Film and media production
Robert Alstead 
Consider this: a privately owned car can cost at least $10,000 a year, yet, for 95% of the time, it sits idle doing nothing, just slowly losing its value each and every day. Car sharing means you have use of a fleet of cars, without the responsibilities that go along with owning a car – … Read more
As someone who has advocated for better – as in safer – cycling conditions in our cities (e.g. see my film You Never Bike Alone) it might seem counter intuitive to do a series on cars. But car sharing is really more about using the car less. At least, in my case. We sold our … Read more
One of the beauties of living in Vancouver is that we have three ski resorts on our doorstep – Seymour Mountain, Grouse Mountain, and Cypress Mountain. Cypress Mountain, though the furthest away (28km), has been my go-to for years, being the largest of the three mountain resorts. The Cypress season just closed this past weekend, … Read more
In recent months I have been beefing up my YouTube channel with more videos. It’s been a slow process, trying out different video styles and subject matter to see what works. I have amassed a meagre 17 subscribers, so YouTube fame is a long way off, but I’ve broken the 1,000 views mark for one … Read more
I gave up the trifecta of caffeine, alcohol, and sugar, and the rest of the family gave up sugar.
An essential part of any news web site is the RSS feed. RSS allows you to push your content out into the world as soon as you hit the “publish” (or “save” in Drupal) button. With a standard installation of Drupal you can customise an RSS feed for your site in a few minutes and … Read more
This is a project for which I have footage going back several years. This East Vancouver neighbourhood has seen big changes in recent years as older houses are torn down and replaced with McMansions and laneway houses. The story provides a window into the stresses being felt by ordinary families by the affordable housing crisis. … Read more
I posted this video profile of Andrew Weaver’s two terms in the BC Legislature, yesterday to my YouTube channel. It includes footage and interviews, not used in my feature documentary Running On Climate, looking at how the BC Greens went from a 30-year-old party with no seats to holding the balance of power in the … Read more
Ever since they have had the neck muscles to hold their cranium above their shoulders our kids have been on human-powered wheels: on seats on the back of our bikes, in bike trailers, on scooters, pedal bikes, roller blades, skateboards, and tricycles. (Article continues below video) One big reason why we never became a car … Read more
The idea for a vice fast had crossed my mind as the end of the year approached, but it was my seven-year-old who made it something concrete. Mid-December, he declared that as soon as Christmas was over he was going to give up sugar. No candy, maple syrup, ice cream, donuts, granola bars, chocolate, cookies, … Read more