Press
The latest shareable info from inside the “Eye.”
Scroll through our Press Releases and News from over the years.
Hammer Post Launches New Post roductionGrants for Emerging Talent
Hamilton, Ontario — The Shooting Eye, a Hamilton-based production company has launched a grant program through its newly labelled post production services, Hammer Post. President and Filmmaker, Jeremy Major says the company is looking to contribute to multiple projects by supporting emerging talent of any age who are putting together their first or second projects.
Grants are available as in-kind services for short form projects that may help leverage a filmmaker’s success going to market. Short films, music videos, proof of concept and pilots are all eligible and will be considered for an up to $5000 contribution of services per project.
“We’re hoping to cover the cost of entire sound mixes or colour grades. We want to see up and comers put their best faces forward as they pitch their projects,” says Major.
He also wants to redefine “emerging talent” and shift it away from just youth.
“I’ve worked with people in their 70s, for example, creating their first projects and their voices are equally important as the young voices in the industry.”
Major has been head of The Shooting Eye for nearly 25 years and knows the challenges new talent encounters, especially with the current amplified funding hurdles.
“It’s difficult to create a name for yourself with limited resources to do it, so we want to make it just that little bit easier for bold new filmmakers to get noticed,” he says.
The first round of submission intakes ends August 31, 2024. Submission can be made online through the Hammer Post website, HammerPost.ca
Hamilton Life: Christena Hampson Interview
Christena Hampson talks about what inspired her to write a story about her sister.
The Spec: ‘My Lala’ will tell story of Hamilton mother who became advocate for disabled
Thanks to Dan Nolan for sharing a part of our journey. Read the story in The Spec:
Realtime 3D Production
The Unreal Engine is a tool that’s been revolutionizing the gaming industry for several years. Recently, it’s begun to change the ways films are made too, with its integrations of motion capture, digital humans, and stunning environments. As a realtime 3D render tool with cinema-level capabilities, it’s affecting both Computer Generated Animation and also what’s known as Virtual Production. We started working with it in late 2020, and have only begun to scratch the surface. Below are some are our early experiments and commercials from the past year that made use of the efficiency and unlimited potential of the Engine. Lots more to come!
Featured Filmmaker: Christena Hampson
“My sister is my hero.”
-CHRISTENA HAMPSON
Meet Christena Hampson. An actor, choreographer, writer, and now gearing up to be a first time film director. The film: A true story with a personal connection.
Canadian-born Hampson originally went to university for medicine. While she may have had the brains for it, she didn’t have the stomach. Her true love was drama and dance, and helping people through the arts. She quickly repositioned herself into a more suitable educational stream, majoring in Drama. The stage has always been an exciting place to her, and through her twenties she both acted and danced in performances such as The Nutcracker. At the same time, she was developing behind the scenes as a producer and choreographer. Over the last twenty years she has built a thriving dance centre that teaches dancers of all ages and backgrounds, and continues acting (recently appearing in the hit tv show Fear They Neighbour on Discovery Investigation).
Compassion has always been a part of her journey, both in developing young dancers and creatives, as well as at home with her family. Christena’s sister Angela has special needs. Born in the mid-70s, Angela’s childhood challenges shed a light on the weaknesses in the “system”. As a baby, doctors wanted to send her to an institution, said she’d never walk or talk, and later she encountered alienation in the school system. Fortunately for Angela, her mother Dawn was a fighter. Dawn worked hard in her humble way to see her daughter breakthrough the barriers and shift the system toward integration, for the benefit of Angela and the future of children with special needs.
Her family’s struggles have inspired Christena’s emotional new feature film, My Lala, currently in development at The Shooting Eye. Jeremy Major will produce.
We’re excited to bring it to you. Stay tuned and follow its progress from script to screen, and support the making of this film.