Latest posts from National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI)

NSI Totally Television 2020 shortlist revealed

Posted: 26 Nov 2019 07:54 AM PST

We received an overwhelming number of applications for NSI Totally Television this year. Thank you to all those who put so much work into their application, and thank you to all those who helped get the word out about the call for applications.

We’re excited to reveal the projects for this year’s shortlist. Congratulations to the following teams – up to four will be selected for the course and announced in December.

• • •

NSI Totally Television provides customized, hands-on training for Canadian producer/writer teams to develop story ideas into polished packages to present to buyers in the global marketplace. This 12-month distance learning program consists of two phases, each with an in-person boot camp intensive in Toronto. Two teams advance to phase 2 which includes attendance at Content London.

The program has produced 13 series that have been developed: six went to air, one was piloted and another was produced as a feature film which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

Both phase 2 projects from the 2018 edition of the program were picked up by production companies for further development.

This December, phase 2 teams from the 2019 edition of the program will attend Content London – the premier scripted development conference – to market their developed series to industry decision makers.

NSI Totally Television is made possible by Presenting Sponsor Bell Media; Program Partner Telefilm Canada; and Supporting Sponsors Super Channel, Corus Entertainment and CBC Gem. NSI Core Funders are Manitoba Sport, Culture & Heritage and the City of Winnipeg through the Winnipeg Arts Council.

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Anthony Del Col teams up with Ubisoft, Audible for Assassin’s Creed podcast

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 03:01 PM PST

Writer Anthony Del Col (NSI Totally Television) has teamed up with Ubisoft and Audible to create the first Assassin’s Creed fiction podcast series.

Assassin’s Creed Gold is a new audio drama inspired by the popular game series. It’s expected to launch in February 2020.

The podcast stars Emmy winner Riz Ahmed, Anthony Head and Danny Wallace and focuses on a card shark and hustler who falls into serious debt with a mysterious man.

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STORYHIVE series Abracadavers picks up more awards and festival screenings

Posted: 25 Nov 2019 02:59 PM PST

TELUS STORYHIVE series Abracadavers, from series lead Morgan Ermter, continues its streak of award wins and festival screenings.

Ever since Chris’ mom died in a freak hair salon chair accident he’s been attached to the chair responsible for her death. Gabriel, his closest friend, believes this is more than an obsession and kidnaps him on a road trip.

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Red Eye

Posted: 21 Nov 2019 02:34 PM PST

On Christmas Eve Santa’s Helper, Angela, drives her estranged daughter to the airport to catch the red eye flight home to Angela’s ex-husband. On the car ride she reveals the truth about her past mistakes and why he took their daughter on Christmas Day 16 years ago.

Do you believe in Santa?

Creative team

Writers: John Robert McGie, S. Siobhan McCarthy
Director: S. Siobhan McCarthy
Producers: Lori Watt, Asha Gill, S. Siobhan McCarthy

Filmmaker’s statement

I have always been fascinated with the human condition and why we do the things we do. Why do we lie, cheat and steal? I am particularly intrigued with how humans court, mate, act in relationship and how we foster family. What brings us together? What tears us apart? What keeps a couple in union? What keeps a family whole?

In Red Eye I was excited to explore the notion of estranged family members reuniting. I wanted to explore the unspoken sadness that Christmas can bring to many people. I wanted to show the delicate intricacies of how addiction and poor life choices can haunt us and rip our lives and families apart. I also wanted to show the soft space of hope and how we can learn to forgive ourselves and our loved ones for our mistakes.

I wanted to explore the mother/daughter relationship and pay homage to my own mum who would talk to/at me about the important and awkward things in life, in the car, because she didn’t have to look at me, and I couldn’t escape. I was a captured audience.

About S. Siobhan McCarthy

Award-winning film and web series producer, S. Siobhan McCarthy, is the CEO and executive producer of blyssful PRODUCTIONS and red trike media inc. She is the co-creator, executive producer and showrunner of the award-winning comedy web series Parked which received funding from the BC Film + Media Interactive Fund, IPF and Creative BC, and was part of CFC Media Lab’s ideaBOOST Affiliate Program. Parked screened at numerous prestigious web festivals and was nominated for best comedy, best Canadian series, best actor and outstanding achievement in comedy. Peter DeLuise won best director for Parked at Vancouver Webfest 2015. Parked also won a Leo Award and has gone viral on three separate platforms.

Down Here, her first feature film that she produced, premiered at Whistler Film Festival 2013 and had its theatrical debut in April 2015. Down Here won the Award of Excellence at the Canada Film Festival, in the Canadian Feature Film Competition.

An innovative, transdisciplinary artist and educator, Siobhan also produced WAM, BC’s first international disability media festival through Kickstart Disability Arts when she was the co-artistic director. While there, Siobhan executive produced five short films including Will, which won the Golden Sheaf at Yorkton Film Festival 2013, and Patience and Absurdity, which represented Canada at the 2012 Paralympics Games in London. Siobhan has been the production manager of Vancouver International Film Festival Forum for almost two decades. She has a slate of film, television and web properties in development.

In 2014 she was chosen as a Bell Media National Fellow and won the Women In Film Toronto Banff scholarship.

In 2015 Siobhan was invited to join the CMPA Berlinale EFM delegation where she pitched her slate of films to industry stakeholders. In 2015 she attended Cannes March du Film’s Producer’s Network to pitch red trike media inc’s slate and to represent The Twisted Slipper in Cannes Court de Metrage.

After spending the past decade and a half producing films and series, Siobhan was thrilled for her debut as a director at Cannes Court de Metrage 2018 with her short film Red Eye that was made with an all-female cast and crew.

Siobhan moonlights as an educator, actor, writer and director for hire, as well as creating digital strategies and acting as a social media community manager for various broadcast properties.

She’s excited to direct her first feature film, Evelyn (previously Glendale) in the Yukon. Evelyn was incubated in Whistler International Film Festival’s Feature Project lab and is in development with Super Channel, The Yukon Film and Sound Commission, Creative BC and Northwest Tel with Raven Banner slated to distribute.

Siobhan has been profiled and published in the Canadian Theatre Review where she was credited as being one of “Canada’s foremost cross-over artists.” The University of York has documented her and archived her body of work as she has been identified as a ‘trailblazer’ in performance creation across Canada.

She also loves to perform and is a proud UBCP/ACTRA member and master clown, BLYSS. Cirque du Soliel scouted her in 2005 when she headlined Toronto Festival of Clowns. She remains in their talent bank.

Siobhan is represented by Kim Barsanti at Lucas Talent.

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Undeveloped

Posted: 21 Nov 2019 11:38 AM PST

A surreal parable doubling as a psychological horror film. Undeveloped is the story of a girl who wakes up to mysterious cards sliding into her room with one-word instructions for her to dress up for a Polaroid camera and then send the developed picture back out.

Prompted by visions of a dream-world in which she seems free to be herself, along with the looming presence of a dark, invasive force, she seeks liberation.

Creative team

Writer/director: Gilad Lippa
Producers: Jamil Fiorino-Habib, Emma Fox, Gilad Lippa

Filmmaker’s statement

The idea for Undeveloped started sometime during my studies at the University of Toronto. Having always been attracted to the works and ideas of 20th century absurdist thinkers, I wanted to create something that similarly revolved around a character trapped in a barren environment, forced to confront an unfeeling, inscrutable reality that ultimately requires them to perform the same tasks day-in and day-out to stave off complete existential despair.

The idea then evolved after I encountered a case study of a high countess in 19th-century Italian bourgeois society who took some of the earliest documented ‘selfies.’ Scholars debate whether this was done either as a means of taking control of her own image or as a result of an unconscious capitulation to a patriarchal system that values women solely for their bodies. This inspired me to explore the relationship between one’s image, one’s identity and one’s autonomy.

Lingering behind all these theoretical concepts is the ever-growing ubiquity of one’s image and its uses in modern society. With social media, one’s image has become even more of an easy-access focal point for others to judge and critique us than ever before.

This film explores the psychological pressure this constant demand to present ourselves photographically – and conform to certain aesthetic standards (especially for women) – takes on us.

It’s also an abstracted look at the mysterious workings of the subconscious and its manifestations in a highly superficial, oppressive system.

Due to the conceptual nature of the film, a point of emphasis for myself, the creative team and our actress Kimberley Wells was to really hone in on the human details and emotional trajectory of the girl.

We had weeks of rehearsal before shooting which allowed us to whittle down the character and her journey to its most engaging components. Hopefully, this film will resound with audiences not just on a cerebral level but also on an emotional and visceral one.

About Gilad Lippa

Born and raised in London, UK, Gilad is a Toronto-based independent filmmaker and writer.

Gilad believes in the power of cinema to fundamentally change our perception of the world and how we interact with it. He aspires to channel this ethos into all of his work.

Currently, Gilad is writing a new feature-length screenplay as well as developing a new short film project aiming for production in late 2019.

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Tipped

Posted: 21 Nov 2019 11:18 AM PST

A waitress reaches her tipping point with a difficult table and serves up her own dish of revenge.

Creative team

Writer/director/producer: Alysse Leite-Rogers

Filmmaker’s statement

I put myself through film school by waitressing, so this film is really a purge of that latent and repressed period of my life. Anyone who has worked in service can relate I’m sure!

The film is about changing your perspective. It’s about finding a coping mechanism but, most importantly, it’s about developing a sense of humour within yourself. Life and people can be absurd so being able to have an inner chuckle can make anything bearable or, like Debbie, even lucrative.

About Alysse Leite-Rogers

Alysse Leite-Rogers is a director who has worked in film and television for over 25 years.

As first assistant director, Alysse has worked on pilots, movies of the week, features, and one- and two-hour episodic formats across multiple genres.

Alysse has been employed by most US networks, cable and streaming services.

She began directing second units on MGM’s one-hour drama Jeremiah. In 2017 she directed an episode of Girlfriends’ Guide To Divorce for NBCU/Bravo.

She recently completed directing an episode of Warner Bros/CW’s hit show Supergirl which aired this fall. Alysse also wrote a short film The Art of Being which aired on CBC’s Canadian Reflections.

In addition to Tipped Alysse is co-developing several television and feature projects.

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