Bayberryfilms

01/01/2026

18/12/2025

In 2014, when CBC's The Fifth Estate covered Emma Fillipoff's disappearance, they invited University of Victoria criminologist Garry Gray (Associate Professor, Department of Sociology) and nine of his Sociology students to take part in a day of fieldwork.

The goal was to help retrace Emma's steps on the night she went missing and gather observations that could inform the documentary - and, importantly, encourage public participation through crowdsourcing on social media after the episode aired. Due to time constraints, only about a minute of the episode focused on Garry Gray and his students. A lot of the deeper message behind the fieldwork didn't really make it on screen, and instead it was folded into the broader narrative the show was telling about Emma

Years later, Bayberry Films had the opportunity to interview Garry about that fieldwork for our upcoming six-part docuseries, Barefoot in the Night: The Search for Emma Fillipoff. Garry's subsequent academic research examines how criminology is changing in this age of social media - where ordinary citizens, not just police, increasingly play a role in investigations. His work explores crowdsourcing criminology and how it intersects with newsmaking, public criminology, and the very rapidly growing tension between serious investigative reporting and basic true-crime infotainment.

This distinction matters. Documentary work around crime can either deepen understanding, responsibility, and care - or flatten complex human stories into content designed primarily for consumption. Steering narratives rather than truth because they make for a better or more interesting story that will keep people entertained. Garry's research speaks directly to that crossroads: how stories about real people, real harm, and unresolved cases are shaped, shared, and sometimes distorted in a media landscape that is driven by attention.

✨CROWDWITS ✨
In November, Garry launched a new website and newsletter called Crowdwits, which brings his academic research into a more accessible, public-facing space. His very first newsletter focuses on Emma's case and a question many people quietly struggle with:
What are you supposed to do when you think you might have seen someone who's been missing for years?

✨Read the article:
https://www.crowdwits.com/p/the-stranger-who-looked-back-at-me-why-we-stay-silent-when-we-think-we-ve-seen-a-missing-person
Crowdwits is Garry's way of translating his core research areas - crowdsourcing criminology and institutional trust - into thoughtful, real-world discussions, without easy answers or sensationalism.

✨Introducing Crowdwits: When Can You Trust the Crowd vs. Experts?
“The old rules about who to believe are breaking down. A criminologist who studies both crowdsourcing and institutional corruption explores what comes next.”

✨Subscribe:
https://subscribe-forms.beehiiv.com/f1a5db06-cb87-49fa-8107-0a94b94e266b

✨Website:
https://www.crowdwits.com/

Lessons from Emma Fillipoff's case

28/11/2025

We've added an easier way to share tips or sightings: no phone call or email required. Simply record your voice message on the www.helpfindemmafillipoff.com website with the click of a button. 🧡

28/11/2025

13 years ago today, Emma disappeared in Victoria, BC.

In this conversation https://vimeo.com/1135787821
Shelley reflects on what it has meant for her case to move to the Historical Missing Persons Unit, and how we continue searching for answers all these years later. We also talk about the long-term work behind our docuseries - an extension of the search, and why telling Emma’s story with accuracy, care, and honesty matters so much.

This vodcast episode: The Search for Emma Fillipoff with Kimberly Bordage and Shelley Fillipoff - 13 Years, the third in a companion to our docuseries, includes glimpses behind the scenes; early footage, pieces from some of our first short projects, and Shelley reads one of the first poems she ever wrote for Emma. These releases are intended to keep Emma's story and the search for her alive, so feel free to share.

Watch here: https://vimeo.com/1135787821

We’ve added an easier way to share tips or sightings: no phone call or email required. Simply record your voice message on
www.helpfindemmafillipoff.com
with the click of a button.

#

28/11/2025

13 years ago today, Emma disappeared in Victoria, BC.

In this conversation https://vimeo.com/1135787821
Shelley reflects on what it has meant for her case to move to the Historical Missing Persons Unit, and how we continue searching for answers all these years later. We also talk about the long-term work behind our docuseries - an extension of the search, and why telling Emma’s story with accuracy, care, and honesty matters so much.

This vodcast episode: The Search for Emma Fillipoff with Kimberly Bordage and Shelley Fillipoff - 13 Years, the third in a companion to our docuseries, includes glimpses behind the scenes; early footage, pieces from some of our first short projects, and Shelley reads one of the first poems she ever wrote for Emma. These releases are intended to keep Emma's story and the search for her alive, so feel free to share.

Watch here: https://vimeo.com/1135787821

We’ve added an easier way to share tips or sightings: no phone call or email required. Simply record your voice message on
www.helpfindemmafillipoff.com
with the click of a button.

Thirteen years on, Shelley Fillipoff and advocate/filmmaker Kimberly Bordage reflect on the emotional and practical impact of Emma’s case being reassigned…

27/11/2025

On what would be Emma Fillipoff’s 40th birthday, the first of a 6-part docuseries launches Jan. 6

Article: Hometown News — ‘Hugged by echoes’: 13 years after Emma Fillipoff vanished, her mother still has hope • Bayberry Films

18/11/2025

18/11/2025

VIDEO https://vimeo.com/1135787821
Thirteen years on, Shelley Fillipoff and advocate/filmmaker Kimberly Bordage reflect on the emotional and practical impact of Emma’s case being reassigned to the Victoria Police Department’s Historical Missing Persons Unit. Together, they discuss where things stand with the ongoing docuseries - the years of research, production, and why it’s so important to tell Emma’s story with accuracy and care. The episode also includes the announcement that Episode 1 of the six-part docuseries will be released on January 6, 2026, Emma’s birthday. Finally, Shelley shares how poetry became her way of marking each passing month and keeping Emma’s spirit close, reading one of the first poems she ever wrote for her daughter.

12/11/2025

Thirteen years on, Shelley Fillipoff and advocate/filmmaker Kimberly Bordage reflect on the emotional and practical impact of Emma’s case being reassigned to the Victoria Police Department’s Historical Missing Persons Unit. Together, they discuss where things stand with the ongoing docuseries - the years of research, production, and why it’s so important to tell Emma’s story with accuracy and care. The episode also includes the announcement that Episode 1 of the six-part docuseries will be released on January 6, 2026, Emma’s birthday. Finally, Shelley shares how poetry became her way of marking each passing month and keeping Emma’s spirit close, reading one of the first poems she ever wrote for her daughter.

Thirteen years on, Shelley Fillipoff and advocate/filmmaker Kimberly Bordage reflect on the emotional and practical impact of Emma’s case being reassigned…