On Wednesday, September 25, 2024, Film Training Manitoba (FTM) and the Reel Pride International Film Festival (RPIFF) partnered for an evening panel for emerging filmmakers in Winnipeg with creatives from the CBC Gems series Alter Boys. The panel discussed the challenges and issues the panellists faced when filmmaking and the positive experiences while working on this production.
Alter Boys is about a group of young men that are rescued from a forest fire that tore through an isolated conversion therapy camp. The group of young men reflect back on a summer of adversity – and all the beauty they wielded in protest.
The panel happened after an evening of short films and before the RPIFF awards were handed out. The joint panel session received universally positive feedback, with over 30 people in attendance.
This is the second partnership between RPIFF and FTM, with both organizations collaborating on a successful panel in 2023.
“Working with Ray Desautels and his team at the Reel Pride International Film Festival is an incredible honour. We are so grateful for this partnership and for all the work that went in to make this event so successful.” Said FTM’s Executive Director Adam Smoluk. “We are looking forward to continuing working with Ray and the Reel Pride International Film Festival in the future to encourage more Manitobans toward careers in the film industry.”
The panel ended with a raffle prize for two tickets for FTM’s upcoming “Lights, Camera, Phantom! Insiders View: Development & Making of Phantom of the Paradise” session on November 1, 2024, at 2:00 – 4:00 PM. Tickets are still available. You can register here.
FTM is a non-for-profit charity and member of the Province of Manitoba’s Sector Council program funded through the Economic Development, Investment, Trade and Natural Resources. FTM builds a highly skilled and adaptable film industry workforce to support the activities of Manitoba production companies. FTM collaborates and partners with members of the film industry to identify training needs to support workforce development.