Latest posts from National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI)

Two new films in this week’s NSI Online Short Film Festival from directors Erica Genereux Smith and Jenina MacGillivray.

Are You With Me?

Are You With Me? | Drama, 5:51, English, ON, 2016 | Director: Erica Genereux Smith

A woman in financial straits takes a job at a fly-by-night call centre where she finds that desperation alone won’t turn her into a successful salesperson.

The Tour

The Tour | Comedy, 7:07, English, NL, 2015 | Director: Jenina MacGillivray

Alice, a broken-hearted bus tour guide in St. John’s, Newfoundland, unexpectedly tells her tales of love and loss to a group of life-weary tourists and realizes the power of the moments she has experienced in the city.

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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.

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Congratulations to NSI grads Amy Jo Johnson (Corus Diverse TV Director) and Natalie Urquhart (NSI Drama Prize, NSI Totally Television) who’ve been named participants of the upcoming 2017 Canadian Film Centre Cineplex Entertainment Film Program.

Amy Jo is participating in the director’s lab and Natalie is taking part in the producer’s lab.

The Cineplex Entertainment Film Program champions original voices, entrepreneurism and collaboration. It encourages filmmakers to take creative risks and develop and package original content for the global entertainment market.

The program begins in mid-July and runs through December.

The post Amy Jo Johnson, Natalie Urquhart selected to CFC’s Cineplex Entertainment Film Program appeared first on National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI).

Alice, a broken-hearted bus tour guide in St. John’s, Newfoundland, unexpectedly tells her tales of love and loss to a group of life-weary tourists and realizes the power of the moments she has experienced in the city.

Creative team

Writer/director: Jenina MacGillivray
Producers: Jenina MacGillivray, Ruth Lawrence

Director’s statement

I have always been fascinated by interactions between strangers in public places, the personas we develop, when we decide to let them drop, how this can bring people together and, at times, how we can affect each other. Often we are sitting only a few feet from another human being, but generally we remain in our own worlds.

I am interested in the interplay that can happen between people when we let those personas drop and connect with each other, even if it’s only for a short time.

The Tour has that question at its heart, personified by the character of Alice the reluctant tour bus guide, played by the amazing Willow Kean.

About Jenina MacGillivray

Jenina MacGillivray is a musician/writer/director based in St. John’s, NL.

A former Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) international intern, she trained with the Newfoundland Independent Filmmakers Co-op (NIFCO) and studied screenwriting in Prague, Czech Republic.

Jenina attended the Summer Institute of Film and Television (SIFT) session run by Peter Wintonick, her longtime mentor. She has an MA in philosophy in the area of phenomenology and film theory.

In 2015 she received the RBC Michelle Jackson Emerging Filmmaker Award for her script of The Tour.

Jenina is interested in developing both documentary and dramatic film projects.

She was recently awarded the prestigious Picture Start grant from NIFCO for her latest short film Skip.

The post The Tour appeared first on National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI).