Aboriginal
Continued From Page 2
Behind the scenes with Justice
Brownstone.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF OMAR HA-REDEYE
Toronto articling student Omar Ha-Redeye (right), acted as a production
assistant on Justice Brownstone’s show.
inal students, the retention in
practice is not what it could be.
“Aboriginal law is one of the most
dynamic,” White said. “We’re at a
pivotal point between our com-
munities and the legal system.
It’s a very challenging environ-
ment to practise in.”
White said having lawyers
with direct knowledge of indigen-
ous culture will also help guide
relations between First Nations
and the government.
Among the society’s first
moves was to ask aboriginal
members to identify themselves
in the society’s practice informa-tion-gathering process.
“We did not know how many
aboriginal lawyers there are in
the province,” Ridgway said.
about the law, and if you give
information to people in a TV pro-
gram, they will watch it,” says
Michel Doyon, who practises busi-
ness law with the Quebec City
firm, Gagné Letarte SENCRL and
whose dream is for Le Droit de
Savoir to also become a daily
Internet show.
Before Brownstone hits the big
time, his status as a sitting judge
limits what he can do on the show,
says Kinney.
“He can’t get into certain topics
[political issues] or interview cer-
tain people [litigants with active
cases], and can’t have certain
sponsors [no law firms that liti-
gate at the North Toronto Family
Court or litigants with pending
cases in any court] on the show.”
While Brownstone has com-
plete control over the show— from
signing off on the set to the con-
tent — he’s not involved in the mar-
keting or advertising. Kinney han-
dles the latter, and has acquired
such corporate sponsors as Vic-
toria law firm, Dinnin Hunter
Lambert & Jackson, who paid
$5,000 to have its name and a link
posted on FamilyMatters TV.com.
The online venture is also
offering businesses or law firms
10 major sponsorship spots,
each available for $60,000 a
year, which includes a
30-second commercial on every
episode for one year.
Brownstone also doesn’t get
paid to do the show.
As he did with his book, in giv-
ing all of the royalties to The Chil-
dren’s Wish Foundation of Can-
ada, the Toronto judge has
directed that 25 per cent of the
revenue from Family Matters go
to the same charity.
“He’s not receiving anything
from the show — and actually, nei-
ther am I,” laughs Kinney, who co-
owns a hotel with her husband,
Bill, along with real estate proper-
ties on the West Coast.
For now, Family Matters is a
labour of love, with costs kept at
a minimum for a show Kinney
estimates runs well below
$10,000 per episode. In fact, her
husband even volunteered to
build the set at Island Industrial
Fx, a digital-film production
facility in Victoria, whose owner,
Simon Game, is the show’s direc-
tor and other co-producer.
“This is a very, very high-
quality production,” bubbles
Brownstone.
“When they told me this was
going to be an Internet show, I
thought it would be on a webcam
or some hand-held digital thing.
But oh no, this is a three-camera
studio production with proper
lighting and sound, makeup, and
a 25-person crew—the whole bit!”
In mid-July, Brownstone spent
two days taping six one-hour
pilot episodes covering such
topics as collaborative law, medi-
ation, “how to make the best use
of your lawyer,” elder abuse, child
neglect and abuse, and prenuptial
agreements. The plan is to post
between two and three new epi-
sodes per month.
Expenses were further reduced
since Brownstone and the non-
The show also had a studio
audience — 50 people per epi-
sode — during its recent round of
tapings. While audience mem-
bers couldn’t ask questions dur-
ing the show, they could do so
during breaks — and anyone surf-
ing the Web was also free to send
theirs in by e-mail or Skype in
advance. But Brownstone got to
choose which questions he would
use on the show.
“I don’t want to take a chance
that something gets
said — including by me — that
was inappropriate. That’s why the
show is not live,” he explains,
adding that he also has the final
say over the edited program.
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