Woods Avenue Digital: From skateboards to storyboards

Shaun Toutant found his passion for filming when he was 16 after taking a communication technology class.

He and his friends were excited to be able to get a credit for simply filming themselves skateboarding. “I found I was very good at holding the camera,” he said. As the class went on, “I would just skateboard for the purposes of filming,” Toutant said, finding himself drawn to the camera.

Toutant was always interested in the behind-the-scenes of television. As a kid, he auditioned to be on You Can’t Do That on Television. The audition didn’t go well, Toutant says, because he was “looking past the camera at all the lights and technology and the cables.”

Upon moving back home after attending Canadore College, he volunteered on a show that was hosted by one of his skateboarding friends from high school, Tom Green. While part of him regrets not sticking with the show, “I had dreams of music video directing and bright lights in the big city,” Toutant said, which drove him to move to Toronto, where he quickly got into editing.

In Toronto he worked for Corus Entertainment where he would help with special effects, or doing subtle fixes to animations, until he was laid off. Toutant thought this was a position he would never leave, as it was his dream job. “As shocking as (being laid off) was, I took a minute and zoomed out and realized I can escape now,” Toutant said. “This is actually a massive blessing in disguise.”

After working in Havelock for five years at another production company, hours began to dwindle. “I thought, all right, let’s start doing more YouTube videos.” With technology continually changing, Toutant no longer needed a studio to make high-quality content.

He compares this change to his early skateboarding days, where he would face down a 12-foot-high ramp where you could skate down it, or you can back down. “If I didn’t just lean out and go for it, it wasn’t going to work.”

That leap of faith led to Woods Avenue Digital, Toutant’s company that focuses primarily on commercials, documentaries, and music videos.

“When I first arrived in the Kawarthas, people would look at me like I had two heads,” Toutant said. People didn’t understand how you could make videos out in the countryside, away from the big city.

Toutant was able to get some help with Starter Company Plus, which gave him some funds and mentorship. “I’m a creative professional – I’ve never actually run a company or done any of the paperwork.”

“What I think makes us different with Woods Avenue Digital is we will use all the tools to convey a feeling, to take the viewer with us on a journey, so you can truly understand the message,” Toutant said.

With so much content flooding the online space, he believes creating that sense of narrative is essential. “Content without context is just meaningless noise. When I can provide content with context, then we’re taking you on a little journey.”

The company has been in Kawartha Lakes for two years, and while Toutant has regular clients, “we’re always taking on new clients. We’re always looking for new opportunities and ways to help out.”

Toutant thinks he can bring a unique experience to businesses looking for video content, like commercials. “I’ll use all these different techniques of editing and special effects, choice of music, and things like that.”

His newest project, which will soon be released, is called Brick by Brick, a documentary that looks at Omemee’s unique architecture.

“Seeing Omemee with fresh eyes, coming back after living in Toronto, I thought the buildings are unique and interesting,” Toutant said. “Now with my research experience and documentary skills, I thought I’m going to read up on these buildings and see what’s going on here. And a little bit of research confirmed, they are, in fact, unique to Kawartha Lakes.”

So, as he would with any project, he wrote up a video treatment for it, and in this case, also took his drone out to get some shots. The final product will be up on his YouTube and social media @WoodsAvenueDigital and his website woodsavenuedigital.com.