Goal to have more Manitobans entering and advancing in the Film Industry
WINNIPEG, September 19, 2025 – Film Training Manitoba (FTM) and DOC Manitoba (DOC MB) announced the launch of Manitoba’s Northern & Diverse Creators Program, featuring two-time Academy Award-nominated director Rory Kennedy as a lead instructor.
This ground-breaking initiative aims to increase the number of individuals working in Manitoba’s creative positions in film. Manitoba’s Northern & Diverse Creators Program is set to deliver 12 film industry masterclasses throughout Manitoba targeted for underrepresented creators from diverse communities, including northern and rural Indigenous Peoples, Women, Black People, Ukrainians, and members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community. The program received funding from the Canada Media Fund (CMF) and is co-programmed by Film Training Manitoba and DOC Manitoba.
“Having instructed in Manitoba in the past, I was very impressed, and I’m looking forward to providing masterclasses for Film Training Manitoba and DOC Manitoba’s innovative and ambitious Northern & Diverse Creators Program,” said Rory Kennedy.
“Rory Kennedy’s film industry training in Manitoba in 2024 had exceptional evaluations and sold-out attendance. Film Training Manitoba and our partners are eagerly looking forward to her instruction during Manitoba’s Northern & Diverse Creators Program,” said FTM’s Executive Director, Adam Smoluk.
Rural Training in Manitoba – Findings:
Over the past several years, there have been suggestions from the Manitoba film community about the potential of more in-depth, in-person training in rural communities to improve and develop their capacities at shooting locations and to help develop film professionals.
In May 2024, FTM ran a poll and asked the following questions about potentially increasing training in rural communities:
- Do you think it’s valuable to the Manitoba film community to target training sessions outside of Winnipeg (such as Brandon and Northern Manitoba)?
- Do you see the value to the Manitoba film community in building relationships with rural communities?
- Do you feel that business development and training partnerships help grow the greater Manitoba film community?
- Do you think building connections and relationships with regions outside of Winnipeg is helpful in supporting underrepresented workers?
There were 108 cumulative responses from 27 participants, with a resounding yes from over 90 per cent of responses for each question.
In the additional feedback section, 13 comments were universally positive about FTM engaging with more rural and northern communities. Many responses noted a need for more engagement, which can increase “accessibility”, “connectivity”, and “building relationships with communities outside of Winnipeg.”
Two large-scale studies point towards the need for more support for underrepresented workers in the film industry: the Women in View 2023 Report and the Writers Guild of Canada’s 2023 Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Report. Both found that underrepresented workers experienced a decrease in their share of work on media projects in 2020-2021. The reports state that women and gender-diverse creatives saw an overall reduced share of film and TV work in 2020 and 2021. The reports state that the share of key creative roles for women and gender-diverse individuals in Canadian film and TV came to 30 per cent in 2020 and 33 per cent in 2021 – a decrease from 43 per cent in 2019. The data covers English-language television and film projects funded by the Canada Media Fund and Telefilm Canada over the two-year period. Manitoba’s Northern & Diverse Creators program has been developed to improve opportunities for these communities.
As a result of these findings, FTM created Manitoba’s Northern & Diverse Creators Program Committee.
Manitoba’s Northern & Diverse Creators Program Committee:
This committee consists of three FTM committee members and three DOC MB members.
Summary of Program:
This new program initiative will provide accessible training for 220 underrepresented Manitoba-based participants over 12 individual stand-alone training sessions, designed to break down barriers by providing joint hands-on engagement and learning.
Manitoba’s Northern & Diverse Creators Program has individual training sessions for: African Movie Festival in Manitoba (AM-FM, Black Filmmakers), Reel Pride International Film Festival (2SLGBTQ+), FTM’s Supporting Women in Film Trades (SWIFT) Division, Ukrainian Canadian Congress (new Canadians and refugees), northern communities and communities outside of Winnipeg, including:
- Churchill (Hosted by the Town of Churchill)
- Cranberry Portage (Hosted by the Frontier School Division)
- Flin Flon (Hosted by the Northern Manitoba Sector Council)
- The Pas (Hosted by the Northern Manitoba Sector Council)
- Brandon (Hosted by Assiniboine College)
Below is a map of the Province of Manitoba showing the various sites of the training sessions:
“Like FTM’s Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce award-winning Supporting Women In Film Trades (SWIFT) initiatives, Manitoba’s brilliant Northern & Diverse Creators Program is a major ground-breaking workforce development initiative that will provide world-class training in a variety of regions in our Province,” said FTM’s IATSE ex officio representative and SWIFT Chairperson Tanya Mazur.
All the communities and organizations represented in Manitoba’s Northern & Diverse Creators Program typically receive little or no film industry training support due to their distance from the City of Winnipeg. By partnering with DOC Manitoba, FTM aims to provide underrepresented communities the opportunity to come together, collaborate, and tell their own unique stories. Stories that preserve culture, reflect lived experiences, and ensure that their voices are heard within Manitoba’s growing film industry.
“Manitoba’s Northern & Diverse Creators program is a brilliant new strategy to connect underserved Manitoban communities and cultural groups to grow our film industry,” said Charles Konowal, CSC, a film industry veteran and board member of both DOC MB and FTM. “The depth of planning, partnerships, and outstanding program activities is unprecedented in Canada.”
DOC MB & FTM’s Partnership History:
In the past three years, FTM and DOC MB have partnered to deliver the DEEP DIVE Program, which consisted of nine individual in-class training sessions and 18 individual mentorships. 266 participants undertook these sessions, and in participant evaluations, 98 per cent agreed or strongly agreed that the DEEP DIVE training helped them develop in their job or career.
“Manitoba production companies like Merit Motion Pictures will directly benefit from the more than 12 cutting-edge training sessions across the province from Manitoba’s Northern & Diverse Creators Program,” said the Chairperson of DOC MB, and Executive Producer and owner of Merit Motion Pictures, Merit Jensen-Carr. “There is no doubt this exceptional program will accelerate and deepen Manitoba’s film industry.”
FTM and DOC MB have confirmed a strong cross-section of organizations collaborating on this shared initiative, and they have received confirmations of programming donations and in-kind support for this project from the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC), Churchill Health, and three DOC MB training executive committee members: Kevin Nikkel, Charles Konowal and Merit Jensen-Carr. They have been on-site within four isolated northern communities that this program is targeting to work with.
FTM is the only film organization in Canada formally and actively partnering with the UCC. FTM has programmed three in-person coaching sessions with the UCC, which garnered over 160 registered participants. DOC MB also has an excellent history of working closely with these communities, developing strong ties and trust through initiatives that empower local creators to share their stories. This connection further strengthens the program’s foundation.
“We express our strong support for Film Training Manitoba’s initiative to deliver specialty film training to underrepresented workers in our province, including members of Manitoba’s Ukrainian community. We are particularly excited about the opportunity to partner with FTM in welcoming acclaimed filmmaker Rory Kennedy to Manitoba. The proposed masterclass sessions, including a dedicated afternoon of training for Ukrainian community members, present a unique and meaningful way to provide creative and skills-based development opportunities for those who have recently arrived in Canada, including refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine,” said Joanne Lewandosky, President of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress Manitoba Provincial Council (UCC-MPC).
Rory Kennedy Masterclass Sessions:
In February 2024, FTM held the Manitoba Film Master Series in Winnipeg, featuring Rory Kennedy as the event’s instructor. This Master Series included workforce development masterclasses, 8 one-on-one sessions for advanced learners, and a screening of Kennedy’s film Ethel (2012). In total, more than 170 participants attended. FTM collected 98 participant evaluations, with 98 per cent of respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing that the training helped them develop in their job or career.
Dates of the Training Session for Manitoba’s Northern & Diverse Creators Program
Winnipeg
Saturday, September 27:
- 10:00 am to 4:30 pm: Masterclass: Fundamentals of Documentary Cinematography with Charles Konowal for the African Movie Festival in Manitoba (AM-FM)
Brandon – In partnership with Assiniboine College
Thursday, October 2:
- 10:30 am – 12:30 pm: REEL Careers Speakers Session with Libby Lea
Churchill – hosted by the Town of Churchill
Saturday, October 25:
- Rory Kennedy 75-minute masterclass and screening of Ethel (2012)
- One-on-one coaching sessions with screenwriter Mark Bailey
Winnipeg – hosted by The University of Winnipeg (UW)
Sunday, October 26:
- 6:30 pm to 9:45 pm: Rory Kennedy masterclass and screening of Ethel (2012) for the Ukrainian Canadian Congress.
Monday, October 27:
- 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm: Rory Kennedy roundtable session with DOC MB members and Diverse Creators
- 6:30 pm to 9:45 pm: Rory Kennedy masterclass and screening of Ethel (2012) for Reel Pride and UW students.
Cranberry Portage – hosted by the Frontier School Division
Tuesday, October 28:
- 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm: Kevin Nikkel masterclass for the Frontier School Division
Wednesday, October 29:
- 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm: Kevin Nikkel masterclass for the Frontier School Division
Flin Flon – hosted by the Northern Manitoba Sector Council
Wednesday, October 29:
- 9:00 am to 11:30 am: Kevin Nikkel masterclass community members
The Pas – hosted by the Northern Manitoba Sector Council
Thursday, October 30:
- 10:00 am to 12:30 pm: Kevin Nikkel masterclass community members
Instructor’s bios:
Mark Bailey is an author and Emmy-nominated screenwriter. In 2017, Bailey wrote and produced Take Every Wave: The Life of Laird Hamilton, a feature documentary about the legendary big wave surfer. The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and was released theatrically through IFC. Before that, Bailey wrote the Academy Award-nominated documentary feature Last Days in Vietnam for PBS/American Experience. For his work on the film, Bailey was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Writing and a Writers Guild Award for Best Documentary Screenplay. Previously, Bailey had been nominated for two other Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing (Ethel, 2013 and Pandemic: Facing AIDS, 2004). In 2013, Bailey won a Humanitas Prize for Documentaries (Ethel).
Rory Kennedy is an Academy Award-nominated, Primetime Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker. She has made over thirty films, including LAST DAYS IN VIETNAM, ETHEL, and TAKE EVERY WAVE, all of which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Her films have appeared on the major streamers and broadcast networks, including Netflix, HBO, National Geographic and PBS. Her work has been profiled in The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times, and she has appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Today Show, CNN, and NPR.
Charles Konowal studied at the Minneapolis School of Art after graduating from high school in 1968, but the US draft system forced him to return to his homeland in Canada. He settled in Vancouver, where he continued to pursue a career as an artist for a number of years. But a commission to paint a mural in a private home led to an unexpected opportunity to explore the world of documentary filmmaking. That chance opportunity changed his career path, and since the mid-70s, Charles has journeyed around the world exploring through the art of documentary filmmaking.
Libby Lea, a seasoned Producer with over a decade of experience, excels in commercials. With a Broadcasting Diploma in 2002, she delved into marketing, communications, and briefly into politics. Eventually, she found her niche at a video production company, refining her interviewing skills and production expertise. Joining FRANK Digital in July 2017 as Head of Production, she managed operations, client relations, oversaw shoots, and supervised post-production. In 2018, she became Vice President of Production, pivotal in FRANK Digital’s expansion. August 2023 marked her directorial debut with the CBC documentary “Running for Your Life.”
Kevin Nikkel is an independent filmmaker and educator based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. His artistic practice has focused primarily on documentary film for the last two decades. Nikkel has taught high school courses to adults at the St Norbert Adult Education Centre for 25 years. I’ve also taught courses at Red River Polytech, University of Winnipeg, and the Winnipeg Film Group. On the Trail of the Far Fur Country (2014), The Challenges of Giving Shelter (2013), Under a Cold War Sky (2019) and When We Became Folk Festivals (2025).
How is Manitoba’s Northern & Diverse Creators Program approaching community engagement and outreach?:
Manitoba’s Northern & Diverse Creators Program has been developed in close collaboration with the Manitoba communities FTM and DOC MB are partnering with. In Winnipeg, we are working with partners including the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC), REEL Pride International Film Festival (2SLGBTQ+), the African Movie Festival in Manitoba (AM-FM), and FTM’s SWIFT committee to provide and deliver hands-on training sessions customized to meet the needs of diverse communities. In Manitoba’s North, the program has been designed with deep cultural respect for the needs and aspirations of local communities, partnering with the Frontier Adult Learning Centres and the Northern Manitoba Sector Council to host sessions in Cranberry Portage, Flin Flon, and The Pas. We are also working directly with the Mayor of Churchill, Michael Spence, and a staff member from Churchill Health for programming in Churchill.
“Our wide range of partners are grateful to the Canada Media Fund and the Province of Manitoba for supporting northern and rural Manitobans, Ukrainian people, members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community and other Manitobans who will benefit from this new film industry initiative.” Said FTM’s Past Chairperson Andrew Yankiwski.
“Churchill is a predominantly indigenous community in Canada’s North, and we recognize the benefits associated with the skill development that will take place during the Northern & Diverse Creators Program. Our community has seen numerous filming projects here, and this new world-class training will allow our community to be more active and meaningfully participate in filming taking place. We are looking forward to continuing to work with Film Training Manitoba,” said Mayor Mike Spence of the Town of Churchill.
Logo and Poster:
About Film Training Manitoba:
FTM is a non-for-profit charity founded in 1999. FTM is a member of the Province of Manitoba’s Sector Council program, and we provide high-calibre workforce development programs to sustain Manitoba’s dynamic film and television industry. FTM works closely with the industry to identify training needs within Manitoba.
FTM has an award-winning track record of action to break barriers. FTM was recently awarded The Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce’s Spirit of Winnipeg Award for Workplace Culture and CODE. This award celebrates organizations that foster exceptional workplace cultures through diversity, inclusion, and employee well-being.
About DOC MB:
DOC Manitoba represents professional filmmakers in Winnipeg and the rest of Manitoba. The Documentary Organization of Canada (DOC) is the collective voice of Canada’s independent documentary creators.
DOC began in 1983 as the Canadian Independent Film Caucus (CIFC) to represent the interests of Canada’s growing community of indie doc filmmakers. Today DOC has over 1100 members across six chapters from coast to coast.