Our Story
The foundation of InterGen Studio ™
How it began
The origin of InterGen Studio ™ begins with Ely Bonder, a Canadian daily news video editor, with a passion for filmmaking. Throughout his career, Ely worked on over 10,000 reports; the most personal ones were those he conceived and produced, including: Year of Our Lives : 1988 , Our Magazine (pilot) , Youth-Created PSA , and Telethon Video. Several years after retiring, Ely was approached by community worker CMA Madeiros. Inspired by Ely’s work on empowering youth in media, they suggested he mentor youth in creating videos with and for seniors.
As a result, Ely signed on with two foundations and hired one of the industry’s most talented broadcasters, Ashley Gilmour. Together, they produced three, seven-minute documentaries. For each documentary, a team of high schoolers was tasked with selecting a senior in their community, and working together to film the senior’s story using everyone’s unique creativity.
In celebration of the completion of the InterGenerational Documentary Project, a festive gala, hosted by CCS Montreal, was staged at Concordia University.
During the project, one of the student producers discussed on-camera how youth “fear” seniors and seniors “fear” teenagers. This inspired the concept behind InterGen Studio ™.
As of 2020, InterGen Studio ™ has gained national attention for success at the Montreal based “COOPERATION” competition alongside its connection to the Maison de l’Innovation Sociale.
Furthermore, in 2021, Mentor Canada invited InterGen Studio to try their new Mentor Connector Platform, leading to queries from many participants who wanted to help build the Studio. In light of the gained interest, a 15 member executive team was formed entirely out of volunteers.
“We are so proud and happy that we have attracted so much talent to our table, people passionate about breaking down barriers between people, cultures, and generations. For us, this is really the Canada we want to be.”
– Ely Bonder