Windsor’s Walkerville Collegiate Institute is ready for its close-up.
The school will be the backdrop to a new student-led film production program called BuzzFlix under Vortex Media.
The initiative will see four full-length family films shot inside the school this summer, creating full-time paid jobs and hands-on training for about 70 post-secondary students from across Ontario.
Vortex Media Executive Chairman Bill Marks says participants are leading every part of production.
“The kids have written the movies, they’re directing the movies, they’re the cinematographers on the movies, the editors, every job on the film, and I joke that I’m paying for it all, which is what I do, every job on the film is done by current students,” said Marks.
He said the program aims to fast-track careers in the industry.
“We want to show that kid in the sound department, he’s recording the sound on four 90-minute shows this summer. He’s going to go out into the industry now with a resume. With proof that he does not need to clean somebody else’s cables for 10 years to learn what he’s already learned,” said Marks.
He added that experienced professionals are guiding participants.
“We’ve got some super experienced industry professionals who are here acting as the mentors. We have a great cinematographer, James Griffiths, Gail Harvey, who’s a very experienced Canadian television director, Kim Nash who is a production designer, and they’re here to do knowledge transfer to the kids,” Marks said.
The program is expected to spend more than $1.8 million on youth employment locally, part of a broader $8 million production investment across Ontario.
Filming on the first project, Superstar, is set to begin later this month.
-With files from AM800’s The Kyle Horner with guest host Brian Masse