Our Story

Birth of a Notion

For over fifteen years, Ken Chaplin and Gary Romolo Fiorelli have led production crews on film locations in the United States, Canada, Europe and Africa. At each location they sought to hire qualified staff from a pool of local PA's. They soon discovered that production training, for big budget productions, was missing. That prompted the two film industry veterans to use their technical knowledge to develop the special P.A.T.S. program. The result benefits not only newcomers to the film business but the movie industry at large. As a result, P.A.T.S. was born.

Ken Chaplin

The genesis for P.A.T.S. dates back to early 2005, when Ken Chaplin created a film-training manual and course in Saskatchewan, Canada. Through the community college, Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology (S.I.A.S.T.), he developed an impressive curriculum that was soon recognized by the local film union, guild, and commission as a mandatory pre-requisite for anyone beginning work in the local film community.  He has been teaching this original course, and training local instructors for the past six (6) years in Saskatchewan.

In 2007, Ken approached Gary Romolo Fiorelli with the fully realized manual and course and offered a business partnership in return for adapting the course to the US market. The two film industry veterans spent 2007 & 2008 developing a business model, plan, and curriculum based upon the needs found in states offering lucrative film tax incentives.

Ken grew up on a farm far removed from the Hollywood film industry. On a whim, he boarded a plane for Australia in 1997 to seek employment as a Production Assistant on one of the most talked about film of the decade, Terrence Malick's "Thin Red Line". Successfully working six (6) months earned him the confidence and experience to seek out productions requiring a skilled PA.

 With his ability to pack-up and go, a phone call sent him on the road to Kansas City, Missouri for the filming of Director Ang Lee's (once a PA himself) civil war drama "Ride with the Devil."

 Within seven (7) years he had gained membership into the prestigious Director's Guild of America. He went to Canada in 2005 after honing his skills in Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Charlotte N.C. on shows such as "Runaway Jury," "Roswell" and "Judging Amy." He has since become a member of the Directors Guild of Canada. He has worked on Canadian-made films such as the award winning "The Tommy Douglas Story", "The Englishman's Boy" and the literary classic "Moby Dick".

Ken has been an ardent student of business for the past three (3) years. In addition to forming P.A.T.S. in 2007, he formed Prairie Dawg Catering, a successful mobile catering business that operates at summer festivals and other events throughout Saskatchewan.

Ken's business approach is that of 'bottom-up', meaning he has a strong desire to learn every facet of his business before permitting duties into the hands of others. With Prairie Dawg Catering he manages staff, accounting, event bookings, supply orders and even repairs. He believes in the strength of customer service that is personal and candid. He has found success in taking this approach in business and has applied it to Production Assistant Training Seminar.

  More: IMDB

 Gary Romolo Fiorelli 

Having gained his experience working on large film productions shooting outside Hollywood, he was able to pursue location work in other regions. Locations included: Ohio "Air Force One", North Carolina "The Road to Wellville", Hawaii "Outbreak" and New York and Ireland for "The Devils Own".

With a solid foundation of skills as a production assistant, he moved to Hollywood. Once there he worked on LA based productions such as "Get Shorty", "Matilda", "Air Force One" and "Outbreak".

After working on numerous films, TV shows and commercials, Gary gained membership to the prestigious Directors Guild of America. Developing the relationships he had made during his tenure as a production assistant he has now worked as an Assistant Director on such films as "Pirates of the Caribbean 1 and 2", "Runaway Jury", "Blades of Glory", "Rendition" and "Body of Lies".   More: IMDB

 

"These are stellar professionals offering an incredible opportunity to learn the insider secrets of getting an industry job. These guys know how to engage an audience and work a crowd. Kenny and Gary provided more than enough information to prepare me for my first experience on a film set."

Ian DeFries - Lindenwood University, St. Charles, Missouri - February 2010