VES Montreal COVID-19 Resources (EN)

VES Montreal COVID-19 Resources (EN)2020-09-30T16:53:43-07:00

VES Montreal COVID-19 Resources (FR)

Dear Fellow Members,

We hope you are all healthy and safe during these unprecedented and troubling times. As we all try our best to navigate through our days, balancing family and work obligations, we wanted to reach out to let you know the Visual Effects Society is devoted to keep our community strong.

We are all working in a creative field which heavily relies on personal interactions. Those interactions are not necessarily bound to physical contact. In a time of physical distancing it is more important than ever to reach out to your colleagues, your family and friends. We live in times where we are as close to everyone as a press of a button.

To help the visual effects industry in Montreal to grow closer together we have set up a Discord server for you to join: https://discord.gg/crc66xD.

As important it is to take care of others it is as important to take care of ourselves, we have rounded up some resources to help those in need and tips to keep you and your family connected and informed.

You are receiving this information as a member of the VES, we have a responsibility to look out for everyone in our community, it is for this reason that we would like you to share this mail with colleagues, friends and whoever you think might draw a benefit from it.

Stay healthy and stay safe.

Sincerely,

Philipp Wolf
Chair, Montreal Section

COVID-19 Back-to-Work Resources

  • Industry-Wide Labor-Management Safety Committee Task Force White Paper (EN)
  • DGA-SAG-AFTRA Production Safety Guidelines-June 2020 (EN)
  • Local 600 Recommendations for Returning to Work (EN)

Government Resources

  • General Information from the World Health Organisation (EN/FR)
  • General information from the Canadian Government (EN/FR)
  • General information from the Quebec Government (EN/FR)
  • General information from the City of Montreal (EN/FR)

Financial Resources

  • Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan (EN/FR)
  • Canada’s Employment Insurance benefits (EN/FR)
  • Quebec’s Temporary Aid for Workers Program (EN/FR)
  • The Actors Fund of Canada is not just for actors; they support everyone in the entertainment industry (EN/FR)

Food Delivery Resources

Mental Wellness Resources

  • Quebec’s Guide on mental health during the pandemic (EN/FR)
  • Behind the Scenes mental health and suicide prevention initiative portal (EN)
  • Calm is providing free tools take care yourself and stay grounded (EN)
  • Zoo live streams to lighten the mood (EN)

Helping Others

  • Food Banks Canada (EN/FR)
  • Donate blood at Héma-Québec (EN/FR)
  • Become a volunteer at Jebenevole.ca (EN/FR)
  • Look for Facebook groups for the area you are living to see if there are people in need

VES Resources

  • VES Archives – showcasing the history of the worldwide visual effects community (EN)
  • Webcast series, VFX Pros: Home Edition (EN)
  • Technology White Paper about Working From Home (EN)

Industry Resources:

  • Crowd Sourced Job Database (EN)
  • The Foundry Tutorials (EN)
  • Autodesk Tutorials (EN)
  • SideFX Tutorials (EN)
  • Pluralsight: Free online curses (EN)

Working from Home Resources

  • How to work from home with kids (without losing it) – CNN (EN)
  • Parents share home schooling survival tips on Twitter amid coronavirus lockdown – CNET (EN)
  • How ‘regular school’ parents can homeschool their kids – CNN (EN)
  • Home-Schooling Tweens and Teens During Coronavirus Closings – New York Times (EN)
  • Deadline’s New Hollywood Podcast: Staying Hopeful, Safe And Entertained As The Industry Changes – listen to the episode (EN)
  • New to Working Remotely? These Resources Can Help – LinkedIn (EN)
  • 8 Tips To Make Working From Home Work For You – NPR (EN)
  • SUCCEEDING FROM HOME: Here’s exactly how to thrive as a remote worker in the days of coronavirus – Business Insider (EN)
  • Ready to start using Zoom, but need some help? Drop in for a 30 minute live training with a Zoom expert (EN)

Resources for working with children

  • Coronavirus and Kids: Resources from Save the Children (EN)
  • Resources to explain these challenging times to Children (EN)
  • Khan Academy: remote learning during school closures (EN/FR)
  • Red Nose Day: Remote Learning Resources (EN)
  • Scholtastic Learn At Home (EN)
  • Crash Course on YouTube Channel has courses from Astronomy to Anatomy and Physiology (EN)
  • SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s children’s literacy program streams videos featuring celebrated actors reading children’s books (EN)
  • #SAVEWITHSTORIES also features celebrities reading children’s books (EN)
  • Audible: Free audio books for kids (EN)

Entertainment

  • Netflix Party: enables you to host a remote movie night (EN)
  • 2020 TCM Classic Film Festival: Home Edition (EN)
  • Mail Chimp Presents SXSW 2020 Shorts (EN)
  • Harry Potter At Home (EN)
  • Google Stadia: 2 month free access (EN)
  • GOG: Stay at home and play some games (EN)
  • Andrew Lloyd Webber Musicals (EN)
  • Cirque du Soleil: 60-minute-specials (EN)