At one Kingston high school, students are learning to tell their stories through the medium of film. They’re also learning storyboarding, editing, camera work, lighting, sound design, and a host of other practical skills. This is Studio LC, a long-running program – and a working production studio – at LCVI.
Studio LC has been one of the Focus Programs in the Limestone District School Board for more than 20 years. Focus Programs concentrate study in a particular area, enabling students to learn skills and explore career paths while they are still in high school. This year, Studio LC becomes part of the Ministry of Education’s Specialist High Skills Major program, providing its students with real-world experience while earning them course credits.
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Kevin Bowers has been a teacher with Studio LC for eight years. “Studio LC is a functional film studio,” he says, “where the kids learn to write and light and act and direct and edit films. And in doing so, they’re hitting various course expectations. They’re getting a couple of art credits and a business credit. And they’re doing so while building films from the ground up, telling their stories, exploring their interests.”
Studio LC is limited to 28 students a semester, to give all the participants the opportunity for a solid hands-on learning experience, and to try their hand at different aspects of film production.
“Some students gravitate towards editing and some like being in front of the camera. Some like being behind the camera,” says Bowers, “but they get the opportunity to try all those things. It’s an essential part of the learning to help them find the thing that they’re passionate about. And then the others in Studio see their skills, and they’ll come together to produce a film with all the different talent in the studio. They can start to see how their passions become a necessary cog in the machine of production.”
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Many Studio LC alumni have gone on to post-secondary studies in film, at Ryerson, Humber, and elsewhere. (A highlight in past years was a class trip to TIFF in Toronto, where current Studio LC students could connect with alumni either studying or working in the industry.) A number of Studio LC alumni have also had their films screened at Kingston’s two film festivals, Reelout and KCFF. One of the feature films at KCFF this year, HOW TO FIX RADIOS, was entirely created by Studio LC alumni. (It airs March 5 online: https://kingcanfilmfest.com/2021/how-to-fix-radios/
Another group of alumni, Bodhi Irwin, Charlie Baptista, and Noah Murphy, are working together in Toronto. They released their first feature film, FINE CHINA, last year, and are working on their second. They’re planning on returning to Kingston to film their next project. Bowers hopes to set up co-op placements for that production for some of his current students.
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Not all Studio LC grads go into film production. But they do all take valuable skills with them in their next venture, whether it’s post-secondary education or the workforce. Bowers says, “They’re very insightful about how this studio experience is changing their lens on the world and finding out what is important to them. They want to land in a place where they are passionate about something, and where the people around them are passionate, too, so they can grow as part of a team.”
“A film studio,” he continues, “is a beautiful sort of microcosm for that world. Everyone’s got something to contribute, and everyone needs each other, in order to maximise everybody’s efficiency. It’s a community.”
Tap into Studio LC’s talent
Starting this fall, Studio LC will be looking for local co-op placements for its students. Get help at your production company from talented and motivated students while helping them get valuable on-the-job experience. A full co-op credit is 110 hours, but any number of hours will be useful for the students. Contact Kevin Bowers: bowersk@limestone.on.ca.
