Shelley Morten
Shelley was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia but moved extensively throughout Canada with her parents, finally settling in Vancouver, BC. While a student at Simon Fraser University, she met her future husband Pier, a deaf-blind Paralympian in the sports of judo and wrestling. Her relationship with Pier allowed her to accompany him all over the world in his athletic endeavors and also encouraged her to become one of the pioneers in women’s wrestling in Canada, winning three National titles and finishing seventh in the 1995 World Championships.
Shelley and Pier, now retired from combative sports, have three grown children and it was at this juncture in her life that Shelley decided to go back to school to try something that she had fallen in love with in high school – film. Back then she worked with Super 8 film and slides to produce short films and slide shows set to music. Long before the digital age, she learned how to edit the old fashioned way – real “cut and paste.” |
In the summer of 2010, upon graduation from the Capilano University Documentary Program, Shelley and Steve Pojitski, a fellow documentary student, co-founded VanWestFilm Productions Inc.
Since founding VanWestFilm, Shelley has produced and edited a short documentary film on body image and disordered eating, “One Body to Love,” and produced, directed, and edited a feature-length documentary on Mixed Martial Arts, “Fighting Average.” Both of these films met with some success on the festival circuit with “One Body to Love” achieving an Award of Merit from “The Indie Fest Film Awards Competition” in the category of Educational Films. “Fighting Average” was also an Official Selection of the "Action On Film International Film Festival" with Shelley nominated in the category of Best Documentary Director. Shelley’s last film, “Wrestling with Attitude,” which she also produced, directed and edited, is a documentary about women’s amateur wrestling in Canada. It was commissioned by the CBC-BC and aired on the CBC’s summer series “Absolutely Vancouver” just prior to the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Shelley’s latest production, “Pop Goes the Culture,” which she Produces, along with Director and Editor Kevin Fratpietro, is a film that explores the world of the often controversial Canadian Caricature Artist and self-proclaimed anarchist, Victor Pross. The film has recently resumed production and will shortly be launching a crowdfunding campaign on either Indiegogo or Kickstarter in order to secure completion funding.
Since founding VanWestFilm, Shelley has produced and edited a short documentary film on body image and disordered eating, “One Body to Love,” and produced, directed, and edited a feature-length documentary on Mixed Martial Arts, “Fighting Average.” Both of these films met with some success on the festival circuit with “One Body to Love” achieving an Award of Merit from “The Indie Fest Film Awards Competition” in the category of Educational Films. “Fighting Average” was also an Official Selection of the "Action On Film International Film Festival" with Shelley nominated in the category of Best Documentary Director. Shelley’s last film, “Wrestling with Attitude,” which she also produced, directed and edited, is a documentary about women’s amateur wrestling in Canada. It was commissioned by the CBC-BC and aired on the CBC’s summer series “Absolutely Vancouver” just prior to the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Shelley’s latest production, “Pop Goes the Culture,” which she Produces, along with Director and Editor Kevin Fratpietro, is a film that explores the world of the often controversial Canadian Caricature Artist and self-proclaimed anarchist, Victor Pross. The film has recently resumed production and will shortly be launching a crowdfunding campaign on either Indiegogo or Kickstarter in order to secure completion funding.