about

Record Label and Festival
In 1999, I started DIVORCE, a record label for experimental and underground music that would go on to garner international attention for its LP and short format releases by artists My Cat Is An Alien, Jerry Granelli, Noveller/Aidan Baker, Shearing Pinx, You’ll Never Get to Heaven, Gown, and many more. In 2007, I used the label to launch a related festival event—OBEY Convention. I ran the festival for nine years and, with the help of a talented crew, grew it into one of Canada’s most popular niche music and arts happenings. I left OBEY Convention in 2016 to pursue other projects, but the festival continues to thrive today, now under the name EverySeeker.

Screenwriting
Much of my current focus is on filmmaking—primarily screenwriting—in partnership with Seth Smith and our company CUT/OFF/TAIL. I began working with CUT/OFF/TAIL when, in 2010, I co-wrote (with Seth) and co-produced (with Seth and his wife and our business partner, Nancy Urich) the micro-budget cult hit Lowlife. Lowlife was also my acting debut. The film would go on to premiere at Fantasia in 2012 and win the Audience Choice Award at Atlantic Film Festival in the same year. VICE called it “the feel-bad hit of the summer.”

Following Lowlife, Seth and I wrote the feature-length screenplay SINGER, which placed first in Telefilm’s 2014 Atlantic Film Festival Script Development program. During that time, I also story-edited a number of Seth’s shorts, many of which have played festivals around the world, including Cannes and Fantastic Fest.

In 2016, I wrote the screenplay for The Crescent, Seth’s second feature. The film premiered in September of 2017 at TIFF. A few days later, it screened at FIN in Halifax, where I won The Michael Weir Award for Best Atlantic Screenwriting. The Globe and Mail listed The Crescent as one of the top ten Canadian films of 2018.

From 2017 to 2019, Seth and I wrote the bio-sci-fi feature Tin Can. Production on the film wrapped in April 2019. I acted in the movie—playing three different characters. Other cast include Michael Ironside, Anna Hopkins, and Simon Mutabazi. Tin Can premiered at Sitges Film Festival in October 2020 and went on to play festivals around the world. Tin Can won the Nova Scotia Screen Award for Best Feature in 2021 and has been reviewed favourably by countless outlets, including The New York Times. The film is now available on-demand in the USA and Canada.

Seth and I have several scripts in development and a new feature headed to production in spring 2024.

Field Recording
One of my favourite pursuits is field recording. I’m particularly interested in creating high-quality audio recordings of the ocean and shorelines of rural Nova Scotia. I’ve released several collections of such recordings, all of which are available for download on my Bandcamp page (titles listed under Darcy Spidle). There is also a selection of Darcy Spidle nature albums on Spotify. 

Much of my work is also accessible for streaming on the wonderful nature sounds and advocacy site Earth.fm. The site also recently invited me on as a podcast guest. Listen here. 

I have many field recording plans for 2024—updates to follow. 

To get in touch, email chikwhite[at]gmail[dot]com. 

Check out the chik white page for information on my music and acting work.