Latest posts from National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI)

Women in the Directors Chair (WIDC) have announced this year’s directors accepted to the WIDC Story & Leadership program, taking place during the 2018 Whistler Film Festival.

JJ Neepin (NSI IndigiDocs), with the feature Luminous, and Anna Cooley (STORYHIVE) with the web series Everyone We Know Will Be There, are two of eight participants who will receive script development and director mentoring.

The Story & Leadership program is led by multiple industry award-winner Carol Whiteman who produces and facilitates. Mentor directors include An Audience of Chairs director Deanne Foley (NSI Totally Television) and Siobhan Devine.

Previously, both JJ and Anna participated in the inaugural Academy Apprenticeship for Women Directors program.

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One dark night on the road to adulthood, a teenage boy must choose between his friends and his future.

Creative team

Writer/director: Michael Milardo
Producer: Jesse Savath

Filmmaker’s statement

I wrote Roam with the intention of telling a simple and timeless coming-of-age story. It’s about the moment you realize your friends might not be who you thought they were, and the only person who can change the direction of your life is you.

Underneath that Roam is also a story about the power of technology and the hold it has on us, how it’s engineered to make us hopeful for a better future – a future which may or may not be coming.

About Michael Milardo

Michael Milardo is a Vancouver-based creative director, writer, filmmaker and producer.

After 15 years working as a creative in advertising, he recently left to pursue a full-time career in film. He and his creative partner Leah Nelson run a roster-based production company called Kiddo Films.

Roam is his first narrative film.

The post Roam appeared first on National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI).

A young woman unexpectedly bares her teeth in defense of good oral hygiene.

Creative team

Writer/producer: Sophia Fabiilli
Director: Patrick Hodgson
Cinematographer: Christina Ienna
Cast: Sophia Fabiilli, Michael Musi

Filmmaker’s statement

Is Floss based on true events? No. Inspired by? Maybe …

The idea first came out kicking and screaming as a monologue. When I had the idea to turn it into a short film, I dared myself to do it. As an emerging filmmaker, I’m eager to experiment and play around which isn’t easy/affordable to do when shooting film.

Luckily, I asked a couple of brilliant people to make this with me on a shoestring budget and am so grateful they said yes.

Special recognition to my director and editor Patrick Hodgson. He chose the musical underscoring, which felt like a bold choice in the beginning but now I think makes the film.
– Sophia Fabiilli

About Patrick Hodgson

Patrick Hodgson is an independent filmmaker residing in Toronto who’s on a relentless journey to tell thought-provoking and entertaining stories.

He runs the boutique production company Kicking Tire Films and has produced/directed five award-winning shorts, two of which have screened at Oscar-qualifying festivals.

Patrick is currently writing and developing two feature films.

About Sophia Fabiilli

Sophia Fabiilli is a Toronto-based writer, actor and producer. She is currently a resident of the 2018 CFC Bell Media Prime Time TV Program in association with ABC Studios.

As an award-winning playwright her works include The Philanderess (Second City Award for Best New Comedy, 2015), Liars at a Funeral (2017), and her new play in development How to Stand Up (Ellen Ross Stuart Opening Doors Award in conjunction with Tarragon Theatre, the Blyth Festival and Hart House Theatre, 2018).

As a screenwriter, she has co-created multiple web series projects including the comedy-horror series Fatal Murder (Just for Laughs Stand Up and Pitch Competition Finalist, 2017), which is currently in development with Shaftesbury.

She wrote, produced and performed in her first short film, Floss, and is in pre-production for her second, Shut Up, John Cusack.

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