Young adults get chance to present their vision
Agency helps those at risk get into film biz
With success in the movie industry already under their belts, a pair of local filmmakers are helping others achieve their goals as well.
Local resident Jeff Kopas and fellow filmmaker Marcello Cabezas teamed up last year to create Presenting Our Vision (POV), a film program that brings industry professionals together with at-risk young adults to help teach the latter the ins and outs of filmmaking.
Kopas, who lives in the Bloor Street and Ossington Avenue area, said the pair decided to take on the project after Cabezas caught wind of a similar initiative while at the Sundance Film Festival.
"We saw the need for youth and young adults to get help in telling the stories they had and get some (filmmaking) skills," he said. "We had connections in the industry and we saw the opportunity not only to use film to help engage youth and young adults, but also to help them gain employment in the industry."
Kopas and Cabezas started the program last year, aiming it toward youth 16 to 20. This year, they focused on an older age group, opening the program up to young adults from 19 to 24.
"We wanted to move more toward employment placement," Kopas said. "There's a lot more practicality this year and we're really trying to teach them the A to Z of filmmaking."
POV is presented as a series of workshops in which top Canadian industry professionals donate their time to teach and mentor the participants. Guest instructors have included award-winning producer Don Carmody (Chicago), director Michael Kennedy (Little Mosque on the Prairie) and dozens of other actors, technicians and experts.
"The kids are taught the basics of audio, lighting, writing, directing, everything," Kopas said. "They also do some work on soft skills like team listening, collaboration, managing their anger and things like that."
The youth come from at-risk communities across Toronto, and all share a true passion for film. Several are new Canadians and few, if any, would have had such a golden entryway into the film industry without the support of POV.
"They all have great stories and they're incredibly impassioned about the program and about film in general," Kopas said. "They're absolutely sponging everything up."
The aspiring filmmakers have taken part in sessions at the Sons and Daughters Production Studio downtown every Saturday since late June, learning as much as they can about the industry. They will put their newfound knowledge to work in creating a pair of short films that will be screened in October.
"It's not like a classroom environment," Cabezas said. "This is a chance to work in the industry and learn a trade so that these young people can one day be seen as visionaries in the filmmaking medium."
POV participants who demonstrate particular skill will receive paid internships within the industry, something Cabezas said was lacking last year, when students worked toward the hope of gaining a bursary toward a film school education.
"What's so exciting about this year is that there's an actual Stage 2 (once the program is over)," he said.
Visit www.povfilmcamp.com for details about the program.
