The program is free and entirely voluntary. Sign up to be added to a list. Whenever the studio is free, we will send a notification to all members. Once a team of participants agrees to devote a week of free time, we will simulate every aspect of a real commercial shoot.
Creative & Technical Meeting: We will have a pre-production meeting to discuss the film, its creative purpose, what is required to film it, and how we can augment it using Bolt, Phantom, and special effects. In this phase, we will train your creative and client-impressing skills.
Pre-Production: Based on what is discussed in the Creative Meeting, we begin preparing all the elements for the shoot. This is when we storyboard; develop and build special effects rigs; make props; decide on every art direction element required to make the shoot a success. You will learn that prep is by far the most important aspect of a successful shoot, and all the details that need to be thought of by every crew member for even the simplest shot.
Shoot: Once all the pre-production is done, we will spend two days shooting. Director, Cinematographer, Food Stylist, you will learn the stresses of a shoot, and everything that can and will go wrong, and get the skills needed to overcome these obstacles.
Post-Production: Whatever we shoot has to be put together into a film. You will learn how to handle cinematic-level RAW files, get guidance on editing styles and colour grading intricacies, and have the chance to see what the differences are between what you think looks good, what the director wants, and what a client expects (the stars rarely align…).
The ultimate goal of this apprenticeship program is to prepare each of you to be a professional worker in a very competitive industry where screwups are absolutely not permitted. We are planning these shoots to be learning experiences for every segment of a film production, to allow you to see what can go wrong, in an environment with no consequences.
This will allow you to get an accurate feel for which aspects you enjoy, so we can then push you to develop those skills even more.
There is also no hard end to the program. You can opt out whenever you want, opt back in whenever you can. We will take it always on a shoot by shoot basis.
The films produced during an Apprenticeship session are yours to keep and use on your showreel.
This is a rare opportunity for you to get access to a fully equipped studio and crew, and create a film that will help you get opportunities to climb that impossibly steep filmmaking career ladder.
The hard truth is that Cyprus is severely lacking in the specialised skillsets required for high-end studio productions.
From the artistic side, you have production design and art direction, food styling and hair/makeup. On the technicaltechnical side, you have SFX rigging, robotics, cameras, and post-production software.
A lot of these skills are also not taught in traditional institutions, but are passed down through apprenticeship programs like this.
This is ABL's way of giving back to the Cyprus film community that we have been part of for over 30 years, to train a workforce that can handle these kinds of projects at a European level.
Our program is appealing to a variety of people:
Film students and recent film school graduates: Start getting practical experience and a portfolio, the two keys to securing work in the film industry. Learn the requirements of directing, or specialised cinematography, or just the hustle of production planning.
Electronic, mechanic/pneumatic, and mechatronic tinkerers: How about putting your skills to the test by helping develop SFX rigs that synchronises with a robot arm that moves at 2m/s? These shoots have a ridiculous amount of mechanical engineering and automation behind them, and you can be one of the few who knows how to build these rigs.
Handicrafters, practical modellers, creative DIYers: We might need a fake oversized Oreo cookie that will sink in a glass of milk, but the milk isn't really milk but a liquid that looks much nicer on camera, and also the glass it falls into has to look really cool, not just a typical IKEA glass. These are the jobs of the art director, the set designer, the mockup maker, and they require that unique creative + problem solving mindset.
If you have it, you know you have it, and this apprenticeship will teach you how to use it.