EVENTS & TRAINING
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EVENTS & TRAINING 〰️
We have lots of exciting events and training sessions coming up. To be notified of them please sign up via our mentoring forms or follow us on instagram!
These are some highlights:
Becoming A Camera Trainee
Lou x Samara create free workshops to support people from groups that are currently underrepresented in the camera department and who wish to start out as a camera trainee. This is for folks who are needing the skills and network to get their first job on set and to build a career in the camera department.
These workshops are for Black & POC women, trans & non-binary folks, queer folk and disabled folk. Workshop spaces are prioritised for Black and POC women & non-binary people.
The format includes an online taster session followed by a IRL taster session. Participants will then be selected to attend the 2-day intensive workshop held at Focus24.
Sign up links and information will always be posted through Lou and Samara’s socials: @lou_macnamara & @cinesamara. If you are interested in receiving registration details for the next workshop, please sign up interest through this link and your contact details will be kept on file.
Becoming a Lighting Trainee Workshop
In collaboration with L&S and Grey Moth, we hosted the first of our ‘Becoming A Lighting Trainee’ Workshops.
With huge support from Panalux, Island Studios and Sharon Wallace we started with an online taster session, moved onto our 1 day taster session and finished at Black Island Studios for our 2-Day intensive workshop.
The sessions were led by Gaffer Hollie Mapp and facilitators Kit Spencer, Georgie Fen and Deimante Sprai.
Participants learned everything that would enable them to confidently walk onto a set as a Spark Trainee. Including: naming equipment, cable coiling, power calculations, setting up asteras, ballast science, lighting diagrams, skinning frames, set etiquette, radio communication, modular frames and more!
If you would like to be informed of the next one or any of our workshops please sign up as a mentee and you will get emailed about any upcoming ones!
Summer Social Event 🌞
In June 2023 we hosted our first ever social & networking event!
We had some amazing panelists talking about being a POC in the film industry and what we can do to change it rather than us changing ourselves to fit into it’s mould. Our panelists were Jackson Forsythe (Producer & Director), Daisy Zhou (DOP & Director), Aman Sahota (DOP & Lens Technician) & Samona Olanipekun (Director).
Our main goal for the event was for our mentees to meet each other and start building a peer network and support system. They couldn’t stop chatting to each other which was a great sign!
CVP hosted us in their wonderful Fitzrovia Space and we couldn’t be more grateful
Cinelab Tour
In May 2023 Cinelab very very kindly hosted us for a wonderful tour of the lab. Participants got walked through the entire Film Developing and Scanning process and the day-to-day running a Motion Picture Film Lab. Thank you to Aarti Mahtani for organising it and everyone at Cinelab for being so kind and generous with your time!
Geared Head Workshop
Focus 24 kindly hosted us and L&S for two sets of geared head workshops. Our wonderfully eager participants ranged from camera trainees to focus pullers, all coming with a willingness to learn and get hands on with the wheels. The sessions began with geared head theory and following simple shapes to full on dolly tracking shots, which everyone aced! As always, it was a pleasure to host a comfortable, inclusive space where participants felt comfortable to ask anything that came to mind; everyone left the sessions feeling confident and ready to keep expanding their knowledge.
The workshops were led by: DoP Darren Ladbury and camera operators Michael Eshun-Mensah & Junior Agyeman. They were facilitated by: DoP Arushi Chugh, assistants Lou Macnamara, Catherina Scarpellini & Isabella Thompson and Leanne Ladbury from F24. A massive thank you, especially to our awesome tutors, for lending us their time and knowledge; we hope to host many more opportunities like this in the future.
Film Loading Workshop
In December 2022 Panavision hosted some of our Camera Mentees at a Film Loading Workshop. They got their hands on 16mm & 35mm film as well as Arri and Panavision Cameras. We’re planning on hosting more of these in the future!
BSC Magazine
We were featured in the July/August ‘23 Issue of the British Cinematographer Magazine as part of their Diversity and Inclusion Feature. Link to the full article here!
