Forget the gimmicks, fridge magnets, or free home evaluations, short films are becoming popular amongst ambitious realtors looking for a competitive edge to stand out in the city’s housing market.
A successful woman driving a Telsa pulls up and parks in the two car garage, she struts confidently through her back yard. She’s obsessed with a song by a trendy Soundcloud famous DJ, Mallrat https://www.facebook.com/lilmallrat/, from which she switches from her Model 3 electric car, to iPhone, then to her house Sonos system, seamlessly, to which she starts to dance. We’re given a cinematic tour of the smart home, from room to room has the dancer, performed by professional dancer, and successful Edmonton business woman, Larissa Kovelanko, as she rhythmically moves her body throughout the entire home. The home located at 8617 108A Street, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
While the beautifully shot film could be advertising any number of things – electric cars, dance classes, new religion for adults seeking meaning – it’s actually an ad for a home. The home, a brand new custom infill home built by Vrabel Homes in the core of Edmonton, near 109st, and Saskchawean drive, blocks south of Whyte Avenue. Edmonton’s bustling market place is prime location for people to shop, or hang out with friends at the local coffee shops within a short radius.
The film is the brainchild of realtor Nikita Gylander with Core Real Estate Group (corerealestategroup.ca), who sold Edmonton cinematographer Raoul Bhatt (https://www.facebook.com/raoulbhatt) his home which was built by the same builder. Nikita, the social and well connected Edmonton realtor who’s kept tight relationships with all her clients, approached Bhatt for a video, whom she was aware was in the movie business. The movie’s uniqueness shines throughout this 4min and 20second video, which we discover the three-storey house, visually and emotionally.
“The price point was much higher than what was common in the neighbourhood, because it’s a brand new home, an infill, and it has a unique layout, high end finishing’s and ability to generate an income with it’s basement suite, ideal for someone who wants a new home, but is investment savvy, ie the two bedroom legal basement suite could rent for $1800 a month, which would cover $350,000 of the mortgage. With university students at UofA just blocks away, and anyone that may enjoy flavourful foods and sips of chai at hip local indian fusion ‘coffee shop’ Remedy. So I knew the exposure [of the listing] needed to be greater than usual,” she explains.
With that in mind, Raoul suggested a short video that would appeal to her perceived prospective buyer… Nikita, an outside the box thinker, thought it would appeal to a young family looking for a quiet property in an attractive neighbourhood, or a professional that wants to be in the mix of it all. And it worked. The video has been viewed thousands of times, and the house with increasing inquiries for viewing, which was listed just last week, for the asking price at $1.1 million.
In Edmonton, real estate videos – from fanciful creations like straightforward virtual tours – are becoming more popular among realtors looking for a competitive edge in a saturated market.
According to the Edmonton Real Estate Board, there are some 3000 real estate agents working in the Edmonton and surrounding area. Forget fridge magnets. Some realtors are now doing anything to attract new clients, from throwing “wine and cheese night” open houses to branding ice cream bicycles that pedal around local fairs, this just shows how far agents are willing to go for their clients, in this case the builder of this infill.
Raoul Bhatt, After 22 years of running a software company, who initially got into film to create cinematic stories of his softwares, which have been used by NHL, Superbowl, WWE Wrestlemania, Fall Out Boy. Which also produced a short web series for Booster Juice in 2017. Has been increasingly been approached to produce docs and tv shows by national Canadian brands. Bhatt, still a CEO of his software company, has ventured into the movie business, being featured by Jetset Parking which got 1/2 million views (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AtsFUKho98), and Swimco.com (https://www.swimco.com/2018/06/meet-our-swimsuitmodel-raoul-bhatt/). Early into his new career, Raoul has realized, it’s doing things differently that makes his business stand out, and storytelling through cinema compliments his other ventures.
“The typical Realestate video, they’re definitely cheesy, but the films do to job, but when you make a movie, those are never forgotten, doesn’t matter what you’re offering” says Raoul Bhatt, who advocates anything he does be like a movie.
His film isn’t just showing off the space’s amenities, they’re also meant to be aspirational. For Nikita Gylander and Vrabel Homes, he tailored this video to who he imagines is the prospective buyer, whether it’s a professor, or a young successful career woman.
“These films show what life could be like if you lived in this home,” says Bhatt. “Instead of just some beauty shots where you can turn off the video halfway through, [lifestyle films] work because people want to see the beginning, middle and the end.”
President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order banning the federal government from taking any action to restrict Americans free speech rights.
The order ensures “that no Federal Government officer, employee, or agent engages in or facilitates any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen.”
It also ensures “that no taxpayer resources are used to engage in or facilitate any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen” and “identify and take appropriate action to correct past misconduct by the Federal Government related to censorship of protected speech.”
Meta earlier this month ended its practice of censoring posts on Facebook, Instagram and Threads after CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted that the Biden administration pressured the company to remove posts related to COVID-19, the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections – including suppressing the New York Post’s explosive story on Hunter Biden’s laptop – and other matters.
“We started building social media to give people a voice,” Zuckerberg said in announcing the decision. “What started as a movement to be more inclusive has increasingly been used to shut down opinions and shut out people with different ideas, and it’s gone too far.”
Twitter, now X, also removed posts under pressure from the Biden administration before Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk bought the social media platform in 2022.
Trump’s executive order also instructs the U.S. Attorney General to investigate past cases of government censorship.
“The Attorney General, in consultation with the heads of executive departments and agencies, shall investigate the activities of the Federal Government over the last 4 years that are inconsistent with the purposes and policies of this order and prepare a report to be submitted to the President, through the Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, with recommendations for appropriate remedial actions to be taken based on the findings of the report,” the order states.
Dan McCaleb is the executive editor of The Center Square. He welcomes your comments. Contact Dan at [email protected].
The Department of Canadian Heritage promised funding to offset the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s nearly 10 percent drop in ad revenue last year despite an audience share of 1.7 percent, meaning over 98 percent of the country is not watching the network.
The Liberal government has promised to spend millions of taxpayer dollars to compensate CBC-TV for ads that the network cannot sell.
According to information released January 20 by Blacklock’s Reporter, the Liberal-run Department of Canadian Heritage will give CBC millions more, bringing the network’s total parliamentary grant near $2 billion a year.
“The CBC has been grappling with a range of financial pressures that are challenging its ability to maintain programming and service levels,” Liberals argued, adding that their department will be “providing additional funding to make it less reliant on private advertising with a goal of eliminating advertising during news and other public affairs shows.”
“The CBC is a pillar of Canada’s creative economy, a key provider of programming made by and for Canadians and a significant source of trusted news and information,” Liberals claimed.
“This government is committed to ensuring the sustainability of the CBC so that it can continue to create public value and adapt to the needs and expectations of Canadians,” the department continued.
The increased government subsidies come after an October report found that CBC’s advertising revenue dropped nearly 10 percent last year.
Furthermore, CBC’s own quarterly report found that its network audience share is only 1.7%, meaning more than 98% of Canadians are not watching CBC.
However, Liberals have chosen to ignore the fact that Canadians are not watching CBC, instead spending millions of dollars to prop up the failing outlet.
Beginning in 2019, Parliament changed the Income Tax Act to give yearly rebates of 25 percent for each news employee in cabinet-approved media outlets earning up to $55,000 a year to a maximum of $13,750.
The Department of Canadian Heritage since admitted that the payouts are not even sufficient to keep legacy media outlets running and recommended that the rebates be doubled to a maximum of $29,750 annually.
Last November, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau again announced increased payouts for legacy media outlets that coincide with the leadup to the 2025 election. The subsidies are expected to cost taxpayers $129 million over the next five years.
That amount to the CBC is in addition to massive media payouts that already make up roughly 70 percent of its operating budget and total more than $1 billion annually.
However, many have pointed out that the obscene amount of money thrown at CBC by Liberals is a ploy to buy the outlet’s loyalty.
Furthermore, in October, Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge’s department admitted that federally funded media outlets buy “social cohesion.”
Additionally, in September, House leader Karina Gould directed mainstream media reporters to “scrutinize” Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, who has repeatedly condemned government-funded media as an arm of the Liberals.
Gould’s comments were in reference to Poilievre’s promise to defund the CBC if elected prime minister. Poilievre is a longtime critic of government-funded media, especially the CBC.
