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As federated partners, Thorneloe University and Laurentian University jointly offer the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree program, which allows students the option of Specializing in Motion Picture Arts.

In addition, students who are not Specializing in Motion Picture Arts have the option to obtain a 24-credit Minor in this discipline.

Regarding the Specializing in Motion Picture Arts, students must obtain 120 credits in the following credit structure to obtain the BFA degree:

• 60 credits in Specialization
• 24 credits in Fine Arts: Theatre, Music, Motion Picture Arts or a combination of Music, and/or Theatre and/or Motion Picture Arts  
• 36 credits of General Electives: A minimum of 6 credits per Faculty from two of the following Faculties: Humanities, Social Sciences, and/or Sciences, and 24 credits from any Faculty excluding courses in Fine Arts (i.e., Motion Picture Arts, Theatre and Music). Students are encouraged to apply these 24 credits towards a Minor.

 

Our Program

With Thorneloe University and its other federated partners, Laurentian University is the largest university north of Toronto, and its Motion Picture Arts Production program is the only university-based centre for the study of film, TV, and other motion pictures in Northern Ontario.

The Motion Picture Arts program considers the study of motion pictures primarily as a means of artistic expression, and is therefore more practice-based than theory-based. Essentially, students are prepared for careers as 21^st century motion picture artists: creatively independent writer-director-producers who are equally comfortable analyzing the aesthetics, and application, of production design, cinematography, picture editing, and sound design. In addition, students are not only provided with a solid foundation in the history and traditions of the motion picture arts, but with the tools to navigate the financial and commercial aspects of their careers.

The priority of the Motion Picture Arts program is to prepare students for traditional careers in the production of theatrical features, TV programs, and in advertising. Until recently, the platforms for this traditional media was once limited to movie theatres, broadcast TV, and home-video. With the introduction of the communications revolution brought about by the Internet, new platforms are constantly being introduced, such as smartphones, tablet computers, etc. Each of these platforms then generates demand for supplementary content, thus generating more opportunity for employment for motion picture artists.

Furthermore, an education in Motion Picture Arts prepares students for careers in the production of video games, webisodes, and all other media implementing motion pictures.

The constant expansion of 21^st century digital media gives graduates more points of entry into the motion picture arts industry, such as social-media platforms like Facebook, YouTube, etc.

OUR REGION

As a region, Northern Ontario is home to three quarters of a million people, and Greater Sudbury, the largest city north of Toronto with a population of over 160,000, is its facto capital.

While the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is a world leader in the motion picture industry, Northern Ontario is fast becoming a regional hub. Since 2004, for example*, Northern Ontario has benefited from $100+ million in direct/indirect spending on 72+ theatrical and/or TV projects, which created 3,500+ jobs.

*Statistics provided by Music and Film in Motion, a not-for-profit organization based in Greater Sudbury.

Productions in Greater Sudbury have included the Canadian cult classic Roadkill (1989), the CBC-TV feature Shania: A Life in Eight Albums (2005), the American thriller The Truth (2012), and the Canadian comedy Men with Brooms (2002). Television series filmed in the city include TV Ontario’s Hard Rock Medical (2013), the Canadian sci-fi Dark Rising: Warrior of Worlds (2013), and TFO’s French-language Météo+ (2008-2011), and Les Bleus de Ramville (2012). March Entertainment's studio in Greater Sudbury has produced a number of animated TV series, including Chilly Beach (2003-2008), Maple Shorts (2005-present), The Very Good Adventures of Yam Roll in Happy Kingdom (2006-present), and Dex Hamilton: Alien Entomologist (2008-present). Sudbury is also home to the Science North Production Team, an award-winning producer of documentary films and multimedia presentations for museums all around the world. Cinefest Sudbury International Film Festival, Canada's 4th largest film festival after the Toronto International Film Festival, Montreal World Film Festival, and Vancouver International Film Festival, is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2014.

With regard to the arts aside from motion pictures, Greater Sudbury offers many opportunities:

With regard Theatre, Greater Sudbury is home to two prominent professional stage companies: the English-language Sudbury Theatre Centre (STC), and the French-language Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario (TNO).  While the STC has its own theatre venue downtown, the TNO stages its productions at La salle André Paiement, a venue located on the campus of Collège Boréal. Numerous other theatre companies thrive in Greater Sudbury, inclduing The Encore Theatre Company, which performs at the Ernie Checkeris Theatre at Thorneloe University, situated on the Laurentian University campus.

With regard to Music, Greater Sudbury’s most successful artists have predominantly been in the country, folk and country-rock genres. These include Robert Paquette, Kate Maki, Nathan Lawr, Gil Grand, Kevin Closs, CANO, Jake Mathews, Loma Lyns, Alex J. Robinson, Chuck Labelle, and Ox. The rap metal band Project Wyze is also based in Sudbury.

When Laurentian University's Fraser Auditorium proves inadequate for higher-profile musicians requiring larger audiences, the venue of choice becomes the Sudbury Community Arena, which has hosted a variety of national artists, like Blue Rodeo, and international artists, like Elton John. For summer music bookings, Bell Park's outdoor Grace Hartman Amphitheatre is a popular destination. Smaller touring indie rock bands, as well as local musicians, are featured at The Towne House, while local bands play a number of small music venues across the city. Greater Sudbury is also home to many annual music festivals, including Sudbury Summerfest, the Northern Lights Festival Boréal, La Nuit sur l'étang, and the Jazz Sudbury Festival. With regard to classical music, the local Sudbury Symphony Orchestra performs six annual concerts.

Additionally, Greater Sudbury has two prominent art galleries: the Art Gallery of Sudbury, and La Galerie du Nouvel-Ontario. Both are dedicated primarily to Canadian art, especially artists from Northern Ontario. In addition, many notable works of literature themed or set primarily or partially in Greater Sudbury, include Robert J. Sawyer's Neanderthal Parallax trilogy (2002-2003), Alistair MacLeod's novel No Great Mischief (1999), Paul Quarrington's Logan in Overtime (1990), and Jean-Marc Dalpé's play 1932, La ville du nickel (1984), and his short story collection Contes sudburois (2001). American comedy writer Jack Douglas also fictionalizes Sudbury as “Chinookville” in several books. Noted writers who have lived in Sudbury include playwrights Jean-Marc Dalpé, Sandra Shamas and Brigitte Haentjens, poets Robert Dickson and Margaret Christakos, fiction writers Kelley Armstrong, Sean Costello, Sarah Selecky and Jeffrey Round, journalist Mick Lowe and academics Richard E. Bennett, Michel Bock, Rand Dyck, Graeme S. Mount and Gary Kinsman.

Exigences d'admission

Based on Grade 12 4U/M courses

• 1 English
• 5 other courses
• Portfolio (for details inquire within)
• Minimum average of 70%

Possibilité d’équivalences

Credit transfer opportunities are available from other recognized post-secondary institutions and are typically evaluated on an individual basis. Some fast-tracking opportunities also exist. Articulation agreements with other post-secondary institutions are also in place. Please inquire within.