Movie Central and the National Screen Institute Announce 2013 Script to Screen Selected Projects at Whistler Film Festival

• Selected projects include entries from Alberta, Quebec, Ontario and Nova Scotia

WHISTLER, BC, Dec. 7, 2013 /CNW/ - Corus Entertainment and the National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI) announce today the 2013 projects selected for Script to Screen, a development fund partnership with Corus' Western Canada pay TV service, Movie Central and the Winnipeg-based NSI. The selected applicants were announced at the Whistler Film Festival and Summit following the application process which started in June. The Script to Screen initiative provides hands-on involvement with Movie Central's expertise; shepherding scripts from film treatment to a polished, production-ready script with market viability.

"We are very excited as Script to Screen's moves into its second year. The fund continues to receive outstanding submissions from a diverse pool of Canada's writing talent," said Maria Hale, VP, Head of Content Distribution & Pay TV Corus Entertainment. "Last year's inaugural scripts are moving forward in their creative development, and we are keen to start working with NSI on these new projects."

"We were so pleased with the high calibre of the submissions we received", said Melissa Kajpust, director of programming at the National Screen Institute. "Script to Screen is such an exciting program, and the five projects chosen show huge promise - I eagerly anticipate working with these writers over the coming year to develop their scripts."

Script to Screen's mandate is to provide Canadian screenwriters with robust funding, creative support and industry guidance to fully develop feature film concepts. Through the partnership with NSI, selected candidates will also benefit from the learning and development expertise provided by this renowned Canadian film, television and digital media training school.

The following are names of the projects and screenwriter(s) selected for this year's Script to Screen initiative:

Entanglement by Jason Filiatrault (Alberta) - Dramatic comedy

All in the Timing by Jessie Gabe (Ontario) - Romantic comedy

Re-Arranged by Ravi Steve & Jeff Geddis (Ontario) - Romantic comedy

Charcoal's Way by Gerald Wexler (Quebec) - Drama

Tiny Dancer by Doug Karr (Nova Scotia) - Family Adventure

Further details can be found on the Corus website: http://bit.ly/LhWO9u

Social Media:
Follow Corus PR on Twitter @CorusPR
Follow Movie Central on Twitter @moviecentral and Facebook facebook.com/moviecentral
Follow National Screen Institute @nsicanada on Twitter and Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/nsicanada

Movie Central
Movie Central is a commercial-free premium pay TV service available in western Canada. Movie Central premieres the best in Hollywood, international and Canadian films across nine 24-hour movie channels, including dedicated high-definition feeds, a Movie Central On Demand service and exclusive HBO content on HBO Canada. Movie Central is also the first window for Showtime content and home to cutting-edge Canadian series. A major force in the Canadian independent film and television production industry, Movie Central, supports many critically-acclaimed and award-winning Canadian series and films. Visit the Movie Central website at www.moviecentral.ca.

Corus Entertainment Inc.
Corus Entertainment Inc. is a Canadian-based media and entertainment company. Corus is a market leader in specialty television and radio with additional assets in pay television, television broadcasting, children's book publishing and children's animation. The Company's multimedia entertainment brands include YTV, Treehouse, Nickelodeon (Canada), ABC Spark, W Network, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network (Canada), CosmoTV, Sundance Channel (Canada), Movie Central, HBO Canada, Nelvana, Kids Can Press and radio stations including CKNW AM 980, 99.3 The FOX, Country 105, 630 CHED, Q107 and 102.1 the Edge. Corus creates engaging branded entertainment experiences for its audiences across multiple platforms. A publicly traded company, Corus is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (CJR.B). Experience Corus on the web at www.corusent.com.

National Screen Institute (NSI)
Renowned for having given many film and television writers, directors and producers their first breaks, the National Screen Institute (NSI) provides training, development and production support through courses like NSI Totally Television, NSI Drama Prize, NSI New Voices, NSI Features First, NSI Aboriginal Documentary, and NSI Lifestyle & Reality Series Producer.

NSI also offers national exposure through the NSI Online Short Film Festival, and provides vast resources and support to those in the film, television, and digital media industry at www.nsi-canada.ca.

For high-resolution images, please visit: http://mediacentre.corusent.com.

SOURCE: Movie Central

Owen McCorquodale
Corus Entertainment
[phone]
[email protected] 

Laura Friesen
National Screen Institute
[phone]
[email protected]