What has the ability to be everywhere, or at many places at once? What can exist simultaneously inside and outside the social mechanisms of urban life? Phantom Couriers: Ghost in the Machine works on several interpretive layers, superimposing beautiful film images, a genuine narrative and a subculture that many feel curious about, but few are able to penetrate.
This documentary short film tells the story of Phantom Couriers, Vancouver's longest-running independent courier company. Mark Huggan—owner, dispatcher, storyteller extraordinaire—relates how he started the company, and how he continues to retain both his couriers, and his clients. Bike messengers Brandon, Sarah and Dan describe the fast-paced world of being a courier in Vancouver in this intimate and swift portrait.
CREDITS:
Written, Produced & Directed: Gregory Gan
Featuring: Mark Huggan, Brandon Woodworth, Sarah Corsie and Daniel Adams
Editing: Gregory Gan, with consultation from Nico Collins, Jonathan Schatz and Eliot Piltz
Colour Correction: Eliot Piltz
Music: "A Venus Flytrap"; Original music & sound mix: Solomon Riby-Williams
Shot on Canon 7D DSLR video and 16mm film on a Krasnogorsk-3 silent windup film camera.
Film stocks: Kodak Vision 2 250D, Kodak Vision 2 500T, Kodak EXR 100T
Processed at Niagara Custom Labs, Toronto, ON & Transferred at Frame Discreet, Toronto, ON
SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Joao Carlos d'Almeidia & Ace Martens at the Arts Club Theatre, Vancouver
Diana Sanderson at Silk Weaving Studio, Vancouver
Daniel Materna at Materna Ceramics Studio, Vancouver
Federico Mendez-Castro at Dalbergia, Vancouver
Marian Gilmour at Heritage Hall, Vancouver
Suzanne and Geoff Watt
Phantom Couriers: phantomcouriers.com/
Gregory Gan: theoryofhappiness.com/
