Lights... Camera... Action!

ACC’s Interactive Media Arts program offers exciting careers in front of the camera and behind the scenes.

Young documentarians had a summer to remember, bringing the magic of pictures to life thanks to the MTS TV Future First Doc Camp crew and Assiniboine Community College.

“Start with a blank sheet of paper, get out there, shoot it, write it, cut it, do the whole thing in five days...” That pretty much sums up the spirit of this summer’s MTS Future First Doc Experience, according to award-winning documentary filmmaker Andy Blicq. “Think about this, it would be challenging for professional film makers in five days to create a documentary from scratch. These young people have done an amazing job here.”

Blicq was reflecting on a week long documentary camp that was open to students aged 18 to 24 and hosted by Assiniboine Community College this past July.

Greg Sherris, an instructor in the IMA program, guided participants through documentary theory, camera, sound, research, writing narration, and editing, adding, We were absolutely delighted to partner with MTS Future First in this first documentary camp, we really like factual… it goes to our core nature at ACC in Interactive Media Arts.” The documentaries are now available to view on MTS OnDemand.

The Future First documentary camp is only one of many exciting initiatives happening outside ACC’s IMA classrooms.

A new after-school program for high school students, called After School Learners, features 17 local high school students from the Brandon area who are creating a new web series in conjunction with ACC and the province of Manitoba.

We are really excited about it – there is lots of potential to not only further expose the IMA brand to the students of Brandon but also garner some interest around the web series”, said Jill Ferguson, Chairperson for the School of Trades and Technology.

With the absence of a local TV station in Brandon, that IMA brand is more involved in video production around town than some people may realize.

For instance, IMA students mobilize their forty foot CBC production trailer in the spring to do three days of live-to-internet broadcast and multi-camera broadcast of the Westman Jazz Festival.

“It’s an incredible opportunity for IMA students to actually experience a live event over three days; it really gives them that hands-on experience that they don’t get simulating things in a studio,” adds Ferguson.

As part of their two-year diploma studies students work a two-month practicum, gaining invaluable industry experience prior to graduating.

“ I’m happy to report that over 90% of our IMA practicum students get job offers. ” - Jill Ferguson, Chairperson, School of Trades and Technology.

Interactive Media Arts students will find jobs in almost any significant media market, but they need not look any further than a two-hour drive from Brandon.

There is huge demand right now from Winnipeg for live production crew for the Winnipeg Jets and Winnipeg Blue Bombers. These sporting teams have been a huge boon to our industry so it is really important that we are able to meet the demands of our industry partners in those new and exciting fields that haven’t necessarily been present before in Winnipeg or haven’t been present there for a long time” said Ferguson.

In fact, ACC's IMA program has long-standing industry partnerships with broadcasters in several cities across the country, predominantly in western markets through Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and BC.

ACC’s IMA program is geared for success. “We are so proud of our students, and we are so proud of our instructors, because they are the people who are active in Brandon’s media scene,” said Ferguson, adding, “everyone in IMA is 100% invested in the success of our students. They’re our next generation of storytellers.”

That’s a wrap.

To learn more about ACC’s Interactive Media Arts program please visit assiniboine.net/media, email recruit@assiniboine.net or call 204.725.8750.