Latest posts from National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI)

NSI grads with films in VIFF’s True North program

Posted: 22 Aug 2017 01:31 PM PDT

Congratulations to the NSI grads with films playing in the True North program at Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) 2017.

Also see: NSI grads with films in VIFF’s Sea to Sky BC filmmakers program

Stay tuned for more NSI-related VIFF updates as they’re announced.

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Evelyn and I by Weiye Su + 1 more film in this week’s NSI Online Short Film Festival

Posted: 22 Aug 2017 11:45 AM PDT

Two new films in this week’s NSI Online Short Film Festival from directors Weiye Su and Geraldine Carr.

Evelyn and I

Evelyn and I | Experimental, 6:55, Chinese, English, SK, 2017 | Director: Weiye Su

Two generations of filmmakers each discover the meaning of filmmaking in Saskatchewan through the cosmic prairie landscapes.

Maud Mary & the Titanic

Maud Mary & the Titanic | Animation, 6:00, English, AB, 2012 | Director: Geraldine Carr

A sweet, short film about a late, great lady who missed the boat and sailed into history.

• • •

Call for films / submit by September 8

Films are now being accepted through FilmFreeway until Friday, September 8, 2017.

If your film is programmed, you have a chance of winning over $3K in cash awards. We accept films released after January 1, 2012.

All NSI Online Short Film Festival winners receive a complimentary Friend membership for the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television and non-acting award winners are qualified to be nominated for a Canadian Screen Award (if award criteria are met).

See the most recent winners.

Your film must be less than 30 mins long. Drama, comedy, animation, documentary, sci-fi, horror, music video and experimental are all eligible and must be made by a Canadian writer, director or producer.

Submit your film

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The NSI Online Short Film Festival is made possible through the support of Festival Partner Telefilm Canada; Supporting Sponsors Entertainment One, Super Channel, Corus Entertainment, Blue Ant Media, The Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation and Breakthrough Entertainment; Award Sponsors A&E Television Networks, The Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation and Blue Ant Media; and Industry Partner the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.

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World trailer premiere for animated feature Todd & The Book of Pure Evil: The End of The End

Posted: 21 Aug 2017 01:18 PM PDT

Here’s an exclusive look at the trailer for Todd & The Book of Pure Evil: The End of The End – the upcoming animated feature which picks up where the TV series (developed through NSI Totally Television) left off.

Release dates for the feature will soon be announced by Raven Banner Entertainment.

The TV series was developed by Anthony Leo, Charles Picco and Craig David Wallace.

Also see: New Todd & The Book of Pure Evil cast panel at Fan Expo, Toronto, September 2.

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Apply for the latest edition of STORYHIVE web series, win $10K to make your pilot

Posted: 21 Aug 2017 01:16 PM PDT

Content creators in British Columbia and Alberta can now apply for a chance to win one of 30 X $10K STORYHIVE web series production grants to deliver a pilot, plus distribution on TELUS Optik™ TV on Demand, and training and mentorship from the National Screen Institute.

Finalists move on to phase two with their finished pilots where one lucky team in each province will receive an additional $50K to deliver a standout web series, plus training/mentorship opportunities with industry pros.

Here’s what you need to apply:

Apply by September 11, 2017. Get more details.

• • •

STORYHIVE is a community-powered funding program that allows members of the community to influence what projects receive funding from TELUS.

The program allows content creators in British Columbia and Alberta to submit their story ideas to an online public platform. The community then votes for the project that should receive funding and go into production.

NSI delivers training for the selected projects and their creators once they’re chosen through the STORYHIVE process. The public chooses 15 projects from content creators in British Columbia and 15 from Alberta.

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Maud Mary & the Titanic

Posted: 21 Aug 2017 09:01 AM PDT

A sweet, short film about a late, great lady who missed the boat and sailed into history.

Creative team

Writer/director/producer: Geraldine Carr

Filmmaker’s statement

I was inspired to make Maud Mary & the Titanic in time for the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. My goal was to make my documentary – an essay film – and have it screen in a Titanic historically related centre during the Titanic’s centennial.

I reached my goal when it screened in New York City 100 years to the day … plus 10 hours or so. The hubris of man 100 years ago, and the tragedy that resulted, still speaks to us a century later.

I’ve always been interested in all things Titanic, and well before the blockbuster movie. I was reminded of my great-grandmother’s story at my parents’ 50th anniversary when my uncle spoke of her and her three children, including my grandfather. I had heard the story when I was a child, but it’s not something that is spoken of around the dining table. When I heard the story again, I thought this would make a great short film!

At the time, I was very intrigued with the rotoscoping in the opening titles of the film Juno as well as the visual effects and digital collage in the film Frida. These two films influenced my treatment of Maud Mary & the Titanic. And in doing the narration myself, I worked very hard to strike the right tone – I didn’t want to be disrespectful to those who perished.

It’s been an interesting journey making this film. I’ve met a number of people who had a relative that either missed the boat as well, or perished on that frigid night. I also discovered a cousin, four times removed, who lived just nine blocks away from me. And my mother, who is the genealogist in the family, discovered a distant relative in the UK whose family all thought that Maud had perished in the sinking.

I hope you enjoy the film. Thank you.

About Geraldine Carr

Award-winning filmmaker Geraldine Carr (Voila! / Maud Mary & the Titanic / Dance of the Kaleidoscope / Rose’s Rising) has a passion for story, cinema and the creative process.

Geraldine recently attended the script development program at the 2017 Female Eye Film Festival with her feature film Ballads in Passing. In 2015, her short film Maud Mary & the Titanic was curated by the 18th Flying Broom International Women’s Film Festival in Ankara, Turkey.

Geraldine is an alumnae of Women in the Director’s Chair (2016, 2010) and is a graduate of the film production program at Confederation College. Geraldine remains committed to her craft and is in possession of a keenly creative mind and spirit.

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Evelyn and I

Posted: 21 Aug 2017 08:56 AM PDT

Two generations of filmmakers each discover the meaning of filmmaking in Saskatchewan through the cosmic prairie landscapes.

Creative team

Writer/director/producer: Weiye Su

Filmmaker’s statement

This film is inspired by Evelyn Spice Cherry. Cherry made hundreds of documentaries, and her films were widely distributed in Canada during the 1930s and 40s.

I found her life story fascinating. Especially since women were often considered ‘less important’ in the early 20th century. And Cherry, as a female, achieved extraordinary success in filmmaking. So I was drawn to make a film about a woman filmmaker.

In an early NFB interview, Cherry said that making films in Canada was like building something which [they] hoped would continue after the war, and this would be valuable to the people of Canada. But her words saddened me. In reality, her legacy had been long forgotten in Saskatchewan and Canada. Nearly no one remembers her or sees her films nowadays.

I began to ponder to myself: what could she mean about filmmaking being valuable if it had been forgotten? And how would other Saskatchewan filmmakers, such as Cherry, deal with their films being forgotten?

In my film the character Evelyn becomes a representation of many Saskatchewan filmmakers. And it becomes a personal film involving myself, as a young filmmaker, on a quest to find the meaning of being a Saskatchewan filmmaker.

At the end, the young filmmaker finds an alternative to his quest. But you should also know that:

“An overwhelming hallucination [of desolate landscape] can make one feel that oneself, as an individual human being, is slowly being unraveled … and feel some huge, cosmic love.” – Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

About Weiye Su

Weiye Su is a Saskatchewan-based film student, amateur photographer and landscape lover.

His first short documentary, Gone, Gone, Gone With The Winn’s, screens at the 2017 Canada and China International Film Festival (Montreal, QC) in the fall. It previously screened at the 2017 Queen City Short May Film Festival (Regina, SK) winning the audience choice award. It also screened at the 2016 Flamingo Student Film Festival (Atlantic, US) where it was nominated for best cinematography.

His newest short film, Evelyn and I, was selected by the Top Shorts Online Film Festival, and received an honourable mention for experimental.

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New NSI Totally Televison team profiled in Metro

Posted: 18 Aug 2017 02:26 PM PDT

Newly-announced NSI Totally Television team Jon Mann (pictured) and Rob Ramsay were recently profiled in Canada’s Metro newspaper.

Jon spoke about their project Wolfville, which will be developed through the course over the next 10 months:

“When you meet [the two main characters] in the pilot, you realize that the town of Wolfville isn’t exactly what meets the eye. And you realize that one of the two is the leading cause of it and the other one is now a cop in this small little town, and the responsibility is now put on him to get to the bottom of it.”

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NSI grads honoured in 2017 Birks Diamond Tribute to the Year’s Women in Film

Posted: 18 Aug 2017 01:58 PM PDT

Congrats to the NSI grads honoured in this year’s Telefilm Canada and Birks Diamond Tribute to the Year’s Women in Film during the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF):

The 12 Canadian female actors, directors, and screenwriters were selected by a pan-Canadian jury of 27 journalists and bloggers covering the world of art, culture and entertainment.

The recipients will be honoured on Tuesday, September 12.

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New Todd & The Book of Pure Evil cast panel at Fan Expo, Toronto

Posted: 18 Aug 2017 01:56 PM PDT

The team behind Todd & The Book of Pure Evil, developed through NSI Totally Television, presents a sneak peak of new animated feature Todd & The Book of Pure Evil: The End of the End during Fan Expo in Toronto.

Get an exclusive sneak peek at the upcoming animated feature film with stars Jason Mewes, Alex House, Bill Turnbull, Melanie Leishman, Chris Leavins, Maggie Castle and directors Craig Wallace, Richard Duhaney and producer Andrew Rosen.

The panel is scheduled to happen on Saturday, September 2 at 1 p.m. Find out more at Fan Expo.

The TV series was developed by Anthony Leo, Charles Picco and Craig David Wallace.

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NSI grads with films at Calgary International Film Fest

Posted: 18 Aug 2017 08:15 AM PDT

Congratulations to the NSI grads with films screening at this year’s Calgary International Film Festival.

The fest runs September 20 to October 1, 2017.

If we missed your film, let us know!

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