When you live and film in the land of the midnight sun, catching a ‘sunrise’ forces you to be the earliest of early risers…Which sometimes also happens to mean rolling up to your first location to find a little black bear munching away in the grass also up before first light!

Working with a Yukon crew though, we came prepared, and we were excited to see many of our crew members pull out their bear sprays as they are just part of our kits here. We steered clear of his area, and made sure we took safety precautions to ensure the shoot could go on safely, and out of Mr. Bear’s morning commute…

That was but one of the many instances on this recent project we did with Cossette for Travel Yukon where we looked around and just felt so much gratitude for the amazing team we get to work with!

Film production is a team sport, and the most important skill set we look for from crew members is flexibility and great attitude. Learning the technical skills is the easy part-but bringing good energy to set even when we are all tired, hungry and in some cases, literally outrunning a thunderstorm? THAT’s the key to a great crew member.

Here are just a few of the lessons learned together on this latest adventure:

During peak Yukon summer it is basically legally impossible to film both a sunset and a sunrise on the same day…those two are so many hours apart you start to question if the sun will ever go down. (And you better be ready to set multiple alarms to catch a sunrise in particular)
If your picture car is a vintage 80’s van, make sure you have a backup ready just incase she has a bad day…
When your backup picture car doesn’t have a radio and you have multiple hour drives between communities with it, your comms headsets are a great way to pass the time…
U-Haul’s don’t come with spare tires so when you get a flat, they have to send in someone from Whitehorse with your spare no matter what community you happen to be in! (Which means using your Tetris skills to transfer gear into multiple vehicles to make sure there’s no hold up in production during that down time)
The timing between thunder and downpour can be so tight, you need to have your sprinting pants on. (And tarps to madly cover your gear)
Getting a sock to land perfectly in the same place multiple times while being thrown up into the summer breeze is difficult but not impossible.
Having a few spare $20 bills as thank you’s to friendly locals and travellers who pitch in to help in various ways goes a long way.
Low lying creeks have morning fog in them during perfect sunrise hours if there has been rain. I repeat… low lying creeks have morning fog in them during perfect sunrise hours if there has been rain.
Tent trailers, although small and nimble, are not airtight to mosquitoes. Mosquitoes also love Gary Bremnner particularly at 3am when he has a 4am call time.
Breakfast burritos and coffees save lives.

We are so stoked with how this turned out and hope it brings you a smile. Huge thank you and hiy hiy to the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, Kwanlin Dün First Nation and Ta'an Kwäch'än Council for allowing us to showcase the stunning landscapes between Whitehorse and Haines Junction, and to Randi Nelson’s beautiful fashion exhibit at the Kwanlin Dün Cultural centre.

And to our epic crew-you guys are the best and we can’t wait for more adventures with you ahead!