2018 in Review

A new year has come in and as the iFilmGroup looks back on the last year with the excitement of what was accomplished in 2018, and anticipation for what 2019 has in store.  A lot of things went on in the iFilmGroup world over 2018. More than could be listed, but some of the highlights are included below.

iFilmGroup.org Website

The webpage for iFilmGroup grew and became so big with a level of traffic in 2018 that it caused the team to change providers and restructure the format of the website to handle the traffic. It also led to a change in format and style of the website that has been met with positive reviews by those checking it out.

Support and Success For Others

The iFilmGroup Production Team during 2018 has had a busy schedule. The various activities they have been associated with have seen them be a part of events, meetings, film festivals, film group meetings, film production dates and workshops in London, Chatham, St. Thomas and other locations in Southwestern Ontario this year.

2018 saw some old familiar faces move on to post-secondary studies, bigger projects with other Production Houses and some moving on to other passions and studies in their lives.  The team saw new faces coming into the iFilmGroup family in 2018 and we saw familiar faces advance their careers both in iFilmGroup as well as in other film and theatre projects. The Production Team released its first production under the iFilmGroup Banner and worked on moving some other films closer to finishing post-production and supported the in-house Production House of m & s Marshall Productions on filming.

Great Start in Production in 2018

2018 started off with a power-packed January for iFilmGroup. The team helped and supported m & s Marshall Productions’ auditions for the dramatic film “Blue Love”.  The iFilmGroup team worked with m & s Marshall Productions throughout 2018 on “Blue Love”.

The film allowed a lot of iFilmGroup members to be a part of it through the many production days that happened through 2018. The film will be finished up in early 2019 with only four scenes remaining.

Creative Minds of iFilmGroup Enhance Other Productions

The start of January 2018 also brought together the creative minds of iFilmGroup, lead by Matthew Marshall and in association with iFilmGroup’s other co-founder Don Hickey to discussions how to enhance the short film “Struggles Within”. The dance film told with almost no words needed some additional footage to finish it off. Those meetings were followed up with a film date to film footage with some new faces to the film in dramatic roles.

Helena Rose is an Acting Coach with iFilmGroup’s Production Team

Helena Rose was brought into the iFilmGroup ProductionTteam as an acting coach. A generous donation by a sponsor paid the way for her to become a part of iFilmGroup’s Production Team leaders. Rose is familiar with the team as she has acted in 6 of their productions and has worked as an acting coach as well.  She is a big part of the creative team of “Blue Love” as well. Working as the film’s co-producer and co-writer with Matthew Marshall. She has also been an acting coach with “Blue Love” as well as “Struggles Within”. Her film credits with the team includes: Kaitlyn Butler in “Blue Love”, Alicia Turner in “Malicious Attack”, Whitney in "In Limbo”,  Candy in “Summer of Discover”, Medical Attendant in "Ronny’s Bench", and a student and radio Announcer #2; in “Tuned In”.  She is scheduled to be a part of her 7th production with the team in 2019.

Co-founder Matthew Marshall is a Judge in the Western Smartphone Film Festival.

In February 2018 iFilmGroup co-founder Matthew Marshall was a judge in the Western Smartphone film festival. The iFilmGroup team also hosted a workshop with the topic of dealing with your fears and acting out what you feel. 

iFilmGroup Supports Students With Their School Programs

The first quarter of 2018 saw a number of iFilmGroup members being part their various school productions and getting cast in films outside of iFilmGroup. Whenever possible the iFilmGroup executive attended productions to support its members.

The iFilmGroup team was privileged to have two individuals be part of their Accredited Mentoring Program in 2018. The program is for high school or college/university students who have their school involved and the student does an internship or period of evaluation with iFilmGroup and the student is then evaluated and receives a mark and credit for their time under the mentorship of the iFilmGroup team. In 2018 two fabulously talented young women in Anna Victoria and Yasmine Al Sayyid were part of it. Both women have a passion for the film industry were a pleasure to have had been part of the program.

iFilmGroup Members Extras on “Blue Love”

May 2018 was a busy month for iFilmGroup. They were part of filming in St. Thomas for “Blue Love” at the hospital and an on-location shoot. Both included several iFilmGroup Members who were extra’s. The iFilmGroup team held a promotion shoot in St. Thomas for images for the website and Facebook page and also hosted its second workshop of the year in London, Ontario.

WORKSHOP AT Elgin Theatre Guild’s Princess Avenue Playhouse

The summer of 2018 brought the iFilmGroup co-founders to take part in a film Group meeting to discuss the film industry in London as well as being the Special Guest at the Tweens Theatre vs. Film- a week-long workshop at the Elgin Theatre Guild’s Princess Avenue Playhouse in St. Thomas.

Biggest Number of Extras in Movie Organized to Date

The iFilmGroup team was also involved with m & s Marshall Productions in one of the scenes that have turned out the most extras that the team has ever worked with. Over 174 people showed a desire to be part of the scene when the casting call was posted. Unfortunately due to schedules over thirty of that group were unable to attend the date of filming.  Which brought the number down to 144. Some of those did not respond and from that point, the team worked the number down to the 84 that would fit in the space. The scene was the wedding scene for “Blue Love“ and is the biggest scene the team has ever organized. 

Movie Wins at a Festival in Toronto

July saw the re-release of “Struggles Within” after more footage was added to the film to enhance it. The film went on in 2018 to receive 2 “Official Selections” at two festivals as well winning “Best experimental film” at the fall edition of the Alternative Film Festival in Toronto. The film also received two final nominations at the 2018 Top Indie Film Awards. The film received nominations for awards in the categories of “Best Experimental Short” and “Best Original Idea”. The film heads into 2019 submitted to more festivals.

iFilmGroup Co-founders are Guest Speakers at Fanshawe College

In October iFilmGroup co-founders Matthew Marshall and Don Hickey were invited to Fanshawe College in London, Ontario as special guests to speak to a Film and TV class Marshall spoke about his experience as an award-winning director in filmmaking and about entering films into film festivals. For Marshall, it was very special to return to Fanshawe where his training all began. Fanshawe has grown in the filmmaking course since Matthew's time at Fanshawe. There is now an actual room for postgraduate course in non-linear editing that Marshall was part of in the course's first year.

iFilmGroup Members Meet With Canadian Actor/director Chris Potter

In October iFilmGroup Co-Founder Don Hickey along with iFilmGroup’s Max Steinberg and his dad Mitch met with actor/director Chris Potter at the Canadian Club luncheon in London. Chris shared some experiences of over 30 years from his movie and TV careers. He also spoke about his life growing up in London and his fondness of his family and friends

More Hospital Scenes For “ Blue Love”

During the busy hustle and bustle of the December holiday season, iFilmGroup was busy with some filming events. The first as the support team for m & s Marshall Productions big filming date of more hospital scenes for “Blue Love”. The date included several familiar iFilmGroup faces as well as some new ones that participated as extras in the scenes that were filmed.

iFilmGroup Introduces Drama Therapy in Workshops

Another December workshop where participants got training on acting, along with a filming day where participants were part of filming for some stills and footage for Drama Therapy which took place at the Elgin Theatre Guild in St. Thomas.

To read about all the events describe here, plus a lot more go check out the various pages of the iFilmGroup.org website.