We had the wonderful opportunity to see Shawn Skeir:  Life Lines at its Opening Reception on Wednesday May 16th, 2012 at the forward thinking BAND Gallery.  This exhibition is curated by visual and media arts curator Pamela Edmonds.  Shawn is a Toronto-based contemporary abstract artist that describes himself as a “sculptor in two dimensions”.  BAND (Black Artists’ Network in Dialogue) describes Shawn and his artistic practice as being “rooted in a dynamic urban expressionist style that echoes fluid movements of light and colour while capturing the immediate and vital energies of contemporary life.”

Shawn was born in Nova Scotia and is currently based in Toronto.  He studied at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and George Brown College.  His work has been exhibited throughout Toronto and the US and is in numerous private and public collections.  Shawn works out of his self-named studio in Toronto’s Parkdale neighborhood.  We would have to agree with BAND when they state Shawn’s works being “Seemingly spontaneous, the fluidity of bold lines also conveys an intense degree of concentration and the artist’s striking command of the optical effects of colour theory, exposing how both positive and negative space echo back and forth through his deft use of colour juxtaposition.  Striving to create images that represent a unification of essential organic forms, contemporary urban landscapes and post digital concepts.  Skeirs work achieves a fusion of the cerebral and emotional through shapes, colours lines and calligraphic markings that echo the reality found both within organic and urban forms.“

sheVISIONS Creative Director Suzi Horton worked with Shawn through contracted engagements as a singer mainly and every time we see him we always have nothing but love for him as each time he shows up as a performer; he is exceptionally present.  Seeing the growth of his artwork over the course of years and it’s in-depth essence we wanted to share his work with our network around the globe and provide you with the links to see more for yourself.

Another wonderful part of experiencing Shawn Skeir:  LIfe Lines was having the opportunity to visit Band Gallery and Cultural space for the first time.  The mission of BAND states “Connecting Black Culture to Communities to Inspire, Enlighten & Educate through Arts”.  Karen Carter is at the helm of this wonderful space located at the edge of the Annex.  Karen has an extensive background working with artists and when asked at the opening reception about the decision to highlight Shawn Skeir, with concrete kudos, Karen holds firm that young artists should take note of Shawn Skeir as a perfect example from within the black creative community.

Shawn Skeir taking a moment to thank host of wedding dress Wars Len Henry for his support.

In the words of literary author William Arthur Ward “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it”.  Thanks to Shawn Skeir, Pamela Edmonds and Band Gallery for brining Shawn Skeir: Life Lines to the masses.   To all those in the Toronto area, the exhibit will be around until June 10, 2012 and a wonderful way to begin your evening.  For those who have heard of Shawn and his work, quite a bit of his work was sold on the opening night but there are still gems left.  For those who don’t live in the city or the country for that matter, check out the links, get to the sites and enjoy the positive creative flow this season is providing us with.

Hi,

Happy Spring!

CHAD HUGHE5.  Click the link to see what he’s all about and where you can find him.  If you’re into electro pop, a solid and a talented artist then CHAD HUGHE5 is what you’ve been looking for.

Have fun and take in the CHAD HUGHE5 experience!  Check Chad Hughe5 on iTunes and feed your iPod!

sheVISIONS

Earlier on this year we had the wonderful opportunity to work with the exceptional Astra.  For those who may not know Astra, she mystified and rocked the Canadian television airwaves in her own way.  Astra was part of the original Degrassi Jr. High series and was also part of the Talk16 and Talk19 documentaries.

Astra went on to continue working in the film industry and along her journey developed a love for Star Trek.  Astra decided to attend the 2011 Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas during August and wanted to travel through 3 different decades of the Star Trek odyssey with genuine disposition.  Astra decided to embark on a journey with sheVISIONS to create authenticity in only a way Astra and Creative Director, Suzi Horton Ifill can.

sheVISIONS worked alongside Photographer Jason Hendricks to shoot one of the key outfits designed by Costume Designer Natasha L. Gordon.  This photo was Jason’s pick and as it turned out when he sent it to us we found that Jason was a Trekkie at heart.

sheVISIONS will post other shots both in studio and candid shots of Astra journeying through Star Trek through the decades in the coming weeks.

shePRODUCTIONS ltd. Executive Producer: Laurence Dean Ifill/ Creative Director: Suzi Horton Ifill/ Photographer: Jason Hendricks / Costume Design: Natasha L. Gordon / Hair: Olivia St. Louis

Hi,

Happy Spring!  As we continue to move forward and upward we want to let all of you know that  will continue to update all of you with what’s happening around us and with us as we grow.  For the next five weeks you will hear about sheVISIONS music points of interest.  We’ll try to keep it going at least once a week for each week.

The first individual we want to let you know about is CHAD HUGHE5.  Click the link to see what he’s all about and where you can find him.  If you’re into electro pop then CHAD HUGHE5 is where you want to be.

Have fun and take in the CHAD HUGHE5 experience!

sheVISIONS

This past January 27th 2010, Suzi produced the flashmob of Rogue Performers and the musical entertainment mashups at IDS11.  With the theme of All You Need Is Love, 9 hours of rehearsal and stellar choreography by Miles Faber the Opening Night Gala at The Metro Convention Centre rocked!

With an original and unique remix created by Vinny Gruvhunter the flashmob was something to remember!

This years Opening Night Gala was in support of Casey House and with one of the most anticipated trade shows of the year Suzi wanted to have the opportunity to enjoy the night in stride and in style so she reached out to Jim Searle and Chris Tyrell of Hoax Couture.  Seen below in a Linda Lundstrom design Suzi is strutting her stuff remembering Dare To Wear Love.

Dare to Wear Love is an annual gala fashion event and fundraiser started by Jim Searle and Chris Tyrell, designers and founders of Hoax Couture, to raise funds and awareness for the Stephen Lewis Foundation in its support of grass roots organizations fighting the HIV AIDS pandemic in Sub Saharan Africa.

For 2009, the designers asked 24 of Canada’s top fashion designers to create an outfit using 6 yards of African cloth, which were then exhibited on the runway at LG Fashion Week in Toronto in October 2009.

To sign up for advance notice of tickets, please go here.

Look out for online video for IDS11 coming from sheVISIONS, click on the sign me up! link on the side of the screen to keep updated with sheVISIONS.  To learn of the incredible work that the foundation does to assist those in need, please visit their website . (www.stephenlewisfoundation.org)

Putting Disability in the Picture

The Production Without Borders Volunteer team at the Making Diversity Matter mixer.  (LCA!)

Lights, Camera, Access! Opens Doors to the World of Entertainment and New Media
By Leesa Levinson, founder and executive director, LCA!

Starting any organization comes with challenges and opportunities. Lights, Camera, Access! (LCA!) has been growing, and moves forward with confidence, increased member involvement and heightened interest from our industry stakeholders. With our program manager, dedicated board of directors and volunteer team, we are set up for success!

Currently, people with disabilities are almost invisible in the Canadian media, but LCA! is adjusting this picture. Our vision is to engage decision makers in the sector to use their outlets to advance the presence and participation of people with disabilities in entertainment, the arts and new/digital media. We aim to increase public awareness of the talented culture of people with disabilities and will accelerate this process by providing e-learning, traditional training and placement opportunities.

We are now solidifying partnerships and alliances to secure mentorship, internship and job-shadowing programs for our members. The objective of these programs, which will contribute to community building and membership growth, is to educate and empower our members with disabilities as well as people already in the industry. The benefits to all of our stakeholders involve: knowledge sharing, awareness, upgrading/educational opportunities, potential employment opportunities and guidance within the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act.

At the beginning of the year, we began developing the mentorship and internship models with industry experts. We have been very busy with research and development of content for both traditional and e-learning courses and workshops.

Our accessible open-source website (lightscameraaccess.ca) will soon reflect our recent partnerships and collaborations. It is a portal where our membership, the public, industry members and the media will be able to access the programs, workshops, information and webinars that are currently in development. Over the past year, we have experienced an increase in the number of opportunities for talent with disabilities. The LCA! database of members will encourage capacity building, while content creation and knowledge exchange begins. We are already receiving calls for casting, print, NGO and corporate engagements.

During the first week of August, LCA! was contacted by ACTRA Toronto to recruit individuals with disabilities for an opencall audition with NBC Universal. Kendra Carter, director of talent diversity initiatives; Kelly Edwards, vice-president of talent development, and Shannon Chavers, coordinator of talent diversity initiatives, spearheaded this on the NBC side. Executives from Fox, ABC and CBS also joined us for the open call. Earlier that week, LCA! members were also part of the Productions Without Borders volunteer team at a Making Diversity Matter mixer. In response to industry and membership demands, we will be providing talent-liaison services for on-camera and behind-the-scenes opportunities.

All of this innovative work would not be possible without the support of our premier partner—CTV. We are also grateful to many other supporting organizations, friends and individuals, including OCAD’s Inclusive Design Research Centre, OMDC, Heritage Canada, Dynamix Solutions, ACTRA Toronto, NBC Universal, Creative Post and Pinewood Toronto Studios. As we continue on in our third year, we are structured in our stride. Program manager Laurence Dean Ifill says, “We look forward to strengthening and creating collaborations and partnerships to further empower, engage and educate our members. LCA! programs are for youth, young adult and adult membership in digital media, entertainment and the arts. LCA! is growing within an inclusive network. Leesa Levinson has created an “out-of-the-box” service model where the community of people with disabilities can become enabled. Our present and future partners are at the core of LCA!, and it is a lifeline to the industry.”

Founded by Leesa Levinson, an actor with multiple sclerosis, LCA! is a non-profit organization with charitable status. In this creative age, the culture of people with disabilities is nonexistent in our public and private media industry sector. LCA! sees the demand and is filling the need.

If you would like more information, visit www.lightscameraaccess.ca.

LCA! strives to encourage employment in the entertainment industry of persons with disabilities both in front of and behind the camera. This is done by engaging decision makers in the sector to use their media to accelerate public awareness and acceptance of persons with disabilities.
(See more from this organization)

Please visit the direct link to this article that was copied at http://www.abilities.ca/arts/2010/12/08/lights_camera_access/

“What an exhilarating evening.  It was easy to forget that we were working.  But it was great to see that people really were working and they were working hard.  I need to say thanks so much to my team of volunteers, led by Dean Ifill and Suzi Horton, who had their wedding celebration two days before our event.  Thanks to Rhett Morita for coming to shoot for us straight from his feature shoot in Sudbury. That’s comittment.  I produced one of the first commercials Rhett shot, back in the day.  Thanks also to Lowell Hall who insisted on having the media there, despite my protestations. It’s always nerve wracking to have them around when we are talking about such sensitive stuff, but most of the reporters seem to get it, even if the details weren’t always right.

We are now definitely a matter of public record.  We have arrived.  So now we have to get going.

The fact is, the American executives we met all feel blessed to be working with companies who are willing to invest in the long term development of diverse talent.  From staff writers to director interns, they are all very robust programs, and we didn’t even get around to discussing what they are doing corporately.  I was told about a pitch meeting at NBC where three of the four NBCU staffers were people of color. They are definitely walking their talk.

And the best news is that Kelly Edwards has allowed me to share with you is that NBCU is bringing their commitment to diversity to Canada.  That means they will be having a diverse staff writer on all of the shows that have writing rooms in Canada.  This is wonderful news and we look forward to that being expanded to Canadian broadcasters and to directors as well.  We had the support of Canwest and CBC who attended the event, and we trust that all the mainstream networks will see the value of a diverse industry.  I challenge each network that is in the drama game to create the diverse staff position.  With 78 drama series in production last year, we have the opportunities to train women, visible minorities aboriginal people and people with disabilities in numbers every single year.  And as is the PWB way,  as we find inequity in the system our goal is to improve the system for all so we would also make the staff writer position available to non targeted groups.

It was quite a thrill for me to finally be in the room with all of you  I have been giving my diversity workshops for the last couple of years and I usually don’t have much diversity in the room.  I began this journey with a real burning desire to tell diverse people to get into the mainstream television game.  So many writers, directors and producers find themselves slogging it out in the world of independent film and aren’t really aware of the opportunity that exists for them in mainstream conventional television. This is the world of big budget tv.  You won’t need to make any excuses for your shows.  Resources are available, and the playing field is level.  Talent will get you in the door, but it won’t necessarily keep you there. There is the game of politics, that you simply can’t ignore.

More than ever we need talented diverse people working in the television industry.  We have the daunting task of creating content for a diverse market and we need to do a better job of engaging the diverse elements of that population if we are going to win the competition for eyeballs. I for one, am not sure what it takes to engage a Chinese audience, and I am not sure of all the ways in which we disengage them, aside from their absence, so I would like as much help as I can from members from that community in every area of the production.  So that means that if you are a member of a diverse community we are charging you with an added responsibility.  It’s not going to be easy.

I told you that you have to let your team in.  Open your robe.  Let them touch your hair.  Black folks had a visceral response, because we just don’t let anyone touch our hair, and that is probably something people outside our communities don’t know about us.  That’s just the kind of thing that would be greatly enjoyed by that segment of the diverse audience we are all serving if it was in one of our shows.

There is much to be done to get both sides to the table to enjoy this feast of diversity.  We just need to decide -  all of us, but we can do this if we are committed and respectful and understand how difficult it can be for both sides of any relationship.  The key is we all want the same things in life.  To be valued and validated, and entertained.

Love to hear your thoughts about the event.  The panelist, the message,  the networking.  Let me know about all the deals that were made and all the job offers you got .  Look forward to your feedback,

And don’t worry, if you weren’t in the drama game, and didn’t meet the criteria for this event.  We’ll eventually have something for everyone, but we had to start somewhere.

Karen”

The day was tight, on time and everyone remained the consummate professionals.  We’re grateful for all the families, coaches and players who made that day a wonderful experience.

This evening, enjoy seeing your spot and enjoy The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

On May 30th weekend we were shooting on location at Lamport Stadium. The cast of  teams were great, had style and were professionals to the end!  The day was hot but the crew was stellar and stuck it out to the end. Thanks to all of you!

This was a wonderful opportunity.  Thanks to everyone from Toronto Public Health, The Ontario Ministry of Health and Toronto City Hall for making this massive leap forward in so many ways.  The wonderful people at REDLAB helped bring this project to a finish with their honest business acumen and ability to roll with the hills through the tail end of this project, thanks for all your support with this.

Apparently, the soccer influenced spot will be broadcasted in Cineplex Theatre’s during The FIFA World Cup alongside all the showings of the new Twilight movie. We wish we could share the spot but we can’t until Twilight opens.

Have a great weekend!!