Latest posts from National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI)

The National Screen Institute – Canada (NSI) congratulates the teams selected to the 2016 NSI Totally Television training course. These participants will have the opportunity to develop their television projects with the best showrunners and story editors in the country.

“2016 brings another diverse and promising group of projects and participants,” said Joy Loewen, interim NSI Totally Television program manager. “I look forward to starting work with these students and refining their ideas into market-ready series.”

The 2016 teams are:

• A Detective Lives Here – Geordie Sabbagh (writer) and Ashleigh Rains (producer), Toronto, ON

• Heirloom – Oliver Brackenbury (writer) and John-Paul Nynkowski (producer), Toronto, ON

• Lucky Falls – Randy Sumeraj (writer) and John Griffith (producer), Toronto, ON

• Old Biddies – Karen Nielsen (writer) and Christena Zatylny (producer), Vancouver, BC

This course provides hands-on series development training for producer/writer teams serious about getting their series concept made.

Each team is paired with execs from major networks, story editors and executive producers to help hone each concept and make it pitch perfect.

Past execs include Kerry Appleyard (Orphan Black, X Company), Christina Jennings (Murdoch Mysteries) and David Barlow (Cracked) and exec producers from Shaftesbury, Temple Street, Cameron Pictures, New Metric Media and Breakthrough.

NSI Totally Television training takes place over 10 months. The first phase begins in September with an intensive boot camp to work with program manager Joy Loewen and program advisor Julie Di Cresce along with key senior industry representatives.

After resubmitting their revised scripts, two of the four teams will move on to phase two of the program and attend the Banff World Media Festival in June 2017.

The program has produced 13 series that have gone into development: five have gone to air, one was piloted and another was produced as a feature film that had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

NSI Totally Television 2015 was made possible by Presenting Sponsor Bell Media; Program Partner Telefilm Canada; Supporting Sponsors Entertainment One; Super Channel, Corus Entertainment and Breakthrough Entertainment; Provincial Sponsor Manitoba Film & Music; and Industry Partner Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. NSI Core Funders are Manitoba Sport, Culture and Heritage and the City of Winnipeg through the Winnipeg Arts Council.

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, NSI Drama Prize, NSI New Voices, NSI Features First, Movie Central Script to Screen, Corus Diverse TV Director, NSI Aboriginal Documentary, 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

Three films in this week’s NSI Online Short Film Festival from Molly McGlynn, Traolach Ó Murchú and Jonathan Lawrence.

Given Your History

Given Your History | Drama, 14:24, English, ON, 2013 | Director: Molly McGlynn

Two sisters struggle with their relationship, and their personal fears, several years after the death of their mother.

Gordie

Gordie | Documentary, 9:30, English, YT, 2013 | Director: Traolach Ó Murchú

The story of a Tlingit First Nations man who has been deeply affected by the inter-generational trauma caused by Canada’s residential schools system.

Blackout

Blackout | Drama, 15:00, English, MB, 2016 | Director: Jonathan Lawrence

Two brothers hold an intervention for their alcoholic mother and discover they may be standing in each other’s way more than her addiction.

• • •

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.