The OFFA 2022 Industry Summit will be returning to a live event over 2 days, beginning Friday, June 24th and continuing into Saturday, June 25th. The Industry Summit will be free to all filmmakers and others participating in the June festival, as well as all festival and industry partners. We will livestream the entire Industry Summit to make it available to everyone who is unable to attend the festival in person.
INDUSTRY SUMMIT VENUES:
FRIDAY 24th JUNE: Oakville Powerboat Club: The Industry Summit will include an all-day event starting at 9am on Friday 24 June and continuing until late in the day. A Barbecue will take place following the Summit, then all filmmakers will be invited to participate in the Friday night Canadian GALA at OCPA from 7:30 pm to 10 pm.
Registration Is Necessary as Seating is Limited.
Registration is necessary for the Industry Summit, which is available to all filmmakers participating in the June festival. Registration will be opened to the wider community if seating is still available for the live event.
For those unable to attend the Industry Summit in person, a link will be provided to watch the event virtually. Additional information and link TBC.
Friday 24th June – Oakville Powerboat Club Industry Summit
8 am to 5:00 pm ET: Breakfast and networking from 8 am to 9 am followed by four sessions (see below) for intermediate to emerging level filmmakers.
5:00-6:30 pm – Summit includes a networking barbecue to follow, with 2 free drink tickets and food for everyone.
Following the barbecue, all participants will walk to OCPA (5-minute walk) for the Friday night Canadian GALA + performance.
Powerboat Club Schedule
Saturday 25th June – OCPA –
3-4pm: Afternoon Award Ceremony with networking opportunities. This event is open to all.
5-6:30pm: “Beer and Burger” downtown Oakville (TBC) with networking opportunities – this event is only available to filmmakers participating in the live Industry Summit Event. Two drink tickets will be provided, as well as a light dinner.
INDUSTRY SUMMIT SCHEDULE – FRIDAY 24 JUNE
8:00-8:45 am – Catered BREAKFAST and coffee. Introductions.
9:00 – 10:30 am. Interactive Workshop
Gearing up For Your Next Production – Greg Jeffs, William F White, representative from Virtual Production TBC.
Filmmaking has changed at a very rapid pace over the past few decades. Gear is getting better, smaller and more powerful than ever before. But the transition to the next level can be very daunting, especially for filmmakers that are accustomed to small budgets and small crews. From backlots to virtual production, camera gear to lenses, there is so much to know that it can be very difficult to get started. This interactive workshop will give you a chance to learn about some of the newest advances in filmmaking and have the opportunity to get your hands on some of this technology.
10:45 am – 12:15 pm – Panel Discussion
Emerging BIPOC and New Immigrant Filmmakers: Addressing Challenges Impacting Multiculturalism in the Film Industry
International immigration to the Oakville/Milton area has increased over 133% from 2020[1], an increasing number of these are BIPOC creatives working in the screen-based industries. The negative impact on immigrants’ labour market outcomes is further exacerbated by the fact that they are strongly overrepresented in the sectors most affected by the pandemic. The film industry is no exception, as inequity persists and is deeply entrenched across the film and TV ecosystem.
New research reveals the barriers Black, People of colour, and Indigenous talents face in accessing resources and financial help in the film and TV industry.
Join Moderator Evangeline Chima (Founder and Executive Director of Black Mentorship Inc – BMI), Patricia Scarlett (Founder Media Business Institute), and Faran Moradi (Director/Editor Tehranto), and Kadon Douglas, founder of Bipoc Film and TV, to discuss strategies to reinforce multiculturalism shaping a more inclusive, equitable industry. This panel discussion and Q&A is for emerging and seasoned Filmmakers from the BIPOC community and offers strategies and programmes available for breaking into the Film & TV industry in Canada.
12:15 pm – Lunch break. LUNCH PROVIDED. Networking.
1:00 – 2:30 pm – Panel Discussion/ Interactive Workshop
Danger on Set and Off: Stunts, Guns, Explosions, and Insurance
Workshop with: Insurance Broker (Marquee Insurance) Actress, and Entertainment specialist Stephanie Herrera (Marquee Insurance), Actor, Author, and Movie Expo stuntman Tazito Garcia, as well as Seth Rossman, founder of Gunslingers Armoury. Seth is a Specialist in tactical advisory, licencing and training as well as gear, wardrobe and picture vehicle services to major film & TV sets
This panel/interactive workshop will review stunts, guns and explosions in Canada and around the world, discuss case studies, as well as touch on insurance considerations. Following the recent suspension of the series RUST due to the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, and the implementation of Covid Protocols which have become a day-to-day routine in our industry, producers and filmmakers have been forced to re-evaluate policies and procedures around safety on set, and off. This workshop on the current state of safety in the industry will focus on the globalization of Canadian filmmaking, and how this has affected productions in terms of stunts, insurance, and other issues. An expert in safety and stunt protocol, Taz Garcia will demonstrate the differences between working in action/stunts in North America vs Asia in terms of safety, and preparation, and the difference between Hollywood Style vs Hong Kong style action & stunts (Rehearsals, choreography, filming process). It will also touch on differences in safety and stunt protocol outside North America.
PODCASTS CONTINUE FOR 2022
Offa is creating a series of six festival Podcasts, highlighting filmmakers who are participating in the 2022 festival. These podcasts will be available throughout the week of the festival and then will be made available to a broader audience following the festival’s conclusion. All six podcasts will be hosted and moderated by motivational speaker and produced by a local professional filmmaker. There will also be a virtual networking session for those filmmakers who are not able to attend the festival in person.
AWARD CEREMONY AND PRESENTATION
OFFA will be continuing the tradition of a juried awards system and presentation. For 2022, the Awards Ceremony and presentation will be a live event, held on Saturday, June 25th at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts, and is open to the public and free to attend. The event will be a celebration of the outstanding achievements made by a short-listed segment of the filmmakers who participated in the festival.
BIOGRAPHIES:
Tazito Garcia is a multi -award winning actor and director known for his roles as Axel in the award winning action-comedy First Bust (2015) and General Sevchenko on the Machinima series, Battlefield: Divided we Stand (2015) based on the sixth-best-selling video game franchise “Call of Duty”. Garcia is also known for his intricate Hong Kong style fight scenes, and his work as a stuntman. Taz is also an author, whose book Zero to Hero is a guide to the world of stunt work, covering a wide range of information with images to help guide individuals looking to get into action & stunts; from basic punches and kicks to gun safety, gear and pre-filming checklists. Copies of the book will be given to people who participate in this session. https://torontoguardian.com/2017/11/action-movie-actor-taz-garcia/
Stephanie Herrera is multi-award winning Actor and Writer for film and TV and has comes from an extensive career in live comedy. She has been a producer of both TV show and live events, and she continues to be active with various film festivals as a judge or Director, currently sitting as Artistic Director for the Ontario International Film Festival. She is a published author and is currently writing on several animated shows. Stephanie takes all her knowledge and passion of this industry and pours it into her work as the head of the Entertainment division at McCamm Insurance Brokers, where the brokers come from the film and TV industry.
Seth Rossman was born in Dundas, Ontario, Canada. As a young child, Seth showed a strong interest in visual arts, theater and music. As an adult, this artistic path ultimately lead him to a position working in digital media design and development for the Canadian Football League. In 2007 Seth shifted his artistic focus to the film & television industry. He graduated the Masters Program at Complections International Academy of Make-up Artistry in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With a strong education behind him, the doors to ILLUSION Studios opened and Seth began advancing both the company and his career in Make-up Artistry. Seth began working with outfits like Ms. Canada, The SPACE Channel, The Discovery Channel and Much Music to name a few. In a very short period of time Seth had established himself as a top-tier artist, having gone on to work as the private Make-up artist to actors such as: Eva Longoria, Seth Green, Forest Whitaker, Kristin Bauer van Straten, Kim Coates, Deborah Kara Unger, Devon Bostick, Cary Elwes, & more.
Sadly in 2011, Seth was struck down by a drunk driver while working on a feature film in the Dominican Republic. After much rehabilitation, Seth returned to the film Industry, however in a new and very different capacity. During his rehabilitation, Seth had facilitated the opening of Gunslingers.. a Special FX, Armaments and Wardrobe house. Gunslingers specializes in firearm, wardrobe and prop rentals of Police, SWAT, Military, Law Enforcement and Tactical Units.
2:45 – 4:30 pm – Master Class
Using existing IP to Break Into the Industry: A Case Study Approach
Master Class with Bruno S. Lyra
This Master Class will review Public Domain and Fair Dealing/Fair Use resources that emerging filmmakers can rely on to develop their original projects, detailing both commercial and narrative benefits deriving from said measures (e.g., by making an updated version of a Public Domain piece — anything from Romeo and Juliet to a Brothers Grimm fairy tale — a filmmaker can, simultaneously, access a built-in audience, therefore enhancing the commercial appeal of his/her/their film, while also being able to rely on an existing relationship between the viewer and the storyline/characters, which, in turn, can be further developed or subverted). The presentation will be a cast-study approach, using cases such as Morgan Cooper’s viral video which led to the hit show Bel-Air or Evan Daugherty’s script for Snow White and the Huntsman.
BIOGRAPHY:
Until mid-2016, Bruno S. Lyra — a Latinx immigrant to Canada — was a corporate lawyer, having become the youngest senior partner in the history of his 60+-year firm. During said time, Bruno acquired extensive experience in media-heavy international events (such as the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games) and the entertainment industry as a whole (counting among his key clients some of the largest broadcasters, streamers, and content providers in the world).Since making the switch to film, Lyra has devoted his time to three activities: a) he teaches film-related courses (including Copyright/Contracts in Film) at Toronto Film School and Yorkville University; b) he produces/consults (credits as a producer include the award-winning feature film The Sounding, which sold to HBO in 17 territories, as well as the ongoing series First Person, now in its second season, screened at TIFF and Cannes); and c) he’s a screenwriter (recent highlights include a deal with Blue Ant Media for his TV show Identities and one of his feature film projects having been sold to an established production company and selected for development financing by Telefilm).
5:00 – 630 pm Networking Barbecue
Networking and barbecue for Filmmakers at the Oakville Powerboat Club. Two drink tickets included (drinks can also be purchased at the bar)
Following the barbecue, all participants will walk to the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts for the Friday night Canadian GALA.
Saturday 25th June – OCPA –
3-4pm: Awards Ceremony (3-4 pm) including film prizing awards for all awards except the Audience Choice Awards.
This event is open to all. All awards with the exception of the Audience Choice Awards (which are done by vote through ticket purchases) and will follow after the festival.
5-6:30pm: “Beer and Burger” networking event location TBC. Free food and two drink tickets will be available to filmmakers participating in the live Industry Summit Event (outsiders may attend as guests).
