Latest posts from National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI)

Trey Anthony shortlisted for Lambda Literary Award

Posted: 12 Mar 2018 01:40 PM PDT

Trey Anthony (NSI Totally Television) has been named a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award for her play How Black Mothers Say I Love You in the LGBTQ Drama category.

Now in their 30th year, the Lambda Literary Awards celebrate achievement in LGBTQ writing for works published in 2017.

The winners will be announced at a gala ceremony on June 4 in New York City.

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NSI grads win 2018 Canadian Screen Awards

Posted: 12 Mar 2018 01:27 PM PDT

Congratulations to the NSI grads who won 2018 Canadian Screen Awards recently:

Best animated program or series

Best picture editing, comedy

Best sound, fiction

Best documentary program

Best direction, documentary program

Best lifestyle program or series

Best factual program or series

Best documentary program

Best motion picture

Ted Rogers best feature length documentary

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Tomorrow’s Shadows

Posted: 09 Mar 2018 02:50 PM PST

Where futures are known and happiness is guaranteed by G.O.D., a mother is given a choice – her child or her perfect future.

Creative team

Writer/director: Geordie Sabbagh
Producer: Ashleigh Rains

Filmmaker’s statement

I’m sure each of us wants to know what our future holds. Well, I should rephrase that. Most of us want to know the good stuff and not that we’ll get hit by a car in two weeks or that our house will burn down.

I think that desire often comes from wanting to know our struggle to succeed in life with work, family and friends all pays off in the end, and we’ll be happy and secure. It’s an urge to control our destiny and surroundings – something we’ve wanted since we walked upright.

Controlling our future would be the ultimate step on the ladder of evolution, but what would it do to us? This is where the idea for G.O.D. came from as I’m more interested in a future that seems real because I find the sci-fi films that are scariest are those that feel like they could be just around the corner.

I think the massive amount of data we willingly share each day, combined with what’s on file with government, doctors and educators, is more than enough to start building a fairly comprehensive profile of who we and what we like.

It’s been said we’re at the dawn of the Internet of Things – which is essentially when everyone and everything will transfer data over a network without going through a human-to-computer or a human-to-human connection. A constant stream of information going between us and everything we touch.

For example, Samsung now sells a voice-controlled television and Nest is a thermostat that programs a perfect temperature around you. However, deep within Samsung’s terms and conditions is a note that the TV will listen to all of your conversations and transmit them back to third parties. Nest is paid by hydro companies to allow information to be fed back and forth so they can let Nest know how the grid is performing and work accordingly.

Google, whose main business is advertising, just bought Nest for $3 billion. What do they see with this highway? Both are silent intruders into our lives that we place there for the promise of convenience and ease. To me, it’s an off-kilter type of 1984 in which we’re willing participants and it’s not the government but corporations who we’re trading data with, mostly to have an easier life. Has having a phone and the internet made your life easier? Less stressful? Richer? More secure in yourself?

It wouldn’t take much more information to find our ideal jobs or know how much money we need to be content. (A recent study found the current optimum level is $75,000, by the way.) Anything more will not add to your happiness. And yes, there is a real happiness equation that can predict what will make you happy.

This is where this film starts. People are all fairly content. Privacy is seen as a prevention to happiness because the more you share, the more accurate G.O.D. is about your future. Corporations have taken over from the government and are much less feared. Money has been more evenly spread and everyone is taken care of. There is little need to struggle in life so people have become sluggish, apathetic and lethargic.

Even those who feel they want more, or want something different than what’s predicted for them, are often pacified through being told what will happen if they leave the path. It’s always worse. Innovation in terms of ease is prevalent, but going against the grain is not. The idea of struggle has become the new fear rather than the unknown.

About Geordie Sabbagh

Writer/director Geordie Sabbagh’s work includes the feature A Sunday Kind of Love, one of five projects selected from across Canada to be greenlit for the IndieCan10K competition. The film played at numerous festivals, received two awards of excellence and was theatrically released in Canada.

Geordie’s other work includes the awarding-winning shorts Counselling and The Proposal, which screened at ComicCon and Fantasia. He finished the short Tomorrow’s Shadows, starring David Cronenberg and Karine Vanasse, and his second feature Somewhere There’s Music.

A multi-faceted filmmaker, Geordie also produced the feature film Old Stock (Top 5 Canadian films at the box office opening week) and the thriller Clean Break (best drama, Atlanta Horror Film Festival).

He was selected for the 2013 Whistler Project Lab, 2013 Berlin Project Market, 2014 TIFF Producer’s Lab and TIFF International Financing Forum, 2015 CMPA and Telefilm Berlin Delegation.

Geordie won the $10,000 Euro VFF Pitch prize at the Berlin Film Festival in 2013 where he was also part of the Talent Lab. He has been the recipient of three Bravo!FACT awards.

Prior to founding his own company, Geordie worked in all mediums of entertainment including film, TV, radio and new media for some of the most prestigious and innovative companies in the world such as the BBC.

He is a graduate of Norman Jewison’s Canadian Film Centre and received his MA in international business and management from the University of Westminster in London, England.

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The Wake Up

Posted: 09 Mar 2018 02:38 PM PST

Bleary-eyed, Mike wakes up one morning to find a strange man in his kitchen eating his cereal and drinking his coffee, as he calmly states: “I’m Carl. I’ll be replacing you today.”

Creative team

Writer/director: Jonathan MacPherson
Producers: Jonathan MacPherson, Rob Crone

Filmmaker’s statement

The Wake Up was inspired by my own bleary-eyed mornings during an intense period of home renovation.

About Jonathan MacPherson

Jonathan MacPherson is a writer, director and visual effects supervisor living and working in Vancouver. He splits his time between supervising visual effects on TV shows, writing and creating his own projects, and being a dad.

Jonathan’s current projects include writing and directing his first feature film, creating a single-camera sitcom, and co-writing a talking animal film (for adults!) He has also created a dramatic-comedy television series about the men who work in the private security industry. It’s in development at Pitchblack Pictures.

Over the years Jonathan has had the opportunity to be a part of the visual effects teams on a number of award-winning TV series, including Battlestar Galactica, The Man in the High Castle and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.

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Oil Men

Posted: 09 Mar 2018 02:33 PM PST

Oil Men is the first film to share the story of Canada’s controversial oil sands through the lens of female characters.

Leanne Romanko, a young oil and gas chemist, has her conscience tested when she must decide between environment and economy, and what will hold the brightest future for the one she loves most.

Creative team

Writer/director: Samuel Larson
Producers: Samuel Larson, Julie Nolke

Filmmaker’s statement

To provide some context: this film takes place in Fort McMurray, Alberta, one of the most famous (and notorious) cities in Canada. It is the nerve centre of Canadian oil development, and the country’s poster child of environmental degradation.

It is a place famous for pollution and climate change but also for jobs, prosperity and for being the backbone of Canada’s economy. As someone born in Alberta who now lives in Toronto, I have empathy for both sides of the oil sands enigma.

In making this film I wanted to explore the complexities of working in a field that has such a defined and tangible set of benefits, and such a significant list of detriments. In the broader sense, I wanted to examine the political dichotomy that exists between the environment and the economy.

On a more personal level, the inspiration for this story comes from the generational experience of producer and lead actor Julie Nolke’s family. I think it adds something to the film to know that the characters are inspired by real people and their long tradition of truck driving. I am deeply proud of all of the performances in Oil Men, but I’m especially inspired by Julie’s performance that bravely portrayed more than a character – a real family member.

In Canada today, the lingering debate between the environment and the economy seems irreconcilable. With regards to these profound political questions, I hope our film, if anything, shows how complex these issues really are. However, my real ambition is that this film succeeds on a human level: showing a family in difficult circumstances trying to do the right thing.

About Samuel Larson

Born in 1990, Sam began experimenting as a filmmaker in grade school. With his roots in painting and drawing, he developed a unique visual style at a young age.

After finishing film school, Sam successfully started Oleander Films, a production company that has made a variety of documentary, web and narrative productions. He often draws his inspiration from local experiences and Canadian culture.

He has worked with companies like Tastemade, The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard.

Originally hailing from Alberta, Sam now calls Toronto home.

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