Alberta film and television industry origin stories shared at Calgary Expo panel

Ivona Reis, from left, Mohammad Qazzaz, Pardeep Sooch, James Reckseidler and Chase Cardinal during the 'How to get into the motion picture industry in Alberta' panel at the Calgary Expo on Sunday. (Courtesy: local filmmaker Sebastian Salazar)

Chase Cardinal's journey to working within the Alberta film and television industry actually started with the Calgary Comics and Entertainment Expo.

Cardinal, who is a makeup artist and member of IATSE Local 212, was one of five people who shared their Alberta film and television origin stories on the Calgary Expo’s final day Sunday, at the panel "How to get into the motion picture industry in Alberta."

"I'm a bit of a Star Wars nerd," Cardinal, who attended the panel in cosplay, said to some chuckles.

"I've been dressing up for the Expo since I was 10 years old and coming every single year and that's actually how I started doing makeup and special effects work in the first place.

"Our family would dress up every year and I would do makeup, masks, prosthetics, lots of things and it helped me to build a skill set."

Cardinal mostly taught himself.

Short films and one- or two-day shoots became trainee work and building up union hours.

Now, he's "been really lucky to work on a lot of productions, usually as a background makeup artist."

"A little bit of everything that's come through town in the last couple of years,” he said, noting The Last of Us and the fifth season of Fargo.

"I love what I do."

Also on Sunday’s panel at the BMO Centre were Ivona Reis, second assistant camera, with ICG 669; Mohammad Qazzaz, locations manager, with DGC AB; Pardeep Sooch, actor, with ACTRA AB; and James Reckseidler, independent director and producer, and representing the Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers.

Each had their own journey to working within Alberta’s film and television industry.

Some were more deliberate about what they wanted to do in life:

"I started out knowing that I wanted to be in multimedia somehow, in some form, in high school," Reis said.

"I ended up going to SAIT for the film and video program.

"I immediately knew that I wanted to be in the camera department."

And some found their calling more by happenstance:

"When I moved to Calgary, I had random jobs and was looking for something interesting," Qazzaz said.

"I found a continuing education course called the Set Etiquette and Protocol course. ... And then I saw a production assistant course.

"I took both of those courses and it turns out those were the introductory courses to work in the film industry."

"I was a musician, and am a musician, but there got to be a point where I was at the University of Calgary, doing screenwriting and getting into theatre," Reckseidler said.

"I started to realize that writing for film was a fascinating space. ... And I needed to blend my passion for music and my interest in photography and it turns out that this medium has so much of that married into it.

"I ended up in film school."

For Sooch, it’s a whim that’s still rolling strong more than a decade later:

"I never planned on being an actor at all. I had gone to school to become a dentist. ... I got halfway there and I was like, 'Absolutely not,'" Sooch said.

"I had never taken an acting class, never taken a drama class in school.

"I happened to find a friend that had done extra work on Hell on Wheels. ... I got connected with his agent and that's where things started to steamroll ahead."

Reis has worked on Ghostbusters: Afterlife and multiple seasons of Fargo, among other productions.

"I love being a camera assistant. I've gotten to travel the world (and) I've worked on some pretty cool productions," she said.

Qazzaz has worked on the last season of Fargo, the first season of The Last of Us and more.

"It doesn't seem like a long time but it kind of is a long time -- it kind of went by pretty quick," he said.

"It's been very interesting. I've gotten the opportunity to work on some very interesting projects."

Sooch’s credits include The Last of Us and Heartland.

"It's such a phenomenal experience," he said.

"If I can do this, anybody can. You've just got to be in the right place at the right time, and really put yourself out there, and stick to it."

Reckseidler's latest film, The Ties That Bind, is about to open.

Reckseidler's work with the Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers involves helping others on a similar path to his get a leg up in the industry.

Years ago, it’s where he got his start.

"It's a 45-year organization that runs as a co-operative and helps people like me that have no money and a lot of dreams and ambition to figure out where their career path is," he said.