COMMUNITY STORIES B.C. 2021
THE EMPOWERED
FILMMAKER
MASTERCLASS
7 Sessions starting on
January 20, 2021
7:00 - 8:30PM
The Empowered Filmmaker Masterclass is an official program to take individuals with no prior knowledge in filmmaking and shape them into self-sufficient, nimble and powerful media content creators.
You have a great local story you want to share, and we want to help you bring it to the small screen.
We’re offering training and mentorship to complete a short documentary film to residents of BC and Alberta.
Beginners welcome. No film degree? No problem.
In collaboration with TELUS STORYHIVE, VoVo Productions is offering a program to train, mentor and support residents of British Columbia to each make a locally reflective short video documentary, with the filmmaking tools they have available.
Completed video documentaries will be made available on TELUS Optik TV On Demand.
This program has been created to provide professional support and instruction to first-time-documentary filmmakers in B.C. who have a story about their community which they are passionate to share.
ONLINE SCHEDULE
JAN 20 (Wed evening, 7:00 - 8:30pm) - Welcome & Introduction
JAN 27 (Wed evening, 7:00 - 8:30pm) - Your Voice Matters + Storyboarding + Project Launch
JAN 30 (Sun evening, 7:00-8:30pm) - How are Films Made + Camera Clinic + Pitch Presentations
FEB 3 (Wed evening, 7:00 - 8:30pm) - The Empowered Filmmaker + Messaging + Interviews
FEB 7 (Sun evening, 7:00-8:30pm) - Working through our storyboards + File Management
FEB 10 (Wed evening, 7:00 - 8:30pm) - Anatomy of a Film + Film Project Mentoring
FEB 13 (Sat evening, 7:00-8:30pm) - Film Project Presentations + Festival
YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Farhan Umedaly is an award-winning filmmaker best known for his films about social causes.
Farhan has a background in neurobiology and has worked as a consultant for renewable energy developments before establishing VoVo Productions in 2009. The original focus of the company was to produce videos that enable clean-tech and renewable energy companies to realize their business objectives. Since then, VoVo Productions has diversified, having produced more than 200 promotional videos and commercials for leading companies and non-profits such as the David Suzuki Foundation to help create positive change. Farhan works alongside groups such as ISSofBC, Vancouver Foundation, and Access to Media and Education Society to provide mentorship in filmmaking to marginalized communities such as Syrian refugees and indigenous communities. He is best known for his indigenous focused documentaries - ‘A Last Stand for Lelu’, and more recently ‘The Sun on Top of the House’. He recently was a Producer, Assistant Director and Director of Photography for the acclaimed Hollywood feature ‘Best F(r)iends’ which was recently purchased by Lionsgate Films. In 2017, founded the Empowered Filmmaker Masterclass which has trained more than 200+ indigenous participants to be self-sufficient filmmakers. He is also an instructor at Simon Fraser University within the Beedie School of Business and a guest lecturer on the topic of Human Rights - International Studies program.
The son of refugees to Canada from Uganda, Farhan is committed to building alliances with indigenous communities through providing professional training and mentorship in filmmaking - an area of great opportunity as well as a powerful tool to give voices to those who have important stories to tell.
