Promoting Filmmaking Industry in Windsor

By: Maryam Farag

Windsorites have been trying to break into filmmaking careers, hoping to help advance the film industry in the city.

Film Camp for Kids & Youth was founded by Amanda Gellman in Windsor. The organization is committed to fostering creativity in film, digital media and other arts.

They offer training, education, networking and job creation opportunities to grow filmmakers and entrepreneurial opportunities in the arts. The ultimate goal of the organization is to help grow a film industry in Southwestern Ontario and the Windsor-Detroit region. They are willing to do this by attracting filmmakers to the area and connecting people to create jobs in film, which is all encompassing from costume designers to actors, authors and more.

“Windsor is looking into diverging the economy and the arts are a big factor in that,” said Gellman. “I started this camp because so many university film students do not have a place to do an internship in summer.”

John Groundwater, an editing instructor at the film camp, is passionate about his job. He said he is fortunate to have this job and he does not take it for granted, as arts in general is a very difficult field to get into and a lot of passion has to go into it.

“We allow the kids to be creative. They do have a lot of freedom to come up with their own subjects and ideas, what do they want to do with their movies, and how do they want them to come out,” said Groundwater.

Compared to cities like Toronto and Vancouver, Windsor is a small community, and has always been automotive and industrial, which makes it harder for people to succeed in the arts.

“You make the best of what you have in the community,” said Groundwater. “It’s going to take a group effort. We’re looking at the ‘models baby’ that Toronto and Vancouver have recently used to get the media community internationally involved in their area and looking at how they started to build their communities. We’re trying to apply it to Windsor and our unique situation.”

Windsor’s Film Festival 2016 has presented short films from six local filmmakers. One of them is Asil Moussa, 23, the only woman out of the six and who also owns a freelance company called AM Stories. Her recent short film The Card that she directed, produced also acted in was viewed in Windsor, Toronto and Los Angeles.

“I chose this career because I am passionate about it and I get immersive experience,” said Moussa. “It adds a lot to the culture, and gives opportunities to women to prove they are strong.”

Moussa said her short film The Card is about how we treat people when we are stressed out. She also advises people who are willing to get involved in this career to choose the story of their film carefully and make sure it sends a message.

“It needs a lot of courage, and it needs you to be smart,” said Moussa. “Just keep writing and know that the stories are the most important thing about the film. Make sure you work with friends and people you love because you will be spending a lot of time with them.”