Posted on Wednesday, April 30, 2008.
News release: November 23, 2007
A Genie nominee, a Gemini award-winner and an Emmy-nominated writer from Trailer Park Boys are among the latest crop of filmmakers to be chosen for the NSI Features First training program run by the National Screen Institute, in association with Telefilm Canada and program partner The Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation.
NSI Features First is a 10-month professional development program for filmmakers working on their first or second feature. Typically up to five teams are chosen for the program each year. This year the high level of applicants led the selection committee to choose six teams.
The selected feature film projects and teams are:
The Berliner Complex - E. Jane Thompson (director); Katherine Collins (writer); Daniel Bekerman (producer) all from Toronto, ON. Daniel has worked on four features including The Tracey Fragments and Toronto Stories. Jane, an alumnus of NSI’s DramaLab and two-time Gemini award-winner, has directed numerous series for television. She is a founder of Women in Film and Television – Toronto. Katherine has a creative writing BFA from the University of British Columbia and an MFA in screenwriting from York University. Her feature Magpie was a quarterfinalist in the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences’ 2007 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting.
Born Into This - Darren Portelli (producer); Emmanuel Shirinian (writer/director) from Toronto, ON. Darren and Emmanuel created the award-winning short The Last Bang upon which this feature film project is based. Darren has produced a number of acclaimed shorts and worked on Amal which premiered at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival and won best first Canadian feature at Cinefest Sudbury.
Extinction - Suzan Derkson (producer) from North Vancouver, BC; and Cory Kinney (director) and Sarah Dodd (writer) from Vancouver, BC. Cory received a Gold Remi award for creative excellence from the Worldfest Houston Film Festival and his short Nosepickers Anonymous won several prizes at the 2006 NSI National Exposure Amateur Movie Contest. Cory's short The Sparkle Lite Motel, co-written with his wife Sarah, was nominated for numerous Leo awards and has screened around the world. Sarah worked on various shorts and as a writer on Falcon Beach. Suzan worked on Scary Movie and Scary Movie 3 and the TV series X-Files. She also line-produced the NSI Features First developed film Love and Other Dilemmas.
Mrs. Lee - Melissa Taylor (producer) and Edmond Chan (writer/director) from Toronto, ON. Edmond premiered his first feature Garage at the 2006 Calgary International Film Festival where it won the Citytv Award for Best First Feature. Melissa has extensive business and legal experience in the industry and works for Film Finances Canada.
Skin to Skin - Marlene Rodgers (producer/writer) from Vancouver, BC and Ines Buchli (writer/director) from Toronto, ON. Ines and Marlene were nominated for a Genie for their short Foxy Lady, Wild Cherry. Ines has written and directed several award-winning shorts which have screened worldwide and been broadcast on CBC. Marlene has worked in script development for a number of years and taught screenwriting widley. She is a story producer on the Food Network’s prime-time series Glutton for Punishment.
World Leaders Gone Wild - Sean T. Doyle (producer) and Iain MacLeod (writer/director) from Halifax, NS. Iain spent six seasons as a writer for Trailer Park Boys and is an alumnus of NSI Totally Television. Sean has produced numerous short films and recently co-produced the half hour stop-motion animation A Cape Breton Ghost Story for CBC.
Brendon Sawatzky manages NSI Features First and will be working with Marguerite Pigott who has been appointed as Program Advisor.
Marguerite, who is also Super Channel’s Creative Development Representative for Ontario, says, “After executive producing two NSI Features First projects (7 Times Lucky and Flower & Garnet), and after years of teaching a workshop for the program, I couldn’t be more delighted to increase my involvement.” “I’ve always considered NSI Features First to be a tremendous program because it results in so many produced films and supports Canada’s strongest emerging talent at a crucial time in their careers.”
A recent success story is that of NSI Features First alumni Robert Cuffley who co-wrote and directed the thriller Walk All Over Me. The Weinstein Company recently secured US rights to the film. Robert developed Turning Paige through NSI Features First during the program's inaugural year.
Launched in 1997, NSI Features First productions have won or been nominated for a plethora of industry and festival awards and debuted at prestigious festivals across the world. They have also gone on to play in commercial theatres across the country, and national networks and specialty channels including CBC, Movie Central and The Movie Network.
Sadly in April 2007 Jim Murphy, who co-managed NSI Features First for four years, passed away. Participants of the program benefited from his advice, experience-sharing, contacts, encyclopaedic knowledge of film and genuine interest in and commitment to training Canada’s emerging filmmakers.
NSI Features First has been made possible by the generous support of Presenting Sponsor Telefilm Canada, with additional funding also generously provided by Program Partner The Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation. We also gratefully acknowledge the financial support of our Provincial Sponsors British Columbia Film and MANITOBA FILM & SOUND for the 2007/08 NSI Features First program season. Additional acknowledgement is also proudly provided for the contributions of our Service Sponsor William F. White International Inc.
Media enquiries:
Glynis Corkal, Marketing and Communications Manager
Tel: 204-957-2995 | Email: glynis.corkal@nsi-canada.ca