On Saturday and Sunday, November 30 and December 1, 2024, Film Training Manitoba (FTM), with partners and sponsorship support from 21 organizations, conducted the third annual Canada’s Supporting Women in Film Trades (SWIFT) Conference. This event has sold-out every year well in advance of the start date with 100 participants in attendance.
Film Training Manitoba (FTM) is a not-for-profit charity that is a member of the Province of Manitoba’s Sector Council Program, which supports economic development, jobs and innovation.
FTM has also created a recap video of the 2024 SWIFT Conference.
In 2021, FTM gathered labour market information and noted that less than 30 per cent of Manitobans working in trade positions in the film industry are women and women-identifying individuals. Around this time, FTM’s staff attended the Manitoba Construction Sector Council (MCSC)’s Women in Trades Conference, which was developed to create equity and diversity in Manitoba construction workplaces. This highly successful event has become a major conference in Winnipeg, with participants, exhibitors, and business owners travelling from all parts of the province to attend.
Following the MCSC’s ground-breaking event, FTM began working with the MCSC’s Executive Director, Carol Paul, to learn how FTM could develop and launch a film industry conference for women.
Angela Wells and Allison Bile
With the business intelligence from the MCSC, Canada’s SWIFT Conference was founded, and FTM created a group of 15 women film professionals to design the first SWIFT Conference program. The overall aim of SWIFT was to deliver a greater level of skills development for women crew members, filmmakers, performers and anyone interested in film and media. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the first SWIFT Conference was held in 2021.
Canada’s SWIFT Conference is the only annual conference ever developed to focus on learning for women working in trade positions within the film industry. All speakers, panels and training sessions are centred around improving the workplace culture to retain and attract more women-identifying workers within the film and media industry.
In addition, two large-scale Canadian studies: The Women in View 2023 report and the Writers Guild of Canada’s 2023 Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Report, have findings that women, gender diverse, LGBTQ2S, non-binary, Indigenous people, and Black creatives experienced an overall decrease in share of work on media projects in 2020 and 2021. The findings of these reports point toward the continued need for Canada’s Supporting Women in Film Trades (SWIFT) Conference to grow and develop more women to enter and advance in Canada’s film industry.
With the success of the first SWIFT Conference in 2021, FTM began hosting customized SWIFT workshops such as the Women’s Camera Lab, Hair and Make-Up courses, and a Post-Production course with Farpoint Films. FTM also conducted a special SWIFT Master Class with two-Oscar-nominated filmmaker Rory Kennedy.
Using a combination of participant evaluations, survey results, and committee and staff feedback from the 2023 SWIFT Conference, FTM developed the program and theme for the SWIFT 2024 Conference: Advancing and Building Your Reel Career.
The 2024 conference featured customized learning sessions, panels and networking opportunities designed to champion the growth and development of women-identifying and gender-diverse workers in the film industry.
FTM hired instructor, recruiting specialist, and career coach Michelle (Mitch) Nadon from Toronto-based Media Intelligence to conduct five training sessions for film workers on career development.
Nadon is known for her comprehensive knowledge of the media and entertainment industries. In 2004, she launched her own coaching and training company, Media Intelligence (MI). In its 20th year, MI has undertaken recruiting assignments with all major Canadian television networks, worked with dozens of independent production companies and cultural organizations, and delivered proprietary career development training at Canadian colleges and universities.
During the development of the SWIFT 2024 Conference, FTM worked with Nadon to create a large-scale training booklet for the participants, which would provide workplace exercises and other learning geared around jobs and careers.
The 2024 SWIFT Conference opened with a land acknowledgment and introductory remarks from the SWIFT committee co-chair and FTM board member Carrie Wilkins, along with FTM’s Director of Workforce Development and SWIFT Allison Bile.
Aileen Najduch, Acting Vice President Academic, provided greetings on behalf of Educational Partner RRC Polytechnic. This was followed by a smudge and opening prayer from FTM’s Elder Geraldine Shingoose, which provided participants with a clear and open mind set to begin the conference.
The conference then moved into Nadon’s first three cutting-edge job and career educational sessions. These sessions were designed for participants in a variety of career stages and featured in-class exercises to support the participants with goal planning and addressing upscaling hard skills and soft skills within workplaces.
Following a networking break, a panel discussion sponsored by IATSE 856 was conducted. This session was the Women in Film Trades panel,moderated by film veteran and IATSE 856 member Angela Wells, who works in the costume department. Wells has an extensive background in film, which also includes her leadership role as a SWIFT committee member.
With Wells moderating, the various panelists were engaged in an in-depth discussion exploring the advantages and benefits of working within trades positions within the film industry. The panellists also shared advice on self-advocacy and career advancement tips.
The first day of SWIFT ended with a career café mixer where long-serving film industry professionals met and interacted with the conference participants. This session had the added enjoyment of coffee provided by conference sponsor DeLuca’s.
Day 2 of the SWIFT Conference started with a highly inspirational and educational session, Resilience and Optimizing Mental Health, with Dr. Hygiea Casiano. Dr. Casiano is the President of the Canadian Psychiatric Association (CPA). She is also an assistant professor of psychiatry, the medical director of adult forensic services and on staff with the Manitoba Adolescent Treatment Centre at the University of Manitoba (U of M).
Dr. Casiano’s session included strategies and the importance of investing in yourself and building a work/life balance. During the session, Dr. Casiano cautioned about the overuse and addiction to social media platforms, which she advised can lead to burnout and other challenges.
The afternoon moved into the last two sessions with Nadon: The Effective Job Search of Film & Media and a session on Negotiations and Interviewing.
These two learning sessions provided participants with effective and practical strategies for job searching for positions in the film industry and negotiating terms of employment. Nadon shared that women can be overly accommodating in jobs and do not often self-advocate for advancement or wage increases. With her teaching, Nadon imparted various strategies for engaging with employers to improve compensation.
FTM’s Allison Bile moderated the second SWIFT panel session, Supervisors and Employers, which included four senior-level managers as panellists. Each panellist discussed at length how to develop teams and how workers can stand out as professionals in the workplace.
The senior-level managers and department heads also provided the participants with practical workplace tips for workers on ways to make great impressions while working on a film project. All of the panellists spoke at length and emphasized the importance of getting daily work, which can lead to additional working relationships in the film industry. Each panellist provided details on motivating their team when working long hours and under deadlines by positively reinforcing each worker’s abilities. They also shared about who personally impacted and positively influenced them in their development as a manager and the personal qualities that good mentors and leaders possess.
Throughout the conference, participants were also given the opportunity to ask questions and utilize networking opportunities between sessions to develop new working connections. These aspects of the conference were planned and encouraged by the SWIFT committee members. Near the end of the conference, Minister Jamie Moses, the Minister of Business, Mining, Trade, and Job Creation, provided greetings from the Province of Manitoba. Minister Moses had previously spoken at the 2023 SWIFT Conference, and the SWIFT committee eagerly invited him to speak again for the 2024 Conference.
During his speech, Minister Moses spoke positively about women working in their chosen fields and shared the importance of women’s contributions to Manitoba’s economic growth and growing film industry.
The SWIFT Conference’s keynote speaker was renowned Canadian Tina Keeper. Ms. Keeper is from the Inninuak of Norway House Cree Nation in the Treaty 5 territory and of the Muskrat Dam First Nation of the Treaty 9 territory.
Ms. Keeper is a film, television, and theatre producer, actor, advocate, and former Member of Parliament. She has a BA in theatre from the University of Winnipeg (U of W) and trained at the Centre for Indigenous Theatre, the Banff Centre, and the Sundance Institute.
Keeper won a Gemini Award for acting in the long-running television series North of 60. She was the first Indigenous person to win a Gemini for a leading role in a TV series in Canada. As an Honorary Witness for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Keeper co-produced the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s highly acclaimed ballet Going Home Star, guided by Indian Residential School Survivors. Keeper served as a Member of Parliament for the federal riding of Churchill from 2006-2008.
She was the first Indigenous woman to serve as a Member of Parliament from Manitoba. In 2008, she introduced a Private Member’s Bill into the House that would ensure Canadian laws are consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and introduced a Private Member’s Bill regarding Jordan’s Principle to address First Nations children’s healthcare in Canada.
She serves on the board of directors for the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, is an Honorary Witness for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and is a member of the Manitoba Coalition for MMIWG & 2SLGBTQ, the Order of Manitoba and Canadians for a New Partnership.
Keeper is a recipient of an Aboriginal Achievement Award, a Canadian Civil Liberties Association Award for Public Engagement, a Governor General’s Meritorious Service Medal, and the Earl Grey Lifetime Achievement Award. With her lifetime of work in the arts, politics, and advocacy, Tina Keeper is a role model and source of inspiration to all Manitobans.
Keeper gave a highly motivational and passionate keynote speech in which she shared her experiences pursuing a career as an actor, film producer, and advocate, as well as her time as a member of the Parliament of Canada. Her speech was met with a standing ovation from all the participants.
Following her speech, Keeper engaged with filmmaker and reporter Joanne Roberts and the pair engaged in a one-on-one discussion and took questions from the audience.
Following the Keynote speech, FTM’s Allison Bile and recipient of the 2023 SWIFT Award, Heather Neale introduced the 2024 SWIFT Award winner, veteran ICG 669 Camera Operator Shauna Townley.
Shauna thanked FTM and the SWIFT committee for recognizing and supporting her during her career in the film industry. Townley also spoke about the importance of building community and the ongoing need for more women to advance in the film industry.
The conference closed with a reception, which provided the participants with a last opportunity to network before the close of the conference.
During the SWIFT Conference, FTM collected 236 evaluations. This in-depth self-evaluation had excellent results, with the conference receiving strong approval ratings, including over 98% of the participants strongly agreeing or agreeing that:
- The skills they learned at SWIFT would increase their ability and confidence in their job.
- The instructors were knowledgeable and provided good direction.
- The programming was effectively delivered and held the participants’ interest.
As FTM looks toward the future, Canada’s SWIFT remains committed to fostering an inclusive and supportive environment for women, women-identifying, and non-binary individuals within the film industry. FTM believes that the growth of this community is essential not only for the future of the industry but also for ensuring that diverse voices are represented in every frame, every story, and every role.
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.