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Wilf Gray Biography and Filmography
Wilf Gray Productions The nature films of Wilf and Margaret Gray combine exceptional cinematography with efficient writing and tight editing. They pride themselves on their spirit of independence, pointing out that, of the 152 films they’ve made, only two were not wholly funded by themselves. Born in 1930 in the British town of South Shields, Northumberland, Wilfred E. Gray began talking still photographs as a boy, and eventually took on the task of aerial film reconnaissance for the Royal Navy during WWII. In the mid-1950s, he helped put one of Canada’s first television stations (CFCF in Montréal) on the air, and soon moved to British Columbia, where he made his first film, Mountains to the Sea (renamed Northwest: Mountains to the Sea) in 1956. His films have won numerous, and well-deserved awards. Wilf was one of the first academic filmmakers to insist on using color film, and points to his feature film of 1973, Four Seasons, as being the first feature relying totally on natural sound. In spite of having a large library of natural sound and extraordinary footage, Gray steadfastly refuses to rent these resources to other media institutions, as he feels this will dilute the value of his films. In making a film, Wilf acts as the cameraman and writes the script, and his wife Margaret (also a native of Northumberland) does the research, sound recording, and handles travel and location logistics. Today, Wilf Gray’s films are out of distribution. He occasionally makes them available to television, but contractually insists that no footage be edited, and allows no more than two broadcasts. He is investigating the possibility of making his films available again on DVD. Wilf Gray is a filmmaker of the old school. “You can only do a film from the heart if you finance it yourself… to be independent, you have to make sacrifices. We are the only documentary filmmakers of note that have never gone to the government for funding.” He eschews publicity (“We don’t need publicity here, we’re only two people”), and modern conveniences such as voicemail and email. On one hand, he’s a throwback to an older, more
independent era, where quality of product and insistent on personal and
professional standards was paramount. On the other, his insistence on living
life at his own pace, rather than one dictated by the exigencies of business,
could either be viewed as futuristic, or timeless. Filmography We are in the process of collecting data on Gray’s 152 films. The following films were distributed in the 1970s and 1980s by Journal Films: ? denotes those believed (but not confirmed) to be Gray's films Amazon (1980) Other films made by Wilf Gray Breath of Spring (1966, British Columbia. Dept. of
Recreation and Conservation)
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