Movers & Shakers working in data entry for multiple petroleum companies. After receiving her bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering at the University of Calgary, she turned took a 16-month student engineering internship with a major industry player, emerging on the other side with a full-time job. Then came the tanking of oil and gas prices. Ms. McKercher experienced first- hand the frustration, guilt, loneliness, fear, and heartbreak as layoff followed layoff, lead- ing up to the disappearance of her own job. But tough times can reveal new opportunities. While earning her engineering degree, Ms. McKercher had practised filmmaking with the Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers. Her experiences in oil and gas, she decided, gave her some great material for her first feature film as director. Circle of Steel is a dark comedy about personal ethics and corporate interests. The experiences of her friends and colleagues are woven with her own, so it is based on true events. Field life is revealed unflinch- ingly: its loneliness and boredom, but also its camaraderie, humour, and compassion. The movie struck a chord in the director’s city, with attendees of the 2018 Calgary International Film Festival choosing it as Audience Favourite, Alberta Feature. Ms. McKercher has put real-life engineering on hold while she wears a filmmaker’s hat, but she’s certainly far from done with her new adventure. In 2017, she was a recipient of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts Young Artist Prize. She directed the web series The Calgary Collection , the short documentary Where the Sage Brush Grows , and music videos for Calgary musician Amy Nelson. FROM THE OILPATCH TO THE MOVIE SET In her feature film directing debut, Gillian McKercher, E.I.T., translated tough times in the oilpatch into award- winning humour. -photo by Elyse Bouvier
LATITUDE
ANOTHER ENGINEERING STORY HITS THE BIG SCREEN Regular PEG readers will already know about the movie-making exploits of Natalia Lea, P.Eng. Now, another Calgarian from the engineering ranks is getting big-screen recognition. Gillian McKercher, E.I.T. , grew up in the oil and gas industry, making her experiences particularly relevant for a movie about Alberta’s oilpatch in an economic downturn. So she made one. In parts funny and sad, Circle of Steel is a satire that draws on Ms. McKercher’s experiences along her engineering path. From her late teens to early 20s, she spent her summers
24 | PEG WINTER 2018
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