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Dirk Wierenga is a documentary filmmaker who wears many hats, including director, editor and camera person. He sort of backed into filmmaking after having first founded a marketing communications agency back in the 1980s which morphed into a book publishing house and now documentaries.
As director, camera person and lead editor for the 2018 documentary D.B. Cooper: The Real Story, his first full length film, he traveled by car cross country for over two years interviewing the subjects for the documentary. At the same time, he was working closely with film producer Vern Jones and investigator Joe Koenig researching the evidence that was provided by Carl Laurin. Dirk's filmmaking technique is simple. Get authentic interviews from subjects by spending a large amount of time getting to know them, their story and their environment. Rather than use intimidating amounts of crew and equipment, he prefers a camera, a mic and a light all setup by him to keep the subject at ease and as themselves.
From 2019 through 2021, he is filming and editing a new full length documentary titled Route 2 Elsewhere which tells about life in rural towns along a 1500 mile stretch of US Highway 2 from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to the Sweet Grass Hills of north central Montana. Using the same style as he perfected during the making of his first documentary, interviews are authentic and revealing. Shooting was from early 2019 through early 2021 with its world premiere during the Emberlight Festival of the Arts in Ironwood, Michigan on September 1, 2021. Once again teaming up with producer Vern Jones, narrator Mary Ellen Murphy and composer/performer Andy Noyes, the film is receiving positive initial reviews. Planned distribution is through PBS stations and streaming services including iTunes, Amazon Prime, Google Play and others TBA.
He lives in Grand Haven, Michigan.
