Latest posts from National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI)

Biidaaban (The Dawn Comes) from writer/director/producer Amanda Strong (NSI IndigiDocs) won best BC short film at this year’s Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF).

The award comes with a $5K prize.

In the film, Biidaaban, a gender-fluid Indigenous youth, and Sabe, a Sasquatch shape shifter, set out to harvest sap from sugar maples in a city’s private neighbourhoods.

The post Amanda Strong’s Biidaaban (The Dawn Comes) wins best BC short at VIFF appeared first on National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI).

Yesterday we hosted a webinar for potential applicants of the NSI IndigiDocs training program. As co-manager of the course, I joined grads Ryan Cooper and Nadine Arpin to share knowledge, tips and advice about the course and application process.

The idea behind the webinar was to provide a bit more insight about the program to help you put together a great application package ready for the November 5 deadline. And we recorded the webinar so, even if you couldn’t make the live broadcast, you can still watch it here.

We had so many questions and couldn’t answer them all live. Below are answers to all the questions we received.

• • •

What kind of projects are you looking for?

We are looking for documentary story ideas that can be told in a 10-minute film. Your story doesn’t have to be Indigenous-related but both team members do need to be First Nations, Inuit and/or Métis.

I’d love to do the program but don’t know any producers. How do I find a producer to work with?

We don’t match directors with producers. The producer/director relationship is a very important one. You will have to work together for a whole year to make your film so it’s best if you find someone you know you can work with and trust.

This is a training program so the producer doesn’t need to have a lot of experience. It helps if they have a head for business and can manage a budget but we’ve trained people with no producing experience but with a strong belief in the subject of the film and they have done well as a producer.

How do I keep doing my day job? The course sounds like a lot of work. How do I fit the training into my day-to-day life?

Most of our students have day jobs. It helps to have some flexibility with your day job.

The only dates you have to be at a specific place at a specific time is for two weeks in the second half of February 2019 for training boot camp in Winnipeg, four days to attend Hot Docs in Toronto at the beginning of May 2019 and three days in February 2020 when you go to the National Film Board in Montreal to complete post-production.

The rest of the time you’ll work on your own with your teammate.

Do I have to have documentary experience before applying? I’ve only done drama.

If you have drama experience that’s great. You don’t need documentary experience but some film experience certainly helps.

How are the teams chosen?

Teams are chosen by a jury put together from the Indigenous community and NSI staff.

Do we have to come from the same place to work together?

You don’t have to come from the same community to apply together as a producer/director team. Several of our previous teams have lived in different places. You can communicate online and by phone.

It hasn’t been a problem before, but it does take some extra effort to communicate and check in with your partner.

Does the $16K we get to make our film cover all production costs? Do I need to find other funding to complete my film?

You get $16,000 in cash that’s delivered in phases according to a contract you sign with NSI. You also get approximately $10,000 of in-kind services which are described in more detail here under the heading: What are the in-kind services and how do we include them in our budget?

Most films made through this program have been produced for this amount but some teams have found more money by applying to programs like Canada Council, provincial arts agencies, band councils, etc. Financing is also one of the things we talk about in boot camp.

What rights do I need to get clearance for to make my film?

If the telling of your story depends on being able to film with one or more individuals, you must include a letter signed by them saying they give you permission to put them in your film and they will make themselves available for filming.

If you’re filming a ceremony or a territory that you need permission for – and this is integral to telling your story – you must also show you have or can soon get permission to do this filming.

Is there a rating or genre preferred for the documentary? (child-friendly?)

There is no genre preferred. The film has to fall within the standards for broadcasting in Canada. We will not accept pornography or gratuitous violence.

The finished films are shown on APTN, documentary Channel and on the National Film Board website.

Are you allowed to be one the subjects of your own documentary?

Yes, you can be the subject of the documentary or in your documentary.

Can I watch all previous documentaries made through the program?

The films made in the first year of the program are available to watch through the following links. More will be made available as we get the rights to show them.

• Finding Sergeant Partridge
• Traditional Beats
• An Ecstatic Professional
• Alice and Kevin

What kind of people teach sessions at boot camp?

All teachers and mentors are professionals who work in the industry. Each team receives a mentor to work with them throughout the entire process of making their film.

See a complete list of our faculty and associate faculty.

What kind of story editing training/guidance do we get?

At NSI we believe that story is extremely important, so we concentrate on teaching storytelling at the two-week boot camp in February.

Shane Belcourt (program advisor) teaches a brilliant day of about how to tell a visual story. Lisa Jackson (program advisor) also spends a day talking about her films and how she approaches story. Many of our presenters talk about story and we also bring in a director and editor to talk about post-production and working in the editing suite.

Can my doc be shot as a possibility for a spin-off for a longer documentary in the future?

Yes, but it also has to stand alone as a short documentary film.

How can I get in touch to ask more questions?

Call (or email) Elise Swerhone, Ursula Lawson or Kaya Wheeler at the National Screen Institute’s toll free line: 800.952.9307.

• • •

NSI IndigiDocs offers development and mentorship for up to four producer/director teams to create a short documentary.

NSI IndigiDocs 2017-19 is funded by Program Partners APTN, Manitoba Sport, Culture & Heritage and RBC Emerging Artists Project; Boot Camp Presenting Sponsor Manitoba Film & Music; Strategic Sponsors the Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) and documentary Channel; Supporting Sponsors Telefilm Canada, Saskatchewan Media Production Industry Association (SMPIA), Corus Entertainment, Breakthrough Entertainment and the Jim Murphy Filmmakers Bursary; Provincial Sponsors Manitoba Film & Music and Creative BC through the Daryl Duke and William Vince Scholarship Fund; Industry Partners the National Film Board and the Directors Guild of Canada; Industry Supporters imagineNATIVE Film & Media Arts Festival and Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival; and Service Sponsor Line 21 Media. NSI Core Funders are Manitoba Sport, Culture & Heritage and the City of Winnipeg through the Winnipeg Arts Council.

The post Answers to all your questions from the NSI IndigiDocs Q+A webinar appeared first on National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI).

Yesterday we hosted a webinar for potential applicants of the NSI IndigiDocs training program. Program co-manager Elise Swerhone and program grads Ryan Cooper and Nadine Arpin shared their knowledge, tips and advice.

The idea behind the webinar was to provide a bit more insight about the program to help you put together a great application package ready for the November 5 deadline. And we recorded the webinar so, even if you couldn’t make the live broadcast, you can still watch it here.

We had so many questions and couldn’t answer them all live. See answers to all the questions we received.

• • •

NSI IndigiDocs offers development and mentorship for up to four producer/director teams to create a short documentary.

During the course, accepted teams will:

• get training, mentorship and up to $16K in cash towards the production of their films;
• attend Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in Toronto;
• receive travel, accommodation and post-production services from the National Film Board;
• have their documentaries air as part of a one-hour special of NSI IndigiDocs shorts on APTN; and
• get the opportunity for their individual films to appear on documentary Channel, nfb.ca and nsi-canada.ca.

Nadine Arpin is a 2-Spirit, Red River Basin, Michif director/filmmaker living in Sioux Lookout, Northwestern Ontario, where she has been producing short films since 2013. Nadine is interested in telling stores that blur the lines of legend, memory and truth. Her work uses mixed media, found footage and animation to create hybrid cinematic experiences.

In 2015, Nadine was selected for NSI IndigiDocs and produced her short film Jane & the Wolf through the program.

In spring 2017 Nadine was selected for the Corus Diverse Voices Scholarship hosted by Hot Docs, received an OAC Northern Arts grant and produced short hybrid documentary Anna Lisa, which is currently on the festival circuit. In 2018 Nadine was chosen by Regent Park Film Festival in Toronto as one of six Canadian filmmakers to produce shorts for their Home Made Visible project.

Nadine’s work has screened at imagineNATIVE, Skábmagovat Indigenous Peoples’ Film Festival, Winnipeg Aboriginal Film Festival, Garifuna International Indigenous Film Festival, and First Nations Film and Video Festival, to name a few.

Ryan Cooper is an Indigenous, 2-Spirit, LGBTQ filmmaker and a recent graduate of the National Screen Institute’s CBC New Indigenous Voices program, under the direction of legendary film and television producer Lisa Meeches (Ice Road Truckers, We Were Children, Taken).

Ryan is focused on producing and writing contemporary, cultural and modern stories in a lighthearted way through scripted and factual storytelling. Ryan is also part of the 2018 NSI IndigiDocs program where he and teammate Charlene Moore have the opportunity to create a 10-minute documentary about Indigenous youth leaving home at 12 years old to finish their basic education.

Ryan also studied new media at Interactive Design Nu Media, and trained in acting at the Academy of Acting. Ryan is from Peguis, the biggest First Nation community in Manitoba. He has trained in theatre at the Centre for Indigenous Theatre, and film and theatre at the University of Winnipeg. Ryan has written many scripts, some of which are optioned and has worked on various films, in various roles. He looks forward to bringing empowerment through film and television and the arts to his home community.

Elise Swerhone co-manages the NSI IndigiDocs course. Her extensive work includes the feature documentaries TuTu Much and Ballet High as well as several documentaries for CBC’s The Nature of Things.

She has made over 30 documentaries which have been shown around the world, including work for the NFB, Global TV, HGTV, Vision, National Geographic and Discovery US. Her dramatic work includes Miss Manitoba, Now & Then, The Mayor of Odessa, episodes of The Adventures of Shirley Holmes and the MOW My Mother’s Ghost.

Elise is also an alumna of NSI DramaLab.

• • •

NSI IndigiDocs 2017-19 is funded by Program Partners APTN, Manitoba Sport, Culture & Heritage and RBC Emerging Artists Project; Boot Camp Presenting Sponsor Manitoba Film & Music; Strategic Sponsors the Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) and documentary Channel; Supporting Sponsors Telefilm Canada, Saskatchewan Media Production Industry Association (SMPIA), Corus Entertainment, Breakthrough Entertainment and the Jim Murphy Filmmakers Bursary; Provincial Sponsors Manitoba Film & Music and Creative BC through the Daryl Duke and William Vince Scholarship Fund; Industry Partners the National Film Board and the Directors Guild of Canada; Industry Supporters imagineNATIVE Film & Media Arts Festival and Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival; and Service Sponsor Line 21 Media. NSI Core Funders are Manitoba Sport, Culture & Heritage and the City of Winnipeg through the Winnipeg Arts Council.

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