Janis Cole

Janis Cole began making films in the 1970s. Her first two student shorts, made with (student) collaborator Holly Dale, are queer-themed with sex work content; titled Cream Soda and Minimum Charge No Cover. Considering these shorts are almost fifty years old it’s remarkable that they remain relevant and sought after for public, educational and festival use. Her success is based largely on a direct filmmaking style and intimacy with her subjects. In the 1980s Cole and Dale made three critically acclaimed, award-winning feature length documentaries; P4W: Prison for Women, Hookers on Davie and Calling the Shots. Her reputation for empathetic treatment of marginal people including convicts, lesbians, sex workers and trans women was cemented with these films. Cole’s films are made independently, allowing for her to have final cut and control over the content. Made on 16mm with small crews of just herself and Holly, eventually adding a cinematographer and sound recordist and at times a camera assistant, the editing was always carried out by herself or in collaboration with Holly. In 1990 Cole began teaching two levels of Screenwriting for Film and Video, and Media Research Projects in the Integrated Media Program at OCAD University. She started at OCAD U with an active fifteen-year, international, award-winning documentary film practice and script writing career, and taught for thirty years before retiring. She remains Professor Emeritus at the University. While teaching she also ran a film production company in Toronto making shorts, writing a TV movie of the week and writing episodic segments for Heritage Minutes, Bliss and Exhibit A. Her successful transition to long-form television writer resulted in the Gemini award-winning movie of the week, Dangerous Offender for the CBC, which earned her the Writers Guild of Canada Top Ten Award in writing. At the same time she continued to make independent short films through the artist-run centres and mounted a three channel video installation at Trinity Square Video about the missing and murdered sex workers from the DTES of Vancouver, earning reviews in NOW magazine, Metro News, Things of Desire and Canada AM, CTV. By embracing all film disciplines and the emerging digital media art forms, she continually expanded her capabilities, experimenting with genres, techniques, formats, distribution and exhibition methods. Cole wrote for publications including POV, Montage and Sketch, and Now magazine, and completed an MFA in Documentary Media, a long sought after goal, as she’d been forced to drop out of high school by life circumstances and had to drop out of college due to lack of funds. Earning her MFA with distinction and teaching in Graduate Studies at OCAD U were the crowning jewels on her tireless achievements. Her work in film has spanned six decades and resulted in more than a dozen critically acclaimed, award-winning films. She was producer, director, writer and editor of each documentary, while carrying some of those roles over into her dramatic TV and experimental film and video works. Her drive to succeed as an artist at every level fuels her ongoing commitment to restore her films, archive her research materials, advocate for social change and environmental issues, and mentor developing artists. A common theme running through all her work and advocacy is empathy for the human condition in all walks of life.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janis_Cole
Janis Cole (born May 26, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker, producer, writer, editor and professor. She has directed several films over the span of her career, most in cooperation with her friend and professional partner, Holly Dale. Her most notable films include; Cream Soda (1975) Minimum Charge No Cover (1976), Thin Line (1977), Prison For Women (1981), Hookers on Davie (1984), Calling the Shots (1988), Shaggie: Letters from Prison (1990) and Bowie: One in a Million (2000).
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0170591/

Janis Cole (born May 26, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker, producer, writer, editor and professor. She has directed several films over the span of her career. Most of these films were done in cooperation with her friend and professional partner, Holly Dale. Her most notable films include Cream Soda (1976) and Prison For Women (1981).

Janis Cole (born May 26, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker, producer, writer, editor and professor. She has directed several films over the span of her career, most in cooperation with her friend and professional partner, Holly Dale. Her most notable films include; Cream Soda (1975) Minimum Charge No Cover (1976), Thin Line (1977), Prison For Women (1981), Hookers on Davie (1984), Calling the Shots (1988), Shaggie: Letters from Prison (1990) and Bowie: One in a Million (2000).