Latest posts from National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI)

Cree Code Talker, the short documentary developed through NSI Aboriginal Documentary by Alexandra Lazarowich and Cowboy Smithx, has a double header Wednesday November 9: Indigenous Filmmaking in Alberta at the Provincial Archives of Alberta and the American Indian Film Institute Festival.

Using archival footage, Cree Code Talker depicts the true story of Albertan Charles “Checker” Tomkins and how the Cree language was used by code talkers to transmit crucial military communications for the US Air Force during WWII.

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NSI Aboriginal Documentary 2016 is supported by Presenting Sponsor NBCUniversal; Program Partners Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN), Manitoba Sport, Culture and Heritage and RBC Emerging Artists Project; NSI Aboriginal Training Programs Partner Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries; Bootcamp Presenting Sponsor Manitoba Film & Music; Supporting Sponsors Entertainment One, Super Channel, Corus Entertainment, Telefilm Canada, Breakthrough Entertainment, imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival and Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival; Tuition Sponsor NBCUniversal; Provincial Sponsors Manitoba Film & Music and Creative Saskatchewan; Industry Partners National Film Board of Canada, Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television (ACCT) and Directors Guild of Canada; and Service Sponsor Line 21 Media. NSI Core Funders are Manitoba Sport, Culture and Heritage and the City of Winnipeg through the Winnipeg Arts Council.

The NSI Business for Producers participants are back together in Winnipeg this week.

So far the producers have completed one boot camp and a set of webinars.

This week’s agenda focuses on business plans and financing, co-productions and co-ventures, and leadership and management with guests Agnes Olendrzynska (RBC), Diane Konecny (Front Row Insurance), Indie Game the Movie producer/director Lisanne Pajot, Buffalo Gal Pictures’ Phyllis Laing and Devan Towers, and business coach Dan Holstein (Action Coach Business Coaching).

Brendon Sawatzky is the program manager and Brigitte Sachse is the program advisor.

The participants are:

Manitoba

• Janelle Wookey – Wookey Films
• Chris McIvor – Frank Digital
• Carlyle Paetkau – Build Films
• Orlando Braun – Prairie Boy Productions

Alberta

• Frederick Kroetsch – Open Sky Pictures
• Eric Rebalkin – Mosaic Entertainment
• Spencer Estabrooks – Insurrection Films

Saskatchewan

• Dawn Bird – B.E.ZEE Productions
• Lioz Bouganin – Landslide Entertainment

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NSI Business for Producers is delivered in association with presenting partner On Screen Manitoba. The program is aimed at Western Canadian content producers in television, film and digital media running small and mid-sized enterprises who wish to grow their companies in the domestic and international marketplace.

NSI Business for Producers is supported by Presenting Partner On Screen Manitoba; Supporting Sponsors Entertainment One, Super Channel, Corus Entertainment and Breakthrough Entertainment; Industry Partners the Alberta Media Production Industries Association (AMPIA), the Saskatchewan Media Production Industry Association (SMPIA) and the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television (ACCT) and Industry Sponsor the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA). NSI Core Funders are Manitoba Sport, Culture and Heritage and the City of Winnipeg through the Winnipeg Arts Council.

Current NSI Features First project A Small Fortune, written by Adam Perry (above right), is one of 47 semi-finalists in the feature category of the Shore Scripts Screenwriting Contest. Jason Arsenault (above left) is the project’s producer.

The contest is devoted to discovering new writing talent and includes a top prize of about $3,000.

News about Adam’s success was picked up by CBC yesterday. Read about it here: P.E.I. screenplay short-listed in prestigious contest

In A Small Fortune, an out-of-work fisherman tries to provide for his pregnant girlfriend in a quaint fishing village along the coastline of Prince Edward Island. Their hard luck changes when they discover $25,000 cash in a bag on the beach. They think the money is a blessing before the bloated body of a stranger washes up shortly thereafter, ruining their plans.

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NSI Features First is funded by Presenting Sponsor Telefilm Canada; Program Partner The Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation; Supporting Sponsors Entertainment One, Super Channel, Corus Entertainment and Breakthrough Entertainment; Provincial Sponsors Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) and Innovation PEI; and Industry Partner Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. NSI Core Funders are Manitoba Tourism, Culture, Heritage, Sport and Consumer Protection and the City of Winnipeg through the Winnipeg Arts Council.

Congratulations to Randall Okita (Corus Diverse TV Director) whose feature The Lockpicker (pictured) won the grand jury award at the San Diego Asian Film Festival.

The Lockpicker is written and directed by Randall and produced by Jason Lapeyre (NSI Features First).

Leah Johnston (NSI Drama Prize) also received some good news this weekend when her film Ingrid & the Black Hole won best Canadian short at the Silver Wave Film Festival.

Two films in this week’s NSI Online Short Film Festival from directors Ben Dextraze and Jamie Oon.

The Noise of Silence

The Noise of Silence | Documentary, 9:16, English, BC, 2015 | Director: Ben Dextraze

According to Professor Barry Truax, Vancouver’s ambient noise should be considered psychologically and artistically impacting. And what better way to put this theory to the test than at Fuse, a giant multidisciplinary art party at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Cruxberry

Cruxberry | Experimental, 3:53, English, NB, 2015 | Director: Jamie Oon

Sequestered in a futuristic cell, a woman races against time vying for every morsel of food.

When the puzzles become more difficult, she is forced to make the crucial choice between her desire and her destiny.

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Call for films / submit by December 2

Films are now being accepted through FilmFreeway until Friday, December 2, 2016.

If your film is programmed, you have a chance of winning up to $4,750 in cash awards. We accept films released after January 1, 2011.

Your film must be less than 30 mins long. Drama, comedy, animation, documentary, sci-fi, horror, music video and experimental are all eligible and must be made by a Canadian writer, director or producer.

Submit your film

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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.