Join us for a full day of programming at the Codes of Contact Symposium! Attend skill-building workshops, hear from new media artists and arts programmers about the current landscape of digital art and digital presentation.

All of Codes of Contact Symposium programming will be hosted online.

These workshops are double-tracked. Workshop seats will be offered on a first-come, first-serve basis. Honorariums will only be issued out after attendance at the workshop.

Schedule

Smartphone Filmmaking Workshop with Tejas Ewing

11AM – 1:00PM

Smartphone filmmaking as a tool to kickstart creativity and democratize your storytelling process – Tejas Ewing

In this introductory workshop, you will learn the fundamental skills needed to begin your smartphone filmmaking journey. For too long, film has been an elitist subject, with high barriers to entry, mainly caused by the expense of the technology involved, and limited access to resources. This two-hour workshop will focus on using smartphones to democratize the entire filmmaking process and thereby greatly increase the diversity of stories being told – opening up new approaches and avenues of thought, while inspiring the next generation of diverse filmmakers and reaching new and underserved audiences.

Tejas Ewing will teach you how to make the most of your smartphone in multiple different situations and how to create stories where filming on smartphones is a benefit. This is a hands-on class where you will use your own smartphone for some individual activities, and where you’ll also be shown real examples of interesting smartphone films, and innovative ways to promote and distribute them online.

*Limit of 7 workshop seats. An honorarium of $100 is available for each workshop participant. 

Workshops are currently at capacity. Please register for waitlist.

Virtual Zine Making Workshop with Neta Bomani

11AM – 12:30PM

Learn about radical print history and the role that pamphlets, zines, and other forms of micro books have played in building revolutionary movements that center life-giving politics for people of color, with an emphasis on black history. Together we will learn basic to intermediary zine making techniques. You will need: several sheets of paper; binding materials like staples and a stapler or needle and embroidery floss; a cutting instrument like a scissors or an exacto knife; writing instruments like colorful pens and markers; and your imagination.

*Limit of 7 workshop seats. An honorarium of $100 is available for each workshop participant. 

Workshops are currently at capacity. Please register for waitlist.

Presenting Practice – An Artist Roundtable

1:30 – 3PM

Hear from three artists on the intentions, questions and aspirations they explore through their vibrant interdisciplinary art practices.

Moderator: Karina Iskandarsjah

Panelists: Morehshin Allahyari, Casey Koyczan, Khadija Aziz

Karina Iskandarsjah (born Jakarta, Indonesia) is a Toronto-based visual artist and curator interested in cultural hybridity, technology, plants, and the deconstruction of power structures. Karina holds an MFA in Criticism and Curatorial Practice from OCAD University. She is part of the collectives, Crocus and Glory Hole Gallery for 2SLGBTQ+ artists.

Website

Morehshin Allahyari (Persian: موره شین اللهیاری‎), is a NY-based Iranian-Kurdish artist using 3D simulation, video, sculpture, and digital fabrication as tools to re-figure myth and history. Through archival practices and storytelling, her work weaves together complex counternarratives in opposition to the lasting influence of Western technological colonialism in the context of SWANA (Southwest Asia and Nort Africa). Her work has been part of numerous exhibitions, festivals, and workshops at venues throughout the world. Her artworks are in the collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Current Museum. She has been featured in The New York Times, BBC, Huffington Post, Wired, National Public Radio, Parkett Art Magazine, Frieze, Rhizome, Hyperallergic, and Al Jazeera, among others. 

Website | Twitter | Instagram

Casey Koyczan is a Dene interdisciplinary artist from Yellowknife, NT, that uses various mediums to communicate how culture and technology can grow together in order for us to develop a better understanding of who we are, where we come from, and what we will be. He creates with whatever tools necessary to bring an idea to fruition, and specializes in sculpture, installation, 3D/VR/AR/360, video, and audio works such as music, soundscapes and film scores.

Website | Facebook | Instagram

Khadija Aziz (she/her) is a textile and digital artist investigating the making and transformation of patterns through the play of analogue and digital processes. She is an MFA candidate at Concordia University’s Fibre & Material Practices program. Her textile and digital art have been exhibited in Canada, Australia, and Austria. In recognition of her creative practice, she received the Shanks Memorial Award in Textiles from Craft Ontario and the Creative Promise Award from Surface Design Association in 2020.

Website | Twitter | Instagram 

Praxis in Presentation – Galleries in Conversation 

4PM – 5:30PM

Join art programmers in this conversation on digital arts presentation modes and experiences, hear about exciting projects and also what their organizations are looking for in new media work. 

Moderator: Tristan Sauer

Panelists: Allison Yearwood (Plug In ICA), Tyra Maria Trono (Ada X), Henry Heng Lu (Centre A, Call Again) 

Tristan Sauer is a New Media Artist and Curator working with physical computing, wearable technology, and 3D fabrication. Sauer’s practice is critically focused on technology and capitalism, viewing their relationship as a potential modern-day Pandora’s box. He is interested in the intersections between our digital and physical worlds, and how technology affects the various facets of human existence. Often expressed through his own identity as an Afro-Canadian, Sauer explores these topics through both an Afro-futuristic and Afro-Pessimistic lens.
Website | Twitter | Instagram

Allison Yearwood is an alumnus of the University of Winnipeg, with a political science and business administration degree, and brings a fresh focus to the business of arts administration. Allison returns to her hometown, Winnipeg, from the Banff Centre, where she was Program Manager at the Indigenous Arts Department. Allison was the Programming and Events Coordinator at the Northern Life Museum & Cultural Centre in Fort Smith, North West Territories, and was the first non-Indigenous staff member at Urban Shaman Gallery in Winnipeg. Allison advocates for racialized and disenfranchised groups to decolonize institutions of power from the ground up. She is exceptionally skilled on issues of equity and a powerful and transformative voice for anti-racism action. Allison is a proponent of equity justice in media and digital production and has acted as program manager for digital art residencies at Banff Centre. Allison’s institutional critique articulates the creation of safe spaces for underserved communities within the institution. Currently sitting on the boards of aceartinc. and Spiderweb Show.

Website | Instagram

Tyra Maria Trono is an artist, cultural worker, and curator based in Tiohtà:ke/Montreal. Her current research focuses on questions such as the formation of one’s perception within the process of cultural identification, and how belonging to a diasporic community redirects the path of this process. Trono is currently the Programming Coordinator at Ada X which is a bilingual feminist artist-run centre engaged in exploration, creation, and critical reflection in media arts and digital culture.

Website | Instagram

Henry Heng Lu is a curator, writer, and artist based in Vancouver, Canada. Currently, he is Executive Director/Curator of Centre A: Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art. He is a co-founder of Call Again, a mobile initiative/collective committed to creating space for contemporary diasporic artistic practices, within Canada and beyond, through exhibitions, screenings, and roundtables. Lu holds a Master of Visual Studies from the University of Toronto.

He was on the jury for the 2020 Sobey Art Award at the National Gallery of Canada. He has been a member of the City of Vancouver’s Public Art Committee since 2020, and has served as a juror for municipal and provincial arts councils, as well as international prizes.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram 

Join us for Industry Bootcamp and meet professionals from various fields, companies and organizations through panels, seminars or one-on-one consultations! Participants will pre-submit questions and project information, hosting a mix of filmmakers from various stages of career. Each virtual session will be held on Zoom. 

All of Industry Bootcamp programming will be hosted online.

Schedule

Session #1: NABET 700-M UNIFOR

11AM – 11:45AM

This session will be guided by your interests in NABET 700-M UNIFOR. 

So let us know what you want to know! Whether it’s which departments you’re most interested in, either for your current or upcoming projects or out of personal interest. Or get your questions answered about your general career goals and expanding knowledge and experiences within the industry. Hear from their skillful members and/or representatives about their years of experiences, do’s, don’ts, and more. 

A previous production partner of Kim’s Convenience and Tall Boyz, and current production partners Workin’ Moms, Run the Burbs, and Murdoch Mysteries.

Panelists: Peggy Kyriakidou and Samantha Rice

Peggy Kyriakidou is currently the President of NABET 700-M UNIFOR and has been actively working in the Film and Television industry for over 30 years. Prior to her presidency, she sat on the NABET 700-M UNIFOR Executive Board for 10 years as the Vice President of the Hair Department.

As President, Peggy is responsible for the overall operations of NABET 700-M UNIFOR including the negotiation, application and interpretation of the collective bargaining agreement and the employment interests of all technicians in the local’s jurisdiction across 14 different departments. Peggy also sits on UNIFOR National’s Media Council Board and the Ontario Green Screen Committee.

Peggy began her career in film and television in the early 90’s. Her love of storytelling and working with people led her to film where the collaboration in creating characters and bringing scripts to life, fuel her passion for her work.

Kyriakidou’s credits include the award-winning feature film Stockholm starring Ethan Hawke, Regression, also starring Hawke, Wolves with Jason Momoa and Lucas Till, Godsend starring Rebecca Romijn, Cavedweller with Kyra Sedgwick and Aidan Quinn, and television series “Relic Hunter”, “Queer as Folk”, “Mary Kills People”, and “Ransom”, among many other credits.

Samantha Rice is the Costume VP at NABET 700-M Unifor, as well as the Co-chair of their BIWOC (Black, Indigenous and Workers of Colour) committee. She has been working as a costume technician since 2014 and is passionate about helping folks learn about the ins and outs of costuming for film & television. Her favourite credit to date is as Assistant Costume Designer on CBC’s hit comedy KIM’S CONVENIENCE.

NABET 700-M UNIFOR is a union of film, television and new media technicians that has serviced Ontario and the world for over 45 years. NABET 700-M currently has over 3,000 qualified technicians in fifteen (15) departments including the following:

• Construction
• Continuity
• Costume
• Grip
• Hair
• Labour
• Lighting
• Makeup
• Paint
• Props
• Set decoration
• Sound
• Special effects
• Transportation
• Videotape 

Also offering a straightforward, competitive collective agreement with the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) that is available to Canadian, US, and International productions. It provides predictability and stability with no hidden costs and supplies high-skilled, efficient and professional Technicians to service productions on a non-seniority basis. Recently, NABET 700-M UNIFOR has been involved in production financing and independent production studio growth in tandem with spearheading industry initiatives to address the issues of workforce development and diversity within the industry.

NABET 700-M UNFOR has an Apprenticeship Program, which is designed to provide paid placement opportunities to those who would like to begin a career in the film, television and digital media industry. Apprenticeship opportunities are available in each department that NABET 700-M UNIFOR represents. 

Session #2: Charles Street Video

12PM – 12:45PM *This session timing has been updated

An overview of the services, workshops, support and equipment offered to filmmakers and media artists at Charles Street Video.

Panelists:

Greg Woodbury has worked in the Media Arts community for over 35 years as an administrator in artist-run production centres: as a production and post-production freelancer and in his own art practice. He has produced several of his own single channel videos and installations as well as fostered the work of other independent film/video/media artists through teaching, advocacy,technical support, creative collaboration and programming.

Samay Arcentales Cajas is a Toronto-based Kichwa digital media artist exploring human-land relations, the new media dimensions of indigenous cosmology, and immersive art as a site of liberation. Her works have been shown at ImagineNATIVE, Xpace Cultural Centre, Mayworks Festival, Tarragon Theatre, TQFF, among others.Samay currently works at Charles Street Video as program coordinator and as video designer and editor for artists and filmmakers across the country.

Charles Street Video (CSV) is a non-profit production organization established in 1981 to help support media artists. We provide affordable access to equipment and post-production editing facilities for creating videos, films, installations and other media art forms. We offer regular workshops, training sessions and residencies.

CSV also commissions artists to create new works, and sponsors a variety of youth-oriented production programs and post-secondary scholarships. We actively participate in local exhibitions of media art through our partnerships with arts organizations and grassroots festivals.

Charles Street Video fosters the creation of media art, encourages experimentation, and develops an artistic community and is Toronto’s leading media arts production centre where emerging and established artists gather and achieve their artistic vision.

CSV is supported by its members, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council and the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council for operating funding and by the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Ontario Trillium Foundation and the Canada Council for the Arts for capital funding.

Charles Street Video fosters the creation of media art, encourages experimentation, and develops an artistic community and is Toronto’s leading media arts production centre where emerging and established artists gather and achieve their artistic vision. 

Session #3: Canada Media Fund (CMF)

1PM – 1:45PM

This session is geared towards filmmakers who are ready to move to the next level in their careers – preparing their first Television project, web-series or next major project with an expanded scale. Designated CMF representatives will connect with the filmmakers and participate in a dedicated 45 minute session to discuss how the CMF can support filmmakers interested in their funding programs, followed by a Q&A where participants can ask specific questions.

Panelists: Marcia Douglas and Jessica Lea Fleming

Marcia Douglas: Director, English Content, International and Export

A proud biracial Pilipina Canadian, Marcia has more than 20 years of experience in the development and production of Canadian screen-based content for traditional and digital platforms and audiences. Prior to joining the CMF, she held roles at the Canadian Media Producers Association, the Bell Fund, the Cogeco Fund, and the Independent Production Fund, where she worked to establish policies and opportunities to foster and promote the Canadian media production sector and led files related to advancing sustainability, equity, and inclusion. She has also worked as a producer, production manager, and assistant director.

Jessica Lea Fleming: Director, Inclusion & Growth

Originally from Penetanguishene, Ontario, Jessica Lea Fleming (Métis/Scottish-Settler) is the Director of Growth and Inclusion at the Canada Media Fund. An arts leader and creative collaborator with over 15 years experience in Canada’s media, arts and culture spaces, Jessica’s interests and skills have seen her engage with organizations such as the Independent Media Arts Alliance, the City of Toronto, the Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance, Luminato, New Harlem Productions, Regent Park Film Festival, Indigenous Fashion Arts, Native Earth Performing Arts and most recently at imagineNATIVE, where she acted as Associate Director until February of 2022. As a director and producer, Jessica has credits with TV series through TFO and APTN, as well as award wins and nominations for her short films and music videos. Jessica is an avid gardener with a keen interest in seed exchanges and sustainable harvesting practices. She lives in Toronto with her partner and child.

About the CMF: We serve as the spark that ignites the sharing of a truly Canadian culture. Our stories. Our ideas. Our uniqueness.

We do it by championing the content produced by the diverse people of this land. First the spark glows – and then it grows.

We’re not just fostering Canadian voices for entertainment’s sake. We’re celebrating the history – and the future – of this great nation.

Learn more about CMF.

Session #4: ACTRA

2PM – 2:45PM

Join us for an informative 30 minute session followed by a short Q&A with ACTRA representatives. Representatives from ACTRA will introduce resources, benefits, workshops, and methods available for filmmakers to connect and work with ACTRA on their upcoming short films, features, web series or TV projects.

Panelists:

Clare Johnston: Senior Advisor | Film, Television & Digital Media | ACTRA Toronto

I have worked in the Film, TV and Digital Media department at ACTRA Toronto for 20 years. Prior to joining ACTRA, I worked in Animation Production in Canada and UK and I worked as a radio producer and print journalist in the UK.

In my position as Senior Advisor, I am usually the person that new Producers are connected with to discuss their first projects working with ACTRA members. It is my job to help you find the right part of the agreement to get your project made.

I sit on the Section 21 Committee which advises the Ministry of Labour on Health and Safety issues in the Film and TV sector.

I have a background in circus performance, as a fire dancer/ fire breather and aerialist, but these days I get my kicks parenting two teenagers and an unruly dog!

Luisa Alvarez: Manager | Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging.

Luisa Alvarez Restrepo (she/her) is a Colombian-Canadian film executive, programmer and creator. She
is currently the Manager: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging at ACTRA Toronto where she oversees
ACTRA Toronto’s ongoing work to tackle anti-Black racism and systemic discrimination in the industry.
Previously she was Project Manager at WarnerMedia’s (now Warner Brothers Discovery) first Canadian
office as part of the Access Canada team. There, she led all film festival initiatives and launched Access
Festivals, a first-of-its-kind international program that provides filmmakers from underrepresented
communities access to a more robust and engaging film festival experience. The program launched at the
2021 Toronto International Film Festival and expanded to the US at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.
She worked closely with partners across Canada to support, expand, and create programs with festivals
that showcase and nurture Canadian talent.

Prior to WarnerMedia, Luisa was at TIF where she helped to execute one of the world’s biggest film
festivals, curated events for Hollywood’s biggest stars, and created cultural programming for major
brands. At TIFF she launched the Amplify Voices Award, now in its third year, which highlights excellence
in filmmaking by Canadian and international BIPOC filmmakers. As a creator, Luisa’s short film Forbidden
Tikka Masala won several awards internationally, was shown across Canada as part of TIFF’s Film
Circuit, and was licensed by TIFF and the CBC.

Luisa was the recipient of WIFT-T’s Meridian Artists Agency Mentorship for 2020. She has been part of
the programming teams at TIFF, HAAPIFest, and CGood TV where she advocated for greater diversity in
storytelling. Luisa has been a juror to various film funds, has sat on film festival juries, and is often
featured as a guest speaker at events to discuss how to lower barriers for women and BIPOC creators
and artisans in the industry.

Learn more about ACTRA.