Interlochen is one of those rare places whose goal it is to try to preserve our humanity. Creative people are defined by the way they think, and that thought process is rooted here at Interlochen Center for the Arts.

CLIENT
Interlochen Center for the Arts
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Tim Broekema
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Tim Broekema, Julie Bacon, Greg Johnson
EDITOR
Tim Broekema

When I discovered that Interlochen Arts Camp was starting a class called Citizen Artistry I was very intrigued by the possibilities of what this class meant. I was first in line with my hand raised high wanting to do a video project on this unique camp offering. As a producer, the goal of any project is to create an emotion that even the uninterested will feel – and this idea of an arts institution taking students to different places in the community and teaching that the real power of what a creative person does is to make a difference in other lives made for the perfect storm of content. My failure was not having a strong enough plan heading into my content gathering portion of the project. I preach planning to my students, and then I did not. But coming across Ani and her personal story while my shoot was in progress allowed me to take a turn and redirect the project to some extent. My personal thanks to everyone involved in this project – you all touched my heart in some way and I thank you for opening up to me and allowing this story of this powerful class concept to be told. And my thanks to Interlochen for realizing there is so much more beyond art creation – that what we do really can make a difference.


CLIENT
Interlochen Center for the Arts
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY/CINEMATOGRAPHY
Tim Broekema
EDITOR
Tim Broekema

Sometimes while conducting interviews someone says something that can just catch me off-guard. The statement I heard Jung-Ho Pak make three years ago did just that. He said that art is important – and that artists are fighting against time and technology; before the world turns off its heart it is imperative that institutions like Interlochen realize that what they are doing is fighting for humanity. That phrase stuck with me, I asked several more people of note that I interviewed for various projects since 2015 to respond to the question, why is art important. In the end, I had over 4 hours of statements from almost 15 different conductors, composers, dancers, art directors, creative directors as well as others. I distilled it down to 4 minutes and created this video clip for Interlochen this summer. It is a call to action for the world to stop and think. If art is completely stripped away from the youth educational process, what kind of world will we end up with?

CLIENT
Interlochen Center for the Arts
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY/CINEMATOGRAPHY
Tim Broekema
EDITOR
Tim Broekema