Ashley Nay has been involved in the Film and TV industry in northern Ontario for more than a decade.
Nay was in charge of a unique hairstyling presentation which is part of the Northern Ontario Film Crew Training Sessions taking place at their facility on Harvey Street in North Bay inside the former King George Public School building.
"Doing presentations like we did today is something to kind of allow people who may not understand quite what they can do in the film industry," she explained.
"They break down the different departments. It gives people information and information is key which could get them to where they may want to go."
Marc Lamothe is a North Bay resident who also wants to learn more about the film industry. He believes opportunities in the film industry in the north are growing by the day.
"The more people we get involved here the more people we will attract so we will get more projects and the quality of our people will grow," he said.
Lamothe says learning about all corners of the film industry is important.
"Personally, I am interested in more camera and technician ones but just knowing what other people are doing on set is hugely important,"explained Lamothe.
"I am one of the people who get a trial by fire more or less. You just go directly onto crew and you have to learn everything on the spot so having a resource like this is immensely helpful. I would have loved to do this 10 years ago. I could have been one of the ones teaching people."
Cultural Industries Ontario North (CION), with support from REEL CANADA, is currently overseeing the Northern Ontario Film Crew Training Sessions.
The program provides free training to individuals residing in Northern Ontario who want to start a career in film and television production.
The program, which began on Jan. 30, consists of three -weeks of workshops in North Bay at Northern Ontario Film Studios and Canadore College locally.
“In a rapidly expanding industry with a stated need for local and regional film crew workers, we are thrilled to be able to facilitate this opportunity to bring hands-on training from industry pros directly to our future film & television crew members," said Patrick O’Hearn, CION’s Associate Executive Director.
"With these training sessions, and thanks to the tremendous support of our partners, we are making a vital and expansive investment in Northern Ontario’s production future.”
By the conclusion of sessions, participants in North Bay will have received direct, extensive training in the fields of Production Assistant, Grip/Electric, and Art Department.
CION, along with training partners DGC Ontario, IATSE 634, IATSE 411, and IATSE 667, are currently administering the training sessions both virtually and in-person, with in-person space generously provided by Northern Ontario Film Studios.
“We are very happy to help contribute to the growing film industry in Northern Ontario”, said David Anselmo, CEO of the Northern Ontario Film Studios.
“These training sessions are focused on developing the most important and crucial resource Northern Ontario has: its people and their talent. Our industry strives and is successful because of the talent found here. This is what makes our industry unique and extremely special.”
