2021 Year in Review

The curtain has dropped and the page has turned on another year.
A fresh new, empty book of a year lay in front of us to write the story of 2022. 

To say that 2021 was anything less than challenging for iFilmGroup and the world for that matter would be an understatement... on top of an already challenging 2020. But the moments in life are what you make of them.

The team at iFilmGroup feels sometimes that life is like a movie set. Sometimes you have to make the best out of what you are given. That concept makes the iFilmGroup team think of the song ‘Season of Love’ by Jonathan Larson which was featured in the Broadway show “Rent”. The song talks about ‘525,600’ minutes in a year. That is Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred moments to make something happen. “Five hundred twenty-five thousand journeys to plan”. The song asks the question “How do you measure a life of a woman or a man?”

 The iFilmGroup team feels we can each be measured with what we do with the time we are given and how we make the most out of what we have, regardless of the circumstances. Filming and doing production have ground to a standstill in the past two years. With only a few limited shoot dates happening in the last couple of years due to restrictions and safety protocols. The slower pace has given time for post-production of the several films already filmed.

2021 saw the release of “Malicious Attack” and another film “Not Ready” having most of the post-production done with a plan to release in 2022. ‘Filmmaking’ is not at the core of iFilmGroup… ‘mentoring’ is, and has in the past couple of years been challenging on that front. But iFilmGroup has been adapting.

A lot of groundwork has been laid in the past two years for the future of iFilmGroup. Although the process has been slower than the team would like, it is moving forward with a lot of great things that have happened and that are planned for the future.  Like every year at this time the team likes to reflect on the accomplishments of the past year… while also dreaming and looking forward to what is to come. So, in the spirit of ‘Season of Love’. Let's celebrate and remember a year in the life of iFilmGroup for 2021.

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 The iFilmGroup team came into 2021 with three films in post-production that had been shot previously. “We were in a bit of a hole”, remarks ‘Head of Film Production’ Matthew Marshall. iFilmGroup included a short film on bullying called ‘Malicious Attack’ which Marshall had shot through his production company m & s Marshall Productions that was brought under the iFilmGroup banner.

On the set of ‘Blue Love’. Some cast and crew.

A second short film that Marshall had been working on with Helena Rose that wrapped filming in 2019 called “Blue Love” was added to the editing roster.

Then the iFilmGroup production “Not Ready’ had been filmed as well and needed to be edited. Marshall goes on to explain, “That due to some rapid growth of iFilmGroup and a number of opportunities that had presented themselves during 2019 and 2020 the team had focused on Production and filming with little time left for editing”. Something that in the end may have worked out for the team when things came to a standstill in 2020 and into 2021 when the slow down continued.  

On set of ‘Not Ready’ with some cast and crew.

2021 SEASON OF EDITING
Marshall spent most of the year of 2021 with the editing department. Editing first “Malicious Attack” and “Not Ready”. He brought ‘Malicious Attack’ to completion and 'Not Ready' to the point of Audio Post-production. He even started editing on ‘Blue Love’.  “2021 was a very productive year of editing,'' Marshall adds.

 RELEASE OF MALICIOUS ATTACK
Marshall's work in the editing department started to pay off as in October iFilmGroup and m & s Marshall productions released the 49-minute dramatic film “Malicious Attack” about bullying and how it affects high school students.  October seemed fitting for the release as it is ‘World Bullying Prevention Awareness Month’, with October 13th being ‘National Stop Bullying Day’. Which was the day the team decided to premiere the film. “Malicious Attack” has already gone on to have 12,000 views and be nominated for awards in Film Festivals. 

NEW FORM OF MENTORING
With restrictions, the iFilmGroup team has had to find new ways to carry out the goal of mentoring the target groups. Three areas have developed with great success and have stood out with iFilmGroup International Film Festival, Online Remote Learning and Outreach Beyond the Walls. 

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iFilmGroup International Film Festival (IFGIFF)
In late 2020 iFilmGroup opened up their new Film Festival for the first year as a way to allow filmmakers of all ages to submit their work. This initiative allowed iFilmGroup to mentor filmmakers online from around the world. The online event was held in April 2021 and was a success. The first annual IFGIFF (as it is called for short) produced some familiar faces in the winner circle which added to the giving back to the Southwestern Ontario Community.

The IFGIFF 2020-2021 winners
Best Director- Sadie Rose- ‘August’
Best Micro Short Film- ‘Hinterland Election Night’
Best Short Film- ‘August’
Best Lead Actress- Ashleigh Morrison- ‘Goldfish’
Best Lead Actor- Max Steinberg- ‘What Normal Boys Do’
Best Actress Under 18- Ashleigh Morrison- ‘Detainee X’
Best Actor Under 18- Max Steinberg- ‘Afreen’
Best Ensemble Cast- ‘Hinterland Election Night’ 

In October 2021 the second year for the 2021-2022 iFilmGroup International Film Festival opened up. With an end date of April 2022. Thus far the festival has over 60 entries and will have its final deadlines over the coming months of the early part of 2022. The iFilmGroup team is excited for the results of this second season of the festival.

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ONLINE REMOTE LEARNING
Taking a page from the education system, iFilmGroup looks to offer a platform where iFilmGroup members can be mentored without being in person. The iFilmGroup team is working on an online learning and teaching program. A lot of planning and discussion has gone into what this would look like.

This project has been in the works for two years and finally is starting to take form. The team has been filming footage and having individuals record the base training tracks for segments. The concept was started in 2020 but has been one of the aspects to be slowly moving forward. But 2021 saw growth and development as things started to come together and the team prepared for a launch in the future, even if the ‘in-person’ mentoring comes back. iFilmGroup feels this will be a great way to connect with more people and offer teaching and learning so that the mentoring is not limited to just people who can come to ‘in-person’ events. 

OUTREACH BEYOND THE WALLS OF IFILMGROUP
Several moves were made to open more doors for outreach by the iFilmGroup team. In the spirit of mentoring and teaching, the iFilmGroup team has several acting coaches working with various actors wanting training both ‘in-person’ sessions (when safe), and also online remote training. Head of Film Production Matthew Marshall has been doing this dealing with the tech side of production. Marshall was hired by the Digital Creative Arts Centre which is under the banner of BGC London. Marshall led two one-week filmmakers camps for teens. Marshall has also been doing some remote teaching on acting and filming with students.

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATES
During this downtime, it also allowed Don Hickey (co-founder and Community Engagement Manager at iFilmGroup) to engage in the International Indie film market. In talks with international contacts (since early 2020) iFilmGroup now has associates in Sweden, South Korea, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, and the USA. These associates have already contributed in many ways to our production processes in 2020 and 2021.

EXPANSION & GROWTH
Even in these times of slow down and restrictions iFilmGroup has seen growth. Not always in the areas that they expected, but growth has come on a number of fronts.

 The truth is that this process of ‘limited shooting’ has been time-consuming and frustrating at times, for the iFilmGroup team but they are confident that the strides they are making will be good for iFilmGroup and their associates, actors, and crew as the team moves forward.

The first area of growth was iFilmGroup casting a virtual remote film. This had been in the works since 2020, but finally got rolling with some additional casting of roles in 2021. The cast of ‘Social Disobedience’ was fully selected and cast. Filming has started but has been slow due to some of the cast having to learn how to do shots and filming themselves as well as other commitments in their life. “It’s a new way of making a film and I think everyone is on a learning curve of how to make it work”, comments Marshall on the virtual filming process.  

A place to film without rental fees and working out schedules has been on the team’s minds. Especially within the world of restrictions. The iFilmGroup team, under the direction of iFilmGroup’s Community Engagement Manager; Don Hickey has obtained space in a warehouse to safely shoot ‘specific sized sets’ for future ‘specialized social distancing’ filming.

This warehouse will allow shooting with multiple three-walled rooms. Hickey figures once renovations are complete there will be at least 8 rooms for staging. “Just think “Big Bang Theory” set or any other sitcom set that you might have seen (on a behind-the-scenes feature), and that’s what iFilmGroup will have”, Hickey says.

 Marshall adds, “This awesome ‘real estate’ feature will allow us to continue with mentoring workshops and ongoing filming. Our members (made up of crew and actors) are excited about continuing their growth and sharing their talent with our mentoring program. Growth will continue and we have a full schedule for the 2021-2022 season.” The team has already shot footage for the acting training as well as scenes for the film 'Not Ready' in this warehouse. 

From a personnel perspective, the team has grown as well. Tim Harvey, a local photographer and sound engineer that has worked with the iFilmGroup team a number of times have come on board to help out with people who are looking for affordable headshots. Tim worked on several productions with the team as a photographer including ‘Struggles Within’ and ‘Malicious Attack’. Most recently he was a drone pilot and camera op for ‘Not Ready’. Tim has an extensive background in photography in various forms. “He is partnering with iFilmGroup to be a source that we can send people to for headshots.” adds Marshall.

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 The iFilmGroup team expanded in 2021 in a way that is at the core of the iFilmGroup’s values and mission. iFilmGroup added a co-op student, Olivia Williams. Her time started in October 2021 and will go to June 2022.

The iFilmGroup team has had what they call “Accredited Mentoring” of students in the past on a short-term basis for a term of a month or so, or for a certain number of hours. A student had completed a one-month term during shooting of a film. A College student also did some virtual training with Marshall on ‘Directing’. But never an internship or co-op that ran a full school year or semester like Olivia is doing.

Marshall and Hickey are very excited about this opportunity. “This style of training is at our core as a mentoring group”, Marshall says. Marshall feels this opens the door to the group doing more internships and training like this in the future. Olivia’s training has been mostly virtual. But Marshall feels that when you look at acting in most cases actors do a lot of independent work learning the craft and preparing for auditions. So, the style of virtual training very much fits the way an actor would be functioning. More so than attending a certain location every day.

 With the co-op, it is putting more of a focus on the development of the Online virtual learning program and how much this could be a state-of-the-art program in the area for the training of young or new actors. “The structure and learning process could be something that we become well known for”, adds Hickey.

 LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
With all this growth in the last few years, the team is looking to where they need to go in the future. If by the theory, growth continues at the current rate, the team has to look at how their programs and facilities can expand and how this structurally will work. iFilmGroup is not funded by any government programs. Their funding comes from the generous funding of corporate and individual donations.

Perry Hegmans and Don Hickey overseeing the renovations at the warehouse to complete iFilmGroup Studio.

The team and donors have fronted the burden of the costs of renovations in the warehouse as the team converted the interior to sound stages. Renovations of the warehouse to sound stages will be ongoing into 2022. Also, the team has shot several short films, plus Virtual Acting training incurring many expenses. In 2022 iFilmGroup will be looking at ways to raise more funds to continue to finance the projects underway. To make a donation to iFilmGroup cause, please contact either Matthew Marshall or Don Hickey of iFilmGroup.

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Despite the restrictions of 2021, iFilmGroup feels they have used every second of their Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred moments of 2021 and is planning to wisely use all those same moments of time in 2022. As the chapter of 2021 has closed, a new chapter of 2022 has opened with a fresh new blank page. As Hickey and Marshall are both scriptwriters, they both jokingly wish to be very clear that because we have ended a year, that doesn’t mean the story of iFilmGroup has ended.  In fact, it has just begun for a New Year and they look forward to the new journey and the story that will be written.

New Year 2022 - Chapter one… begins!

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“2020 and 2021 have been great growth years even during these ‘special times’ and with many restrictions on business and society. Developments in many departments within iFilmGroup have exceeded our expectations. Thank you to The Production Team, mentors, mentees, actors, and associates.”

— iFilmGroup Co-founders

iFilmGroup
London ■ St. Thomas ■ Chatham-Kent
Ontario - Canada
WEBSITE - www.ifilmgroup.org

Max Steinberg Receives Nomination Again

iFilmGroup and m & s Marshall Production would like to congratulate iFilmGroup member and London Ontario actor Max Steinberg on his two
2020 Joey Award nominations.

His most recent nominations included a
“Best Actor in a short film (14-16 years)”
for his role as Michael in iFilmGroup’s short film “Not Ready”.

The movie ‘Not Ready’ was shot throughout Southwestern Ontario using over 100 actors and crew using many students from grade-schools and high-schools, along with college and university students. Many parents volunteer for crew or background actors with iFilmGroup.

Max is no stranger to the Joey Awards. With these two newest nominations Max brings his total to 8 nominations and 1 win at the Joey Awards since 2017. He had 1 nomination in 2017, 2 nominations in 2018 and was nominated in 3 categories in 2019. He won in the category for "Best Featured Actor in a Feature Film" for his role in "Afreen" in 2019.

Congratulations to Max and his family on his most recent nominations and we wish him all the best in November 2020 at the Awards Ceremony.

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iFilmGroup
London ■ St. Thomas ■ Chatham-Kent
Ontario - Canada
WEBSITE - www.ifilmgroup.org

Year in Review. 2019 with iFilmGroup

The clock has ticked down on the days of another year and with the striking of midnight, we move into the year 2020. With this New Year, it brings around the discussion and evaluation of what was accomplished the previous year.

The iFilmGroup team has much to be excited about. 2019 was an exciting and event-filled year. The list of events and accomplishments are more than ever could be listed in a year-end review. We would like to highlight some of the major events of the last year and we reflect on iFilmGroup in 2019.

For those interested in seeing all the events please check out our articles, blogs, and press releases. iFilmGroup has had a busy 2019. With the focus being on finishing two films and taking another film through the entire production process from script to the point of being in post-production.

The iFilmGroup leadership team has expanded by two talented individuals. The team has worked not only on filming but also on the aspect of education and training through workshops and partnerships for training with theatre groups and educational organizations. The team has had a number of requests to speak at various organizations to talk about the film.

Over 2019 there has been a growing interest in iFilmGroup and what the group does.
So let’s share some accomplishments with you…

‘Struggles Within’
Kicked off with iFilmGroup on a number of fronts. The New Year opened up with the announcement that ‘Struggles Within’ received another official selection and nomination at a film festival. The film would finish the year with 1 award and 2 official selections, and 3 official nominations. These were a smaller amount of awards than other recent films that award-winning director Matthew Marshall and the iFilmGroup team have been accustom to recently. But the film was an iFilmGroup ‘associated film’ and not one of their actual productions. iFilmGroup co-founders Marshall and Don Hickey were part of the production team of the film but not at the helm in making all the creative choices.

The film was released originally and then iFilmGroup did some reworking before it was released again in the summer of 2018. Marshall was pleased with the results all things considered and feels it’s a film that not everyone understands when they watch, as it has a deeper level, dealing with mental illness.

The film is a 14 minute telling of a “story through almost all music and dance” about a girl struggling with depression and contemplating suicide. It’s about her choices to find the hope to continue to live. “The story is told through the thoughts of the main character”, Marshall says. The film is a timely story that speaks to what many people in society are struggling with. It’s done in a way that words do not fill the story, but images, dance, and music do, so the viewer can “feel” the story being told on screen. It also can be related to, if the person watching has had experience in their life either personally or through a member of their family with the issue of depression or mental illness.

“Many who have seen the film feel it shows what many people “feel” in struggling with depressions and mental illness.”

— Movie Audience

Drama Therapist and a Registered Psychotherapist
added to the iFilmGroup Leadership Team
January 2019 also brought about the announcing of a new member of the iFilmGroup leadership team in Angel Bilagot. She is a Drama Therapist and a Registered Psychotherapist. Angel graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University with a combined degree in Psychology and Theatre. She completed her Master’s Degree at Concordia University, specializing in Drama Therapy. She continued her training in Drama Therapy in New York City while working as a Therapist at the PTSD Clinic in New Haven, Connecticut. She was provided with the opportunity to have gained professional experiences to work, teach, and develop programs for environments such as the Jewish General Hospital (Montreal), The Canadian Institute for Neuro-Integrative Development (Montreal), The Calgary Women’s Emergency Shelter, and The University of Alberta (Edmonton).

Drama Therapy at an iFilmGroup Workshop

After being added to the team, iFilmGroup did a drama Therapy workshop. The focus was on expressing emotions and character through puppets and acting.

iFilmGroup Working with Fanshawe College
The month of January 2019 continued to be busy for the team as iFilmGroup and m & s Marshall Productions working to help Fanshawe out in looking for some key roles for an event that school was hosting dealing with its various medical-based programs where they had actors play simulated Patients for student evaluations. Fanshawe also had its large Mock Disaster event which not only need actors to play patients but also dramatic makeup/SFX artists that could do the makeup for Mass Casualty Incident day.

FEBRUARY 2019
Audition Calls for anticipated movie “Not Ready”
Things did not let up in February for the iFilmGroup team. Don Hickey was busy working on the finish touches to his new script “Not Ready” which was to be the summer 2019 production for iFilmGroup. The film follows Professor Richard Pratt as he finds out he has a short time to live due to a medical condition.

Matthew Marshall would direct the film and co-produce with Hickey on the film. Marshall was busy preparing aspects of the production side. Audition calls were put out and Marshall searched for crew for the film. The big search was for cast and finding two individuals to anchor the film leads as well as four secondary characters to secure the second level of talent. The team was also looking for people for an intern role and for nurses and PSW’s to consult and play the medical aspects of the production.

Both Marshall and Hickey were in discussions with medical professions from Fanshawe and Western for research dealing with doctors, nurses and PSW for characters and roles in the film.

FEBRUARY 2019
Western Smartphone Film Festival (WSFF)
February 2019 also brought about the 4th annual Western Smartphone Film Festival (WSFF) at the Western Film Theatre. Marshall was asked for the second year in a row to be a judge on the panel. The event was the showing of the top ten films of the 2019 festival. The theme was “Perception verse Reality” and the ten finalist filmmakers did not disappoint as there were five of the ten films that were contenders for the top prize. The festival is a student-run organization at Western University in London, Ontario that is focused on developing youth in the field of film and entertainment by means of an annual smartphone short film festival. The 2019 theme was “Perception vs Reality”.

Sheridan College students with Matthew Marshall- iFilmGroup Co-founder

The winning team was a group of Sheridan College students under the title of EMG Productions who came together to make a film called “Filtered” about two best friends walking home from a party only to be attacked by an unwanted follower. The entire film is told through the footage on a cell phone and when Marshall first saw the film he admits that he was not entirely in favour of it due to the film being presented in a vertical format verse tradition horizontal. “The film broke the traditional rules of film, and as a filmmaker, it bothered me at first, but then I started looking at it more closely.

“The Film would win at the WSFF and go on to win “Best Canadian Film” at the Toronto Smartphone Film Festival.”

— Matthew Marshall of iFilmGroup

FEBRUARY 2019
Stanton Academy in London, Ontario
Also in February 2019, the month finished with Matthew Marshall being the guest presenter at the Stanton Academy in London, Ontario. He spoke to a group of students from the Academy about being an award-winning film director, film making and the iFilmGroup. The students were working on small film projects either on their own or in small groups. Many were focusing on stop motion animation while others were working on scripts, short films, and trailers for film ideas they have.

Reception area at 2019 Auditions with iFilmGroup

MARCH and APRIL 2019
Scripts, Editing and Casting Calls. Scouting Locations and More Auditions.
The months of March and April 2019 would seem to some outsiders much calmer for the iFilmGroup team as publicly the team was not as visible, but much work was going on behind the scenes preparing for filming and scouting talent. Hickey was working on the “Not Ready Script” and consulting professionals to get all the details of the film from a medical perspective accurate. Marshall was watching various plays and film as well as putting out “casting calls” for upcoming auditions. Marshall also had started editing on his short film “Malicious Attack” and looking to find the location needed to finish filming his other film “Blue Love”.

The team was also having production meetings to define procedures and where things were headed in the New Year after such a fast start and further growth within the group. “ I would call March and April 2019 very much a plowing and planting season for the team,” says Marshall. They were preparing the ground for the upcoming months.

MAY 2019
Scripts, Editing and Casting Calls. Scouting Locations and More Auditions.
After the calm before the storm, May started the non-stop ride that would continue until the end of 2019 for the team. iFilmGroup held auditions in May for their upcoming film “Not Ready” written by iFilmGroup co-Founder Don Hickey. The film is about a professor named Richard who is facing death straight in the face and has to look at his life, the time he has spent with his loved ones, how he has used his time and whose lives has he changed. The auditions were held at Elgin Theatre Guild in St. Thomas and were attended by close to 30 people ranging in ages from 10 years of age up to seniors.

Actors David Parisian and Diane Newling

Some familiar faces from iFilmGroup’s recent past were in attendance as well as some new faces from London and surrounding areas. “We had people from London and St. Thomas but we also had people come in from as far away as Sarnia and Toronto audition as well”, says Hickey.

When Auditions were done the two main characters of the film would be brought to life by a pair of actors from Toronto. The team believes that they had found the right combination in David Parisian and Diane Newling to play the Pratt couple. Secondary characters in the film would be played by some familiar faces with Max Steinberg, Zachary Wilson, Talia Mielke, and Shelby Simpson. Also, the iFilmGroup team found some new faces that would become a bigger part of the iFilmGroup world in the months that would come.

Auditions were followed up with the addition of a new Production Team member with Sharon O'Leary who specializes in marketing, promotion and fundraising. She has been a part of several community organizations in London and area and was a welcome addition to the team to help in the area of marketing, promotion and fundraising.

The cast from the film ‘Not Ready’ during the scenes at the Elgin Theatre Guild.

Busy movie director and producer Matthew Marshall found time during his busy schedule preparing for “Not Ready” to visit the Elgin Theatre Guild and be the VIP guest prior to their Youth theatre production of ‘The Exciting Exploits of an Effervescent Elf ‘. The day was during one of their last rehearsal and Marshall offered some additional advice to the youth to the young actors dealing with acting and lines. Some of the cast from the ETG production were cast to be part of “Not Ready” so Marshall thought the day was a benefit on several levels. Lesley Chapman, President at Elgin Theatre Guild (Community Theatre) said, “It’s a great event when we have professionals like Matthew coming by to visit our actors. The boost of energy and excitement is seen in the actors. Matthew is keen on sharing, teaching and definitely re-enforcing skills and attitude of our actors and volunteers”.

JUNE and JULY 2019
Productions and Guest Appearances
The team during June turned its focus toward preparing for production of “Not Ready” as the start of filming loomed large with the 10-day production schedule starting at the end of June start of July with the first four days of filming in London and area. The filming would take place at the local establishment of the Cardboard Café, Western University, and a local residence in London.

During the early weeks of July, Marshall broke away from production of “Not Ready” to again return to the Elgin Theatre Guild to be a special guest of Lesley Chapman’s again for the week-long workshop for the ETG Youth dealing with Scriptwriting. The group came up with a theme of “Then There was Silence” and each of the three groups ( “The Purple Alligators”, “The Unknown”, and “The Bactors”) had to come up with a concept, write a script and then rehearse it and perform it at the end of the week. Many of the youth from last year were back for this year’s workshop.

Matthew Marshall, co-founder of iFilmGroup Speaks at Elgin Theatre Guild’s Workshop

There were also a number of faces from the ETG Youth who are part of the cast of the film “Not Ready” as theatre kids in the Theatre Guild that is part of the film. By late July the team was back to principle production with three more days of filming for “Not Ready” taking the team over the hump of having most of the film in the can. But still having several more days to finish before the film would be done.

The scenes again took place at a Local London Residence and also took in a day of filming at the Elgin Theatre Guild in St Thomas where a number of the ETG kids got to play “Theatre Kids” that tied into the storyline. Also, ETG Adults like Jessica Fediw played bigger roles within the film as well.

AUGUST 2019
Filming Continued with Several Productions
Filming continued in August with two more days within London. The cast and crew were left with one more date that could not happen until the fall when the leaves had changed. Which took place in October on a nice autumn day with sunshine and warm temperatures. The scene was filmed in Dorchester, in southwestern Ontario. It is the opening scene of the film and included not only the opening scene on a dock fishing but also some drone footage that will be incorporated with previously shot drone footage to be part of the opening. The fall also included a few scenes to finish up some other films that have been pending. After much time a courtroom set was secured to do filming of a few remaining scenes for "Blue Love" by m & s Marshall Productions. Also, a police interrogation room secured to film one other outstanding scene to bring the dramatic film to a full wrap and ready for post-production.

Movie ‘Blue Love’ Courtroom Scene Cast and Crew

FALL 2019
Wrapping Up the Season with Multiple Productions and 100’s of Actors and Crew
Fall of 2019 also opened up to some new scenes for the bully film “Malicious Attack” were added to enhance the film and deal with some issues that had come up during editing of the film. This opened the door to some new people who had become part of iFilmGroup to be a part of a film they had been interested in but had not been able to be a part of. With these scenes, Marshall hopes the two-year journey of this film is wrapped and it is just down to post-production. “Malicious Attack” will be the featured project for marshal heading into 2020.

“2019 has brought much success for several iFilmGroup members”

— Matthew Marshall- co-founder, iFilmGroup

This year has brought much success for several iFilmGroup members outside of being a part of iFilmGroup. Talia Mielke won an Arts & Culture Award and headed off to Sheridan to be part of the BA of Music Theatre Performance program. She has been a part of two of the upcoming films. “Blue Love” as Maizie Dunne and cast in “Not Ready” as Katherine Campbell. George Crosby who played young Richard Pratt in “Not Ready” is now an Original Kids Theatre Company main cast member. He still walks the boards of Elgin Theatre Guild but he will be appearing in Original Kids in London Ontario in various productions in the upcoming year.

Jacob Gagen and iFilmGroup member cast in “The Ace and the Scout” for Electronic Motion Pictures. Jacob Gagen plays Collishaw in the film. He had a small role in “Not Ready” as a Night PSW.

Max Steinberg and Jordyn Taylor won Joey Awards

Max Steinberg and Jordyn Taylor have won Joey Awards in Vancouver. Jordyn won for Best Commercial Voice-over Actress. Max won Best Featured Actor in a Feature Film. Jordyn and Max have been part of the iFilmGroup family on different productions. Max is a principal actor in the movie called ‘Not Ready’, that’s in post-production and will be released in 2020. He also had small roles in “Blue Love” and “Malicious Attack”. Jordyn was part of the new scenes of ‘Malicious Attack’, produced by m & s Marshall Production, and was also had small roles in “Not Ready” and “Blue Love”

NOVEMBER and DECEMBER 2019
Catching Up and Forecasting 2020
Late November and December have been a recovery time for the iFilmGroup Team. While they are recovering, they are looking back at all they have done and looking forward to what 2020 has in store for them. The team is still working on much administrative business and making plans for the upcoming 2020 year for workshops and possible productions.

Applications have been coming in from people very interested in being part of the cast in any new productions. Both Hickey and Marshall have a number of ideas for what might be on the slate for 2020. But both have expressed a focus on getting the current three films edited and out. ■

“2019 has been an amazing year filled with great moments for the team and our actors & crew. The team is looking forward with great excitement to 2020.”

— iFilmGroup Co-founders

iFilmGroup
London ■ St. Thomas ■ Chatham-Kent
Ontario - Canada
WEBSITE - www.ifilmgroup.org

Malicious Attack Re-wraps Principle Filming.

Recently m & s Marshall Production with the help on iFilmGroup did some filming for the short film “Malicious Attack” which deals with bullying.

Award-winning director Matthew Marshall who is behind the film had completed the short film a while ago but had run into a few delays with the film during post-production.

The first was a lack of a solid editor. He went through a few before deciding to take the project on himself. Using his skills from his post-graduate certificate in digital nonlinear editing.

Although Marshall likes to keep his distance from holding too many crew positions due to it not giving an objective point of view he felt with the delay it was important to take over the role of editor to get the project moving forward.

But as he has been working on editing the film, a few delays have come up. First, Marshall's talking to various people has turned up some ways that the film could have been more enhanced and brought in some other aspects of the issue of bullying.  This could be just looked at as hindsight in what could have been done better. But a second more serious issue aroused. The project had some technical matters to be overcome and a possible timeline issue within the film that made it necessary to add some additional scenes.

Shelby Simpson (playing Zoe Carwin)

New Ideas

This has allowed Marshall to incorporate some of the ideas that had been presented to him. It also allowed for some people who had missed the original film to be incorporated in the film. Several up and coming people in both acting and crew within the iFilmGroup community now had an opportunity to be part of this film.

Jordyn Taylor (playing Brynne Jameson)

The scenes feature Jordyn Taylor (playing Brynne Jameson) and Shelby Simpson (playing Zoe Carwin). Both girls have been a part of a couple of the films that Marshall and the iFilmGroup team had been working on. Most recently was the iFilmGroup short film Not Ready, where both played roles of a group of private school girls.

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Team of Merucci and Simpson.

Other Opportunities

The shooting day for Malicious Attack presented some other opportunities for the additional cast. Including putting Simpson together with someone that she has danced within Elliette Merucci.  The team of Merucci and Simpson has been called “Ellby” when they have done pair dancing. The chemistry between the two girls was clear. They have not only danced together they are good friends.

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Flashback Scenes

Taylor, Devynn Carver and Leeann Finkbeiner.

The scenes also included a flashback scene where two other ladies were part of the scene and played cheerleaders who bully Taylor's character. The two ladies involved in the scene are Devynn Carver and Leeann Finkbeiner.  Carver has been part of a few of the productions also, whereas Finkbeiner is new to the iFilmGroup but shows promise and is interested in future opportunities.

Marshall now moves the film into post-production to finish it up over the winter. The release date for the film has not been set as of yet. ■

iFilmGroup
London ■ St. Thomas ■ Chatham-Kent
Ontario - Canada
WEBSITE - www.ifilmgroup.org

Acting Coach on Set of Movie “Not Ready”

Acting Coach on Set of Movie “Not Ready”

We all know that when groups of people get together and function as a team, there are some people that stand out from the group. Like a captain on a sports team or a valuable player. It doesn’t lessen the spirit of the team when it happens. In fact it strengthens the team, and the other team players have a role model or a new drive to excel to the position, or beyond, of the person that stands out.

Director Matthew Marshall mentoring actor Bree Hamilton.
[Photo by Louise McBride]

Bree Hamilton is one of those actors. During the shooting of the film “Not Ready”, director Matthew Marshall kept speaking about Hamilton.

The Production Team is trained to watch for raw talent from any extras. There are signs from these “yet to be cast in bigger role” actors. At iFilmGroup we don’t think of extras having a “small, unimportant role”. Every role contributes to the finished product.

If you look hard enough, one can find the hidden gem or sparkle of a star yet to be born.

Matthew Marshall gives testament to this. When operating a few years ago through his m & s Marshall Productions, he encountered a young extra in a movie he was working on. He knew she had something that was special, and it was natural talent of expression and a mind-set to take on hard to play characters.

iFilmGroup’s Acting Coach and actor- Helena Rose coaching Bree Hamilton on the set of “Not Ready”.[Photo by Louise McBride]

After being cast in many roles and some leads, this actor is also an acting coach and teaching young actors like Hamilton, how to take on the role. Helena Rose, plays a dog walker in the movie, “Not Ready”.

While on the set, Rose helped Hamilton. Hamilton was scheduled two different days of shooting to play a PSW in the movie. The director Matthew Marshall told the other Production Team Leaders, "We are watching a star in the making.”

Don Hickey, iFilmGroup’s Community Engagement Manager said, “It would be great to see these two actors excel in the industry and, we today, on this set have both of them together, working in the same movie.

Helena Rose applying make-up on actor Lee Highgate.
[Photo by Louise McBride]

One will quickly learn if you are ever on a movie set of m & s Marshall Productions and along side, the support organization of iFilmGroup, that there is respect and honor towards the goals of others.

This summer had many high temperature and humid days. One can tell, just from the Production Team that they are all proud of the work of all actors and crew, along with all the family members and supporters of this film. Many times actors held more jobs than acting. Helena Rose was doing make-up on actors and keeping the canine actor in a happy state.

Both co-founders of iFilmGroup, Matthew Marshall and Don Hickey love it when people in their group anticipate the needs of others and attend to the job without being asked.

Hickey says, “Here we are producing movies that people care about and involve people (for some) whom otherwise would never have the opportunity to act or be on crew in a movie, and we do it as volunteers.

There are costs, and we try to cover expenses, but our purpose is not to make a profit. Our purpose is to make award winning movies that include all ages, especially youth and seniors working together.

Hickey likes to ask… “What did your kids do this summer?” I know iFilmGroup kids had good fun and took on new skills. Skills like…

• Presentation

• Timing

• Speaking with movement for auditions

• Building pose

• Confidence.

• Memorization of lines.

• Control

• Improved attitude

• Working with a team.
  And best of all… learning to be humble and also forgiveness.

Think about it for a minute! Humble, because you might fluff a line and have to do it over again. Forgiveness, when your line is perfect, but the actor playing opposite you fluff their line and you have to retake the shot or somebody spoils the take with a cough or sneeze during a take.

“Quiet on the set” is another favourite of Hickey’s. Mouths closed and cell phones are off. Yes, parents, they can do it, it’s expected on a movie set. They also learn about patience…. they have to wait quietly between scenes.

Seniors that join us on productions really enjoy working with the youth. Seniors feel young again… how good is that?

PHOTOS BY LOUISE MCBRIDE

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iFilmGroup
London ■ St. Thomas ■ Chatham-Kent
Ontario - Canada
WEBSITE - www.ifilmgroup.org

Labor Day Thank You to Our Actors & Crew

Partial cast on movie set of “Not Ready” for theatre scene shot.

iFilmGroup thanks all actors and crew on the production of the movie “Not Ready”
Over 65 Scenes, with over 100 actors and many crew

This movie production was partially shot during one long week-end in the summer of 2019. This was the Canada Day weekend. Four days for Canadians to enjoy a long weekend. It was estimated that 45% of the footage needed for the movie was shot during this weekend. All the people on set chose to work on the movie knowing they were giving up their Canada Day week-end 2019.

A different week-end in the summer and a single Sunday was also required to shoot an editional 55% of the movie.

Later in the Fall, during autumn colours, the last 5% of the movie will be shot.

iFilmGroup wishes to send a huge thank you to all the crew and actors and their families for giving up their time to make this film. We also thank the owners of all provided locations.

Today is Labor Day in Ontario. iFilmGroup acknowledges your support and volunteerism. Thank you very much.

Don Hickey - iFilmGroup, Community Engagement Manager
Matthew Marshall - Film Director

iFilmGroup
London ■ St. Thomas ■ Chatham-Kent
Ontario - Canada
WEBSITE - www.ifilmgroup.org

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iFilmGroup Actor Excels

 George Crosby joins
Original Kids Theatre Company

George Crosby is a stage and film actor. George has worked many seasons with the Elgin Theatre Guild (ETG) in St. Thomas, Ontario. iFilmGroup closely networks with ETG, and had George audition for different parts for several film productions.

iFilmGroup cast George in several movie productions. George was as extra in the movie “Blue Love” as a clinic patient. “He’s not only a stage actor, but, a movie actor and we are proud of George's accomplishments. He has attended workshops with iFilmGroup and continues to be instructed by the various training programs at ETG,” said Matthew Marshall, movie director.

George Crosby attends iFilmGroup Workshop at ETG
[© Photo by iFilmGroup]

iFilmGroup is looking forward to the release of the movie “Not Ready” written by Donald Michael Hickey and directed by Matthew Marshall, where George plays a very important role.

iFilmGroup is proud to share the news that iFilmGroup member George Crosby is now an Original Kids Theatre Company main cast member. George worked very hard preparing for his audition for OKTC.

Original Kids Theatre Company, like iFilmGroup, have worked with many youth. The difference is, that iFilmGroup works as an inter-generational film group with people of all ages. Yet, OKTC is very impressive with 622 performances since 1991. This opportunity will be good for George.

His mom says he couldn't have done it without the help of his vocal coach Paula Thomas, and most definitely without the support of his favourite acting coach Lesley Chapman from the Elgin Theatre Guild (ETG).

The Crosby Family is all super excited to see where his journey takes him!

Training for George and other new members at OKTC begins in September, and is called TAG training (The Actor Grows). George will audition and be cast for a spring/summer show in 2020.

“We are looking forward to working with him in the future as he continues his acting journey at all levels. George is one of many youth that have excelled through the acting programs with iFilmGroup and Elgin Theatre Guild," said Don Hickey, Community Engagement Manager, at iFilmGroup. ■

Photos by Matthew Marshall

#ETGkidfirst #newbeginnings #OKkid #ifilmgroup #actorslife #acting #notreadyfilm

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iFilmGroup
London ■ St. Thomas ■ Chatham-Kent
Ontario - Canada
WEBSITE - www.ifilmgroup.org

iFilmGroup Adds New Recruits to Crew Members

 iFilmGroup Adds New Recruits to Crew Members

The word got around southwestern Ontario’s film industry, and it got around at camera stores, and it got around on social media. Students and graduates from film courses (or schools) lined up this summer to apply and be a part of a movie production. Social media from many different platforms carried the broadcast of the recruiting drive. Don Hickey, Community Engagement Manager of iFilmGroup said, “We had a lot of people to process. We were very pleased with the results.

A senior mentoring young Ben Gray, first time on a movie set.
[Photo by Louise McBride]

iFilmGroup is a free inter-generational mentoring organization that will teach newcomers to the movie industry the skill set of the trade. Many departments are available. From prop design, wardrobe, to acting and various positions on crew. Hickey says they get skilled crew, but he also likes to get new recruits with no experience, but with the right attitude. “I put them “right to the task”, Hickey says.

Hickey smiles when a new recruit is invited to a real working movie set and given a task at hand. They can’t believe the opportunity. They’re blown away and some are very nervous.

If the newbie is too nervous to perform, then Hickey tells them to watch as he or other trained production people share the methods of operation. Within a very short time the newbie settles down from their nervous tension and then begins the task with a person shadowing them. A few takes here and there and they have mastered the basics. Continued training will take them to higher levels in their production skill.

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Brad Wright being mentored by Matthew Marshall
[Photo by Louise McBride]

Brad Wright mastered camera work within a couple of scenes.
[Photo by Louise McBride]

Brad Wright came on set with some experiences with still camera and video experience and he was immediately refreshed on camera by director Matthew Marshall. This was Wright’s first time on set of the “Not Ready” production. Marshall says, “ This is what iFilmGroup is all about. If someone doesn’t have the skill set, but has the right attitude, we will work with them. We ask new recruits to treat our opportunity like a real job. Most individuals say that we have a great opportunity for anyone that has a drive for learning this industry.”

iFilmGroup Team with two new crew recruits.
[Photo by Louise McBride]

All Photos by Louise McBride

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iFilmGroup
London ■ St. Thomas ■ Chatham-Kent
Ontario - Canada
WEBSITE - www.ifilmgroup.org

One Scene With Lots of Extras

THIS SPECIAL SCENE IN THE MOVIE “NOT READY” CALLED FOR MANY EXTRAS

Mostly Extras For One Scene From The Movie “Not Ready” with Director Matthew Marshall and Some Crew
[Photo by Louise McBride]

London, Ontario. A group of actors (some new) and crew, pose for a group shot on the outdoor set of “Not Ready”. This scene was the second last scene scheduled to shoot this summer. On the same day, after the extras were released, another scene was shot on a “closed set”. This completed the summer schedule of filming for this movie.

One more scene is to be shot in the Autumn when the leaves change their colour.

iFilmGroup Production Team on the set of “Not Ready” fulfilling the Summer Film Schedule.
[Photo by Louise McBride]

Photos by Louise McBride

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iFilmGroup
London ■ St. Thomas ■ Chatham-Kent
Ontario - Canada
WEBSITE - www.ifilmgroup.org