Latest posts from National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI)

Writer/director Roger Boyer talks about the impact of NSI IndigiDocs

Posted: 21 Oct 2019 10:31 AM PDT

Are you thinking about applying for NSI IndigiDocs? We recently talked to some of the program’s alumni to get their thoughts on how the training changed their careers and why they think you should apply.

NSI IndigiDocs grad and Lost Moccasin director Roger Boyer (pictured) shared his thoughts about how NSI IndigiDocs changed his expectations of film training and the collaborative nature of the course’s boot camp environment.

What were your expectations for NSI IndigiDocs going into it? Did these change over the course of the program?

My expectations were to help improve my story idea through the course with feedback from the instructors. The instructors provide a lot of great feedback, but my class peers provided excellent feedback as well. In the end, my story was greatly improved.

Do you have any tips or advice for folks thinking of applying to the course?

My advice for future participants is to go into the program with an open mind and be willing to hear your classmates’ and instructors’ suggestions. The program wants you to produce the best documentary you can!

Why would you recommend NSI IndigiDocs?

I would highly recommend the program to any aspiring documentary directors. The program helps you learn new storytelling approaches and builds your directing skills.

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Safelight

Posted: 18 Oct 2019 07:18 AM PDT

The existential struggle of an analog photographer living and working in Taiwan.

Creative team

Writers/producers: Boris Melev, Greg Calderone
Director: Boris Melev

Filmmaker’s statement

I am interested in exploring how feelings of isolation and loneliness manage to permeate even densely populated, urban environments. Many of us long to travel, to explore the unknown or exotic, only to yearn for the safe and familiar upon arrival in foreign landscapes.

The short film Safelight is a visual poem that delves into this tug-of-war of the heart.

About Boris Melev

Boris Melev is a filmmaker and photographer based out of Toronto.

Graduating from Emily Carr University of Art & Design, Boris began his career creating album art and music videos. Borrowing from the sensibility of analog photography, his work evokes a nostalgic, dreamlike state.

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Growing Up Skinner

Posted: 18 Oct 2019 07:15 AM PDT

Jeff Skinner’s discovery of his family history and the history of the family business, Skinner’s of Lockport, the longest-running hot dog stand in Canada.

Creative team

Writer: E. Thomas Daniel
Director: Michael Linton
Producers: Jeff Skinner, Michael Linton

Filmmaker’s statement

I’ve known Jeff Skinner for about 15 years and, during that time, we’ve had many conversations about what it was like for him growing up behind the counter at Skinner’s Hot Dogs in Lockport. So, when he approached me to create some kind of historical record or film of his family’s legacy, I was more than happy to oblige.

There was only one problem. Jeff had a broad selection of family photos from the turn of the last century until about 1945. After that, there was very little visual record. Even the Manitoba and Winnipeg Archives had very little in the way of photos. It’s hard to tell the story of a family legacy that existed from 1929 to 1973 without pictures to do it.

Sometimes solving a problem leads to a better solution than the one you originally had. We decided to take a first-person approach to telling the story, with Jeff working as the on-camera host, researcher and interviewer.

It transformed the film from our original idea of a more traditional “Ken Burns”-style documentary into something much more personal for Jeff. Sitting down with family and friends, he was able to fill in the gaps of his family history which, ultimately, became more relatable and revealing for the audience.

A copy of the film now resides in the Manitoba Archives, which was Jeff’s original intent.

About Michael Linton

Michael Linton has worked for almost two decades as a cinematographer, producer, director, animator and editor.

After working freelance in the late 1990s as an animator and cinematographer, Michael took up a full-time position as in-house producer at the manufacturing company E.H. Price Limited. He produced half a dozen product and corporate videos, earning him two nominations for best corporate video.

In 2004 Michael started Centric Productions to focus on creating advertising and commercial video projects for clients across Canada. Michael’s experience of video and film production is extensive – he works in various roles on every project he creates from writer and producer, to director, cinematographer, editor and animator.

Over the past decade Michael has produced and directed over 150 short form branded documentary projects for clients across Canada. His diverse production background, creative eye and technical ability have helped him develop an intuitive understanding for all aspects of production.

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Game

Posted: 18 Oct 2019 07:08 AM PDT

A young boy struggles to accept the death of his mother while his sister copes through violence.

Creative team

Writer/director: Joy Webster
Producer: Lucas Ford

Filmmaker’s statement

In the fall of 2015 I read this headline on the subway platform monitor as I waited for the train: “Boy, 11, shoots eight-year-old girl dead in the US ‘because she wouldn’t let him play with puppies.’”

I couldn’t stop thinking about this tragedy for days. What could this boy’s life possibly have been like in order for this to happen? Was it an accident? Was it intentional? Did he know the consequences of his actions? How did he get the gun? It was that headline that sparked the idea for this film.

Game tells the story of a young boy surrounded by guns and violence, and without a loving caregiver. It is a story about grief and loneliness from a child’s perspective, and how these things may push a child to react in unthinkable ways.

It is a story that unfortunately is grounded in reality although, sadly, in real life the ending isn’t open to interpretation.

About Joy Webster

Joy Webster is an award-winning director, screenwriter and editor based in Toronto.

A graduate of Ryerson University’s film program, Joy was the recipient of the Norman Jewison Award for best thesis film at Ryerson University for her film In The Weeds (2015).

Her second short film, Game (2017), has screened at 21 film festivals around the world, winning 11 awards including best short at Canadian Film Fest and two Golden Sheaf Awards for best fiction short and best emerging filmmaker at Yorkton Film Festival. The film was also broadcast on CBC and featured on Film Shortage and the YouTube channel Omeleto.

Joy’s most recent short film, Buzzard (2019), was selected to be part of the Telefilm: Not Short on Talent showcase at Cannes Short Film Corner this year and has its film festival premiere this fall.

Joy is currently in the process of writing the script for her first feature film.

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