Latest posts from National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI)

BANFF Spark seeking applications from women ready to grow or launch businesses in the screen-based industries

Posted: 04 Feb 2020 07:37 AM PST

The Banff World Media Festival is seeking applications for a second cohort of women ready to grow or launch their own businesses in the screen-based industries.

Supported by the Women Entrepreneurship Strategy, the BANFF Spark Accelerator for Women in the Business of Media offers training, mentorship and market access to women entrepreneurs from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario.

BANFF Spark will provide participants with an interactive business planning curriculum, facilitated networking opportunities, mentorship and access to potential strategic business partners. The program includes regional workshops in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver, as well as a tailored stream of programming at the 2020 Banff World Media Festival.

Participants will attend BANFF 2020 with full registration and a stipend to cover travel costs, enabling them to benefit fully from the festival’s extensive professional development opportunities. Participants also receive one-on-one guidance from a senior industry mentor expertly positioned to help with business plans and financing strategies.

The program is open to women who are established in the media industry and those just starting out. Content production businesses as well as those that offer related services within the screen-based industries are eligible. BANFF Spark has a strong mandate to support diversity and bolster the economic success of all women, including women of colour, Indigenous women, women with disabilities, LGBTQ2+ women and non-binary individuals.

Apply by February 28.

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STORYHIVE web series Red Chef Revival wins Doc Weekly’s best documentary series of 2019

Posted: 04 Feb 2020 07:29 AM PST

Red Chef Revival, a STORYHIVE 100K project from Ryan Mah, has been named best documentary series of 2019 by Doc Weekly.

From the Doc Weekly website:

Best series of the year goes to Red Chef Revival, the travel and cooking show redefining our perception of Indigenous cuisine. Filmed across six episodes, the series sets out to meet the Canadian chefs modernizing traditional Indigenous cooking.

From bison heart to beaver tail, seal and even moose nose, the show leads viewers on a path of discovery that will surprise even Canadians with every episode.

Inevitably, the show goes deeper than food alone. Canada’s Indigenous community continues to be stereotyped and misrepresented, even when it comes to cuisine. It’s also a culture that is struggling to uphold its identity in the modern world, with inflexible government bans on hunting and fishing taking their toll along with the government’s wider indifference to their struggling communities.

Priyanka Desai, a producer on the show, wrote an article for Doc Weekly relaying her experience on set and how best to (or perhaps how not to) search for stories when meeting locals.

Documentary Weekly acts as a media outlet for documentary filmmakers, production companies, writers and events, giving them the opportunity to reach a wider, younger and more global audience while granting its followers up-to-date access to some of the genre’s most exciting releases.

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STORYHIVE is a community-powered funding program from TELUS for content creators in British Columbia and Alberta. Content creators submit their pitch ideas for a chance to win a production grant and distribution opportunities.

Once the finalists are chosen, the National Screen Institute – Canada (NSI) provides mentorship and training for the selected projects and their creators.

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