Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1988-1990; 2005 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
Moving Image
• 7 reels : col. print, silent ; 16mm (3 hrs)
Video
• 2 open reels : video ; 1 in., 9 in. reel (1.5 hrs)
• 82 video cassettes : Betacam SP (40 hrs)
• 4 video cassettes : Betacam (1.5 hrs)
• 1 video cassette : VHS (2 hrs)
• 8 optical discs : DVD (14.5 hrs)
Audio
• 1 open reel : audio ; ¼ in., 7 in. reel (24 mins)
• 2 open reels : audio ; ¼ in., 10.5 in. reel (1.5 hrs)
Textual
• 2cm textual materials
Photographic
• 13 prints : col. ; 4x6 in.
• 13 prints : b&w ; 8x10 in.,
• 17 prints : col. ; 8x10 in.,
• 1 negative : b&w ; 3.25x4 in.,
• 30 negatives : b&w ; 35mm,
• 15 transparencies : col. ; 35mm, mounted,
• 3 contact sheets : b&w ; 8x10 in.
• 4 contact sheets : col. ; 8x10 in.
Graphic
• 1 computer disk : magnetic ; 3.5 in. floppy
• 1 optical disc : CD-R
Context area
Name of creator
Administrative history
Kensington Communications is a production company founded in 1980 in Toronto’s Kensington Market that has produced documentary and factual films, television shows, and multimedia projects for more than 40 years. Kensington has produced documentaries and series for the CBC and NFB, and its productions have been broadcast internationally on Discovery Channel, TLC, BBC, ZDF Arte, and other networks.
Early productions in the 1980s focused on social issues such as blended families (Stepdancing, 1986), youth suicide (Childhood’s End, 1981), and addiction (Out of the Past, 1989).
Many of Kensington’s productions have featured Earth’s natural environment and human activities that threaten it: Fragile Harvest (1986, the Nature of Things), Sacred Rhythm (1990), Sacred Balance with David Suzuki (2002), and Port Hope: A Question of Power (2005, The Nature of Things).
Kensington also has a history of producing iconic music documentaries. One Warm Line: The Legacy of Stan Rogers (1990), Mariposa: Under a Stormy Sky (1990), My Beat: The Life & Times of Bruce Cockburn (2001), and the City Sonic App (2009) all highlight Canadian music and musicians.
Kensington Communications worked with Bruce Cockburn over decades from the 1980s to the 2010s to produce short documentaries and advertisements for USC (formerly known as the Unitarian Service Committee of Canada) about their work in Nepal.
Kensington produced two successful crime series that focused on the role of forensics in solving real crimes – Exhibit A: Secrets of Forensic Science, and 72 Hours: True Crime.
Recent TV productions include The Shadow Of Gold (2019), Risk Factor (2017), The Equalizer (2016), and three seasons of the popular international TV series Museum Secrets, which goes behind the scenes at great museums of the world.
Kensington Communications has also been a leader in using multimedia websites to enhance documentary and television content. River of Sand, Sacred Balance, Diamond Road, Raw Opium, and Museum Secrets all included website content. Museum Secrets included a tie-in app called Scopify to help visitors navigate the Royal Ontario Museum, and the documentary Risk Factor was accompanied by the Risk Navigator app.
Name of creator
Biographical history
ROBERT LANG is an internationally recognized, award-winning filmmaker and television producer whose work has covered many documentary topics, from music programs and interactive media to science and social documentaries.
Lang founded the production company Kensington Communications in 1980, and in that role he has been responsible for hundreds of television programs, including: 3 seasons of 72 Hours: True Crime; the acclaimed four-part television series The Sacred Balance with David Suzuki; 5 seasons of the true crime series Exhibit A: Secrets of Forensic Science; the Gemini Award-winning 3-part series Diamond Road; the 5-part series Shameless Idealists; and 3 seasons of the hit documentary program Museum Secrets.
He has worked as a director on many music productions with artists such as Bruce Cockburn, Emmylou Harris, Daniel Lanois, Jackie Richardson, Toumani Diabate and Ali Farka Toure.
Among his many award-winning documentaries and TV specials are the Gemini-winning Separate Lives, One Warm Line: the Legacy of Stan Rogers, Diamond Road, and The Equalizer (Canadian Screen Award).
Lang has produced many interactive digital projects over the years, from River of Sand interactive website (1998), to The Sacred Balance online (2003), Diamond Road interactive documentary (2007), Museum Secrets Interactive (2011), ScopifyROM, a mobile app to enhance the museum experience at the Royal Ontario Museum (2013) and Risk Navigator mobile app (2017).
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
This biographical documentary of Canadian folk musician Stan Rogers is still considered the definitive portrait of the man and his music. Robert Lang produced and directed.
From Robert Lang: “This film was produced at the transition time from film to linear video. As a result, it was an unusual blend of original 16mm film, Betacam video and stock footage in which we had to find various rare sources of live concert audio from the Philadelphia Folk Festival and use a very early form of digital editing to sync up film and audio material from different sources.”
The 3-camera shoot of the Stan Rogers Tribute Concert (coordinated by Mitch Podolak) features well-known musicians playing the music of Stan Rogers at Winnipeg's West End Cultural Centre, produced by Kensington for the One Warm Line documentary. The concert had some gems of interpretation - especially by Spirit of the West, Connie Kaldor, Stephen Fearing, James Keelaghan - that were never used in the finished film.
Series includes source tapes on Betacam SP, concert demos on DVD, Stan Rogers concert audio ¼ in. open reel audio tape, production stills, graphics for the film’s poster, retail DVDs, and textual records including news clippings about the film, correspondence with film festivals, and promotional materials.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
No further accruals expected.
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Dates of creation revision deletion
Created Aug. 15, 2022 by Al Stanton-Hagan
Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
Sources
One Warm line on Kensington TV - https://kensingtontv.com/index.php/1990/09/20/one-warm-line/
One Warm Line on IMDB - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3882136/