At a busy intersection in one of Toronto's trendiest neighbourhoods, nestled in the midst of the frenzy that is the Toronto International Film Festival, John Lennon's legacy is being lived out.
At the corner of Queen and John, a group of about half a dozen kids from some of Toronto's most economically challenged neighbourhoods have been working with the best equipment and the most gifted teachers to turn raw talent into results, inside the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus.
The U.S.-based bus is inspired by Lennon's love of imagination and is loaded with the best film and audio production equipment that Apple can dream up.
It rolled into town on Sept. 4, and the small group of participants has been busy ever since.
Over the past four days the film-focused members of the team have been shooting, scripting and editing their own behind-the-scenes TIFF documentary to be aired on Canada AM.
The music team members have written a song, recorded it in the bus's recording booth and created a music video to go along with it.
Despite a few consecutive sleepless nights, they're pretty much bubbling over with excitement over the experience.
"I can't really put that into words," a grinning Mohanza (Obie) Kelly told CTV.ca.
"I've had dreams of being in a position like this with all this equipment and people who know how to use it. It puts it in perspective that nothing is unattainable and your dreams can come true."
The former Canadian Idol runner-up who learned to sing in a youth choir in his native Jamaica, is working on a song with fellow participant Colanthony Humphrey.
Sitting comfortable behind a nearby keyboard he chimed in excitedly: "It hasn't even registered yet. When they turn on that mic, that's when this really starts. That's what we're here for."
Kelly and Humphrey both joined the bus through The Remix Project, the city's largest youth-led urban arts program.
They'll work under the tutelage of Tyler Winick, a Fresno, CA. native who has spent the past two-and-a-half years crisscrossing the U.S. with the bus, helping young musicians hone their skills.
Taking raw talent and shaping it into something beautiful is what makes the perpetual hotel rooms and suitcase-living worthwhile, Winick said.
"That's my favourite part. After the song is done, after it's complete, how mind-blown people are and how much they've taken away with them."
Other participants working on the bus, such as 20-year-old Matthew Plummer, were selected through Shoot With This, an eight-month film mentorship program for kids in the Jane and Finch area of Toronto.
"Nobody from where I'm from gets the opportunity to do anything like this, what we're trying to do. So it gives people the opportunity to dream," said the television broadcasting student looking to kick-start his career through his experience aboard the bus.
Part of that experience -- in addition to the hands-on business of making a documentary -- involved rubbing shoulders with some of Canada's most talented artists.
On Friday, their first full days at the controls, urban music producer Sol Guy and Canadian director Jason Reitman stopped by.
Rietman, the director of "Thank You For Smoking" and "Juno" toured the mobile film and music factory and checked out the high-tech facilities. But mostly he spent time just hanging out with the kids, taking questions and sharing advice.
"It's very important to know who you are, what your voice is, what type of stories you want to tell, what sort of song you want to write, because every time you tell someone else's story, it will feel like a lie," he told the group.
Reitman - the son of legendary "Ghostbusters" director Ivan Reitman -- urged the aspiring musicians and filmmakers to stay true to themselves.
"The best advice I would give is to keep your dream alive, to follow what is in your heart. It's very easy to get misguided and to get on the wrong path and it's very important that you are following your own dreams," Reitman said.
He added: "Everyone you want to be like had a moment where they stopped trying to be someone else and realized who they wanted to be."
Plummer said Reitman's advice provided encouragement and inspiration.
"It helps because it gives me hope that I could make it too," he said. "It's tough as a Canadian to make it, but he did and that gives me hope that I can too."
The bus, which logs close to 100,000 kilometres every year, was dreamed up by Brian Rothschild, who has been the executive director of the project since it began.
His partner in the project is David Sonenberg, whose DAS Communications manages wil.i.am and the Black Eyed Peas, Fergie and Natasha Bedingford, to name a few.
The project, designed to honour Lennon's spirit and provide creative enrichment to communities across North America, is the extension of a one-time songwriting contest envisioned by Yoko Ono.
The non-profit has been in place for 11 years, and its long list of sponsors includes Maxell, Apple computers, Sony, Roland and CTV.
