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The story behind the lens of television innovator John Darroch"Somebody I used to work with said you never really finish a documentary, you just abandon it," says award-winning television director, producer, writer and editor John Darroch. |
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 [ 2002-04-10 ] |
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But after spending several months overseeing the writing, interviewing sources, shooting the footage, editing the images, and finding the perfect music to complement the piece -- essentially eating, breathing and sleeping the project -- it's no wonder the 52-year-old industry veteran has a tough time letting go.
"I can't look at anything I've done for at least a year or two with any kind of objectivity or distance. Every shot you see, you wish you'd done it in a different way," he says. "It's very hard to let go of, but when you do, you just don't want to know about it for a while."
The particular project Darroch is ruminating over is "Monuments: Engineering for Beauty and Time", a one-hour documentary that makes up a six-part Discovery Channel series called Frontiers of Construction (airing Monday, April 15, 10 p.m., Discovery Channel). The documentary took him to Egypt, to tell the story about the new Library of Alexandria.
"One of the architects was in Alexandria while I was there, and we spent some great time together," he says. "We'd go out to dinner and talk about Egypt and the ideas that went into the design of the library, so that was a lot of fun."
On the shores of the Mediterranean, at the exact site which was once the cultural and intellectual centre of Cleopatra's ancient Egypt before it was burned down by Julius Caesar's men several centuries ago, sits the new Library of Alexandria.
Nicknamed the Digital Lighthouse, the structure is a testament to architectural innovation: It boasts a circular glass roof that sits on an angle, sloping toward the sea; of its 10 different levels, four are below sea and six are above; and it is full wired with numerous user computers and Internet connection.
As the director, Darroch played a critical role in every aspect, ensuring the project stayed on track.
"You're the continuity throughout the process, and you'll stay with it through the music, the narration, the writing and sound effects. You do shepherd it all the way through until you hand it over," he says.
But the biggest thrill for Darroch is getting to travel to foreign places, learn new things and meet interesting people.
"Once you're in the field, that's the great fun -- I love shooting, especially once you're out of town, out of the country," says Darroch, who says it takes about three months to finish an hour-long documentary. "Part of the nature of the job, too, is you immerse yourself in a story or a location for a period of time, and live that very intensely. You spend every hour with the people involved with that story."
The "story" -- finding it, researching it and telling it the best way he can -- has been the focus for Darroch for more than 30 years.
Having studied English literature and film at York University, Darroch got his first experience with television production in the early '70s as a production trainee at CFTO, where he became versed in all aspects of television production.
From there he moved over to CBC and worked as a film editor, editing news and documentary programs. He eventually shifted over to the station's supper hour show, ending up as one of five on-air reporters creating eight- to 12-min. news features.
"That was great training," he says," because you were reporting, you were directing, writing your own pieces, and you would probably do two a week."
He returned to CFTO in 1977 to be a contributing producer, and later the supervising producer, of Hourlong, a weekly news magazine, along with industry veterans Frasier Kelly, Isabel Bassett and Doug Fisher.
A year-and-a-half sabbatical in 1980 was followed by his longest-running role at CTV's W5, where for the first couple of years he worked as a field producer, and then as the producer, where he oversaw the editorial content and general management of the program.
In the early '90s, Darroch branched out on his own, forming the corporate communications company John Darroch and Associates, which oversaw the development of 30 to 40 productions a year for companies such as the Bank of Montreal, Nortel and Rogers Cable.
But by the late '90s, Darroch had had his fill of corporate projects.
"To be honest with you, I had burned out on corporate," he says. "You are an arm of the corporation, and there's good and bad aspects to it, but I'd had enough, so I went back to producing straight documentaries for television."
The career move gave him the freedom to be choosier about the projects he works on. He is currently at work on a documentary for another six-part Discovery series called Human Wildlife, created by renowned medical oncologist and broadcaster Dr. Robert Buckman.
The series examines the human ecosystem -- "the teeming populations of animals and plants that inhabit the human frame" (such as ticks, viruses, tapeworms and cholera), and how they shape and affect our survival.
It's this passion for innovative, informative television, and for the different take on things that has been the driving force throughout his career, and is crucial, he says, to success in the business.
"Always keep your eyes open to the unconventional way of getting your story across. Now especially, there are some really fascinating technologies out there that allow people to control more and more of the story," he says.
The industry recognition Darroch has received, which includes a Gemini for his work on W5 and two industry awards for Hourlong, is certainly a testament to his sensational accomplishments in television.
But at the end of the day, he says, being able to do what you love is the truest measure of one's success.
"The thing that makes it a dream job for me is that I love it," he says. That doesn't mean that I love every minute of it or love all parts of it, but on balance, I have a blast doing it, it's just a great job."
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