Northern stripper documentary wins film pitch contest

A plan to document the lives of strippers working in the Northwest Territories will receive $4,000 in funding after winning a film festival contest.

Charlotte Morritt-Jacobs – a Cabin Radio host and reporter for APTN – came up with the idea on the spot while attending the Pitch This event at last week’s Yellowknife International Film Festival.

She threw some lines down on paper and seized the moment to present her pitch, entitled North Pole, to a panel of judges.

Northwestel Community TV’s Chris McNutt, a member of the judging panel, confirmed Morritt-Jacobs’ winning idea will be given $4,000 in financial backing.

“I was supposed to pitch a Bigfoot series with a friend from Fort Simpson, but he couldn’t make it due to car issues,” Morritt-Jacobs told Cabin Radio.

“So, halfway through the pitch session as I was supporting some friends, I decided why not do a show about the women who come to Yellowknife to strip?

“From the strippers I talk to, the crowd in Yellowknife is friendly and respectful. They come back here year after year. I want to explore who they are outside of the strip club, their families and goals.”

Morritt-Jacobs said she will partner with another Yellowknife-based filmmaker, Isis Essery, “to ensure we keep a feminist lens throughout the project.”

“I did a big project on escorts during university,” she added, “and completed a bunch of one-on-one interviews only to find that they have a lot of trust issues and psychological handicaps.

“But all the women up here seem to have a lot of agency.”

Last year’s pitch contest winner, Jeremy MacDonald, returned to this year’s festival with a pilot episode prepared for his show, Shit I Found Diving in Yellowknife – based on the exploits he has recorded on his popular Facebook page.