Latest posts from National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI)

Writer/producer teams working on first or second feature film: develop your project with NSI Features First

Posted: 16 Jul 2018 08:42 AM PDT

The National Screen Institute – Canada (NSI) is now accepting applications for the 2018-19 edition of NSI Features First, presented in association with Telefilm Canada.

The course is a development training launch pad for writer/producer teams looking to produce their first or second feature film with strong commercial appeal. Over 20 feature films developed through the program have been produced since 1997.

Up to four teams will work with Canada’s best industry experts to:

Although training takes place over 10 months, participants keep their day jobs and attend short, intensive training sessions at intervals throughout the program.

Past associate faculty members have included writers and story editors Corey Mandell and David Barlow, and industry execs Dan Lyon (Telefilm Canada), Justin Rebelo (Entertainment One), Melissa Kajpust (Super Channel) and Glenn Cockburn (Meridian Artists).

Accepted teams also receive $7,500 from NSI to put towards additional story editing and approved development costs, up to $10,000 in-kind in lighting and grip equipment rental from William F. White International and up to $7,500 in-kind post-production support from Deluxe.

“NSI Features First is an ongoing success, as shown by its track record of having nurtured and developed so many successful Canadian films over the last 20+ years,” said program manager Shelly Quade.

“Helping to select and then refine each year’s submissions with the help of program advisor Al Magee and our always-excellent faculty is a rewarding process – the growth we witness is significant. We continue to look for the best, most fully-realized stories across a variety of genres. I’m excited to see what this year’s program will bring.”

Toronto-based Must Kill Karl producer and 2017 NSI Features First program participant Ryan West said, “The opportunity to have others with passion and experience review and advise on your work is one I would recommend to anyone considering their next big step towards a project.

“NSI Features First has been an invaluable opportunity to us as aspiring filmmakers, providing a more comprehensive understanding of the greater industry we’re a part of and the journey on which we’re embarking.”

Find out more and apply for NSI Features First by September 14, 2018 at 4:30 p.m. CST.

NSI Features First-developed Venus from writer/director Eisha Marjara and producer Joe Balass had its English-language festival premiere at Whistler in December 2017. The award-winning film has since been released theatrically and screened throughout the US and Canada.

Adventures in Public School, developed through NSI Features First in 2014 by writer/director Kyle Rideout and writer/producer Josh Epstein, celebrated its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in 2017 and was honoured as one of TIFF’s top ten films later that year.

Writer/director Kirsten Carthew’s The Sun At Midnight, developed through the program in 2005-06, premiered in production location Fort McPherson, NWT in 2016 and has since screened at over 40 film festivals around the world, won nine awards – including best feature at Bentonville Film Festival – and received additional nominations and acclaim.

Post-production has been completed on SuperGrid, developed through NSI Features First in 2016 by writer Todd McCauley and producer Hugh Patterson. The film was shopped at Cannes Marché du Film marketplace in May 2018 and is represented by Raven Banner.

NSI Features First is funded by Presenting Sponsor Telefilm Canada; Supporting Sponsors Super Channel, Corus Entertainment and Breakthrough Entertainment; Provincial Sponsor Creative BC through the Daryl Duke and William Vince Scholarship Fund; and Industry Supporters William F. White and Deluxe. NSI Core Funders are Manitoba Sport, Culture & Heritage and the City of Winnipeg through the Winnipeg Arts Council.

All media enquiries

Laura Friesen, Manager, Communications & Alumni Relations
Tel: 204.957.2999 or email: laura.friesen@nsi-canada.ca

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Purl

Posted: 11 Jul 2018 02:58 PM PDT

Returning home, Pearl navigates the disconnect felt with those once closest to her. In order to move forward, she attempts to stitch together the relationships of her youth.

Creative team

Writer: Kimberly-Sue Murray
Director: Ian Macmillan
Producers: Ian Macmillan, Kimberly-Sue Murray, Martin Wojtunik, Hannah Anderson

Filmmaker’s statement

The purl stitch in knitting represents a backward motion, looping back on the previous knot in order to progress forward. In this film, we follow Pearl, just as much a work in progress in her own right. She is person who has chosen proudly to rebel from her surroundings and her upbringing. Headstrong and steadfast. Making her way without looking back.

The dwindling health of her father means running back toward what she had so assuredly run away from years before. This is familiar territory but unfamiliar circumstance. Familiar faces bring back painful memories. Roads not travelled can seem like opportunities lost and those that were once closest to us can become the furthest from our reach.

In the excitement and urgency of youth, it’s so easy to leave the people and places we love to pursue our insatiable curiosity and the need for an escape. The nostalgic image of home remains one absent of change in our minds. But ultimately, time marches on. Lives march forward. Eventually the image of our memory is shattered by the reality of the present.

Returning home is a source of anxiety for so many. So easily we fall back in to the familial roles we once played, reacquainting ourselves with our old habits and reigniting the flames of old feuds.

Now, Pearl needs to find new ground on this old soil. To accept the choices of her youth and to face the pain lingering in those she left behind. To forge a connection with the person she once was. Hoping the people she loves can help her grow into the woman she longs to be.

About Ian Macmillan

Ian Macmillan has an extremely diverse resume as a filmmaker.

As a director, he recently completed the short film Purl which screend at the 2018 Canadian Film Festival. His short film Shavasana has screened at numerous film festivals and is currently featured online by the National Screen Institute.

As part of the director-duo PILA, Ian directed several music videos for artists such as Jenn Grant, Buck 65, Rich Aucoin and was awarded Musique Plus’ Video of the Week for the video MTL by St. Ange.

His award-winning documentary, Within Sight of Shore, screened at multiple festivals and was featured several times as an episode of CBC’s Land & Sea. Ian is also one of the creators of the online children’s puppet show, Couch Fort, alongside Joe Cobden.

Ian spends the majority of his time behind the lens as a cinematographer. An associate member of the Canadian Society of Cinematographers, his images have been seen at festivals around the world. His portfolio includes dozens of short films and seven feature films.

His latest feature, She Never Died, is an action thriller produced by V71 Entertainment. Other credits include the digtal series’ The Plateaus, Ghost BFF, Clarevoyant, Upstairs Amy, The Bitter End and award-winning action comedy Filth City for which he was nominated for a 2018 CSC Award.

His long list of music videos includes artists such as Majid Jordan, Karl Wolf, Swollen Members, The Weeknd, SonReal and Jessie Reyez, to name a few. In addition, he has photographed several award-winning commercials for clients such as Nike, McDonalds, Coors Light, Paypal and Cineplex. Ian has also lensed programs for VICELAND, Discovery, HGTV, Super Channel, Food Network, YTV and BRAVO.

The OLN documentary series Illusions of Grandeur garnered him a 2015 CSC award nomination.

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Him

Posted: 11 Jul 2018 02:48 PM PDT

Hand-drawn charcoal drawings movingly depict the loneliness and bewilderment of a child seeking safety in a war zone in this timely, very short animation that uses found sound to explore the powerlessness of the refugee experience.

Produced as part of the 11th edition of the National Film Board’s Hothouse apprenticeship.

Creative team

Writer/director: Lorna Kirk
Producer: National Film Board of Canada

About Lorna Kirk

Lorna Kirk has been immersed in film and television since earning her master’s degree in film from the University of Manchester in 1999.

Her award-winning film A Little Bit of Freedom screened at the 53rd Cannes Film Festival as part of the Kodak Emerging Filmmaker Showcase and has been presented at film festivals around the world.

She has directed documentaries and children’s television series for CBC and recently started using animation in her short films. She continues to find new ways and methods of bringing stories to life.

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Waste It

Posted: 11 Jul 2018 02:42 PM PDT

Karen attempts to grapple with the fleeting nature of romance through filmmaking, only to run into conflict with her surrounding cast and crew.

You can try to make art imitate life, but it doesn’t necessarily make life any easier.

Creative team

Writer/director: Emily Bridger
Producer: Kerry Gamberg

Filmmaker’s statement

Making this film was a particularly important learning experience for me (every film is, but this one especially).

I was able to make Waste It thanks to the RBC Michelle Jackson Emerging Filmmaker Award, which is presented annually by the St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival. This award provided the means to make the film, but also came along with a mentor – filmmaker Lindsay Mackay [an alumni of NSI Diverse TV Director] – whose guidance and support allowed me to take chances while directing that I would’ve likely otherwise felt too nervous to take.

I really learned a lot making this film. And while my particular struggle as a filmmaker has never been working with actors (as is the protagonist’s in this film), I was able to explore the very real feelings of dissatisfaction one can encounter when trying to work through personal feelings while making a movie.

About Emily Bridger

Emily Bridger is a writer, filmmaker and actor from St. John’s, Newfoundland.

Her first film, Epilogue, which she wrote and directed, screened at various festivals across Canada.

Her second short film, Brad, premiered at LA Shorts Fest 2010. Her next short film, Kathy (produced by Shannon Hawes, directed by Mark O’Brien) premiered at the Atlantic Film Festival 2011 in Halifax. It screened at festivals across Canada, and also won best comedy at Lakeshorts Film Festival 2012.

In 2013, Emily wrote the film Sadie (produced by Deanne Foley, directed by Latonia Hartery), which screened at several festivals internationally, receiving two best short film awards in the process. Sadie was also broadcast on CBC and was available to watch on Air Canada flights as part of the enRoute Film Festival.

In So Many Words, a short film which Emily wrote and directed, premiered at Atlantic Film Festival 2016.

Emily is the recipient of the 2016 RBC Michelle Jackson Emerging Filmmaker Award. Through that award, Emily wrote and directed the short film, Waste It, which premiered at the St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival 2017.

Recently, Emily teamed up with director Latonia Hartery once again to write a vignette for the six-part romantic comedy feature, Hopeless ‘Romantic.’

Emily’s first full feature film script, Little Orphans, was selected for the Whistler Film Festival Praxis Screenwriters Lab 2017 and for Telefilm’s Talent to Watch Program 2018.

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