There is a thirst for quality content and diverse voices right now. It all starts with the script. Meeshelle Neal’s easy-to-understand Screenwriting Workshop is the best place for anyone contemplating writing a movie or wanting to learn how to pitch & polish their work. This information-packed workshop will give you the tools and information you need to write a feature-length screenplay or short film to budget. The workshop is part lecture, part discussion, part writing exercises.

You will learn how to develop your voice and create complex, unique and interesting scripts -- all while sticking to the almighty structure and formatting to ensure you are seen as a professional within the industry. Packaging your materials appropriately means people will be more likely to read your work and take you seriously.

This workshop is for new and emerging screenwriters, or seasoned writers from other disciplines, or professionals working in other departments of filmmaking (directors, actors, and crew) who want to learn how to write for the screen. The details depend on what you bring. If you have a script, Meeshelle will help you hone and sharpen it. If you just have an idea but need to get it on paper, she will plant the seed and help you find the story you are meant to tell, sending you off with the tools to write.

A great entry point for writers, directors, producers, actors, filmmakers, film crew, writers from other mediums, and anyone with an interest in how screenplays are written and how they are marketed and sold. Or for writers who want to push through to the next level of their career. You will leave the workshop with the techniques needed to write a feature-length or short screenplay, inspiration for your project, a notebook full of ideas, story notes and new connections.

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 18th 2021
10am - 5pm PT

Mentorship sessions Sep 19-21

If you are interested in The Incubators, but aren't sure about signing up for the full program just yet, this workshop is the perfect way to dip your toe in the water! If you purchase a single ticket for this workshop and later decide to attend the full program, we will deduct the amount you've already paid from the Full Package Deal registration fee.

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Meeshelle ‘Meesh’ Neal is a queer she/her award-winning Canadian filmmaker. She is the first in the history of the Whistler Producers Lab to have two feature film projects selected. Meesh wrote and is slated to direct both. She won Best Female Filmmaker for her work on Sweet Release in the Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival where the short also took home Best LGBTQ Film. She was recently awarded Best Director for Where Everyone Lives in the Berlin Indie Film Festival. Meeshelle is in development on a feature film version of Sweet Release. This grounded sci-fi is being brought to life with the help of the WIDC CBC Films Talent Development Award and the Whistler Producers Lab. In addition to working in film, Meeshelle is an author and has published a trilogy called Betwixt. She was a recipient of the Amy Ferris Fellowship for Betwixt: The Call of the Void. She is currently in development on an adaptation of the books into a feature film with the help of the Whistler Producers Lab. She wrote, produced and acted in Mental, which she adapted to the screen from a one-woman stage play. The film screened at CineVic's Short Circuit in 2018, received BravoFACT funding as well as multiple awards, and co-earned her a WIFTV Spotlight Image Award. She is mentored by well-respected director / producer Gary Harvey and is grateful to have apprenticed with him on: Hudson & Rex (Citytv), Welcome To Christmas (Hallmark) & Tiny Pretty Things (Netflix). She enjoys telling heightened reality stories that remain grounded in the nuanced complexity of human emotions.

Join award-winning Vancouver creator Andy Hodgson for an introduction to Producer-related duties in both indie and industry environments. Topics to be covered include management of script and writing, production planning and coordination, casting, directing, finances, marketing, and distribution.

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 25th 2021
12pm - 4pm PT

Mentorship sessions Sep 26-28

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Born in Ecuador and raised in the Middle East, Andy Hodgson moved to Vancouver, BC in 2001 to pursue film; he graduated from Capilano University Cinematography program in 2004. He began his career working on several big-budget films and commercials as a member of IATSE Local 891. Andy quickly realized his passion for indie filmmaking, and began producing and shooting his own independent films, commercials and music videos. His talent and unique visual eye has garnered him nominations and awards at international film festivals including the Whistler Film Festival and the Milan International Filmmaker Festival. Andy was the Director of Photography and Producer of his first feature film Woodland which is now released across all major VOD platforms. Since then, he has taken on the role of Director of Photography and Producer for Brother, I Cry a Telefilm Talent to Watch funded feature that is set to be released in 2021, and his own feature film El Suspiro De Silencio which was shot in El Salvador in 2019 and is set to be released early 2022. Alongside producing, Andy works locally in Vancouver as a Director of Photography for thrillers and romcoms for Lifetime, Hallmark and OWN Network and was chosen to be Cinematographer on the original Netflix series Project MC2.

It’s entirely possible to create a compelling, professional looking film on a shoestring. Leo Award winning production designer Joyce Kline wants to show you how! A well thought out plan for set, costumes and props can not only enhance the look of your film, it can simultaneously convey tone and mood, and further plot and character development.

On low-budget films the production designer wears many hats. This workshop will take you from initial script breakdown to post production, touching on all aspects of visual storytelling: creating an overall concept that allows for story and character arcs, overcoming location limitations, and integrating set, wardrobe, and props to create a cohesive “visual ecology.” Areas covered will range from larger design principles like shape, texture, perspective and colour palettes, to practical tips on local rental sources, getting set and prop donations, researching, planning and bookkeeping, collaborating with a fluid (and usually overstretched!) team, set dec, clearance and continuity, and what to include in an on set tool kit or look for in an amateur PD.

Film is visual — especially short films where there isn’t time for exposition. This wide-ranging workshop will expand your tool kit beyond cinematography and lighting to open your eyes to how set, costume and props can tell your story.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 2nd 2021
10am - 4pm PT

Mentorship sessions Oct 4-6

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Joyce Kline is a 2017 Leo award winning production designer with a passion for visual storytelling. Formally trained as a visual artist, she draws on wide-ranging experience as a writer, playwright, dancer, theatre designer, home stager and storyboard artist. Joyce has exhibited across Canada and in Finland, had theatre pieces produced and workshopped in Victoria, Vancouver, and Toronto, and received Ontario, Toronto and Canada Council visual arts and arts writing grants. For many years she taught visual narrative at Victoria College of Art. She currently hosts Push In - The CineVic Podcast, and is winding up post production on her first short film Cancelled Stamp, which she wrote, directed and co-produced.

Once you have a script you love in your hands, one of the next tasks is deciding which actors can convey your vision. In this workshop you will learn:

- The ins and outs of going union
- Prepping your Character Breakdowns and imagining characters in a new way
- How to make decisions that will affect your Casting Call and the talent it will attract, such as writing for diversity
- What to include in a Casting Call that will draw high caliber talent to your film, such as timelines and instructions for self-tape submissions
- Preparing actor sides
- Sorting the multitude of preliminary responses you will get (setting up your sorting structure is key!)
- Making ‘first-cut” decisions on headshots, resumes, and possibly demo reels
- Conducting call backs
- Forming your casting decisions and making the deal

TUESDAY OCTOBER 12th 2021
6pm - 10pm PT

Mentorship meetings Oct 13-15

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Darlene Tait is a local award-winning actor and sometimes-producer who appears frequently in commercials and film. She periodically casts local independent film productions and advises filmmakers how to do their own casting. As an actor and producer, she has been involved in the casting process from both sides of the camera. Darlene currently serves as Vice President of the Vancouver Island South Film Commission, President of CineVic, and an active member of the Victoria film community in various capacities. Her strong business background has made her an invaluable asset to the indie film community where she regularly consults and is engaged on local shoots, assisting with elements of production and marketing.

In this workshop, local artist, curator and filmmaker Eli Hirtle will guide participants through conversation about practices & protocols specific to working with Indigenous peoples and their stories. Eli will share stories of his film-making practice, which he describes as “community-based collaborations”. We will also look at and discuss “ON-SCREEN PROTOCOLS & PATHWAYS: A Media Production Guide to Working with First Nations, Métis and Inuit Communities, Cultures, Concepts and Stories”, a comprehensive publication commissioned by ImagineNATIVE film festival in 2019.

Topics will include narrative sovereignty, screen-based protocols & principles, meaningful collaborations and building relationships based on trust, respect, responsibility, reciprocity and consent. As a case study we will watch Lekwungen: Place to Smoke Herring (2018), a film created by Eli Hirtle & Brianna Bear for a permanent art exhibition at Victoria City Hall. We will also view clips from the series Eli created for Telus’ Optik Network, Voices on the Rise (2019), to get a sense of how these protocols can be put into practice.

MONDAY OCTOBER 18th 2021
6pm - 10pm PT

Mentorship meetings Oct 19-21

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Eli Hirtle is a nêhiyaw(Cree)/British/German filmmaker, beadworker, youth mentor and curator based on Lekwungen Territory in Victoria, BC, Canada. His practice involves making films about Indigenous cultural resurgence and language revitalization, as well as investigating his nêhiyaw identity through beadwork. Current areas of interest are learning how to speak his ancestral language of nêhiyawêwin and mentoring emerging Indigenous artists. Eli currently serves as Curator, Indigenous and Contemporary Art at Open Space Arts Society. Past curatorial projects include Sacred at Victoria City Hall, Pretty Good Not Bad Festival, IndigeVision Film Showcase, Wapakoni Cinema on Wheels Tour and Constellations of Kin in collaboration with the Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre and ImagineNATIVE film festival. Film projects include RESIST: The Unistoten’s Call to the Land (2013), Voices on the Rise (2016 & 2019), and Lekwungen: Place to Smoke Herring (2018).

Learn basic 2D and 3D stop-motion techniques, and tips for visual storytelling from the award winning artist Amanda Strong! In this workshop, participants will explore basic methods of moving objects frame by frame, lighting, and rigging processes for stop-motion animation. Strong will be show examples for participants to get a detailed look behind the scenes at design, render, and scale. We encourage that participants bring objects or puppets they have made for a Zoom show-and-tell (optional but not required).

SATURDAY OCTOBER 30th 2021
*new time* 12pm - 4pm PT

Mentorship meetings Oct 31

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Amanda Strong is an Indigenous (Michif) Media Artist and Stop Motion Director currently working as a guest on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and sə̓lílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh). She has been practicing professionally in the arts for over 15 years. She holds a degree in Photography and Interpretive Animation from Sheridan College. With a cross-discipline focus, common themes of her work are reclamation of Indigenous histories, lineage, language and culture. Amanda Strong founded Spotted Fawn Productions in 2010 and has managed the company as the Owner, Director and Executive Producer since 2014. Amanda has also formed the collectives Media Creatorz, Indigenous Roots, and most recently Frame Sovereignty Collective which are all driven to build sustainable production skills and training to participants with the hopes of helping with access, visibility and digital literacy for Indigenous artists. Most recently, Amanda was selected as the First Canadian Director and first Animated Project for the Sundance Institute Indigenous Filmmaking Lab.

Not just for animators! Filmmakers and artists of all disciplines will enjoy this inspiring talk on visual storytelling techniques, and how to use new and evolving apps and platforms to create your film.

MONDAY NOVEMBER 1st 2021
6pm - 10pm PT

Mentorship meetings Nov 2

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Bracken Hanuse Corlett is a interdisciplinary artist hailing from the Wuikinuxv and Klahoose Nations. He began working in theatre and performance in 2000 and eventually transitioned towards his current practice that fuses sculpture, painting and drawing with digital-media, audio-visual performance, animation and narrative. He is a graduate of the En’owkin Centre of Indigenous Art and went to Emily Carr University of Art and Design for Visual Arts. He has studied Northwest Coast art, carving and design from acclaimed Heiltsuk artists Bradley Hunt and his sons Shawn Hunt and Dean Hunt. He was a recipient of the 2014 BC Creative Achievement Award for Aboriginal Art and has recently received public art commissions from Cities of Vancouver, Nanaimo and Victoria. He is currently the 2020-21 Artist in Residence at Raycam Cooperative Centre as part of the Artists in Communities Program. Some of his notable exhibitions, performances and screenings have been at Grunt Gallery, Museum of Anthropology, Unit PITT Projects, Vancouver International Film Festival, Vancouver Art Gallery, Institute of Modern Art – Brisbane, Three Walls Gallery - Chicago, Ottawa International Animation Festival, SAW Gallery, Royal BC Museum, Open Space, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Alberta, Urban Shaman, and Mackenzie Art Gallery.

When someone mentions a film unit, most people think of location shooting. But, in fact, most Film and TV projects are made in a series of predictable phases, of which shooting is only one.

In each phase of a film’s production a group of people collaborate to form a miniature work organization which has characteristic problems of motivation, leadership, and structure. Each phase is a temporary system, limited in duration and membership, in which people come together, interact, create something, and then disband. And in each phase, the filmmaker has to stimulate and manage different kinds of creative work under intense budget and time pressures. The filmmaker’s principal job is managing the creative process.

In this workshop we will explore workflow from Prep to Production, with emphasis on Pre-Production in order for your project to reduce the risk and pitfalls that can plague a project.

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 6th 2021
10am - 4pm PT

Mentorship meetings Nov 7-9

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Trevor Cunningham has worked professionally in the Film and Television Industry for over 20 years as an Assistant Director, Screenwriter and Director. He is a Full Member of DGC-British Columbia District Council. His specialties are scheduling, time management, logistics, and creative solutions for Film and TV productions.

Cinematographer Amy Belling, csc will discuss the Director/Cinematographer relationship from finding the right creative partnership during the interview process to communication and how to discuss visuals during pre-production, production and post.

Script breakdown, the visual concept, shot listing, storyboarding, the Director/DOP/Production Designer trinity, location scouting, liaising with HOD’s, tech scouting and the cinematographer’s technical breakdown will be covered in pre-production. To ensure the creative team are all discussing the same visual world, the creation of the look book and the importance of camera tests will be emphasized. During production, the communication and working methodology between the Director/AD/DOP is key to getting the day, and achieving what everyone wants. How to plan for the priority shots and scenes, including timing, location moves, splinter units, blocking, lighting, rehearsing, shooting, and whether to go again or move on, as well as considerations regarding stunts, VFX and SFX. The cinematographers’ role in post-production will cover reviewing dailies, dailies stills, color correction and pickups. If it’s relevant to the audience, documentary cinematography will be touched on in regards to similarities/differences to narrative cinematography, as well as gear, crew, storytelling and approaches to the visual medium.

At the end of the day, the cinematographer works to realize the director’s vision through storytelling, creative collaboration, leadership, time management, the marriage of both the creative/technical and inspires each collaborator to bring their best ideas, ethics and talent to the table to create the visual language best suited to tell the story.

MONDAY NOVEMBER 15th 2021
6pm - 10pm PT

Mentorship meetings Nov 16-17

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Amy Belling csc is a Canadian Society of Cinematographers nominee and multiple Leo Award winning director of photography with an MFA in Cinematography from the American Film Institute Conservatory in Los Angeles. Belling lensed the Disney and Freeform TV movie GHOSTING starring Aisha Dee, Kimiko Glenn and Kendrick Sampson for which she won the 2020 Leo Award for Best Cinematography in a TV movie; the theatrical US romantic comedy YOU CAN’T SAY NO starring Peter Fonda, Marguerite Moreau and Hamish Linklater; the US indie A REMARKABLE LIFE, starring Daphne Zuniga, Helen Slater, Eric Roberts, John O’Hurley and Mark Margolis; as well as Telefilm theatrical features TWO 4 ONE (filmed in Victoria), STRESS POSITION and SONGS SHE WROTE ABOUT PEOPLE SHE KNOWS, which was profiled in the American Cinematographer Magazine, premiered at TIFF and was nominated for three Canadian Screen Awards. Belling’s documentaries with the National Film Board of Canada include BEAUTY by Christina Willings and the 2018 CSC nominee for Best Cinematography in a Docudrama HOLY ANGELS by Jay Cardinal Villeneuve. For Lifetime, Belling lensed Gail Harvey’s two films GONE MOM starring Annabeth Gish and DYING TO BELONG starring Shannen Doherty, as well as Stacey K. Black’s HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN starring Jill Scott; and for Hallmark Channel, Belling has shot Jessica Harmon’s MY BEST FRIEND’S BOUQUET and Christie Will Wolf’s FIVE STAR CHRISTMAS. She is the cinematographer on one upcoming episode of the Disney+ series TURNER & HOOCH, and will next shoot an episode of STATION 19. Belling’s first short films, WHY THE ANDERSON CHILDREN DIDN’T COME TO DINNER and THE SADDEST BOY IN THE WORLD, both by Jamie Travis, premiered at TIFF, SXSW, Slamdance, Rotterdam and Karlovy Vary. Belling has an O-1 working visa in the US, is a Canadian and holds an EU passport from Finland. She is a Director of Photography/Camera Operator in IATSE 669.

Join Sound Recordist, Sound Designer and Composer Gilles Maillet to discuss strategies to successfully incorporate sound and audio design into your film. In this workshop, we will look at the nuts and bolts of getting your dialogue recorded properly on set, and thinking about what it takes to get your sound the way you want from script to screen. The primary endeavour of this workshop will be to explore the inevitable intersection of Production and Post-Production sound, and the importance of capturing performances that help filmmakers tell their stories. We will provide a first hand look at the audio components of some larger-scale film and television productions, aiming to help you think about how to achieve top tier sound design with your own projects. We will also explore techniques and strategies from professional sound and picture editing rooms, to help set you on the right path in post-production. Some of the topics to be covered in Production include; microphones, mixers, recorders, wireless audio devices, sound recording techniques, and working with sync audio to video equipment. Building on these fundamentals, we discuss Post-Production topics such as sound design, ADR, Sound FX, Foley and mixing. This workshop will get you thinking about sound as an integral part of storytelling, and to help you think about your film's production audio before you roll camera.

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 20th 2021
10am - 4pm PT

Mentorship sessions Nov 21, 27, 28

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Born and raised in British Columbia, sound designer, recordist and composer Gilles Maillet has been lucky enough to have worked on film and television projects ranging from local Vancouver Island productions, to theatrical feature films and Netflix favorites. Although music is a first love, Gilles also works as a dialogue and sound effects editor, and can be found recording sound on sets of various films, documentaries and television shows. His work as a Production Sound Mixer has garnered a few nods at the Leo Awards over the years, and a 2019 Daytime Emmy Nomination for Best Sound Mixing on the Series ReBoot: The Guardian Code which debuted on Netflix. Graduating from Concordia University with distinction majoring in Electroacoustic Studies, his own musical interests range a great deal from producing pop to orchestral and classical music, but all centering around creating new experiences in sound.

You have a great story. How do you develop it? And once it's finished, how do you find your audience? Relationship building remains the heart of excellent film producing; one fosters trust and creates opportunity while advancing stories. In Canada, making a film ethically matters, and representation is a goal worth striving for. Social media has become the primary tool for finding information and connecting people. No longer does one need to have a great story, but the question now shifts to why are you the right person to tell this story? This workshop will help emerging writer-directors interested in being auteurs produce their stories and manage future relationships.

Topics to be covered include:

• Grant writing and project development
• Getting a crew together
• Festivals and other forms of distribution

SATURDAY DECEMBER 4th 2021
10am - 4pm PT

Mentorship meetings Dec 5-7

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Jason Karman is a Vancouver-based screenwriter, director and producer. His 17 short films have screened internationally at festivals, including the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, Whistler Film Festival, and Telefilm Canada’s Not Short on Talent at Clermont-Ferrand. A graduate of the Master of Fine Arts in Film Production and Creative Writing program at the University of British Columbia, Jason has worked in documentaries, dramas, coming of age, and dance on screen. He is the 2016 recipient of the James Lee Foundation Scholarship. In 2019, he was awarded the 2019 Best Editor Award at the Vancouver Short Film Festival for Lionhood. Jason is an alumnus of the Short Circuit Pacific Rim Film Festival and its 2018 Pacific Northwest Tour, and is currently working on his first feature Golden Delicious, a 2020 recipient of Telefilm Canada's Talent to Watch program.

Join CineVic's Equipment Manager, Daniel Carruthers, to get up close and personal with some of our film and video equipment inventory. He'll provide an overview of the basic setup and functions of a few items from each department including camera, lighting, and grip/dolly. This is our first in-person/hands-on workshop in a long time - with limited capacity - so reserve your seat now!

SATURDAY DECEMBER 11th 2021
12pm - 4pm PT

Mentorship meetings Dec 5-7

*PLEASE NOTE* This workshop will be in-person only with limited capacity at CineVic headquarters, and will follow all current health protocols including masks and proof of double vaccination.

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Daniel Carruthers has over 15 years of experience and over 50 credits as a Director of Photography. He's had multiple award nominations and received a Leo Award for his work on the short film Encore. Some of his Victoria-shot films include the features All-in Madonna, Open for Submissions, and The Devout. While working as a Director of Photography, Daniel has been the Equipment Manager at Cinevic, where he oversees the expanding equipment inventory and rentals.