Latest posts from National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI)

Burden of Truth renewed for second season, acquired by The CW

Posted: 09 Apr 2018 02:28 PM PDT

Burden of Truth, the legal drama co-exec produced by Lisa Meeches (NSI Indigenous programs advisor, NSI Storytellers) and Kyle Irving (NSI Global Marketing) of Eagle Vision, has been renewed by CBC for a second season and acquired by network The CW for its US rights.

Production on season two is set to begin in Manitoba in June, with the show expected to join CBC’s winter 2019 lineup.

Burden of Truth stars Kristin Kreuk as a big-city lawyer who returns to her hometown to take on what she thinks is a simple case, only to find herself in a fight for justice for a group of sick girls.

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Rogue Bridal pilot from Lisa Rose Snow, Natalie Urquhart premieres on Makeful

Posted: 09 Apr 2018 12:42 PM PDT

New pilot Rogue Bridal, from director Lisa Rose Snow (NSI Drama Prize) and producer Natalie Urquhart (NSI Drama Prize, NSI Totally Television), is set to premiere on Makeful April 24 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

The original scripted comedy pilot, created in part with funding from the Canada Media Fund, follows the fish-out-water struggle of Jules (Katherine Genge, pictured) – a disgraced high-end wedding planner – who embarks on reinventing herself as an independent DIY wedding wizard with the help of her marriage-averse sister, Devyn (Jess Beaulieu).

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Spring screenings for NSI Features First-developed Venus

Posted: 09 Apr 2018 12:35 PM PDT

NSI Features First-developed Venus is the opening film for Canada Now screenings in LA, Thursday, April 12 at 7:30 p.m. at the Aero Theatre followed by a discussion with writer/director Eisha Marjara and producer Joe Balass.

Venus screens again at the Atlanta Film Festival on Sunday, April 15 at 9 p.m. and Eisha and Joe are attending.

Venus comes to Vancouver on April 24 at 6:30 p.m. at the Vancity Theatre as part of Vancouver International Film Festival‘s celebration of Canadian Film Week. Eisha and Joe will attend.

Genders, generations and cultures collide in this comedy about the modern family unit, which follows a transitioning woman who discovers she’s the father of a 14-year-old boy.

• • •

NSI Features First is a development training launch pad for producer/writer teams looking to produce their first or second feature film with strong commercial appeal.

NSI Features First 2018 is funded by Presenting Sponsor Telefilm Canada; Supporting Sponsors Entertainment One, Super Channel, Corus Entertainment and Breakthrough Entertainment; and Service Sponsor William F. White. NSI Core Funders are Manitoba Sport, Culture & Heritage and the City of Winnipeg through the Winnipeg Arts Council.

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Cut

Posted: 05 Apr 2018 09:57 AM PDT

After a late night working, Tommy explains how he found the body of his partner Kev in their home.

Creative team

Writer/director/producer: Taylor Olson
Co-producers: Victor Stegemann, Koumbie

Filmmaker’s statement

This is an experiment in meta, building and breaking, and twists. The film relies on performance and our expectations of what will come next.

If you’ve ever been on a film set, you’ll get it.

About Taylor Olson

Taylor is an ACTRA-nominated actor and Screen Nova Scotia-nominated writer/filmmaker based in Halifax, NS.

He is one half of Afro Viking Pictures and has written and produced projects such as Hustle & Heart, Ariyah & Tristan’s Inevitable Break Up, and Perfectly Sane.

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Shauna is a Liar

Posted: 05 Apr 2018 09:48 AM PDT

An isolated, imaginative perfectionist exacts ill-conceived revenge on all liars of the world via the one target she has access to: a classmate sharing her name.

Creative team

Writer/director: Chell Stephen
Producer: Kristy Neville

Filmmaker’s statement

Shauna is a Liar is based on a true story – the actual events themselves may be heightened or rearranged for effect in the film but the feelings are accurate.

As a filmmaker I’m drawn to the complicated times in a young person’s life where those things we’ve been told ‘matter,’ ‘are important’ or ‘are true’ are beginning to break down around us. I also think it’s funny how the things we hate most in other people are what we usually hate most about ourselves.

When my two young co-stars and I rehearsed I asked them what they thought about their characters and they seemed to feel they had them pegged: “I’m the bullied one!” “I’m the mean girl!”

“Nah, nah, nah my dudes,” I said, “They’re the same!” They feel exactly the same but are just acting out their BS in different, and equally silly, ways. I think we’re all a lot more similar than we are different, and I think the expectations we place on ourselves and others can put us through some gnarly times.

This might sound a bit heavy for a brightly-coloured film full o’ tunes and fantasies and childhood rage but these are all things I was thinking about while making this short – which we shot in the same elementary school where the actual true events took place. It was fun and funny and excellent. My whole family was there, literally!

It’s how my team and I like to do it – scrappy, all-in, lots of dancing. Good stuff.

About Chell Stephen

Writer/director Chell Stephen was raised in Toronto on healthy doses of music videos, The X-Files and teen dance movies – influences which shaped her debut short film Crystal (SXSW, 2014) a dark comedy about a be-spandexed 17-year-old jerk.

Its follow up, Shauna is a Liar, is based on a true story from Chell’s youth and features poppy camp visuals, a dash of surreal plus an earnest beating heart at the centre – aka Chell’s wheelhouse.

Chell is a Sundance Fellow selected to participate in the 2017 New Voices Episodic Short Form Lab 2017 with her series Kidnapping Brihanna.

She also directs fashion and music content for global brands with production family Think/Feel, and presently reps the motherland from “fourth largest Canadian city,” Los Angeles.

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True Bromance

Posted: 05 Apr 2018 09:40 AM PDT

A fun, awkward, tongue-in-cheek look at online social networking, male friendship and the unlikely bonds formed through the use of the internet.

Creative team

Writer/director: Mike Onley
Producers: Jeremy Griffiths, Andrew Newton

Filmmaker’s statement

True Bromance was a lot of fun, and a little bit uncomfortable to make.

I spent many years writing comedy sketches and I wanted to ensure this film had some comedic relief and fun moments.

I thought the concept would inherently lend itself to some fun moments – which it did with Gary. I was not expecting the more touching moments that occurred when I met Spencer and learned about his past.

It was interesting to see the wide spread of people using the friendship app and we were careful to make sure that was represented in the film.

About Mike Onley

Mike Onley is a writer/director also trained in camera and lighting. He often employs his understanding of cinematography to create a unique and cinematic aesthetic.

Mike approaches each of his projects with an enthusiasm for the craft. He has a penchant for telling stories that entertain and delight audiences, while giving more serious moments the gravitas and sensitivity they deserve.

He is also the writer/director behind another NSI Online Short Film Festival selection, On The Job.

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