“I was sitting on the computer handing in applications to different colleges. And my dad was like, What do you like to do? And I was like, I guess I like film.”
Jeremy Grant is a 2nd year student in Fanshawe’s Broadcast Film and Television program. He took this program because film is what he loves. He has dreams of becoming a screenwriter– a tough business to crack. When thinking of potential jobs after graduation, he can think of a lot, but they aren’t exactly close.
Jack Wraight is a classmate of Jeremy’s. He has similar thoughts about the industry.
“When I started this program, I was thinking that there’s a lot of jobs in this field, but maybe not a lot of jobs in London . . .”
Josh agrees. “Where do you go for work? Toronto or BC? Pick and choose.”
Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal. Those are the epicenters of Canadian film. London is not high on the list.
Enter stage right, the London Film Office.
The London Film Office
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The logo for London’s new Film Office (via Twiter).
The Film Office is a new department meant to entice production companies to shoot here in London. They got started in April with a budget of $300,000. Now, they’ve already landed $2 million dollars for the city, as the London Free Press reports.
Adamm Liley, professor at Fanshawe’s Broadcast Film and Television program, went through the typical timeline for graduates.
“We are always encouraging students to go join the technicians’ union known as IATSE 873. And then there’s the camera union– which is IATSE 667. Once they do that they can get on the on the daily calling list.”
“We’ve really had a lot of success with students going that route and getting daily calls. Once you get in and start networking and making a good impression, then you usually keep getting more and more callbacks. It’s everything from art department to gaffer and grip and some people go in the camera union and there’s so many different options.”
“It’s a competitive industry, it’s a tough industry, but if you are willing to work hard and listen to the things that we’ve taught along the way, you’ll very much have a good, successful career.”
Romy Goulem is the head of the advanced film program at Fanshawe and a board member of the Forest City Film Festival. He knew about the London Film Office for a long time now, as they were trying to get the ball rolling:
“Once the city okayed it, I was very happy for not only the local film community, but for so many of our students who study this field and end up moving away to find work.”
Goulem clarified what exactly the Film Office would be doing, and how this will effect London.
“What the Film Office is going to do is bring productions from elsewhere to London. There’s so many productions in Toronto, that equipment and facilities and crews are harder to come by. What [the Film Office is] going to help is to bring other producers to London to shoot here. Then, over time, that will help for people who are from London, who have skills to work in the film industry.”
“The effect of the Film Office won’t be felt right away but will take time. He did say that the office has already helped local productions though.”
“The Office was there to be very helpful. I know that a couple of the films were able to take advantage of the services that the Office are offering.”
And this means a lot for people in London, not just companies.
“There are several filmmakers who are based out of London who they may not make their living making the films they want to make. They may do corporate videos, commercials, and then when they get a chance they make their feature film, and then they go back and they make their living doing industrial video production or commercial productions.”
That’s today, but the goal for the future is to flip the script.
“When there’s a production in London, they can come back and they have a place to stay, and they can be a local crew member and then they can go back to Toronto. One of the hopes of the Film Office is to have more and more of those people just say ‘well, I’m just going to live in London, because there’s a lot more work than there used to be in London. I can always drive into Toronto for work.’ Sort of the flip the situation.”
This means a lot for London, and everyone in it. While filmmakers would be the ones immediately effected, the impacts of productions have wide ranging benefits, as Liley explains.
“Grads don’t have to go to Toronto or Montreal or Vancouver or Halifax. They can be able to find work here in London. It’s just great for so many different programs at the college. Because the film industry spans so many different vast areas– from culinary programs to film and television, visual effects and animation. So it’s a great start. It’s been talked about for years. And finally, we have now a funded Film Office that’s dedicated to promoting itself.”
The Film industry in Canada is large, thriving, and growing. Now with the London Film Office and the talent circulating the city, the same could be said about London.
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