Gord Doucette is an entrepreneur. He is the owner of Serious Coffee in Sooke and every month he displays the work of local artists on the walls of the coffee shop. He’s an artist himself, but these days he prefers to showcase other people’s work rather than his own.
Doucette, originally from back east, is amazed at the beautiful scenery that is so prevalent in many of the works of the artists he features on his walls. Late last year he featured the nature photographs of Don Osborne and thought perhaps the photos could be shown in a different format.
“I was watching a cable program with images of scenics and thought, ‘why not do photos and make them into a DVD?,” said Doucette.
So the process began, he formed a company by the name of Surefire Productions Ltd. He put an announcement onto a couple of web sites asking photographers to submit their images of the natural beauty of Vancouver Island. His idea was to raise some money for the World Wildlife Fund of Canada, plus himself and the photographers.
“It is a business venture and the idea is to make money,” said Doucette. “And donate to a wildlife cause.”
So far about 20 photographers have contacted him but many are nervous about submitting their images to someone they don’t know.
“They need to meet me face-to-face,” he said. “The main thing is getting the photographers to trust me.”
Nature photographs are one thing, but Doucette sees other areas being put onto DVD as well, like gardens and cityscapes.
Once the “Scenic Wonders” DVDs are done Doucette wants to sell them in gift shops all over the coast. On the back of each DVD will be a short profile of each contributor along with their individual website. Twenty-five per cent of the price of each DVD will go to the photographers.
Anyone interested in submitting their work to Doucette can reach him at Serious Coffee in Sooke or by email at: 12sooke@seriouscoffee.com.
Not one to settle for just one project, Doucette is also hosting movie nights at Serious Coffee. Every weekend he is showing films using a high-definition projector. He is showing films, documentaries and rock concert shows every Friday and Saturday night at 7 p.m. Admission is free.