Posted on Friday, March 05, 2010.

News release: March 4, 2010

The newest participants in NSI Drama Prize, a training program for film producers, writers and directors run by the National Screen Institute – Canada (NSI), learn from the best of Canada’s filmmaking industry over the coming weeks during their training in Winnipeg.

NSI Drama Prize is an ambitious program providing emerging filmmakers with a year of professional support and training in the various stages of filmmaking while developing and producing a short film.

The teams' writers began their training in Winnipeg on March 2; the producers and directors begin their training on March 7.

Following this "boot camp" teams return home to continue their work and prepare an assignment for selection to the next phase of the program. The chosen teams are eligible to receive $10,000 in cash support; over $30,000 in services; and mentoring from established industry leaders.

"The selection process was very competitive this year, based on the number and quality of applications," says Joy Loewen, Program Manager for NSI Drama Prize. "It's obvious that the Canadian film industry has a lot of up and coming talent, with this year's selected teams coming from the prairies and the east and west coasts."

The 2010-11 NSI Drama Prize teams are:

• The Fiddler’s Reel (Halifax, Nova Scotia) by producer Angus Swantee, and writer/director Marc Almon

• Rusted Pyre (Lethbridge/Calgary, Alberta) by producer David Cormican, writer Daniel Audet and director Laurence Cohen

• Fridge Magnet Poetry (Halifax, Nova Scotia) by producer Shauna Hatt and writer/director Lara Cassidy

• Wait For Rain (Vancouver, British Columbia) by writers Josh Epstein and Kyle Rideout, director Kyle Rideout and producer Josh Epstein

Facilitators and guest faculty include a list of “who’s who” in the Canadian film industry.

Jeff Peeler is facilitating the producer training; Shereen Jerrett is facilitating the writer training; and E. Jane Thompson is facilitating the director training.

Guest faculty include actress Rosemary Dunsmore, director of photography Milan Podsedly, producer Rhonda Baker, and pitching expert Mickey Rogers to name a few.

New this year is a marketing and alternative distribution session with filmmaker Jon Reiss, and marketing independent film case studies with David Miller, Kirk Comrie and Chad Maker, the principles from Agency 71.

NSI Drama Prize is made possible by Presenting Sponsor Telefilm Canada; Program Partners Canwest and The Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation; Strategic Sponsors Rogers and Women in Media Foundation; Provincial Sponsor British Columbia Film; Award Sponsors Rogers Group of Funds, The NSI Alumni Fund, The Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation and Telefilm Canada; Service Sponsors PS Production Services Ltd., Deluxe and Kodak Canada Inc.; Risk Management Consultants Multimedia Risk Inc.; as well as William F. White International Inc.

NSI on the web