A film showcasing last week’s cruise ship visit by Holland America’s Amsterdam has been put online and a second one is being produced to convince the cruise ship company to add Port Alberni as regular stop.
And all of it is being done for free by a local filmmaker who is passionate about promoting his town.
“I’m a Port Alberni booster,” said John Kenchenten, owner of Eco Digital Video Institute, joking that he’s also a taxpayer and wants to see his taxes go down. “[City economic development manager] Pat Deakin called me a day or two before and asked me if I was doing anything.”
Kenchenten had some free time so he spent the day videotaping much of the happenings during the cruise ship visit. He then quickly put together a four-minute video which was shown to city council Monday night. The video can be seen on youtube.com and is titled, Cruise Ship Amsterdam visits Port Alberni.
Kenchenten said the second video will be five minutes and will include other things such as the mill and the yarding of logs.