The International Women’s Day Creator Lab was this past Sunday. Digi60 hosted 13 emerging Women+ creatives for a full day of workshops on camera operation, festival application, and project marketing. The day ran smoothly and we felt the creative community spirt amongst all participants. Thank you to all who came out, and we hope to see you again soon!
The day kicked off with coffee and baked goods for the participants, before going into the workshop room for ‘Working with Cameras’ with Geghani Panosian. The workshop introduced key cinematography fundamentals, focusing on how camera settings shape exposure and image mood. Students learned how ISO, aperture, and shutter speed/angle control exposure, motion, and depth of field, and how frame rate and colour temperature influences the look of a scene. The workshop included a hands-on exercise, using Sony A7 series cameras, where the students were put in groups and were given a prompt. The students then had to make a quick 30 second video that was screened in the workshop and the other students had to guess what their prompt was. This gave the students practical experience creating intentional visual styles and moods.
After lunch was Pixie Cram’s workshop ‘Festival Submissions’. In this workshop, students learned some strategies for how to get their film screened in the competitive world of film festival distribution. Pixie also covered creating publicity materials, working with a Canadian film distributor, and streaming opportunities. The students were able to learn the ins and outs of festival submission and pro tips from an expert.
The last workshop of the IWD Creator Lab was with Nickie Shobeiry, The workshop ‘Pitch Deck How-To’ covered how to write a compelling pitch deck that gets you green-light. Nickie shared with the students her pitch decks from her recent projects - including Bell Fibe TV1 music competition 'Persian Pitch' - allowing students to see what a successful pitch deck looks like. The session broke down what decision-makers are looking for, what's needed to craft a stand-out story, and a project deck that sells your vision.
After the workshops some of the participants and Digi60 staff and board members went to The Albion Rooms for a networking social. The participants reflected on the day while getting to know each other better.
We would like to thank our facilitators, Nickie Shobeiry, Pixie Cram and Geghani Panosian for their insightful and engaging workshops and to thank the 13 students for their positive energy and participation. We hope the knowledge acquired aids you on your creative journey!
Digi60 IWD Creator Lab