MASTER CLASS: BEYOND the ART and INSIDE the TECH is a workshop series that offers you the opportunity to get hands-on technical skills (TECH) and allows you to get a glimpse inside the mind of the artist (ART).

$10 per class, $25 for all three

Factory Members: FREE

Take 1 – 3 Workshop participants: FREE

Steph Copeland – Monday, May 9th – 6-9pm

Steph Copeland is a Canadian composer specializing in feature film scores and music for television. She is best known for her work in the Horror and Sci-fi film genre and writes for many Canadian production companies. From classical scores to synth-laden electronic compositions, Steph has carved out a unique sought after sound. Copeland is also a classically trained vocalist and popular song writer.

MASTER CLASS: Scoring Independent Features

Steph will be talking about scoring films within a budget and difficult deadlines with a focus on electronic scores. She will touch on music supervising topics such as licensing music for films, musical themes and creating a manageable work flow, stems and deliverables and demonstrate it using Ableton Live, and will be bringing in the film score to a recent film she worked on.

Class Outline:

Steps of scoring a film from start to finish
Theme development and planning stages
Working with Producers and Directors
Music Licensing
Stems and Deliverables
Discussion

Murray Foster – Tuesday, May 10th – 6-9pm

Murray Foster is the bass player for the Newfoundland band Great Big Sea. Prior to that, Murray was a founding member of the Toronto group Moxy Fruvous.

Murray currently teaches songwriting at Seneca College and is Executive Director of a non-profit organization called Our Place Initiative. In 2013 he became a founding member of the Toronto Music Advisory Council, which advises the city on ways to improve its music culture.

Murray recently wrote, directed and scored his first feature-length film, called “The Cocksure Lads Movie,” which played at film festivals in Madrid and Shanghai and won the Special Jury Prize at the Niagara Integrated Film Festival. The movie was released across Canada in August 2015 and on iTunes in November 2015. Murray’s newest venture is Choir Nation (choirnation.ca), which brings choir singing to corporate employees across Canada.

MASTER CLASS: A Million Lessons: How Nothing Can Prepare You To Make Your First Feature Except This Seminar – Writing, Directing and Producing Tips from Writer/Director/Producer Murray Foster

Screenwriting Lessons

Screenplay plot points – handout, write an outline
Creating an overview of your structure
Learning to love criticism

Directing Lessons

How my approach changed over the course of the shoot
Showing/discussing parts of The Cocksure Lads Movie
What I would do differently

Producing Lessons

Fundraising lessons
The mindset you need, and how filmmaking will change you
Building your team

George Mihalka – Wed May 11th – 6-9pm

Director George Mihalka is known for the ease with which he moves from drama to comedy in theatrical features and television, both in English and French. George’s films, television movies, and miniseries have been honoured with over 50 nominations and awards in Canada, the United States, and around the world.

George’s new TV series, 24 HOUR RENTAL a caustic gangster satire is airing on SUPERCHANNEL in Canada and Hulu in the U.S. to rave reviews. George developed, co-wrote the bible and the 13 part story arc. He was also Director of all 13 episodes, and Executive Producer for REEL ONE ENTERTAINMENT.

His international features include the cult horror classic MY BLOODY VALENTINE, and BULLET TO BEIJING, starring Sir Michael Caine and Sir Michael Gambon. BLUEMAN won the prestigeous PRIX DE PUBLIC prize at the Avoriaz Fantastic Film Fest in France.

His long-form television credits include the Gemini Award winning Dr. LUCILLE (CTV) and STICKS AND STONES (CTV), Winner of the Shaw Rocket Prize for Best Canadian Youth and Family Film, Sticks and Stones also won Best Foreign Feature Drama at the Los Angeles International Family Film Festival and earned Gemini and Canadian Film and Television Production Association Indie Award nominations for Direction and Best Film. RACE TO MARS, a four-hour docu-drama miniseries about the first manned flight to Mars, had the highest ever ratings for a specialty channel (DISCOVERY) in Canada and in France (ARTE).

Television series credits include multiple episodes of the award winning dramas DaVINCI’S INQUEST and JOZI-H (CBC). George has directed episodes of LOST GIRL (SHOWCASE), TRANSPORTER (HBO/M6/RTL), THE FIRM (NBC), and KING (Global). His sci-fi/action television work can be seen in episodes of CHARLIE JADE for CHUM/SCI-FI. George directed the pilot of the comedy series WISH YOU WERE HERE (CBS), in Hungary, following up with multiple episodes shot across Europe. He directed the first five episodes of THE STREET for (MCA/UNIVERSAL) starring Stanley Tucci.

George has also worked as Director/Showrunner on the multiple award winning French language television dramas SCOOP (19 episodes), and OMERTA: The Last Man of Honour, (13 episodes) and the six-hour Orwellian miniseries thriller HAUTE SURVEILLANCE, all for (Radio Canada/CBC)

MASTER CLASS – CANADIAN FILM – The Good, The Bad and the Horror!

With a horror classic under his belt (My Bloody Valentine), and a Quentin Tarantino quote to back it up, George Mihalka knows a thing or two about the Canadian film industry and in this 3-hour Master Class, he will take you inside the life and process of an accomplished artist.

Directing a Horror classic
Benefits and Challenges of working in the Canadian Film Industry
The creative process
Discussion

MASTERCLASS STUDIO: Art & Tech has been made possible through a grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation. The Factory Media Centre gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Ontario Trillium Foundation, an agency of the Ministry of Culture, which receives $100 million annually in government funding generated through Ontario’s charity casino initiative.