Her Story: Lori Bellefontaine

Lori Bellefontaine

Her Story: Lori Bellefontaine

I grew up in Westmount – a community not too far from Sydney, Cape Breton. The only things Westmount is  really known for are the Canadian Coast Guard College and my mom’s pizza shop,”Lena’s Pizza” where I worked from the time I could make a pizza. My mom died on the night of the space shuttle Challenger disaster, January 28, 1986. She was 43. For the short time I had her in my life, my mom instilled in me strength, compassion and a respect for hard work – all very good qualities to have as a 14 year old.

I had no real idea of where my life was going. Would I take over the family business, or maybe work at the local hardware store? I tried both for a while, then moved out west where I worked at a hotel and ski lodge. But I missed home too much and after about eight months, I decided to come back.

No sooner was I back in Nova Scotia, when my sister (who worked at Cambridge Suites at the time) phoned and told me that there was a movie called Margaret’s Museum in town. As it turned out, the assistant director was staying in one of her rooms and he needed someone to organize his receipts. I had no idea about accounting, but the job paid eight dollars an hour. And the idea of being part of the making of a movie was very interesting to me.

The AD was Stephen Reynolds. He and his wife, Lori, gave me the opportunity to broaden my horizons in the film industry. Lori hired me for the wardrobe department where I spent three days doing the laundry after wrap – which was great but not exactly up my alley. Stephen offered me a job as a driver in transport and I jumped all over it. Again had no idea what that meant, but it sounded awesome.

From my very first day as a member of the film crew, I knew that this was something that I wanted to be part of for as long as I could. I was determined to have a career in the film industry and be part of that family of film makers. But all too soon, Margaret’s Museum finished up and I was once again unemployed. When would there ever be another movie shoot in Nova Scotia? Who knew?

I had no idea that Nova Scotia was a growing centre for filmmaking. I managed to get work on The Scarlet Letter, but only after hanging out in their production office for four twelve-hour days. They put me to work as a background wrangler. The Scarlet Letter was followed by Titanic and Simon Birch. By now, I was definitely hooked on this lifestyle. I now had my IATSE membership which opened the door to a year of work in Toronto and led me to upgrade my licence so I could drive heavy equipment.

I returned home to Nova Scotia to work in the Transport Department as a cast driver on Pit Pony. Fortunately for me, they were looking for someone licensed to drive a ten ton whom they could train as a Genny Op! I quickly picked it up – not without some taking some criticism – but in the end, I proved myself to the boys. I had managed to become one of five Genny Ops on the East Coast and one of the only female Genny Ops in Canada.

I’ve been very fortunate to work with the crews that I have over the years. I’d like to thank Bob Petrie for believing that I could hold my own with the boys and give them a run for their money.

The film industry may not be for everyone. There are a lot of birthdays, weddings, christenings and family gatherings missed and it is known to have broken up a few relationships. For me, it has been almost twenty years and despite a few broken relationships and an unhappy family member or two, I can’t think of a better, more exciting way of making a life and a living so close to home…

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