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By Aidan KyleMy Name is Aidan Kyle, I'm 21 years old and I'm From Vancouver, British Columbia, in Canada. I've always loved movies. As a kid my parents didn't let me play a ton of videos games or watch TV, but we always watched movies together so they were pretty special. Ever since I was about five, I've been fascinated with cameras. Whenever my parents would try to film me I'd always try and get behind them and see through the lens. When I was about 5 or 6 they started letting me mess around with an old Hi-8 and I would try to re-create movies I liked, or sometimes ones I thought needed improvement ( I remember trying to re-do the 2nd Indiana Jones Movie). I took film as soon as it was an available class in high school, as it was really the only thing I was ever really really interested in. I loved making films in that class, and quickly became a T.A.. As my graduation started approaching I started looking at film schools, and ended up choosing a local one because of my ties to my city, and because I wasn't super interested/ didn't feel ready to take the LSATs to go to the states (It can be a bit of a grueling process) . I ended up choosing my University (Capilano University) because of its positive reputation locally, and the hands on nature of the program. At 18, I really wanted to make movies, and the idea of getting practical experience instead of just sitting in the classroom really appealed to me. Capilano was really unique in that they have a flipped system compare to the normal college experience in Canada. Instead of doing your fundamentals and theoretical processes first, it focused on the more hands on approach first, with a diploma and certificate exit window, so that you were able to get your technical training early on, and if you weren't interested in a whole degree you could go out into the field and work. I had lots of great instructors and despite really enjoying the practical side of things, some of my favourite courses were the more bookish ones, Screen writing and Producing but particularly Canadian Cinema classes and more analytical Production Design and Cinematography classes which forced us to look at films in a different way in a deeper academic sense. I really began to appreciate more atypical film, more explorations of different viewpoints and not simple just films that I enjoyed. A good example of this for me is the films of Yorgos Lanthimos, who's film The Favourite was recently awarded an Oscar among other awards. His early work and in many ways his work on The Favourite plays with how uncomfortable and awful he can make his subject matter while keeping his audience engaged. The first time I saw one of his films I was disturbed, but I also found I couldn't stop talking about it. There was something deeply attractive about how he created these brutal worlds and it made me realize the dimension of emotions and experiences you could convey with film, not just euphoria, but also a kind of fascinating disgust, an enticing horror, or a conflicted attachment to a dark character like in Night Crawler. Being exposed to different types of filmmaking like this has really influence my style to focus more on the uniqueness of the story, the specialness of the experience. I like to take inspiration from a variety of sources. People like Yorgos Lanthimos and Dan Gilroy, but also other like Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Damien Chazzelle, Spike Lee, Richard Curtis, Denis Villeneuve, Greta Gerwig and Hiro Murai. Really one of the greatest things about film school has been the sheer variety of what I've been exposed to, and what films outside of what people conventionally watch that I'm willing to explore in the future. Canada as an Industry has a pretty decently strong national presence, especially considering we're right next to the Americans with the powerhouse that is Hollywood. In Vancouver, we have a lot of what are called service productions, which are American shows coming up north to Take advantage of our experienced crews and favourable tax credits and exchange rates. They even call us Hollywood North due to the frequency of this. The Tax credits also work in our favour, with the government giving additional breaks for the more Canadian creatives you have involved in your production. There's also a lot of focus in terms of funding bodies, if your a Canadian with an idea there are certain a lot of people around to support it if its strong enough. Depending on what type of film you want to make there's the NFB, The CMF, The Bell Media Fund, The Harold Greenberg Fund, The Hot Docs Completion fund and many others. We also have a fair amount of domestic production in Vancouver, though most of it is based in Toronto or Montreal, on the opposite side of the country, which is over 4000km away. There are lots of opportunities in Vancouver, it has a fledgling independent scene which has been hurt with the rise of COVID. Normally this year I'd be attending the Vancouver international film festival (VIFF) and the Whistler International Film Festival (WFF), but both have moved online. There is a bit of a sense that to increase your chances you should move to Toronto (or Los Angeles), if you want to work "Above the line". I'm currently working in what's called factual. It's similar to reality television except in that the action of the shows isn't scripted like one of those housewife shows, and they tend to focus on more activity based things. Activities like fixing cars, Mining, Fishing, or repair based work. I work as an Office PA. It's mostly administrative and logistical position, I assist the production team in making sure we stay financially and technically on top of our shoot. It involves a lot of emailing and filing of paperwork, but while sometimes including a bit of tedium, all of it allows the production to function efficiently at a high level. What I really enjoy about it is the problem solving aspect, every day in the office presents a new challenge and when working in factual with smaller crews and tight deadlines, you often have to be creative to make sure you get all the footage you need to deliver the show in the way you want it. Being a part of those solutions and getting to obverse the complexity of those situations is engaging and really allows me to build my skill set as a producer. No one really knows what a producer does outside of the film world and to be honest I don't think many people inside of the film world could tell you either, but what I can tell you is that being as versatile and experienced as possible ensures that your production will go as smoothly as possible. As the producer your kind of like the glue and being able to navigate all these situations with a cool attitude is the difference between success and failure when the budget is tight and the crew is starting to want to go home. It's a lot harder to see the route up into producer or line producer or coordinator, but I think its just because of the true vastness of the job. Hopefully in a few years I can see myself closer to one of those positions, but for now I'm content to watch and learn as much as I can.
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