Another chance to learn about careers in the Film & TV production industry is coming this fall.
Cultural Industries Ontario North (CION) and Reel Canada are bringing back a series of free Northern Ontario Film Crew Training Sessions to North Bay, Sudbury and Timmins.
“The training sessions [in January/February] were extremely successful,” says Devin Mahesh, Director of Industry Development and Production Services, CION. “We saw over 160 people become entry-level trained for the film and television industry and some people also got work on films and TV shows themselves.”
Some of those productions included the second seasons of Shoresy and Skymed, along with Everything’s Going to be Great and 40 Acres.
“The way that the training is designed is around three main skill sets in the Film and TV Industry,” Mahesh says. “These are Grip and Electric, Art Department and also Production Assistants”.
North Bay’s workshops are scheduled over three weekends in November.
A stipend, through Reel Canada, is also being provided for eligible youth (18-30 years old) from the north who complete the program and demonstrate a commitment to exploring career options in the Film & TV production industry.
Mahesh says that’s providing an added incentive to hire those people when a new production comes to town.
“We’re excited to have that happen again, in North Bay especially, because we know with the [actor’s] strike things have been a little bit slow,” he says. “We’re planning and looking forward to when there’s going to be a little bit busier activity in North Bay again so there will probably be a lot of opportunities for work.”
Mahesh says projects across Canada are being impacted with ones including American actors hit the hardest.
To sign up for the free training, visit CION’s website.