Red Deer student Nick Saik was headed for a career in teaching when a startling revelation came to him.

“It hit me one day: I’d have to teach kids like myself,” Saik said.

He switched from the education program at Red Deer College to motion picture arts. He says no matter what he is doing in 10 years, he’ll be having fun.

“I find a certain humour in the fact that you spend $200 million on a film and it’s not something that needs to be made. It doesn’t solve world hunger or anything like that. It is strictly for entertainment value,” he said. “And so my career is completely unnecessary and completely necessary in the exact same breath and that’s what I like about it, is that feeling of absurdity.”

It may have seemed like a 180-degree turn, but television and filmmaking are something Saik has done since he was a teenager. He was in the first batch of students to take part in the teen video intensive program film camp at RDC at age 15 and 16 and he helped with the camp supervising the younger students at age 18.

Saik recently got to see the big industry players in Canada and around the world at the 30th annual Banff World Television Festival in June.

“It was quite an opportunity. I was excited when I got the news,” Saik said. He was one of just three Alberta college students who were invited by the provincial government after being recommended by their instructors.

The festival gives producers the chance to pitch ideas to the heads of development at TV stations from around the planet. Many of the shows seen on television over the coming year will have been decided at the festival.

Saik got to be a fly on the wall, watching the behind-the-scenes wheeling and dealing that goes on.

“I just got to take it in and let it wash over me,” said the 20-year-old, who has lived in Red Deer for most of his life.

While at the festival, Saik had a chance to meet people like Paul Gross, known for his work on Passchendaele; Jon Feltheimer, the Lionsgate CEO known for his work on Weeds, Madman and for producing Juno; as well as Jack Bender, who is the director and producer of Lost.

Saik said the Banff Television Festival gave him pride in the Canadian film industry.

One of the big topics of discussion was how the web will affect television and film in the future.

As a young filmmaker, Saik welcomes the web. He said as a young cinematographer, the web opens up a large audience, allowing him to distribute what he creates to many people, opening up a large niche world market.

He is part of a team planning to shoot a feature film in Red Deer starting in early September and running into October. The film tells about a teacher who has a breakdown and is pulled towards foreign aid work.

When he isn’t studying film, Saik works as a carbon agent with Agri-Trend and plays guitar in various bands around town.

He will go into his fourth and last year in the motion picture arts program at Red Deer College in September.

sobrien@reddeeradvocate.com