Latest posts from National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI)

The Ken Ploen Way, a new film from Sam Vint (NSI New Voices, NSI Aboriginal Documentary) celebrates its DVD release on Monday at McNally Robinson in Winnipeg.

In 1957, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers rookie head coach Bud Grant needed all the help he could get. What he got was a whiz kid from Lost Nation, Iowa by the name of Kenny Ploen.

Almost 60 years later, Ken is Winnipeg’s favourite adopted son and still the best player the Bombers ever had. Along the way he won championships, built a family and stole the heart of Blue Bomber fans forever.

Join Sam for this event on Monday, November 28 at 7 p.m. in the atrium at Grant Park McNally Robinson.

Congratulations to the 10 winners of the TELUS STORYHIVE animated shorts edition.

Creators behind the top 10 projects each receive a $10K grant to make a short animated film and distribution on TELUS Optik™ TV On Demand.

British Columbia

• Soggy Flakes from The Affolter Bros.
• Witch Problems? from Alexandra Marriott
• Ghost Food from Bracken Hanuse Corlett (NSI Aboriginal Documentary)
• Why Must The Sun Go Down? from Iris Moore
• S.O.S from Alain Williams

Alberta

• Ragtags from Thomas D.
• Gerry Mouse from Charlotte Cooper
• The Legend of the Bunny Phantom from Simon Chan
• A Trickster Tale from Julian Black Antelope
• Player Two from Derrick Johnson

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STORYHIVE is a community-powered funding program that allows members of the community to influence what projects will receive funding from TELUS.

The program allows content creators in British Columbia and Alberta to submit their story ideas to an online public platform. The community then votes for the project that should receive funding and go into production.

NSI delivers training for the selected projects and their creators once they’re chosen through the STORYHIVE process.

Congratulations to Josh Epstein and Kyle Rideout, whose NSI Features First project Public Schooled has now added comedian Russell Peters to its cast.

Public Schooled follows socially awkward Liam, a boy who has been home-schooled his whole life. When Liam falls in love with a popular one-legged girl, he abandons his mother’s suffocating love and enrolls in public school, entering a world of sex, drugs and social studies.

Production on the film began this week in Vancouver.

Josh and Kyle co-wrote the script, with Kyle directing and Josh producing. Josh and Kyle are both grads of NSI Drama Prize, NSI Features First and NSI Totally Television.

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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.