Hello parents and guardians and all of those that have young people in their lives
As you are aware a lot of stuff has changed in the last few months and we have had to make some changes to SPFX Kids Inc to adapt.
I started this camp program in 2018 with my best friend, Halloween Queen and kickass right-brained thinker Lindsey Williams, we saw a way to combine our love of all things gross and gory and inspire kids at the same time.
Years before I started SPFX Kids, I volunteered with a comedy troupe called ‘Comics for Kids’ we did monthly shows for Sick Kids Hospital and I quickly learned that making kids happy and inspired was my true calling. I am truly in my element when teaching kids and I believe that I am helping create future special effects artists.
During these past two years, as more families learned about us, our dreams grew bigger. We were featured on YTV and Breakfast Television and we also partnered with Harbourfront Centre this summer to offer a co-branded camp program. We started hosting birthday parties and were committed to fulfilling weekly school contracts where we taught our program within the school environment on a weekly basis. We were able to hire staff regularly and had a great team going.
With all of this exciting stuff happening, it felt like the perfect time to take a leap of faith into securing a space. We signed a lease on a beautiful brick and mortar location in the city’s West-End and renovations were completed by the beginning of March 2020. This gorgeous new home was to be our HQ, with a store for kids (and makeup artists) to purchase kits or top up existing ones - then came mid-March, when life changed for everyone.
I don’t want our business to sink because of this pandemic, I don’t want to let the kids down who are so looking forward to this. I see a way to keep going and to provide programming for kids stuck at home this summer.
We have been adapting to the ‘new normal’ and we appreciate that it forced us to evolve and find new ways to continue connecting with the kids. We started teaching basic level workshops via Instagram live every Wednesday at 5:30pm with stuff you can find at home, however, this was limited as shops shut down and delays in online shipping were increasing.
We then curated an “essentials kits” jam-packed with every single ingredient to enable the kids to participate in our Instagram live lessons and we sold them through our instagram account. The live sessions are fun but I can’t see the kids so I can’t guide them when they are stuck, I can’t answer their questions and encourage them when they feel like they can’t do something (because they always can)
Here is how we can run our camp model during these current times of uncertainty...
We do not plan to "cancel camp" so this is our way forward. We feel a move online is the safest way to do things given the current pandemic and unfolding guidelines from Public Health Officials. We never want to put kids and families at risk, so we will be running all workshops virtually. I am confident I can keep their attention and interest, and build a community.We will be opening registration on June 1st - please see our website for how to sign up, there will be an announcement with a link to registration.
email us at info@spfxkids.com if you would like to be notified when registration opens
We see the positives in this as it reaches kids in a wider way who could not necessarily commute to our camp due to location and timing. We are also able to offer our program to a wider age group (8-16) as we can now separate our workshops neatly in two:
SPFX Kids 1 - “Fresh Brains” & SPFX Kids 2 - “Extra Bloody” (intro to prosthetics!)
If your child has previously taken our camp then they can enrol in SPFX Kids 2 and if they have a sibling taking the course for the first time they can enrol in SPFX Kids 1
We plan to utilize Zoom or Google Hangouts (with password protected meetings and extended privacy measures) so I can see the campers at work and be able to interact and instruct them. I can assist with mixing colours, application and removal, as well as answer questions and build a sense of community amongst the group.
below you will find the information on the two courses we will be running
SPFX Kids Fresh Brains (level 1)
20th-24th of July & 10th-14th of August
Age group and requirements: aimed at ages 9-13 but welcome to all and if parent supervision is required then you get to learn too!
In this course we will go through the fundamentals, kit care, safety measures, product identification, tools and techniques, biology of human injury response, bruises, fresh scrapes, road rash, pickable and flaky-bloody scabs, 3rd degree burns, frostbite, deep cuts, maggot-infested zombie wounds and zombie makeovers complete with homemade green pus.
The course cost will be $225 CAD + HST for the course instruction plus $90 for their kits (they keep them) and they have everything needed from 6 colour grease paint wheel, a set of FX brushes, disposables, setting powder, FX sponges including silicone stipple and black stipple, scar wax/putty, fake blood, scab blood, latex, dirt powder, charcoal, gelatin burn powder) $10 flat fee for shipping/delivery applies.
Time commitment - 10 x 1.5 hour workshops twice a day for a week. We will fully cover 2 effects per day - this aligns with the lesson load of our camp anyway. we may run longer and that's ok on my end, I don’t want the participants to feel rushed
SPFX Kids Extra Bloody (level 2)
13th-17th of July & 24th-28th of August
Age group and requirements: aimed at campers who have completed level 1 or else it is best suited to 11-16 year olds. This course is more advanced but I will be there to help them every step of the way.
In this course we will cover mixing and matching skin tones using the 10 colour grease palette to make concealer and base colour for anyone, we will use this skill to apply to our severed fingers lesson, followed by exposed bones, rotten molars, festering blisters and Intro to prosthetics application and blending (prosthetic appliances supplied in kits include: stitched up gashes and keloid/hypertrophic scars)
The course cost is $225 CAD + HST for course instruction plus $125 for their kits (these are extensive and include the bigger 10 colour grease palette, multiple prosthetic pieces including stitched up cuts and both scars, as well as safe adhesives and effective remover, disposables and both stipple sponges, FX brush set with chip brush and toothbrush, tools and a mixing palette) and $10 flat fee for shipping.
Time commitment - 3 hours a day broken up into 2 sessions of 1.5 hours, running from 10am-11:30am and 1pm-2:30pm, we may run longer and that's ok on my end, again I don’t want the participants to feel rushed.
If your child or tween/teen wishes to do the two weeks then the kits will be combined and not duplicated so you're not ending up with doubles! Your camper will require an upgrade on the size of the fake blood and latex, and they will also need the 10 colour palette instead of the 6 colour wheel, which is included in SPFX 1 (Lindsey and I are still pricing this out as we need to go through both kits and see what needs to be done or added to combine them, but it will be as close to the price of the SPFX 2 Kit with any price increase reflective of the larger products and additional disposables and one-time-use ingredients)
Our intentions are to equip your kids/teens/tweens with the materials and skills they would have had in our camp anyway, just via the world wide web this time.
Stay Safe and Healthy
Misty and Lindsey
SPFX Kids Inc.
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