Guerilla Journalist

Videographer, Lecturer, Activist

Nicole Sorochan seems to be the epitome of a modern day entrepreneur. The Edmontonian works to change the world, especially from a conflict and environmental stand-point. She graduated with distinction on the Dean’s List from the University of Victoria with a major in Pacific and Asian studies and a minor in film.

“I finished school, bought the camera, jumped on a plane to Thailand, and read the manual for the new camera I’d just bought…”

Once there, Nicole began to film what she thought would be a six month project. It turned into a four-year adventure. Same Same but Different documents the conflict in Southern Thailand between insurgent Muslims and the government, and is scheduled for release this fall.

The burgeoning film maker has also started her own companies, viewstreetproductions.com and EnviroSpeak Media. Viewstreet, the first Canadian company to be added to Google’s Ad Creation Market Place, specializes in on-line video advertising for clients like Louis Vuitton, National Geographic and Ginch Gonch.

“EnviroSpeak.tv is an interactive social action network, as opposed to a social media site,” Nicole explained. “We’re more than a place to watch videos; we’re not a green YouTube. We have a larger mandate behind us.”

Users sign on, research different environmental problems all over the world or showcase their own concerns… and collaboration happens. Environspeak even offers funding so you can take your actions offline. It’s an end-to-end solution.

“We’re only really first diving into how much potential the Internet has to change the world, so what this site does is really try to harness that power.”

When Nicole isn’t putting the finishing touches on her documentary or perfecting her social networking sites, she volunteers her time to helping youth understand the difference they can make with a video camera, something she knows inside out.

Nicole’s list of credentials continues to grow and impress. She was the youngest guest lecturer at the Harvard Pacific Asian International Relations Conference in Tokyo in 2005. At the Climate Camp in the United Kingdom in 2008, she gave sessions on new media, backpack journalism and guerilla filmmaking. Other projects—everything from climate change to exiled Syrian activists in Lebanon—include a five-part mini-series for Al Gore’s Current TV and The Real News out of Toronto and New York.

So where does the 27-year old see her career going?

“I don’t want to know what I’m going to be doing 10 years from now because that doesn’t allow my path to be altered. I think some of my greatest successes so far have been because I’ve let it go.”

- Written by Lauren Henrie, Edmontonians Sept 2009