Bell Media and Banff World Media Festival Announce 2013 Bell Media National Fellows

- Previous fellows to be recognized with new Bell Media Fellow Award of Distinction -

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TORONTO, May 9, 2013 /CNW/ - The Banff World Media Festival (BANFF) and Bell Media today announced the 14 recipients of this year's Bell Media National Fellowship program who will attend this year's Festival from June 9-12 in Banff, AB. As part of the $1.8 Million Bell Media TV Skills Development Initiative, the Bell Media National Fellowship program is intended to encourage professional development in the television industry by enabling emerging creative talent - including producers, writers, and directors - to attend BANFF and benefit from the vast programming, mentorship, and pitching opportunities that the annual event has to offer.

BANFF and Bell Media also announced today a previous fellow will be recognized for their achievement since first attending the festival as the recipient of the first-ever Bell Media Fellow Award of Distinction, to be presented at the Rockie Awards Lunch on June 10.

The recipients of the 2013 Bell Media National Fellowship are:

• Aubrey Arnason, Producer and TV Host, Vancouver, BC
• Jason Butler, Filmmaker and Producer, Toronto, ON
• Tobi Elliot, Producer, Gabriola Island, BC
• Tony Elliot, Screenwriter, Toronto, ON
• Tess Hamilton, Producer, Toronto, ON
• Stacy James-Fry, Sales, Sponsorship and Marketing Professional, Calgary, AB
• Margaret Lester, Writer, Mississauga, ON
• Faye Li, Director and Writer, Toronto, ON
• Jocelyn Mercer, Producer, Toronto, ON
• Jennifer Sharpe, Writer, Director and Producer, Toronto, ON
• Pat Smith, Writer and Producer, Toronto, ON
• Mike Sorrenti, President of GamePill, Aurora, ON
• Damon Surzyshyn, Camera Editor, Winnipeg, MB
• Priscilla White, Writer, Toronto, ON

"The chance to bring a project to BANFF is a huge opportunity," said Corrie Coe, Senior Vice-President, Independent Production, Bell Media. "The best and the brightest of the world's entertainment industry attend, speak, and network at this event and we're thrilled to be able to offer this opportunity to this year's fellowship winners and wish them all success in their future careers."

Recipients of the Bell Media Fellowship program receive a full registration for BANFF 2013, round-trip travel, and must bring a suitable-for-broadcast project to BANFF with specific goals in mind. All projects must be Canadian and cover a number of genres including drama, documentary, children's, comedy/entertainment, lifestyle or reality. The Fellows are also introduced to the larger BANFF community at an exclusive reception and networking opportunity sponsored by Bell Media. 

For additional information about the Banff World Media Festival visit: http://www.banffmediafestival.com/ or connect with BANFF on Twitter and Facebook.

About the Bell Media TV Skills Development Initiative
The $1.8 million Bell Media TV Skills Development Initiative is a suite of national training programs, exclusively funded by Bell Media, which ensure a comprehensive range of training for writers, producers, directors, and showrunners in the Canadian television industry at different stages of their careers. The Initiative supports the Bell Media Diverse Screenwriters Program (Writers Guild of Canada) for emerging and mid-career writers from diverse backgrounds who intern in a writing room of a Bell Media TV series; the Bell Media National Fellowship Program (Banff World Media Festival), which encourages professional development in the television industry by enabling emerging producers, writers, and directors to attend the festival and take part in mentorship activities; the Bell Media Primetime TV Program (Canadian Film Centre), which provides series development for TV writers; the Bell Media Producer Accelerator Lab, which provides immersive and experiential broadcast and production experience for emerging producers; the Bell Media Showrunner Bootcamp (Canadian Film Centre), which develops showrunner knowledge and management for TV writers; the Media Leadership Program (Women in Film and Television - Toronto), a biennial program designed for mid to senior-level women and men who want leading-edge academic knowledge and contemporary business and leadership skills required in the Canadian screen-based industry; the Business Management for Media Professionals Program (Women in Film and Television - Toronto), a certificate program essential for emerging media professionals who want to understand the business of film, television and interactive production; and Totally Television (National Screen Institute)*, which delivers hands-on series development for writers/producers.

About the Banff World Media Festival
The Banff World Media Festival is the world's largest and most important gathering of entertainment industry and digital media executives dedicated to media content production, broadcast and distribution within TV and digital media. Providing a platform for the evolving media industry to develop its creative and business objectives, Banff serves as the leading destination for co-production and co-venture partners and is an unparalleled destination for more than 2000 international decision-makers to meet, learn and do business. The Banff World Media Festival takes place June 9-12, 2013 at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, Banff, Canada. For more information, visit: www.banffmediafestival.com

About Bell Media
Bell Media is Canada's premier multimedia company with leading assets in television, radio and digital. With passion and an unrelenting commitment to excellence, Bell Media entertains, informs and inspires Canadians. Bell Media owns 28 conventional stations, including CTV, Canada's #1 television network, and owns and operates 30 specialty channels, including TSN, Canada's #1 specialty channel, and RDS, Canada's #1 French-language specialty channel. Bell Media also owns 33 radio stations, dozens of websites including the TheLoop.ca by Sympatico, and Dome Productions Inc. Bell Media is owned by BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE), Canada's largest communications company. For more on Bell Media, please visit www.bellmedia.ca.

SOURCE: Bell Media

For media inquiries, contact: 
Matthew Almeida, Bell Media Communications Publicist, 416.384.2629, [email protected]
Rabya Khanan, Communications Coordinator, Achilles Media Ltd., 416.921.3171 ext. 240 or [email protected]