Due to the massive demand for professional Assistant Directors and the difficulties in finding suitable candidates to fill open positions in Nordic productions, we established the AD Bootcamp in 2022. It aims to go one step further and show how Assistant Director’s can support the design and artistic work of their colleagues to enable higher quality content to be created.

Our AD Bootcamp started as a one-time pilot course and has now formed into an umbrella under which we provide further training in Assistant Directing. The original, key course consists of 8 weeks of part-time studies. In addition we’ve also organised:

• 6-week course in Production Planning

• 2-4 day Call Sheet Workshops

• 2-3 day course on Key 2nd AD’ing

• 1-2 day course on Leading the AD’s Department

• 1 day courses on MMS6 (basics / advanced)

The AD Bootcamps 2022-2024 in have been organised in collaboration with Blockbusters Gang with title BBG AD Bootcamp. In Sweden we’ve collaborated with Frans Schartaus Business Institute, and in Switzerland with Focal and Background Action.

The Junior Program is a professional training program founded in collaboration with Blockbusters Gang January 2019 for film industry newcomers who are looking for further training before joining larger productions. The program aims to meet the need for providing more hands-on knowledge for interns and assistants in the industry and to raise their understanding of productions to a higher level.

The Program has had two six-month editions, during which the participants have been learning more of filmmaking by attending different lectures, visiting multiple production houses and working part time as interns with Blockbusters Gang. During the Program, each participant has focused on a specific area of production or gathered general knowledge of projects and departments.

The lectures include topics such as

• phases of film production

• working law, collective agreements and salaries

• work safety

• communication in all of its forms

• creating back ups and file archiving

• the basic duties of PAs in the field

• more in-depth knowledge of transportation and logistics, casting background actors and creating production documents

The participants have also joined Blockbusters Gang’s teams for training days at our office and in film/commercial/TV shoots and had a separate training session on walkie communications.

The contents of the Program has been adjusted into our trainings eg. in Laajasalo Folk High School and Omnia Film Skills Program.

All film schools tend to teach something regarding production planning, script breakdowns, scheduling and assistant directing in some point of the studies. We’ve collaborated with bunch to give some insights of our work - under multiple headlines.

GENERAL

• Lifecycle of a Film Production (from 3 to 6 hrs)

• Communication in Film Productions (from 3 to 16 hrs)

• Respect, Equality and Safety in Film Industry (from 3 to 6 hrs)

• Acting on Set (from 3 to 6 hrs)

• Working with Walkies (from 3 to 6 hrs)

• Safety and Risk Assessments (from 3 hrs to 8 hrs)

• Creating Production Documents (from 8 to 40 hrs)

• Back Ups and File Archiving (from 3 to 16 hrs)

ASSISTANT DIRECTING

• Work of the Assistant Director (from 3 to 16 hrs)

• Script Breakdowns and Scheduling (from 6 to 16 hrs)

• Creating Call Sheets (from 6 to 16 hrs)

• Running the Set (from 3 to 12 hrs)

• Working with Background Actors (from 3 to 8 hrs)

OTHER

• Working Internationally in Film (from 3 to 6 hrs)

• Leadership & Communication (from 6 to 16 hrs)

• Entrepreneurship (from 3 to 6 hrs)

• Career Skills in Film (from 3 to 6 hrs)

We’re flexible on the course and lecture lengths - we can adapt our content depending on the hours we have available. If given more time, we can go through case studies, dive deeper in the subject, have time for discussions and add assignments for the participants.

APostLab offers unique workshops designed to help producers, post-production supervisors, and other industry professionals integrate post-production and VFX into the entire production process—right from the start. We’ve partnered up for the Annual Workshop in fall 2025. It’s a 6-day, residential, project-based program, involving plenary sessions, group work, and individual training.

This intensive workshop gives participants a deep understanding of the technical, financial, and creative aspects of post-production in a European, international co-production environment. 

The workshop is open to producers with a feature film or series project, including documentaries, and to post-production supervisors. Producers are teamed with post-production supervisors to design a tailored post-production workflow, schedule, and budget for the producer’s project.

The workshop will take place from November 13 to 19, 2025, and for the first time, it will be held across two countries: Helsinki (Finland) and Tallinn (Estonia). The first three days will take place in Helsinki, Finland, and the remaining three days in Tallinn, Estonia, with one transfer day in between.

The 16th Annual Workshop is organised in collaboration with the Finnish Film Foundation and the Estonian Film Institute. In addition, APostLab has partnered with Discovery Campus, a programme organised by Black Nights Film Festival – PÖFF and Baltic Event to host joint sessions.

Read more and apply here!