Man behind the music: Winnipeg guitar maker thrives on collaborations with musicians

Inside his workshop on Winnipeg's St. Matthews Avenue, Allan Beardsellstrums a guitar with white stickers spelling "sign out" on the front.

The electric guitar, which he crafted by hand in 2012, marked a turning point in Beardsell's career.

"This was a real step back for me, a step in the direction of collaboration with the client," he said.

That client was John K. Samson, lead guitarist and vocalist for the Weakerthans, an award-winning Winnipeg band currently onhiatus.

Beardsell has"really done a lot to make me feel more comfortable and confident as a performer," said Samson.

It was Samson who added the stickers reading "sign out," said Beardsell.

"I think he wanted to encourage people to get off the social media or something like that," Beardsell said with a laugh.

"The story about this guitar was just that John had some very specific ideas about the way he wanted it to look."

For its colours, "he wanted it to be reminiscent of one of his dogs," said Beardsell. "He wanted colours that reminded him of things that were in his surroundings."

That special guitar, and Beardsell's dedication to his craft, arethe focus ofA Love for Strings,a new short profile video.

The video is the work of Gino Villaceran, Mark Mariano, and Beryl Constantini, three filmmaking students fromtheCreate programat Sisler High School in Winnipeg, which offers multimedia training and experience.The three filmmakers worked incollaboration with CBC Manitoba's Creator Network.

Meet the filmmakers

Gino Villaceran graduated from Argyle high school in 2022 and specializes in editing and setting the pace of a story. He loves writing scripts, being behind the camera, acting and editing clips.

Mark Mariano is a student filmmaker interested in camera, editing, sound editing, motion graphics, acting, voice acting and stunt performing.

Beryl Costantini is a filmmaker who thrives working on collaborative projects. He has been video editing for three years. He also enjoys basketball, his drum kit, acting and films.

More about Project POV: Sisler Create

CBC Manitoba's Project POV: SislerCreate is a new storytelling collaboration that partners filmmaking students with CBC journalists to produce short videos.

During fall 2022, CBC journalists led storytelling and producing workshops over several weeks with filmmaking students at theCreate program at Sisler High School.

The program focuses on education and career pathways into the creative industries. Students can take courses in animation, film, game design, visual effects, graphic design and interactive digital media.