakers. He says that it wasn’t long before he had mastered control of the camera and ‘Ignition’ evolved into ‘Mine Films’ developing even higher cinematography skills, filming music videos and commercials for Sony Music, Pilot Pens, Mark’s Work Warehouse, Travel Alberta and Atlantic Records.
Full length feature films such as the documentary about the controversial Glasgow Soccer teams Rangers and Celtic gained him attention as did being the first in the UK to have the legendary RED 4k Digital Cinema Camera that he has used to shoot with since 2007.
Work at Wolff Olins included the launch of the UK’s National Lottery and the design for British Telecom’s corporate identity. He also has corrected and manipulated photos for both national and international marketing campaigns like Virgin Mobile and the Hollywood blockbuster, Godzilla. He has a list of credits to fill a couple of pages with names like Ron Howard’s Angels and Demons and Frost/Nixon as the Second Unit RED Director of Photography and in films such as Below Zero, Dust and Milo and Kate, working as director, editor, colourist and visual effects.
This attractive but unassuming young man says that his “in-depth knowledge of post-production techniques gives him a distinct advantage and is invaluable to any project.” As well, his canny ability to shoot, edit and finish permits enormous creative freedom. His unique directing style and “command of creative lighting” places him in a distinctive position to carve his own niche in this very competitive film world. Even more helpful is his calm presence and ability to complete production within deadline, come in on budget and do all of this while moving things effortlessly along.
Sometimes people wonder what type of person lives in this changed Fernie and although mining is the backbone of this town as it is in the entire Valley, new technology has made it possible to have someone like Rory live here while still providing services to long established clients in London like Rockstar games, Roadrunner Records and Atlantic Records.
Rory has been a fulltime resident for over six years and says this is a place he wants to stay permanently. Fernie is fortunate to have people like Rory call Fernie home as they contribute a colourful weave to the tapestry of this town.