Alumni Update: Mike Ashton, Show Production and Event Management
Graduated From: Show Production And Event Management Diploma (2015)
“Find something you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.”
According to Mike Ashton, he hasn’t ‘worked’ a day since he left Metalworks Institute, yet he’s been working steadily since graduating from the Show Production & Event Management Program in 2015.
Mike says that he’s explored almost every avenue made available to him from the knowledge and skills he gained in MWI’s Show Production program. Those avenues included working with NASCO on shows featuring the likes of Taylor Swift and Blue Rodeo, or working with Freeman Audio/Visual, facilitating corporate meetings at airport hotels.
A semi-professional musician for more than 15 years, Mike came to Metalworks Institute to build on the knowledge he had developed in those years, and to discover new opportunities in the many different segments of the entertainment industry. A native of Sudbury, Ontario, Mike hoped to parlay his education at Metalworks into opportunities within the burgeoning film business in Sudbury. After some patience and a lot of hard work, Mike managed to secure a position as a cable puller and second boom operator on a Canadian television production named Cardinal, currently filming near Sudbury.
“In order to get this far, I had to work hard,” says Mike. “I had to know how to wrap a cable, I had to know my microphone polar patterns, my signal flow. Everything I was taught in the Show Production program has given me a solid foundation to reach for the sky, where ever I choose to go.
“I work with amazing people, and every day just keeps getting more and more exciting. It is a privilege and luxury compared to other jobs I’ve worked. Metalworks is the place to go if you want to turn your love for music into a real, tangible, and rewarding career.”