LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i is a long way from his native Montreal, but Serge Marcil and his family say it has become home for many reasons. As an independent director and videographer, Marcil was globe-hopping on television documentary assignments for several cable
LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i is a long way from his native Montreal, but Serge Marcil and his family say it has become home for many reasons.
As an independent director and videographer, Marcil was globe-hopping on television documentary assignments for several cable channels. Kaua‘i was a favorite vacation spot and is now a home base for a production company, 4Dventures, as his career takes a turn toward producing.
“I became familiar with Hawai‘i while filming for the Travel Channel,” said Marcil, the company’s creative producer.
For the past 25-years, Marcil said he has filmed or directed more than 300 hours of television programming for a range of broadcasters in French and English. The bulk of his diverse directing and filming are factual programs and documentaries.
His work can be seen on the Discovery Channel of Canada, U.S. and Europe; National Geographic, Discovery Kids, YTV, CBC, Life Network, UK’s Channel 5. His French language work includes TV5; Canada-Monde; MusiquePlus; TFO; Radio-Canada; Canal D; and France 6.
Marcil said he has directed many children’s educational television series including 72 episodes of “Popular Mechanics for Kids from 1997 to 2001. He also directed 52 episodes of “Mystery Hunters” from 2005 to 2008.
His work was nominated three times for the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television’s “Gemini” Award — the Canadian equivalent of the Emmy — for “Best Director for an Information Program or Series.” He was also nominated for a Gemeaux Award as “Best Director for Children Program or Series.”
Marcil met his wife Jennifer while working in Los Angeles. The two moved to Montreal in 1995, as work began to shift toward the “Hollywood of the North,” a term he said came as Canadian incentives welcomed more film productions to Montreal and Toronto.
With his documentary and educational video work requiring frequent trips to Europe, Asia and Africa, Marcil said he was away for weeks at a time. As he decided to shift away from travel work, the family, including a spouse and two daughters, moved to Kaua‘i in 2010.
“I was gone for three weeks at a time and my wife and I decided that Kaua‘i was comfortable and we decided to make this our home,” Marcil said.
The couple formed 4Dventures with Jennifer as executive producer. Marcil’s background in international filmmaking proved helpful for producing in Hawai‘i, he said.
Kaua‘i is a great place to continue freelance work with the occasional film assignment to pay the bills, he said. The goal is to cut down on the traveling projects while dedicating more time to producing.
The first half-year was an opportunity to get to know everyone in business on the island, he said. This led to filming the Kaua‘i Music Festival for a one-hour program, along with work for Hawai‘i television, and eventually his own high-definition film work.
Marcil said he enjoyed the music festival and said his six years with MTV programming helped prepare him with a lot of music video experience.
Traveling around the world. Marcil has an appreciation for the environment and it is reflected in his projects. After meeting with Kaua‘i Community College (KCC) staff and Prof. Eric Knutzen, director of the Sustainable Living Center, Marcil suggested a way to bring the emerging media communication department together.
He created a course on digital media production with a focus on conservation documentaries. It is related to a current project to be completed in August and entered in the General Electric Focus Forward international documentary short competition on the theme of innovation and technology.
The film focuses on Kaua‘i as a sustainable living leader. It showcases a sustainable housing project that was brought about by partnerships between the county, KCC carpentry students, nonprofits and private industry.
“Its amazing stuff,” Marcil said. “This is an incredible model of sustainability and I am very happy to promote the project and the company and my work. What they are doing is great and the county and the state is behind them.”
