The Film That Catalyzed a Movement

culture, behind the scenes

The Film That Catalyzed a Movement

In early 2009, Ken MacLeod was having trouble sleeping. He'd discovered El Sistema, a program in Venezuela using music as a catalyst for social change, and the possibility electrified him.

written by:hhadmindate published: Jun 04, 2026 content type: behind the scenes

Could something like this work in his home province of New Brunswick? But no one could see what he saw.

“I spent six to eight months telling my story, writing two-page briefs, peddling it to everybody,” says Ken, New Brunswick Youth Orchestra’s President and CEO for more than two decades.

He met with government ministers, potential funders, community leaders, anyone who would listen. People were enthusiastic. But how do you build a movement around something invisible?

The passion was real. The proof was 4,000 kilometres away.

The Conversation That Changed Everything

Around the same time, Ken sat in the lobby of the Moncton Wesleyan Celebration Centre with Hemmings House Founder Greg Hemmings, discussing a fundraising concert Hemmings House would film for the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra.

Almost as an aside, Ken mentioned the Venezuela program. He was planning to get on a plane to see it first-hand.

Greg's response was instant: “I've got to document this.”

No hesitation. No feasibility discussion. Just immediate recognition that a story needed to be told.

“That readiness, that insight to say, ‘This is a story that needs to be told, and I want to be a part of it,’ that's what I've come to appreciate about Greg so much,” Ken says. “It's not just a project. He adopts it himself. He enters into it with you.”

Three months later, Greg and a small Hemmings House crew were on a plane to Venezuela with cameras.

When Seeing Becomes Building

What happened next reveals something essential about storytelling and social change.

Greg's team filmed the Venezuela journey, capturing Ken and his colleagues experiencing El Sistema firsthand. Then they kept filming.

The group returned in mid-June 2009. By October, just three months later, Sistema New Brunswick opened its first centre with 50 kids showing up daily for three hours of intensive music programming.

Think about that timeline. Partnerships with school districts. Recruiting families. Securing government funding. All while introducing something completely unknown.

“We had more than twice the number of applicants as we could accept in the first year,” Ken says. “No one knew what this was, but families and parents entrusted their kids to us.”

How?

“I spent six to eight months telling my story, writing two-page briefs, peddling it to everybody. But when we had a film from Hemmings House to share, when people could actually see it and experience it, everything changed.”

The video wasn't marketing. It was the foundation, and it was the engine for growth.

School administrators could watch and understand. Parents could see what their children would experience. Funders could grasp the vision.

“Having video enabled us to tell the story and engage people in support, which was critically important,” Ken explains. “How do you start? It's really difficult. And how do you grow? It's really difficult.”

Greg continued filming through Sistema New Brunswick's first year. The resulting documentary aired on CBC in prime time in fall 2010, bringing an unknown program to a national audience.

I spent six to eight months telling my story, writing two-page briefs, peddling it to everybody. But when we had a film from Hemmings House to share, when people could actually see it and experience it, everything changed.”

From Startup to Powerhouse

Today, Sistema New Brunswick is the largest youth music program in Canada.

From that first year with 50 kids, one teaching artist and a $120,000 budget, the organization now serves nearly 1,500 young people. There are local orchestras in 11 communities, four regional youth orchestras, and the provincial orchestra.

The organization employs 80 professional musicians and more than 100 staff. Sistema NB is the largest employer of artists in Atlantic Canada and the largest youth music program in the entire country. This year's budget is more than $5 million.

But the most profound transformation isn't in the numbers. It’s in the lives of the students.

“For the first four decades, the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra was an institution that served mostly middle- and upper-income families,” says Ken, who retired from his leadership of the orchestra and Sistema New Brunswick in 2024 but who remains a special adviser.

“We now prioritize kids who otherwise would be left out of opportunity in society. They are gaining access to what would essentially be a conservatory program. But in New Brunswick, it's available to those who would have the least resources.”

The impact is profound. Sistema NB alumni are pursuing advanced studies in every discipline imaginable. And those pursuing musical studies are being accepted in the largest music schools in the country, with the top scholarships. Young people are achieving their full potential.

What This Reveals About Impact Storytelling

As Hemmings House enters its 20th year, the Sistema NB documentary stands as an early example of something fundamental: some stories need to be seen to be believed. Some movements require more than data or description. They need to be seen, to be witnessed.

Greg saw that in 2009, even before the movement existed.

“Greg became a member of our team,” Ken says. “He had a similar heart, similar values, similar outlook to the world and society and how we can make a difference. Together we were on this exciting mission of bringing about social change for kids who otherwise would be left out of opportunity.”

The film didn't just tell the story of Sistema New Brunswick. It made the story possible.

That's the kind of storytelling we've been doing for 20 years, and the kind we're committed to for the next 20 and beyond.

---

If you're a social change leader working to make the invisible visible, to build movements that need to be experienced to be understood, let's talk about how film can accelerate your mission. Contact us at hello@hemmingshouse.com.