A Director of Photography, or what we commonly refer to as a Cinematographer, is the craftsman who translates a director’s vision onto our screens; through the art of lighting, composition and camera-work. We had the chance to speak to Lee Foster, an award-winning producer and cinematographer, about his experience as one.

Films are full of scenes that seem unreal, with bright colors and visuals that transport the viewer to various places. An Art Director brings the vision of the script to life and executes the plans of the designer on set. They manage many people under their team and ensure that the set creation process runs as smooth as possible. We caught up with Art Director DW Martel to learn how he got his start in this fascinating career.

We know to make a film, we require funding and distribution among many other things. But who exactly takes care of this? We sat down with Peter Findlay, an award-winning producer, director and writer with over 30 years of experience under his belt, to speak about his experience producing.

We know that a film can't be made without cameras and lighting, but who works behind the scenes to set up all this equipment? Join us we talk to Paul Riikonen, a professional Grip, about working on a film set!

Ever wondered if life as an actor or actress is as glamourous as it seems on camera? We met with local actress, Stephanie Herrera, to go behind the scenes and learn all about this fascinating career.

Ever wondered how actors get connected to their roles? Go behind the scenes as we take a look into the role of a talent agent with Miranda Lukaniuk, the owner of Local BG Talent.

Ever wondered what it’s like to work on a film set? Join us with First Assistant Director, Libby Hodgson, to learn about this exciting role in film.

Eva Thomas is a Canadian, writer, producer, director and story editor of Indigenous descent. She is a member of the Walpole Island First Nation and has dual citizenship in the US and Canada. Among her popular works are ‘Redlights’, ‘Night Raiders’, Aberdeen, and ‘Still Standing’. Her first short film ‘Redlights’ which she directed, produced, and wrote made its debut at TIFF ‘23 and was nominated for the IMDbPro Short Cuts Award for Best Canadian Film in 2023. It was a winner of the Short Film Impact Award in 2024 at GEMFest.

Stacey Tenenbaum is a Montreal-based award-winning creative producer and director known for Scrap, Shiners, Mystery Hunters and The Beat. Shiners, which she produced, directed, and wrote, was presented in over 20 film festivals, and won several best documentary awards, including DRIFF 2018’s Best Documentary Feature Award. We caught up with Stacey to discuss film, Shiners, and what she's been up to since DRIFF.

Want to write a comedic screenplay but not sure what will come across as funny on screen? We met with Noah R. Taylor and Martin Baena, the writer and director of 'The Test', to discuss writing comedy in film.

Short stories, novels, and plays can all make amazing sources for film. But how does one go about taking a story from its initial form and making it into something ready for the screen? We met with Dr. Marlene Goldman, a writer, filmmaker, and professor at the University of Toronto, to learn about this fascinating form of writing.

The term Dutch angle surprisingly does not originate from the Netherlands, as it was developed in Germany with the term coming from the German word Deutsch. Through use the term was abbreviated to Dutch. German films would draw their signature look from the fine arts seeking to mimic German expressionist artworks.

You may notice in certain films and photographs that there is a soft focus that fully separates subject from the background. This is an intentional technique called bokeh. This effect originates from Japan and consists of small orbs and distortions in the image when the background is out of focus. This effect is intentional and serves as a way to make the photo’s subject in the foreground evident. Learn more about bokeh and how to create this effect.

You may have noticed that there is a difference between some of the images you see on film versus those you capture with cameras, especially with a DSLR. These differences occur due to various types of lenses available. Standard DSLR lenses are circular while anamorphic lenses are a square image that gets stretched into a rectangle. Getting a lens in the anamorphic format is expensive as they are made particularly to be used in the film industry, which operate through rental houses. However, there are ways you can emulate this effect without breaking the bank. Learn how in Lesson 4 of DRIFF DIY Film School!

Every film and television production today utilizes colour correction to create mood, emotion and aesthetic that fits their production. Colour correction helps communicate the tone and feeling of a production to its audience. With modern technology, there is an opportunity for people to make movies on their phones now as digital filmmaking has made editing tools accessible to everyone. As a result, this skillset has become very important and a vital tool to make the film project stand out.