Ali Shareef, a filmmaker in Southwestern Ontario, Canada.
From a young age, I’ve been passionate about filmmaking. Exploring and learning every aspect that goes into the process of creating a motion picture. From writing in notebooks, to scripts, to production, to editing. But it wasn’t until later in my life I fully pursued it as a professional career, rather than just a hobby.
After taking many courses regarding filmmaking, photography, editing and graphic design during secondary school, I went off to Fanshawe college and expanded my knowledge on the subject by participating in creating short films, commercials and many other video-related projects.
In my years at Fanshawe, I thrived on all the knowledge I had gained and all the content I had created, But the one and most important piece of information that I learned the most was to value failure more than success. By learning and understanding the reasoning behind failure anyone can truly exceed their own limits and be unstoppable. If I hadn’t learned and valued my failures, I would not have become the person I am today and would not have been able to continue to expand my understanding of film.
After graduating Fanshawe college I took all the knowledge I learned and applied it to the real world. Since then I’ve worked on different independent film projects and advertisements. One of my upcoming short film projects titled ‘Luna’, currently in pre-production will focus on schizophrenia and will have a mystery horror vibe.
After graduation, I still continued to learn and expand my horizon, which led me to Don Hickey and Mathew Marshall founders of iFilmGroup. I met Don and Mathew on the set of one of their feature films titled ‘Not Ready’.
I was Assistant Camera in ‘Not Ready’ and Director of Photography / Cinematographer in ‘The Big Audition’ and
Cinematographer / Cinematography for the ‘Audition Waiting Room’.
After working for them on the set of ‘Not Ready’, I kept in touch with them hoping to participate in more future projects. Since then I have worked with iFilmGroup on two other projects, which has allowed me to continue expanding my grasp on filmmaking and learn to work with other film companies.
Working with the iFilmGroup has taught me many new things regarding film which has helped me in my own projects. Since joining the iFilmGroup Don Hickey has been so generous in teaching me how to brand myself and showing me new marketing skills which will further my career and knowledge.
Don has even helped me work on my own scripts and screenplays, which has allowed me to exchange thoughts and opinions with someone, who’s passionate about film as much as I am. In conclusion, I hope to continue working with iFilmGroup and continue to work with people who are just as passionate about all of this as I am.
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iFilmGroup
London ■ St. Thomas ■ Chatham-Kent
Ontario - Canada
WEBSITE - www.ifilmgroup.org