Growing up in Steinbach MB, Camren Friesen (’10) had two passions as a teenager. While attending Steinbach Regional Secondary School, a video editing course led him to discover his passion for filmmaking, and he also developed a love for basketball as a member of the SRSS Sabres. As a follower of Christ, he chose to attend Providence because of its integration of faith with his areas of interest, and also because of his positive experience at the institution’s summer sports camps.
“One of the main reasons I chose Providence was because I loved the sports camps,” he says.
Since its establishment in 1975, the Providence athletics program has achieved numerous successes as part of leagues such as the Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference and National Christian College Athletic Association. Many Providence student-athletes, also known as “Pilots,” have discovered the school through summer sports camps, just like Camren, who, as a student, received a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and Media before going on to work in the film industry.
Reflecting on his time at Providence, Camren says his fondest memories are of his time with the Pilots men’s basketball team. “What I loved most was seeing how we started as strangers and became really close friends by the end,” he recalls. In the classroom, he loved studying Sociology with Val Hiebert and Dr. Dennis Hiebert—professors who taught passionately and were able to captivate their students. “I was always looking forward to going to their classes because of the way they taught,” he says.
As a Communications and Media student, he set up a web domain with the help of Dr. Nicholas Greco. “I actually continued to use that domain following my education, to promote my film work to the public,” he says.
After graduating in 2010, Camren continued doing freelance film work. In the summer of 2013, he accepted his dream job as a cinematographer/editor at Winnipeg-based Handcraft Creative. He has been working with the company ever since, and it recently finished recording a short documentary. Entitled Writing on the Wall, it features Winnipeg’s unique, historic and hand-painted signs that were once prominent in the downtown centre.
Camren stays involved with Providence by filming Pilots games and creating promotional videos. “I look back at Prov and often think, ‘what great people,’ because they were all so engaging and caring,” he says. “Many continue to be my friends today.” He says he frequently turns to Romans 8:18, which says, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”
Providence is proud to call Camren an alumnus, and we look forward to seeing where his unique talents and abilities will lead him next.
