Latest posts from National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI)

NSI grads nominated for Leo Awards

Posted: 02 May 2017 01:50 PM PDT

Congrats to the NSI grads nominated for 2017 Leo Awards.

The Leo Awards recognize the strength, diversity and talent of British Columbia’s film and television industry and celebrate artistic excellence within BC.

Best direction in a motion picture

Best screenwriting in a motion picture

Best short drama

Best drama series

Best feature length documentary

Best direction in a feature length documentary

Best screenwriting in a feature length documentary

Best direction in a documentary series

Best information, lifestyle or reality program

Best music, comedy or variety program

Best animation program

Best direction in an animation program

Best screenwriting in an animation program

Best web series

Projects from NSI grads, including The Sun At Midnight (developed through NSI Features First), The Hollow Child and The Dishwasher, scored nominations in a variety of craft categories. Congrats to all!

Awards will be handed out over several nights in late May and early June at the Hyatt Regency in Vancouver.

If we missed your project, let us know!

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Werewolf celebrates US premiere this week at Maryland Film Fest

Posted: 02 May 2017 11:15 AM PDT

Congrats to Ashley McKenzie and Nelson MacDonald (both NSI Drama Prize) whose film Werewolf has its US premiere at the Maryland Film Festival this week.

Werewolf is about upon a young and addicted homeless couple living on the margins of society in a small Canadian town.

NSI nominated Werewolf for the Telefilm Canada Micro-Budget Production Program in 2015.

The film is screening May 4 and 5 in Baltimore as part of the fest.

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Mickey Rogers’ seven steps to painless pitching

Posted: 02 May 2017 10:32 AM PDT

Above: Mickey Rogers

Pitching expert Mickey Rogers has a special offer for our readers. Get 50% off her online course and ebook bundle How to Win Your Next Creative Pitch (you pay $19.99 US).

• • •

If you’re worried about being dull, boring or freezing up when you pitch your project, I’m here to help! My online course and ebook gives you the tools to do justice to your idea, answer questions about your concept and articulate the magic of your story. You’ll come out of your next pitch with more confidence and perhaps a sale for your concept or idea.

Here’s what others are saying about the course and ebook:

“Clear and helpful with lots of different examples to bring the recommendations to life. Great to have advice from someone with such wide-ranging experience and a lovely open style.”

“Talking through pitching techniques step by step made it all doable. Really took the angst out of pitching. Gave the power back.”

“Insightful and helpful. Fantastic.”

I’m offering a 50% discount to NSI’s readers. For $19.99 US you’ll get the full online course and ebook bundle.

How to Win Your Next Creative Pitch breaks down the pitching process into seven easy steps which you’ll follow in your preparation and actual pitching experience.

You’ll get valuable information on the research you need to do before your pitch, the checklists to take the worry out of forgetting essential items and a structure for you to follow when you’re pitching in person.

The ebook and course bundle also provides worksheets and examples for you to follow for clarity in telling your story. There are tips from industry leaders about what to do and some horror stories of pitching gone wrong. At the end of the course, you too will be “good in the room.”

Find out about the course and ebook bundle. To get 50% off just use this code at checkout: nsi. Offer valid until June 30, 2017.

• • •

Mickey Rogers, the course creator and facilitator, has over 20 years practical, ‘hands on’ experience in the content business. She’s won numerous awards, including an international Emmy for her productions. Mickey has run production and international distribution businesses and pitched to global giants. She initiated the NSI programs NSI Totally TV and NSI Global Marketing. Her current production is airing on CBC and being sold all around the world.

The post Mickey Rogers’ seven steps to painless pitching appeared first on National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI).

2017 CBC New Indigenous Voices students announced

Posted: 02 May 2017 09:23 AM PDT

The National Screen Institute – Canada (NSI) is pleased to announce the students selected to this year’s CBC New Indigenous Voices (formerly NSI New Voices) training course.

The 2017 CBC New Indigenous Voices students are:

“We’re excited to launch the course this year under its new name and with CBC’s partnership,” said Ursula Lawson, CBC New Indigenous Voices program manager. “These nine new students already show significant promise and we’re pleased to offer them the opportunity to gain media, storytelling and filmmaking skills that will serve them over the course of their careers.”

Workshops and seminars in the classroom phase are led by industry experts. Students intern with a broadcaster or independent production company giving them firsthand knowledge of the business. Training also includes the production and screening of three short films. Minimum wage is provided throughout the course.

CBC New Indigenous Voices begins with a traditional feast on Monday, May 8. The feast is the first of the spiritual components that continue throughout the 14-week course.

Graduates have gone on to work with companies including CBC, Media RendezVous, Animiki See Digital Production Inc., Manito Ahbee and APTN. They have worked on numerous film, television and web productions, developed their own projects and screened them at national and international film festivals.

CBC New Indigenous Voices is led by Ursula Lawson with Indigenous programs & administrative assistant Kaya Wheeler, NSI Indigenous training programs advisor Lisa Meeches and Elder Colin Mousseau.

CBC New Indigenous Voices is funded by: Title, Presenting and Tuition Sponsor CBC; Program Partners Manitoba Sport, Culture & Heritage and Telefilm Canada; NSI Indigenous Training Programs Partner Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries; Supporting Sponsors Entertainment One, Super Channel, Corus Entertainment, Breakthrough Entertainment and imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival; Provincial Sponsor Manitoba Film & Music; and Industry Partner the Directors Guild of Canada (DGC). NSI Core Funders are Manitoba Sport, Culture and Heritage and the City of Winnipeg through the Winnipeg Arts Council. Additional partners to be confirmed.

About the National Screen Institute

Renowned for having given many emerging filmmakers, television writers and producers their first breaks, the National Screen Institute provides training and production support through courses like NSI Totally Television, CBC New Indigenous Voices presented by NSI, NSI Features First, NSI IndigiDocs, NSI Business for Producers, Movie Central Script to Screen, Corus Diverse TV Director, TELUS STORYHIVE Web Series and Digital Shorts, and TELUS Optik™ Local.

NSI also offers exposure through the NSI Online Short Film Festival and provides vast resources and support to those in the film, television and digital media industries at nsi-canada.ca.

All media enquiries

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

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Black Rock or Bust by Brendan Brady + 3 more films in this week’s NSI Online Short Film Festival

Posted: 02 May 2017 08:28 AM PDT

Four films in this week’s NSI Online Short Film Festival from directors Brendan Brady, Evan Yifan Ning, Daelan Wood and Tendisai Cromwell.

Black Rock or Bust

Black Rock or Bust | Comedy, 11:00, English, ON, 2015 | Director: Brendan Brady

Three friends on a road trip from Toronto to Burning Man must band together and overcome their beat-up old car.

Be With You

Be With You | Drama, 16:44, Chinese with English subtitles, ON, 2017 | Director: Evan Yifan Ning

A son tries to get his father back from the retirement home after he realizes how important his father is to him and his family.

Hello Quinn

Hello Quinn | Sci-fi/Horror, 4:01, English, AB, 2016 | Director: Daelan Wood

A young boy left home alone gets an unwanted visitor.

The Spirit of Social Change

The Spirit of Social Change | Documentary, 12:58, English, AB, 2015 | Director: Tendisai Cromwell

Two activists explore their evolving relationship to spirituality and examine it as a force for personal transformation and social change.

• • •

Call for films / submit by June 12

Films are now being accepted through FilmFreeway until Monday, June 12, 2017.

If your film is programmed, you have a chance of winning over $3K in cash awards. We accept films released after January 1, 2012.

Your film must be less than 30 mins long. Drama, comedy, animation, documentary, sci-fi, horror, music video and experimental are all eligible and must be made by a Canadian writer, director or producer.

Submit your film

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The NSI Online Short Film Festival is made possible through the support of Festival Partner Telefilm Canada; Supporting Sponsors Entertainment One, Super Channel, Corus Entertainment, Blue Ant Media, The Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation and Breakthrough Entertainment; Award Sponsors A&E Television Networks, The Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation; Corus Entertainment and Blue Ant Media; and Industry Partner the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.

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