Latest posts from National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI)

Four scripted short-form projects from alumni have been approved for financing as part of the Independent Production Fund (IPF) and Canada Media Fund’s (CMF) Development Packaging Program.

Projects were selected based on originality, quality of written creative materials, the experience of story editor or development executives and their commitment to the project and overall potential for success.

Congratulations to the selected alumni:

• My Dead Mom – produced by Lauren Corber (NSI Totally Television)

• Streams Flow From A River – story editor JJ Neepin (NSI IndigiDocs)

• The Vivre-Ensemble – produced by Steph Ouaknine, written by Sarah Goodman (both NSI Totally Television)

• Wild Geese – written by Matt Sadowski (NSI Features First)

The Development Packaging Program selected 20 projects in total, with IPF and CMF providing a total investment of $600K for all selected projects. Projects will be delivered through digital platforms.

See the 20 selected projects.

The post Alumni projects selected to receive funding through IPF and CMF’s Development Packaging Program appeared first on National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI).

In September 2020, the National Screen Institute partnered with Annelise Larson of Storypreneurs Unite to launch a new digital marketing course to help creators find and engage an audience for their projects. At the time, Annelise released four of the eight learning sessions. The final four sessions are now available.

The National Screen Institute’s Liz Hover recently caught up with Annelise to chat about the course in the video above.

In addition to the new sessions, Annelise is providing enhanced support during May and June 2021 for people enrolled in the course.

• Leave messages in the Learner Community any time.

• Chat with fellow creatives in the discussion boards for every session and/or join Annelise live every Wednesday evening at 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET for an hour-long drop-in at the Learner Community or on Twitter using the hashtag #StorypreneursUnite.

• Complete all eight sessions and get a free 30-minute consultation with Annelise to talk about the course or a specific project you’re working on. Just reach out to her at [email protected] once you’ve finished the course and she’ll send you a link to book a time.

The course in a nutshell

• It’s affordable ($25 per session OR all eight sessions for $150 (USD including GST))
• Learn online, by yourself, at your own pace
• Sessions are pre-recorded and include homework exercises
• Learn everything you need to create a digital business or marketing plan
• Half of the profits go to the National Screen Institute to help support important training initiatives

Scroll down for session descriptions after an introduction by Annelise.

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Introduction by Annelise Larson

What can a digital strategy do for you?

Now the full digital marketing course is online, you have at your virtual fingertips a powerful tool to help achieve the goals you have set for your film, TV or web series or any creative storytelling project. If you’ve done all the homework you should have a much clearer idea of what those are, who you need to attract and engage and how to find success.

And as you launch your work into digital space, what can this digital strategic approach help you accomplish? Here are just a few things:

• Motivate your team and get everyone on the same page. Developing a comprehensive digital plan with your team helps everyone take ownership of the goals and better understand how and what they are contributing to the success of the project. It also keeps everyone accountable (which is often the only way things seem to get done) and moving in the same direction.

• Better attract investment. A good story alone is often not enough to secure private or public money for your project. More and more, investors and funders are looking to be even smarter about where they put their resources. Having a well-researched and exciting strategy to demonstrate there is a market for your story – and you know just how to reach them – can go a long way in helping instill confidence in potential financial backers.

• Demonstrate your skills as a storypreneur. There has never been more need or interest in hiring people who are both highly creative and digitally savvy. As a proven storypreneur you are a digital entrepreneur and storyteller who has concrete evidence of skills that are in high demand.

Go get ‘em storypreneur!

For a number of years, I ran an online course called Becoming a Storypreneur for filmmakers and other media storytellers from Canada and Europe. It was intense. It was expensive. And it didn’t reach enough people.

Inspired by this course, I am excited to launch this marketing series in partnership with the National Screen Institute. All eight lessons are now available online. Sign up today!

1 – Starting with WHY & WHO

Learn how to set goals for yourself, your brand/company and your project, and gain insight into the digital audience and how to research and define your specific target markets.

2 – Understanding the Bigger Picture

Learn tools like P.E.S.T., S.W.O.T. and analysis and competitive research to help understand the bigger landscape for your media property and to communicate what makes it unique in language that better attracts investment, talent, partners and other opportunities.

3 – Search & Discoverability

Learn about search engines and what discoverability means in this context. Learn how to dramatically increase the chances of your project getting found online through semantic search engine optimization (SSEO) and other tactics, and how to tap into the power of language and data provided by online search tools.

4 – Social Media, Engagement & Story

Learn how to be more strategic about your project’s social media presence and how to use your social storytelling skills to grow and engage your audience.

*NEW* 5 – Other Ways to Promote and Engage

Besides search and social media, many other opportunities exist online to market your project. Learn about best practices for digital advertising, publicity, email marketing, crowdfunding and other tactics as well as how to figure out which ones are right for your story and the journey and roles you want your audience to take.

*NEW* 6 – The Digital Economy & Your Story

While gatekeepers and curators are still an important part of reaching an audience, many online opportunities exist today for direct or DIY distribution, as well as a number of different revenue streams. Learn about digital distribution and monetization and how to determine which opportunities will best help you achieve your goals.

*NEW* 7 – Understanding the Story in the Data

One of the most empowering things online is the access to data, but it can get absolutely overwhelming. Learn how and where to collect the data most relevant to your project and how to analyze this information to further your goals and find digital success.

*NEW* 8 – Putting It All Together

Learn how the applied exercises for each past webinar can be used to build a digital plan that will provide structure and focus for your team and attract partners, investment, press and other opportunities.

Discount bundle: sign up for all eight sessions for $150

Annelise Larson is a digital strategist and former filmmaker who works with media industry stakeholders to use the digital opportunity to find, grow and engage audiences and work toward sustainable business models. Her podcast STORY+AUDIENCE with writer Jill Golick can be found on all major podcasting platforms. She has released a study with Telefilm Canada entitled Thanks COVID! 15 Lessons for Film Distribution from the First Wave.

The post Online learning opportunity: Find out how to build an audience for your work by enrolling in Annelise Larson’s digital media for marketing course appeared first on National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI).