Movie Central and the National Screen Institute Announce Inaugural Projects Selected for Script to Screen
WHISTLER, BC, Nov. 30, 2012 /CNW/ - Corus Entertainment and the National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI) announce today the inaugural five 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. Script to Screen will provide the Canadian screenwriters with robust funding, creative support and industry guidance to fully develop feature film concepts.
"We were overwhelmed with the quality of Canadian talent that submitted projects and, as we hoped, Script to Screen is connecting with fresh voices in the film community," said Jocelyn Hamilton, Vice President, Original Programming, Kids, Comedy, Drama, Corus Entertainment. "With the NSI, we look forward to providing support and guidance to the selected projects and creating fully formed scripts ready for packaging."
"Script to Screen has been an exciting venture and NSI has enjoyed collaborating with Movie Central to introduce this new program," said Melissa Kajpust, Director of Programming, National Screen Institute. "The calibre of submissions was extraordinary and I thank all the writers who applied. I am delighted with the final five projects and look forward to working with these talented individuals over the next year."
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. 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:
Here I Go Again by Pat Mills (Ontario)
Pat Mills is an award-winning filmmaker. An alumnus of the NSI (NSI Drama Prize, NSI Features First, NSI Totally Television), his teen series Amnesia Girl went into development and his feature comedy Don't Talk To Irene won the Pitch THIS! competition at the Toronto International Film Festival. Recently, it has been selected to participate in the 2012 CFC Telefilm Canada Comedy Exchange.
Joanna Makes a Friend by Ben Rollo (British Columbia)
Ben Rollo is a graduate of the University of Victoria's Writing program. His short film, Joanna Makes a Friend, directed by longtime friend and collaborator Jeremy Lutter, has played at film festivals around the world, and won the MPPIA award at the 2010 Whistler Film Festival.
My Other Life by Julian Doucet (Quebec)
Julian is a 2010 graduate of the CFC's Television Primetime program. He worked as a Junior Story Editor on the inaugural season of Bomb Girls. He has series in development with CCi, Carte Blanche and Aetios Productions. As a Story Consultant he's worked for CTV, Frantic Films, Carte Blanche, the CFC, the Stratford Festival and the Tarragon Theatre. In 2010 Julian received a Bell Media Banff Fellowship. Julian is the voice of the Ottawa Transit System. He has a daily audience of 370,000.
Rip My Heart Out by Daniel Hogg (British Columbia)
Daniel Hogg has enjoyed a banner year in 2012, being selected to NSI Drama Prize (Floodplain, in production), a second Leo nomination, a Praxis Screenplay finalist berth and two production grants. He is also a University of Victoria and UCLA Professional Program alum.
Sleeping Dog Lie by Thomas Michael (Ontario) and Paolo Mancini (Ontario)
Paolo is an actor and screenwriter originally from Aylmer, Quebec. At 17, he was one of the leads and head writers for the hit comedy series Y B Normal? Past screenwriting credits include Greg & Gentillon; cult hit Hank and Mike, starring alongside Joe Mantegna; and Running Mates, starring opposite Henry Winkler. Thomas is an award-winning writer, actor, and filmmaker. At 17, he created the Comedy Network cult comedy series, Y B Normal? He has since made three feature films: Greg & Gentillon; Hank and Mike and Running Mates. He is currently developing a series for ABC and CTV.
To view the complete release, please visit Movie Central's press site at http://mediacentre.corusent.com.
SOURCE: Movie Central
Owen McCorquodale
Corus Entertainment
(416) 479-6068
[email protected]
Lauren MacDiarmid
National Screen Institute
(204) 957-2999
[email protected]
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