With many Hollywood success stories in town for the Toronto International Film Festival, CTV is doing its part to help young, aspiring filmmakers from the city’s urban neighbourhoods pursue their own Tinsel town dreams by hosting the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus.
Students participating in two Toronto youth programs have had the opportunity to craft short movies about their experiences at TIFF using the mobile audio and HD video recording and production facility.
‘We’re giving the students an all-access pass to our coverage of TIFF,’ says Susanne Boyce, president, creative content and channels, CTV. ‘Working with some of Canada’s most notable artists, they’ll have the experience of a lifetime and hopefully learn something along the way.’
Canadian notables like Jason Reitman (director, Juno), Linda Schuyler (creator, Degrassi), Farley Flex (judge, Canadian Idol) and hip-hop artist k-os have worked with the students from ‘Shoot with This,’ a film mentorship project for kids from Toronto’s Jane/Finch area, and ‘The Remix Project,’ a youth-led urban arts project in the Greater Toronto Area.
‘This is precisely the kind of project John Lennon would have loved,’ Yoko Ono Lennon said in a news release.
Sol Guy, who created and hosts CTV and MTV’s 4REAL, is responsible for initiating the bus’ visit, and has worked with the students since it arrived. ‘They’ll be working on a project that’s all about using art and culture to effect social change,’ he says.
Guy provided a tour of the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus to viewers of CTV’s eTalk on Sept. 4, and CTV conducted media relations in order to spread the word that the bus would be stopping by.
The Maxell-sponsored, high-tech, non-profit tour bus has been at CTV’s Queen Street HQ since last Thursday, and wraps up its visit today. The bus has provided practical programs to hundreds of organizations across North America since 1998, logging 60,000 miles a year. Other sponsors of the tour bus include Godin Guitars, international music organization NAMM and Sony.
