The Banff World Media Festival and Shaw Media Announce Recipients for Mentorship Programs

TORONTO, June 5, 2015 /CNW/ - The Banff World Media Festival (BANFF) has announced the recipients of this year's Shaw Media Mentorship Programs that take place at the annual Festival from June 7-10 in Banff, Alberta. Both the Shaw Media Drama & Comedy Showrunner Training Program and Shaw Media Writer's Apprentice Program attract experienced producers, directors, and writers from across Canada each year to participate in instructive training programs that provide insights into the demands of producing and programming successful television programs.

The recipients for the 2015 Shaw Media Drama & Comedy Showrunner Training Program are:

• Larry Bambrick
• Andrew Carr
• Josh Gal
• Mike McPhaden
• Raj Panikkar

The recipients for the 2015 Shaw Media Writer's Apprentice are:

• Tara Armstrong
• Seth Cooperman
• Jonathan Joffe
• Ashley Park
• Amanda Smith-Kolic

"These programs represent our commitment to the future of great television production in Canada," said Christine Shipton, Senior Vice President and Chief Creative Officer, Shaw Media. "We need to ensure that bright, talented, and enthusiastic artists like these have an outlet to advance their skills and achieve their dreams. On behalf of Shaw Media, I congratulate this year's recipients."

Successful applicants of the mentorship programs will be invited to attend BANFF on a full-access pass and benefit from the extensive networking, pitching, and business-building opportunities. Recipients will also have the chance to meet with showrunners, agents, broadcasters, and funders from leading broadcasters from North America and around the world. Moreover, the recipients of each program will receive unique rewards. The Showrunner Training Program group will have an exclusive, tailor-made Festival schedule to follow which will be led by their mentor, Brenda Greenberg, Executive Producer, For Jake's Sake Productions, and include exciting keynotes, master classes, networking opportunities, and private meetings with leading executives and showrunners. The Writer's Apprentice Program group will be placed in a two-week internship in the writer's room of a current Canadian comedy or drama series.

For more information about The Banff World Media Festival, please visit the website at http://www.banffmediafestival.com, or find us on Facebook and Twitter.

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. BANFF provides a platform for the evolving media industry to develop its creative and business objectives, 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 36^th annual Banff World Media Festival will take place June 7-10, 2015 at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, Banff, Canada.  For more information, visit: www.banffmediafestival.com.

About Shaw Communications Inc.
Shaw Communications Inc. is a diversified communications and media company, serving 3.2 million customers through a reliable and extensive fibre network. Shaw serves consumers with broadband Internet, WiFi, Digital Phone and Video products and services. Shaw Business Network Services provides business customers Internet, data, WiFi, telephony, Video and fleet tracking services. Shaw Business Infrastructure Services offers North American enterprises colocation, cloud and managed services through ViaWest. Shaw Media provides Canadians with engaging programming content through one of Canada's largest conventional television networks, Global Television, and 19 specialty networks including HGTV Canada, Food Network Canada, HISTORY® and Showcase. Shaw is traded on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges and is included in the S&P/TSX 60 Index (Symbol: TSX – SJR.B, NYSE – SJR). For more information, please visit www.shaw.ca.

SOURCE Shaw Media

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