The Blog
Lights, Camera, Action! Meet the Video Editing Mentors
It’s a summer of firsts here at Ladies Learning Code. Back in June we had our first 3D printing workshop, we’re currently running our first Girls Learning Code Summer Camp & now, on August 18th, we’re having our first video editing workshop! Hosted at the George Brown College Digital Media and Gaming Incubator, our learners will be gaining new skills in interviewing, directing, lighting, and of course, editing. Thank you to BizMedia for sponsoring this event and all our wonderful mentors for volunteering their Saturday to help our learners make their video a success. If you are interested in attending, you can still buy tickets here. See you all on August 18th & then…. YouTube!
Co-Lead Instructor: Justin Smith (@justinbsmith | http://bizmedia.com)
Creative director & Product development at BizMedia – Producing, directing, filming, and editing videos.
What are you passionate about? “Anything artistic, but primarily movies and music.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “Teaching is its own reward.” 
Co-Lead Instructor: Peter Strauss (@strausspeter | http://www.petestrauss.com)
Lead Editor and Head of Post-production at BizMedia
What are you passionate about? “I have a strong passion for film and filmmaking. I love the study, aesthetics, and creation of design and art.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “BizMedia suggested a course for teaching the video production process. I thought this could be a great learning experience for students and for myself.”
Maurice Chang (@maurice360five | http://www.mauricechang.ca)
Business & Co-Founder at DayForTwo.com – I do everything other than code.
What are you passionate about? “Video, travel, photography, break dancing, sneakers, tech, web, entrepreneurship, food.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “Fact 1: I love web, tech, entrepreneurship, digital
Fact 2: I love ladies; the 5 most important people in my life are women
Fact 1 + Fact 2 = A natural desire to get involved with Ladies Learning Code”
Katie Grant (@kategrant | http://kategrant.ca)
Camera work, lighting and green screen set up, audio monitoring and editing at Garage Studios
AV Service Help Desk at Seneca@York
What are you passionate about? “Design and Technology.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I have had lots of people help me throughout my career and while I am still learning I believe knowledge should be shared so that we can all achieve.”
Nate Robertson (@n8_bomb | http://www.n8bomb.com)
Senior Editor / Animator / Creative at Corbin Visual
What are you passionate about? “So many things. In broad-strokes: using technology to create art with scientific themes.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “Patrick Connolly.”
Gonzalo Vazquez (@gonzalosvazquez | http://www.gonzalovazquez.ca)
Multimedia Developer at Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College – I am in charge of developing interactive e-learning units for students.
What are you passionate about? “I love creating. My passion is film, code and learning.
When I was a little kid my mum told me that knowledge is one of the most important traits we have as human beings.
Since then, I have always keep that saying at heart and never stopped learning.
Coincidentally, the path I took requires me to always learn and share my knowledge with others.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I want to get involved with Ladies Learning Code because I want to give back to the community as well I love explaining and sharing my knowledge with people.”
Michael Goldberg (@MichaelGTV | http://MichaelGoldberg.tv)
Freelnace @ CBC, CP24, CityNews and Web producer for Bachelor Canada – As Web Producer I am responsible for all content that goes on the site, as well as development of the website. I work with sales, marketing, developers, and designers to make the site is working properly, and that all content is correct.
What are you passionate about? “The merging nature of web and TV is where my passion in my professional life currently resides. In my personal life I’m a big comic book geek.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “It was suggested to me from a friend, and former co-worker and I thought it would be interesting.”
Jordan Sparks (@SuperSparkplugs | http://Sparkcomic.com)
Research Assistant at the CIM2 Multimedia Lab at Ryerson University – My responsibilities include working with a team of programmers and the direction and production of video and visual assets for the laboratory, including demo videos, 3D Models, and 2D Art.
I also work with a student radio show called Just Rights Radio on CIUT. I mostly edit the audio of interviews before they go to air, but I sometimes participate in the actual interviews themselves.
What are you passionate about? “I am passionate about everything I do. When I commit to something I am 100% into what I’m doing and never back down on my promises. I am also very dedicated to helping out people wherever and however I can if I am able. If I can help people get into video editing, it would mean a lot to me.
As for topics, I’m very passionate about art, gaming, learning, helping out others, and video & audio production.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I heard about the call for editing mentors from my friend (and Ladies Learning Code’s current intern), Carly Chalmers. It sounded interesting and a chance to get involved in something, so I jumped at the opportunity.”
Cindy Lemus (@EEALS)
I am a media professional with experience that spans across the fields of film, television, writing, editing, web and design and have worked in Toronto, Los Angeles and Hamburg. Currently I work as a production coordinator in the Children’s Media department at TVO, among managing our video content across multiple platforms I also work on production and web related projects. I also work as a freelance web producer and film researcher because clearly I like keeping busy ! haha.
What are you passionate about? “experimental film, sailboats, mastering the german language, good design, interactive installations, trying to ride bicycles in los angeles.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “Earlier this year I had briefly heard about LLC and then one of the interns Carly mentioned it again to me and finally a couple of weeks ago I took the 3D course. I enjoy how accesible LLC makes learning programming and coding among other things, so I thought it would be great to get involved in some way. It seems like such a great opportunity to learn and meet like minded indivudals. Personally, I’ve had some pretty great learning opportunities over the years and being able to pass on any knowledge or advice to someone seems incredibly worthwhile to me!”
Maria-Saroja Ponnambalam (@ThePandiStory | http://www.thepandistory.com)
Community Media Production Co-ordinator/Research/Assistant Editor at HIGHRISE_National Film Board of Canada
· Provide development, research and post-production assistance on web documentary OUT MY WINDOW and HIGHRISE Winner of International Digital Emmy Award (2011)
· Coordinate and facilitate a participatory photo-voice workshop, post-production assistance on web documentaries 1000th, 2000th Tower and 1 Millionth Tower
. Researcher/Assistant Editor on the Digitial Citizenship project
What are you passionate about? “Collaborative media making and community building, inclusive arts, art is for everybody!; making technology accessible to everyone, telling good stories and getting them heard, social justice, documentary filmmaking, multiplatform documentaries, & music composition.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I am a community media production co-ordinator with the HIGHRISE team who has been working with residents at the Kipling highrises for over two years, where we are now hosting some Ladies Learning Code workshops.”
Michael Cumming (@BreadalbaneMike | http://michaelcumming.com)
Founder and content production at Ambitious City
What are you passionate about? “Architecture, urban design and satire.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “Seems very interesting and dynamic. Basic idea of getting women to learn code seems like a very good idea.”
Michelle Bouzide (http://photoplays.ca)
Co-founder and owner of Photoplays. We specialize in 8mm and 16mm film to digital transfer.
The bulk of our work is transferring old home movies to Dvd – this involves editing, colour correction, encoding and Dvd authoring.
What are you passionate about? “Ontario produce, politics and understanding the world around us.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I’ve been hearing about Ladies Learning Code for a while as I also do web design. Very interested in learning more about what you do and becoming involved.”
Jason Kattides (@jasonlovesvideo)
Freelance Videographer and Editor – Film stuff, and edit stuff.
What are you passionate about? “Becoming better than I was the day before at all the things I do.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I was taught at a very young age to never stop learning. While I may not be on the receiving end of the workshop – I expect to network with lots of new people and I hope to learn as much as I can.”
Ted Ghanime (@tedinframe | http://bizmedia.com)
Executive Producer and Director at BizMedia. – My responsibilities typically include managing client relations, developing video concepts and treatments with a team of creatives, and producing and overseeing all logistics pertaining to production.
What are you passionate about? “I love the collaborative process of film. I love writing and developing script and creative treatments. I love the process of putting together an exceptional team that can translate the creative treatment to video. I love to see all the talent that gets pooled in to achieve one collective goal — from directing and shooting to editing and sound mixing. I love working with and learning from others.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “There are so many stories that can be shared and film is an excellent medium of doing so. The trouble with it, however, is that there are technological hurdles that must be overcome before being able to communicate your ideas. When I discovered that LLC was branching out to include video development, I jumped at the opportunity to share my insight and to hopefully assist in overcoming those obstacles and to begin sharing their stories.”
Alex Chesser
Application developer (web & iOS) at Klick.com – I program in PHP, C#, Objective-C, Javascript, Node.JS, SQL, “NO-SQL” (mongodb). I also have a background as a high school teacher.
What are you passionate about? “Lots! Seriously… Technology, fitness, nutrition, business & entrepreneurship, entertainment & media…”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I like the social aspect, I miss teaching but can’t do it full time, helping with LLC seems a nice way to get the best of both worlds.”
Aliyyah Fazil
Freelance Videographer and Editor – Film stuff, and edit stuff.
What are you passionate about? “Filmmaking, storytelling, photography.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I heard about it from a friend. I mentored for Hot Docs doc camp for two years as well & enjoyed the expereince.”
Amy Gottung
Freelance Producer/Videographer/Editor
General Manager for VIVA! Youth Singers of Toronto, a youth choral and music education program
What are you passionate about? “Curation of culture, culture of curation.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “I dig what you do!”
Mark Cohen (@Mark_0620)
Manager, Multimedia Solutions at TD Bank Group. – I run a small creative services team responsible for video production, graphic design, web content.
What are you passionate about? “Movies, music, art — high impact visual communications.”
Why did you get involved with Ladies Learning Code? “My girlfriend attended a session on Python programming and was impressed by LLC. She saw this Premiere session and suggested that I contribute as a mentor. Looking at the LLC blog, it looks like a fun opportunity to share some knowledge and meet other mentors.”
Quiet on set! We’re about to have an awesome workshop thanks to these wonderful mentors!
For more info about Ladies Learning Code, follow us on Twitter or check out our Facebook Page. If you’d like to join our email list, click here or to volunteer as a Mentor, join our developer email list.