Posted on Monday, November 30, 2009.

News Release: November 30, 2009

The National Screen Institute – Canada (NSI) announces the filmmakers who will develop their films through its NSI Features First training program in association with Presenting Sponsor Telefilm Canada.

NSI Features First is a 10-month professional development program for Canadian filmmakers working on their first or second feature. The program aims to teach students about film financing and the marketplace, and to prepare them to make their film. The selected projects and teams for 2009/10 are:

Project: Bitter Pills
Team: Writer/director Garfield Lindsay Miller and producer Cher Hawrysh (Vancouver, BC / Toronto, ON)
Synopsis: When an embittered, small-town doctor begins telling his healthy patients they are terminally ill, they suddenly begin living life to the fullest. When the doctor’s schemes threaten to ruin him, it takes the compassion of an ailing young patient to keep his secret safe and help him rediscover life’s precious beauty.

Project: Heaven’s Door
Team: Writer/director Geoff Redknap and producer Katie Weekley (Vancouver, BC)
Synopsis: The story of a forgotten town on the edge of nowhere, where a broken man battles the unjust and finds redemption.

Project: Emerge
Team: Writer/director Ben Mazzotta and producer Maria Kennedy (Toronto, ON)
Synopsis: Nat, a paramedic with a gift for saving lives, starts to lose his patients and his sanity when one life he couldn’t save comes back to haunt him. Addicted to the job and his marriage ending, reality starts slipping away from him when he loses a young mother and her unborn baby. Nat is the unsung hero, a man who must come to terms with death and the realization that the only life he can truly save is his own.

Project: Manitouwabi
Team: Writer/director Jeff Kopas and producer David Bajurny (Toronto, ON)
Synopsis: Gordon Heath returns to the now closed Ojibway Hotel where he spent his childhood summers with his grandfather. His wife and child have just been killed in a horrific car crash and he is intent on committing suicide. Instead he becomes involved in a paranormal mystery where the spirits of the Ojibwa tribe who once lived on the island again influence his life.

After a weekend of intensive focus on story development in Toronto under the guidance of NSI Manager, Training Programs Brendon Sawatzky and Program Advisor Marguerite Pigott, the teams will continue work on their projects in their home communities with several critical deadlines to be met throughout the year.

“Once again we received great scripts from across the country, making our decision a difficult one,” said Sawatzky. “We strongly believe in these filmmakers and that by going through this training, they will produce these films for screens across Canada and around the world. Our new teams can draw inspiration from NSI Features First team Darlene Naponse and Joseph Mansourian (2006-07) who have begun filming their feature Every Emotion Costs. This is the second NSI Features First project this year to go to camera. It shows that with hard work and perseverance, you will see the results of your labour on screen.”

Jim Murphy Filmmakers Bursary

In 2008, NSI established the Jim Murphy Filmmakers Bursary to be awarded annually to an NSI Features First team. A $2,500 award is given to a team that develops an inventive and creatively-integrated marketing plan as part of the program requirements in the first phase of training. Only teams that apply to and are selected for NSI Features First are eligible. The inaugural winner of the bursary was the project Hunter Hunter by Winnipeg team Shawn Linden and Megan Heke.

For more information on the bursary or to make a contribution visit the NSI website. All amounts are gratefully accepted and tax receipts will be issued.

About NSI Features First

Since its launch in 1997, films developed through NSI Features First have won or been nominated for a plethora of industry and festival awards and debuted at prestigious festivals across the world. These films have also gone on to play in commercial theatres across Canada and on national networks and specialty channels including CBC, Movie Central and The Movie Network.

About the National Screen Institute (NSI)

NSI is widely known for its prestigious training programs for Canadian writers, directors and producers working in film, television and digital media. Most programs are part-time so students keep their day jobs while they train. Participants do not have to relocate – intensive training happens in one place and participants return home to work with a mentor for the rest of their program. All training is delivered by senior industry experts.

NSI Features First is made possible by Presenting Sponsor Telefilm Canada; Program Partners The Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation and Canwest; Strategic Sponsor Corus Entertainment Inc.; and Service Sponsor William F. White International Inc.

NSI on the web