Latest posts from National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI)

Submissions are now open for co-production/co-financing market, FIN Partners. The market takes place September 12 to 14, 2019 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

FIN Partners (formerly Strategic Partners) is a one-of-a-kind co-production/co-financing market, providing a full agenda of 25-minute pre-scheduled 1-to-1 meetings with producers, investors, broadcasters, distributors and sales agents, as well as participation in investor and co-production focused roundtable sessions, cutting-edge panels and visionary keynote speakers.

FIN Partners will include carefully selected producers from around the globe, representing a best-in-class roster of officially selected projects. To support these projects, FIN Partners hosts an international senior-level delegation of financiers, broadcasters, distributors, sales agents and funding agencies looking to invest.

For more information or to submit, visit FIN’s website.

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A new live-action series, Vagrant Queen, based on the comic books by Magdalene Visaggio, has been ordered by SYFY channel. The series was created by Jem Garrard (TELUS STORYHIVE) and includes directing work from Danishka Esterhazy (NSI Drama Prize, NSI Features First).

Vagrant Queen is the story of Elida, a former child queen driven from her throne and forced to wander the galaxy as she evades the revolutionaries who continue to hunt her down. Elida has built a life as a scavenger and outlaw when an old frenemy, Isaac, turns up with news about her long-lost mother. Against her better judgment, she is forced to return to her broken kingdom in hopes of staging a rescue before a deadly foe from childhood, Commander Lazaro, can find her.

Production on Vagrant Queen takes place this summer in Cape Town, with the series expected to make its premiere on SYFY in 2020.

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A brother aids his distraught sister with the disposal of her dead lover’s body, witnessed by the corpse’s unwitting wife and her lover.

Creative team

Writer/director/producer: Linda Rumney

Filmmaker’s statement

Infidelity is a dark comedy about a woman who conceals the body of her lover after he dies suddenly. It just so happens he is the husband of her best friend.

I love the idea that a woman would go to any lengths to save a friendship, albeit a little twisted!

About Linda Rumney

Linda Rumney is a Vancouver-based filmmaker and writer.

She started out as a script supervisor and wrote her first short script, Infidelity, followed by several features and shorts that have garnered awards at Nashville Film Festival, Canadian Shorts Film Festival, Las Vegas Film Awards, Directors Circle Festival of Shorts, International Women’s Film Festival and The American Gem Short Script and Literary Awards.

She is currently pursuing representation for her first novel and working on an animation feature.

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Reared by an abusive, pill-popping mother and an absentee father, six-year-old Valentina must fend for herself.

Creative team

Writers: Michelle Morgan, Daniel J. Patinkin
Director: Michelle Morgan
Producers: Michelle Morgan, Madeliene Davis

Filmmaker’s statement

Mi Madre, My Father is based on a true story. As young as three years old, Mel Grey was forced to fend for herself. Her mother vacillated between neglecting her and inflicting physical and mental abuse.

A generous couple who lived across the hall – both male flight attendants – looked after Mel, put healthy food in her backpack every day and did their best to shield her from her violent and destabilizing home environment. They were effectively surrogate parents. Without them, Mel might have gone down a very dark path.

About Michelle Morgan

With over 15 years experience acting in film and television, Michelle Morgan has enthusiastically begun a trajectory towards directing and writing.

She began with her first short film, Mi Madre, My Father, starring Stephen Amell (Arrow) in 2017. The film was selected by Telefilm for Not Short on Talent at Cannes.

Recently Michelle directed three episodes of the new CBC digital series Hudson (SevenTwentyFour), a spin-off of the long-running series Heartland. Hudson is available on the CBC Gem streaming service.

Michelle wrote and directed her second short film, a romantic comedy set in Tofino entitled Save Yourself, with the help of TELUS STORYHIVE.

Over the 12 seasons Michelle has starred on Heartland, she has shadowed numerous directors such as Bruce McDondald, Dean Bennet and Eleanore Lindo. In April 2018, Michelle shadowed veteran director David Straiton on the USA Network drama Shooter.

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Above the Noise, Straight to the Heart is a film about the transformation and healing power of music. It’s a film about Prophets of Music and their support for young musicians.

Prophets of Music began as one family’s vision to honour the tragic loss of their son, along with the deaths of four other young people at a house party in Calgary. Now, Alberta’s music visionaries come together to support talented young musicians on the cusp of creating exceptional music.

Creative team

Writers/producers: Carla Bridgewater, Paul Mortimer
Director: Carla Bridgewater
Director of photography: Shaun Henning
Editor: Paul Mortimer

Filmmaker’s statement

Even though it would have been easy to focus this film on the tragic loss of five young people, it was important for my vision of the film to focus on the music, the young musicians, the creation of music and its power to heal.

Above the Noise, Straight to the Heart is told through interviews and also through eavesdropping on the process of the creation of the music. With the creation of music being the focus, I wanted to make sure all the music in the film was recorded live.

This created particular challenges during the filming with a major focus on the audio recording. Then, during the post production, our editor Paul Mortimer (also co-writer and producer) was able to seamlessly edit multiple music and audio tracks along with the video to take the viewer right into the heart of the music and the musicians. The total effect of these film techniques is to bring greater understanding to the passion that all musicians feel when they are creating music.

This is the second film project for Prophets of Music, and it was a great honour and privilege to have created this film, to experience the generosity of the mentors and the exceptional talent of the emerging artists – to see how Prophets of Music is growing and rising ‘Above the Noise, Straight to the Heart.’

About Carla Bridgewater

Carla Bridgewater is one of Calgary’s premier producer/directors of broadcast-quality television, web, documentary and live event productions.

As one of Calgary’s most experienced independent producer/directors, Carla brings her extensive television experience to the table when producing projects. Carla has produced, directed and written hundreds of television and video projects, including award-winning television documentaries, commercials and multi-camera live events.

Carla is attracted to socially conscious productions that serve the public interest. The phrase ‘story is everything’ applies to Carla’s work. She firmly believes that every production must contain meaningful content, produced in a way that engages the viewer on an emotional level and goes ‘Above the Noise, Straight to the Heart.’

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