The Screen Production Yukon Association (SPYA) Producer Bootcamp wrapped up in April 2024 with great success, featuring five talented participants who engaged in a transformative 10-week masterclass.
Each participant brought their unique scripted or unscripted projects to the program, where they collaborated with esteemed mentors.
Participants included Emily Sheff (scripted) mentored by Dylan Pearce, Yasmine Renaud (documentary) with Dawn Brett, Lily Gontard (scripted) under Sara Blake, Robert Joe (scripted) guided by Max Fraser, and Atsushi Sugimoto (documentary) with Jeff Wonnenberg. The curriculum covered essential topics such as business and legal affairs, budgeting, production logistics, working with writers and directors, marketing and pitching, culminating in a high-stakes pitch event.
Judged by industry experts Jonathan Gelinas from Yukon University Media, Iris Merritt, former Yukon Media Development media manager, and Hailey Birnie, Yukon-born actress, the event led to the selection of two winners: Yasmine Renaud and Lily Gontard. Each was awarded a contract with SPYA to create a teaser for their projects, which they will showcase at the 2024 Yukon Screen Media Industry Conference in November.
The SPYA Producer Bootcamp was made possible by the support of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor) and Canada Media Fund.
About the Winners
Yasmine Renaud is a French-Canadian cultural producer, arts administrator, and filmmaker based in Dawson City, Yukon. Yasmine is a long-time performer, and her work focuses on telling local stories and building capacity in her community.
Lily Gontard is a documentary filmmaker and an award-winning writer. She’s produced and directed two short documentaries, “Whalefall” and “Inspiration in Nature”. She co-wrote the feature-length film Perfect Family with K.G. Green (optioned by 3DEvolution) and she was a writer on season one of Northern Tails (Shot in the Dark Productions).
