What can one say about Bill Marchant, the Head of Acting for Film & Television? He’s a talented actor and a truly beloved part of the school – ask around – but he’s also an author, a poet, a playwright.
Not only that, it was fêted at the post-fest awards, winning for Best Set Design, Best Supporting Female Actor, Best Director, and Best Supporting Male Actor – that last one going to Actingand Acting Essentials graduate Patrick Spencer!
Congrats to all! Here’s hoping this is just the beginning for this tale of “sex, lies, and liquor”!
Update: We caught up with Patrick to get his feelings on the show:
“As a fresh grad of the VFS program, Ashes was an ideal opportunity for me,” he says. “I could not have asked for more than to be a part of a play that Bill, my mentor and friend, had written.”
“It was hard for me to believe that I was being recognized for the work I did. I kept comparing my work to the amazing jobs that the more seasoned actors in the project had delivered, and as such I could only see how far I had to go. However, I tried to keep it simple and when the time came, simply look at my scene partners and breathe. I am thrilled that Ashes has been born – I don’t believe I have seen the end of it.”
Dave Warfield, Head of Game Design, is one of three finalists nominated for a PopVox Award in the Individual Standout Awards category of Digital Education. An industry vet of more than 15 years, Dave has worked as a Senior Producer for EA,where he developed over 24 game titles.
In its third year as a New Media B.C. initiative, the PopVox Awards recognize B.C.’s best and brightest minds in the digital media industry. We’ll be crossing our fingers during the awards ceremony that will take place on May 13th, the second day of the Vancouver 2009 Digital Week.
Also occurring that week is the Game Developer’s Conference, the largest conference in the game industry. And guess what? Dave Warfield will be there too, as part of a panel discussing the question: “Can Academics Partner with Industry?” (SPOILER: The answer is “Yes.”)
We’re pleased to announce Jonathan Wacks, renowned filmmaker and educator, is the new Head of Film Production. His notable film credits include Powwow Highway, a feature comedy that won the 1989 Sundance Film Festival Filmmaker’s Trophy and picked up four Independent Spirit Award nominations. His first film, Crossroads/South Africa, received an Academy Award in the documentary category (student), and was followed by the acclaimed cult hit Repo Man, which he produced.
Jonathan’s worked with some pretty big names in his career, from Emilio Estevez in Repo Man to Ethan Hawke in Mystery Date, Steve Buscemi in Ed and His Dead Mother, and a young Johnny Depp in 21 Jump Street. Behind the scenes, he’s been Vice President of Production at the Samuel Goldwyn Company, and the Director of Garson Studios, a 65,000-square-foot studio facility in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His most recent position was as the Professor and Chair of the Moving Image Arts Department at the College of Santa Fe.
“It is with tremendous enthusiasm that I take up the position as Head of the Film Department at VFS,” Jonathan says. “The school has an outstanding, global reputation as a high-quality, professional institution. I am very excited to work with the faculty, staff, and students to continue to advance that reputation.”
Welcome, Jonathan! We look forward to watching how you’ll shape the future of Film at VFS.
Sergio has turned that very talk into a 35-minute animated video, which has seen acclaim both online and off. It’s been featured on Creative Commons Mexico, prompted a personal response from CC guru Lawrence Lessig, and screened to a packed theatre at theUniversidad Iberoamericana.
A side story to this thought-provoking work: not a motion designer by trade, Sergio learned After Effects from scratch in making the video. Giving him advice? Digital Design grad Ryan Uhrich.
You can see more of Sergio’s work at his site. Below, Digital Art: A Poetic Vision. Enjoy!
It’s what you get when your faculty are connected to industry. And our one-year Entertainment Business Management program is no exception: its instructors have something to say about film producing or accounting or music publishing because they’ve been there and are still there.
Case in point: Ken Ashdown, the music exec turned EBM Head of Department, has contributed a section in Marketing: An Introduction, 3rd Canadian Edition, which came out earlier this month.
Ken’s section is called “How do you compete with free?” and touches on pricing in the music industry – drawing heavily, of course, on his own expertise and experience. Check it out!
Some students who come to VFS see it as a year-long job interview. It’s entirely plausible, given the well-connected industry professionals they have for instructors.
Film grads Chris Levesque, Anthony Epp, Dave Charles, and Tyler McPherson have all secured jobs with the help of EBM (and sometimes Film Production) instructor Shel Piercy.
Chris was brought on as the assistant for Shel’s company Infinity Films, where he’s producing the 2009 Canadian Business Hall of Fame Awards, shooting the mini-docs for Global TV’s Courage to Come Back Awards, and helping develop the documentary Room 1742 and the feature film Unquiet Dead – both of which will go to camera this fall.
Anthony was hired by Shel to produce a feature length documentary about violence in hockey and the “code” players fight by, called Unspoken Rules, which will go to camera this April.
“I hire VFS kids because I know that their education is well-rounded,” says Shel. “They can use a camera, load footage into an edit suite, and they are familiar with releases and set practices. And because I have been privileged to be their instructor, I am familiar with their strong work ethic and reliability.”
And Shel’s not just keeping his knowledge to himself.
Shel recommended Dave for a research position at Paperny Films, which grew into an AD position on the company’s new series Chop Shop, and also gave Tyler a recommendation for a job as a grip on a new comedy pilot that was shot by producer Cynthia Chapman (The Guard) for CBC.
And that’s the way the VFS network works. We help one another out, and everyone wins!
I live here, front and centre at Sophia Books, a block from the Digital Design campus.
The Digital Design program is excited to have Paul Shoebridge and Michael Simons teaching “Creating Online Magazines”. The pair is renowned in the industry for their creative work – print (such as Art Direction at Adbusters Magazine), interactive, and even combinations of the two.
Most recently, Paul and Michael co-created (with Mia Kirshner and J.B. Mackinnon) the book I live here – sometimes described as a ‘paper documentary’, sometimes as a ‘multimedia journal’, but intriguing to everyone who picks it up. I live here tells personal stories of those in distress in four different countries: Chechnya, Burma, Mexico, and Malawi.
Paul and Michael were kind enough to answer a few questions about the genesis of the project, as well as their thoughts on design today.
Tell us about the impetus for creating “I live here”.
Mia Kirshner approached us at Adbusters Magazine, where we were working as Creative/Art Directors. She proposed a book project that would focus on unseen corners of the world, in an assertive, creative way. Of course, we were interested. Over the course of the next 5 years, we worked very closely to shape the books into the visual/textual hybrid they eventually became. We commissioned artists to produce some amazing graphic novels, and asked a group of well-known writers to contribute to the creative non-fiction text. We were lucky that J.B. Mackinnon, whom we’d worked with at Adbusters, agreed to come on and help keep the stories on track.
You’ve both worked in print as well as online environments. Why does one project take a print form, while another becomes an interactive experience?
Our good friends at SIGGRAPH would like you to know that the SPARK FX ‘09 Festival is upon us.
And to make sure you’re there, they’re serving up an incredibly cool lineup of screenings, panels, and speakers, including the legendary Dennis Muren (ILM).
The event takes place at the Vancity Theatre in Vancouver from January 21 through January 26, 2009.
Attendees will also have the chance to see a talk by VFS instructor Keith Blackmore (History of Visual Effects, Jan. 25) and a panel featuring 3D Animation & Visual Effectsgrad – and current VFX Executive Producer at Image Engine – Shawn Walsh (Visual Effects in Vancouver, Jan. 24).
One of the advantages of being based in Vancouver – apart from the beaches and snowboarding, of course – is proximity to an active film and TV industry.
Of course, the students were sworn to secrecy about everything they saw during their visit. But they can talk about what they’re able to take away from behind-the-scenes field trips like this.
Student Sofus Graae: “There are so many aspects of the production you simply will not experience from a simple ‘behind the scenes’ DVD feature. That’s why field trips give us a good insight to the massive requirements of the whole crew – from pre- to post-production. Seeing how all the people involved work together to create a stunning final result is an amazing experience and very motivating.”
Student David O. Escobell: “At VFS, we learn Visual Effects, but going into the big sets as a VFX student helps me understand how they take advantage of VFX in really big budgets. That and asking questions – it’s the best complement for us.”
Slap Shot 3: The Junior League, the second sequel in the beloved and enduring Slap Shot franchise, came out on DVD this week. And Vancouver Film School faculty and grads were a huge part of the production!
The film’s director, Richard Martin, is an instructor in our Film program. When he needed crew he could rely on, he went right to VFS grads he knew were up for the job. This includes Nemo Balkanski as Storyboard Artist, Thomas Pound as Assistant to the Director, and PAs Lexy Burg, Jeffery Hornung, and Katy Boriskov.
The film also featured VFS Actinggrads in major roles, including Sara Canning as Hope, and Peter Benson as Mark.
Richard keeps it simple in terms of the graduates’ success on set: “They were all amazing!”
Congrats on being part of the Slap Shot legacy, everyone!
What can one say about Bill Marchant, the Head of Acting for Film & Television? He’s a talented actor and a truly beloved part of the school – ask around – but he’s also an author, a poet, a playwright.
Dave Warfield
We’re pleased to announce 
It’s what you get when your faculty are connected to industry. And our one-year 
Some students who come to VFS 
Our good friends at SIGGRAPH would like you to know that the 
One of the advantages of being based in Vancouver – apart from the beaches and snowboarding, of course – is proximity to an active film and TV industry.
Slap Shot 3: The Junior League, the second sequel in the beloved and enduring Slap Shot franchise, came out on DVD this week. And Vancouver Film School faculty and grads were a huge part of the production!