New college course teaches TV and film production skills to Indigenous students on Vancouver Island
Eight students are the first to graduate from a new Vancouver Island program that helps give Indigenous students the skills they need to enter the booming film and TV industry.
The students graduated from the inaugural year of the "Indigenous Production Assistant" course at North Island College, in partnership with the North Island Film Commission and Mid-Island Metis Association.
"I'm pretty eager. I live in Victoria, B.C., and there's like 15 Hallmark [movies] filmed there a year, which is pretty good if I want to be a P.A. (production assistant)," said graduate Castor Angus.
The course spanned 12 weeks and covered everything from traffic control to food safety.
"I really discovered a lot of the behind the scenes of film, and I think it made me appreciate the end credits of movies more, knowing what each of these parts of a film crew do," said graduate Talela Manson.
North Island College and the North Island Film Commission have been working together on developing motion picture skills training for the past five years.
"There's so much interest now from the motion picture industry into diversifying our crew base," said Joan Miller, North Island Film commissioner.
"It's a big push in many industries right now, but it's really key in British Columbia right now, so there was a lot of excitement from our producers, from the unions, they're watching this program really closely," she said.
Course coordinator Aimee Chalifoux believes the employment prospects for program graduates are high.
"Oh, [the industry] is huge on Vancouver Island and B.C., and now with COVID being gone I think it's going to go pretty quick," she said.
The next Indigenous Production Assistant course at North Island College is set to begin in October.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
From outer space? Sask. farmers baffled after discovering strange wreckage in field
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
This iconic Canadian song is turning 50
Andy Kim's 'Rock Me Gently' is marking a major milestone, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Oprah Winfrey: I set an unrealistic standard for dieting
Oprah Winfrey said on Thursday evening that she has long played a role in promoting unhealthy and unrealistic diets.
Ontario family receives massive hospital bill as part of LTC law, refuses to pay
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Toronto police called to Drake's Bridle Path mansion for another alleged intruder on Thursday
Toronto police say a man who allegedly attempted to access Drake’s Bridle Path property was taken to hospital on Thursday after an altercation with security guards.
Flat tire on a highway? Here's why you shouldn't try to fix it
If you're cruising down a highway and realize you have a flat tire, you may want to think twice before stopping to fix it on the side of the road.
Storm-battered U.S. South is again under threat. A boy swept into a drain fights for his life
Dangerous storms crashed over parts of the U.S. South on Thursday even as the region cleaned up from earlier severe weather that spawned tornadoes, killed at least three people, and gravely injured a boy who was swept into a storm drain as he played in a flooded street.
Broadcaster and commentator Rex Murphy dead at 77: National Post
The National Post is reporting that Rex Murphy, the pundit and columnist who hosted a national call-in radio show for decades, has died.
Prince Harry, Meghan arrive in Nigeria to champion the Invictus Games and meet with wounded soldiers
Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, arrived in Nigeria on Friday to champion the Invictus Games, which he founded to aid the rehabilitation of wounded and sick servicemembers and veterans, among them Nigerian soldiers fighting a 14-year war against Islamic extremists.