This is Charlotte Engel
Meet Charlotte Engel, television wizard by day and super-duper rocker chick by night – you can catch her at the upcoming Hot Docs where she’ll be cheering for a couple of her projects…
Where did you grow up?
I really don’t think I’ve grown up. Sometimes I feel like a grown up but secretly I’m 12. Don’t tell anyone.
How long have you been in Toronto?
My whole life minus 2 years of teen years in Edmonton. I’m still in therapy.
Toronto is…
A great place to live. Seriously. I love it. I can ride my bike all over, eat great food, see amazing bands and hang out.
What do you do for a living?
I warp young minds by providing television to the masses. Basically, I buy television ideas, give people money to make it and then we put it on the air.
What keeps you busy?
I waste a lot of time on Facebook, doing Horrendous Sudoku puzzles from the Daily Mail UK and see lots of music. Oh and I work.
What was your favourite summer job?
I had many but I really enjoyed my first restaurant job working at Ye Olde Spaghetti Factory. I bussed and hauled dishes for the summer. It was hard work but rewarding. I got 10% of the waiter’s tips so if I was lucky, I’d get 20 bucks.
Dream job? Why?
I think I have it. I love hearing people’s crazy ideas for television shows. Where do they come up with them and why? And if I like them, we put them on television. How crazy is that?
What’s your passion?
I am through and through, a music geek. Always have been, still going strong. I love going to see live shows, listening to new tunes and banging my head. I also love digging in the dirt and watching my flowers grow.
If I say jump?
I’d say why? Not that I’m against jumping, but why do I need to?
What do you give back to the No Fly Zone?
I give myself. I rarely go beyond it so I eat, shop, rock and work within the area. What more can the NFZ ask for? Does that sound conceited?
What can we do to make Toronto a "world class" city?
Support the arts, keep the peace, encourage great acts of kindness and think big.
Are you an artist?
I dabble. I actually have little talent but I enjoy the process of creation. That’s enough for me. My art for the most part is for me and a few polite friends who accept it with kindness. They’re good liars.
How does art influence your life?
All the time. I love looking for great shots, beauty in strange places or a brief but wonderful gesture or movement. It gives me the energy to get through the day.
Hands or feet?
I’m not sure what that means. I have a pair of both.
Worst public moment?
I have hundreds.
Where do you live here?
Dovercourt and Dupont. An area no one goes to without an invitation.
Two Beatles left: Ringo and Paul. Who wins in a smackdown?
I’d have to say Paul. He’s got more drive.
Favourite public space?
I love the park in Yorkville with the big granite rock, birch tree fountain and the cement donut pine trees.
Who are your favourite Toronto artists?
Fiona Smyth symbolizes Toronto to me because she was all the rage when I was at University and her work makes me nostalgic. Kent Monkman’s paintings and installations are wonderful. He’s really bringing on a new wave in art.
I love what Christopher House is doing down at the Toronto Dance Theater. Amazing work. Corpus are also fun and have a great sense of humour.
I read all the time but can’t think of one particular writer that I associate with Toronto who is not a cliché. Maybe Toronto writers get too much exposure… hmm. But is that a bad thing? A debate anyone?
Mon Chi Chi, My Little Pony, Barbie? discuss.
I am not really a fan of little dolls. I grew up in the generation in which liking such things was wrong. Girls were meant to worship MAC trucks not Barbies. I did have 2 Barbies though and as I recall, they had a lot of sex. Sometimes with one another.
Who are your hot tickets at this year’s Hot Docs?
I have 2 films in this year’s Hot Docs:
The Man Who Crossed the Sahara – a film by Korbett Matthews.
A documentary that examines filmmaker Frank Coles obsession with death and his fateful journey to the Sahara.
Flicker – a film by Nik Sheehan.
A drugless high anyone? This is a film that takes you into the world of William S. Burroughs and Bryon Gyson and looks at their failed invention, the Dream Machine.
What’s your favourite website these days?
Though totally politically incorrect: stuffwhitepeoplelike