Spotlight on the World

The Core Films is a film company focused on shining a light on the deep, the good, and the beautiful in our world.

THE CORE FILMS

HONOR AND DEPTH IN FOCUS

I was lucky to take a women’s literature class taught at Western Washington University by Professor Kami Westhoff. She’d chosen to focus solely on poetry from women in North America, and I was blown away by all that she exposed us to, particularly Andrea Gibson and Donika Kelly. Gibson’s piece, “Tincture,” is not to be missed. Absolutely topnotch poetry. And a fantastic documentary on them, Come and See Me in the Good Light, came out this last year and was nominated for an Academy Award.

But I was placed in a small group and we were asked to do a presentation on Donika Kelly, whom I came to admire and respect highly. She was courageous enough to express and share about her experiences with childhood sexual abuse and trauma. Her interviews and work touched my heart deeply, and I had to do a documentary film on her courageousness and her work.

I included footage I’d gotten in Yosemite National Park, Cannon Beach, Oregon, and did some wonderful/enjoyable slow-motion cinematography up at Western Washington University, and inside the Church of the Assumption, a very beautiful chapel in Bellingham, Washington.

I recorded a light and appropriately moody piano soundtrack for this film. It overlayed nicely over Donika Kelly’s words, her interviews, and her poetry, which she reads herself.

Kelly is truly an honorable person, and it was my honor to put the spotlight on her and her work.

Woodworker is a film I made about my Uncle Wayne in fall of 2023, while visiting family in Phoenix, Arizona. He’s one of the most, if not the most, honorable men I’ve ever known. He passed away in December, 2024.

I grew up without a father, and Uncle Wayne was always the closest thing I’d had to a male figure who showed me a good example: how to work hard, how to make oneself useful, how to care for others by providing, how not to be lazy and to do all things the right way and not half-ass anything.

The filming took place in his wood shop, attached to his and my Aunt Monica’s house in Goodyear, Arizona. The day before I asked him if I could film him. I told him I was trying to practice documentary filmmaking, though I really just wanted to film him, and asked if he’d help by letting me interview him and get some shots of him doing wood working in his shop. He agreed.

The next day, I set up the microphone, a lavaliere mic, clipped to the top of a red wine bottle at his face level as he sat at his kitchen counter on a stool. I hit record and we did an audio interview where he spoke reverently and gave, what I consider, nothing but gems—wisdom, insight, and probably the best recorded and accurate impression that exists of him as a person, as well as his mindset and philosophy. It was a huge honor to be able to capture that. And I see this film as collaboration between he and I.

I used footage I’d captured of trees in Yosemite National Park that year, which I overlayed as he spoke about trees and their importance and nobility. I recorded the soundtrack on my acoustic guitar, wanting to be sparing and delicate. I wanted to create a sound that was grounded, simple, reflective, just like Wayne Ross Sr. himself.

I showed him the film, as it was being wrapped up and completed, and he asked for me to put in a dedication at the end from him to my Aunt Monica:

“To my loving wife, Monica—your faith and support made me who I am.”

His response to the finished film brought me joy: “That is awesome. Thank you for putting together who I am.” This tells me he considered it an accurate portrayal—an expression of his essence.

I don’t believe in “resting in peace,” as the phrase goes. I believe in continual adventures and evolution. And though I can never be certain that there is an after life, I like to operate as if there is, and I like to think that Uncle Wayne is swinging on into his next life, ready to live a long and fulfilled life, carrying the wisdom he’d gained from the one that just passed.

We will miss you always, with love,

Billy