Shiraz Higgins was making plans for a career in law when he saw a film that radically changed his trajectory.
The film that kickstarted his change of heart and prompted his career as a filmmaker? Jackass 3D, of all things.
Higgins, now 26, was contemplating entering law school at the University of Victoria when the bone-breaking showcase of stuntmen and pranksters hit theatres in 2010, and while he recognized the sophomoric inanity of what he was seeing, Higgins — who could be found in the UVic library most nights — couldn’t help but be impressed by the stars’ bravura approach to life.
Jackass 3D grossed nearly $200 million at the box office, which proved to Higgins that following your dreams and being successful were not mutually exclusive ideals.
“These guys made a career for themselves because they were passionate about what they did. And they did it really well. I thought: ‘I don’t need to go to law school to make a career, I just need to find something I really love to do, and do it with as much gumption and passion as I can.’ It was [Jackass creators/stars] Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O and Chris Pontius that taught me that.’ ”
Work is underway on two Higgins projects slated for release in 2017: All My Jokes Are About Me, a short film, and the docu-series Building the Room. Both are centred on standup comedians from Greater Victoria.
Higgins knows a thing or two about comedy. The Esquimalt High grad did solid six years in standup before putting it on the backburner this year.
“I found it was becoming a source of unhappiness. I’m a very happy person, but the intrinsic rewards system of comedy — judging yourself — I wasn’t feeling that. I can make a video and be happy with it, and not care if anyone sees it or if anyone likes it or not. I can look at a video for what it is.
“In standup, you can feel great about a joke, but if it doesn’t get a laugh, it’s worth nothing. Your happiness is in other people’s hands, basically.”
Shooting on All My Jokes Are About Me, which will be a finished project in a matter of weeks, got underway Friday under the umbrella of Higgins’ company, Made You Look Media. The filmmaker is due to shoot a music video for the Victoria group Davenport before turning to Building the Room, which gets underway in December. Plans are also afoot that will send Higgins to India in mid-December to shoot a documentary on the Vancouver group Delhi 2 Dublin.
All My Jokes Are About Me (which received $10,000 in grant funding from a Telus Storyhive initiative) chronicles local comic Chelsea Lou as she develops a routine, while Building the Room documents five local comedians (Lou, Myles Anderson, Ben Fawcett, Shane Priestly and Shawn O’Hara) as they attempt to stage and promote a show. There will be similarities between the two projects, but Building the Room is a different beast entirely, he said.
With four cameras rolling simultaneously — including a 6K-resolution RED Epic Dragon that Higgins recently purchased for $40,000 — along with $40,000 in funding courtesy of the Telus Optik Fund, the 10-day shoot is the biggest production of any Higgins project to date.
“It will basically be a cinema-quality production. There’s movies being shot in Victoria and Vancouver using the same setup, with less cameras.”
Higgins has quickly made his mark as a filmmaker of note around these parts. His first project was So Close to Home, a 2012 documentary on homelessness made with a $2,500 grant while he was studying to receive his history and philosophy degrees. Higgins was hooked.
His first major post-university project — a video for the song Yukon Girl by Metchosin rocker Jesse Roper — would be his calling card as a music video director.
“That set me off in the direction I’m moving into now,” he said.
He has worked extensively with Roper in the years since, as director on all of his major videos.
Higgins credits much of his success as a filmmaker to his history and philosophy degrees from UVic. Writing a term paper has more to do with filmmaking than one would expect, he said.
“I spent four years writing history and working in narratives. I’ve had so much practice in finding ways to turn something into a story.”
Though he is originally from Saskatoon (he moved with his family to Victoria when he was 11), he is a major believer in the West Coast way of life. He’s proud to showcase art of all kinds currently being made in the capital region, and hopes his story can be one of inspiration for others.
“I really am constantly trying to balance ambition and happiness, but I often find a lot of ambition can be detrimental to happiness. My goal is to try and focus on what I’m doing right now, and do that really well.”
