Film, television & digital media programs at NSI

The National Screen Institute — Canada (NSI) is a training school for writers, directors and producers in film, television and digital media. To be eligible to apply for our training programs you must be a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant, reside in Canada and be over the age of 18.

About our training programs

  • You pay no tuition fees or hidden costs – just a nominal, one-off application fee ($50 or less).
  • No need to move away from home – attend workshops then work with a mentor, or complete an industry internship.
  • Most programs let keep your day job while you train
  • All NSI training programs are market-driven and taught by industry experts. Find out about some of these folks on our movers and shakers page.

Film, television & digital media training programs

Short film production

NSI Drama Prize is a short film training program for emerging Canadian filmmakers. Teams apply with a short film script of ten (10) minutes or less. Training is provided in writing, directing and producing. Teams must successfully complete an assignment to be eligible to receive 10-month mentoring from established industry leaders, $10,000 in cash support and, over $30,000 in services toward production of a short film.

Filmmakers on their first or second feature

The NSI Features First curriculum includes script and story development, market research, legal requirements, pitching, financing, distribution and marketing and sales training. Applicants must submit a feature film script.

TV writers & producers

NSI Totally Television is a TV series development program for writer/producer teams who go on to attend the Banff World Television Festival to pitch their projects.

Marketing

NSI Global Marketing provides training and professional development for producers with TV projects ready to sell internationally.

Introduction to film and television

NSI New Voices is a full-time program for young Aboriginal adults aged 18 to 35 offering skills development training and a paid internship in an industry setting.

Filmmakers

The NSI Online Short Film Festival shows short films all year round. New films are added every week. NSI calls for films four times a year and presents a $2,500 prize to the best film.

Narrative designers in the gaming industry

NSI playWRITE gives writers an opportunity to break into the video game industry as narrative designers and the chance to earn an internship with a Canadian game developer.

Aboriginal TV series development

NSI Storytellers in 2007/08 provides training for emerging Aboriginal writers, producers and directors in partnership with APTN. 

Aboriginal feature film development

The Featuring Aboriginal Stories Program, launched by Telefilm Canada, in partnership with the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) and the National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI) encourages established Aboriginal audiovisual professionals to move into feature film.

How can I keep up to date with NSI training program news?

There are three ways to keep your eye on the ball.

  1. Subscribe to the NSI weekly newsletter
  2. Subscribe to our email updates
  3. Subscribe via our RSS feed. What is RSS? And what is a feed reader? 

NSI on the web

 
  

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