Our ongoing series profiles the movers and shakers in the Canadian and international screen-based industries. For this month's spotlight on Super Channel, the CFC got the inside scoop on the channel’s stellar rebrand from Melissa Kajpust, Vice President of Programming, as well as her perspective on the current landscape for content in the screen-based industry.

CFC: How does Super Channel’s exciting new look reflect its approach to content and programming?
Melissa Kajpust (MK): With our rebrand, we are now offering four distinct channels, which means we have four distinct audiences that we are programming for.

On Super Channel Fuse, we continue to offer premium programming that will appeal to our core subscribers – the folks who have been loyal to us for years. As we move forward, we don’t want to leave them behind. In fact, we are now offering more of what they love. Homeland and Power continue to perform as top drivers, but we recognize the importance of keeping it fresh and want to deliver on our promise to entertain and engage our subscribers. Recent additions such as Mr. Mercedes, American Gods, Harlots, Berlin Station, Get Shorty and Deep State are doing just that. These are all very much in line with what premium pay subscribers expect.

Super Channel Heart & Home offers feel-good programming with themes of romance, family and community. Programming this channel has been a delight! The audience for Heart & Home is looking to escape from reality and snuggle into something warm and cozy. We have populated the channel with Hallmark movies and series, including our flagship series When Calls The Heart, as well as Cedar Cove and season 3 of Chesapeake Shores. We are also offering library movies such as You’ve Got Mail, Charlotte’s Web and Bewitched, and classic musicals such as Singin’ In The Rain and An American In Paris. Library series we offer include Remington Steele and the Colin Firth version of Pride & Prejudice. UPTV movies also work for this channel.

We launched Super Channel Vault a little more than a year ago, and it has been a huge success. This channel offers a diverse collection of Hollywood features and critically acclaimed films, spanning a variety of genres and decades, from all of our studio partners. The best part of programming this channel is finding those gems that audiences haven’t seen. Vault is a fantastic addition to a great lineup of channels.

Our final channel, GINX Esports TV Canada, launched in May 2017 and caters to Canadian esports enthusiasts, featuring live tournaments, news and gaming lifestyle programming from around the world.

CFC: As VP of Programming at Super Channel, what do you look for when acquiring new content?
MK: Ultimately, a series that will get noticed and attract new subscribers. Series based on existing IPs are always appealing because there is a built-in audience. All of the Heart & Home series I mentioned are based on books; Stephen King’s Mr. Mercedes and Neil Gaiman’s American Gods are great examples of adaptations that work. For original content on Fuse we look for strong, layered characters, suspenseful, surprising and twisted plots, and worlds that offer a ticket to a new place. Recognizable cast also goes a long way. Our Heart & Home series must be light, heartwarming and safe with themes of romance, family or community. Cozy mysteries based on book series also work.

CFC: In an oversaturated marketplace, what do you think makes Canadian stories and storytellers stand out?
MK: Is anything truly standing out these days? Sure, our Canadian success stories are mounting, and our writers and directors are receiving the praise and accolades they deserve. We’ve come a long way in the last 10 years and we have much to celebrate. But it’s not getting any easier in the global marketplace – more and more high-quality series are being offered each year, thus causing audience divide. It’s been a few years since a new series has launched that everyone is watching. Audiences are overwhelmed. That being said, on Super Channel, we have six Canadian series currently airing and two upcoming. They are all very different, and each has been performing well with their respective audiences. For Fuse we have Acceptable Risk, What Would Sal Do?, Forgive Me, and the upcoming Pure. For Heart & Home we have When Calls the Heart and Cedar Cove, with Chesapeake Shores coming later this summer. On Ginx we have commissioned a daily talk show HUD (Heads Up Daily).

CFC: You have been involved with the CFC both personally and professionally, how would you describe your various experiences with our organization?
MK: I graduated from the CFC Professional Screenwriting Program in 2000 and have never looked back. In fact, I landed my first writing gig prior to graduating! I am incredibly grateful to the CFC – they don’t just train, they open doors. When I previously oversaw sponsorship at Super Channel, I called the CFC to say we wanted to sponsor the CFC Annual BBQ Fundraiser. They were pretty excited to receive a call like that, and expressed how meaningful it is when alumni give back.

CFC: What advice would you give to emerging content creators when approaching buyers and broadcasters?
MK: Broadcasters are inundated with pitches from established companies, so it is tough to get noticed when you are starting out – but rest assured, everyone is looking for that next great talent or project. Before making your initial contact, be sure to do your research. I am always impressed when someone knows our programming, sadly many don’t bother to take the time. I can’t speak for other broadcasters, but what gets my attention is a well-crafted email that offers succinct information on the team, and a short synopsis of the project. Don’t send a full script or bible unless it is requested. If you don’t get a response immediately then follow up a week later. Be respectful if you get a pass. It doesn’t help to try to argue with the broadcaster. There are many reasons your project might not work so don’t take it personally.

VR demos that took place during the IDEABOOST Cohort 7 first weekend intensive. 

The Canadian Film Centre’s Media Lab (CFC Media Lab) is bringing nine IDEABOOST-Network Connect companies to upcoming premier industry event, VRTO, the Virtual and Augmented Reality World Conference and Expo 2018. Running this Friday, June 16 through Monday, June 18 in Toronto, VRTO draws more than 80 speakers, 50 exhibitors, and key players on all things AR, VR and immersive media.

CFC Media Lab will showcase companies at two interactive booths in VRTO’s B2B Expo, one for these AR companies:

• AccessAR (Saturday, June 16 only): Helps brands and retailers offer a v-commerce experience with AccessARize, fashion’s first true-to-life, web-based Augmented Reality application for trying on accessories
• Geogram: A live storytelling app whose users capture, share and experience stories of life, as it is lived, using AR, such as this inspiring story of its use in global memorials for the Pulse Nightclub victims in Orlando, Florida
• LARGE: Offers a flexible toolkit for the creation of enriching location-based and AR experiences, such as this popular recent Jane’s Walk in Toronto’s Parkdale area

And a second booth for these startups:

• Breq Labs: Makes both AR and VR hand interaction accessible to users through a portable, lightweight, customizable device
• Flipside: The fastest way to create animated shows, recorded or streamed live, using nothing more than an Oculus Rift or HTC Vive
• Liquid Cinema: Enables filmmakers, journalists, advertisers and educators to create and distribute sophisticated cinematic VR
• Mirage VR: At Canada's first full-body VR destination, users can gear up for a new modes of battle, dance and exploration with friends, family or team
• PCPVR: Generates professional quality VR experiences via their platform-agnostic and future-proof technology
• U-Dimensions: Empowering users to create and customize their own 3D-printed game merchandise.

CFC Media Lab regularly draws from its network partners, like VRTO, to put the right startups in front of the right people. As a result, it generates opportunities for smarter networking, partnerships, strategy and commercialization in the companies that join IDEABOOST and Network Connect. Check out these highlights from VRTO and visit our booths this weekend:

IDEABOOST Cohort 4 Startup SlimCut Acquired by Video Management Platform Telaria

Acquisition enhances SlimCut’s platform and grows Telaria’s global footprint

Toronto, June 13, 2018– The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) and CFC Media Lab are proud to announce that SlimCut, a startup from IDEABOOST Accelerator Cohort 4 in 2014, has been acquired by video management platform, Telaria. The acquisition enables SlimCut to expand and augment their platform through deeper video publishing and monetization. It also enhances Telaria’s complete video management platform with SlimCut’s customized outstream product for premium publishers.

Since its time in the IDEABOOST Accelerator, SlimCut’s client roster has grown to include some of the largest and most prestigious media companies in North America, with leading broadcasters such as Bell Media, Quebecor, Rogers Media, Corus Entertainment and traditional publishers such as The Globe and Mail, PostMedia and TorStar. Both of SlimCut’s co-founders, Damien Véran and Thomas Davy, will join Telaria to contribute to the growth of SlimCut with Telaria; the company will now be called SlimCut, powered by Telaria.

IDEABOOST is a Toronto-based business accelerator and startup community for companies that are building the next generation of technology-based media and entertainment products, services, and brands. An initiative of the Canadian Film Centre’s Media Lab, in partnership with Corus Entertainment, IDEABOOST provides high–potential Canadian startups with seed investment, mentorship, and access to its network.

Social Media

CFC: @cfccreates.com | facebook.com/cfccreates
CFC Media Lab: @cfcmedialab | facebook.com/cfcmedialab

About CFC
The Canadian Film Centre (CFC), celebrating 30 years, is a charitable cultural organization that supports, develops and accelerates the content, careers and companies of Canadian creative and entrepreneurial talent in the screen-based and digital industries. Its uniquely designed programs and initiatives span film, television, screen acting, screen composing and songwriting, and innovative work in the digital media and entertainment technology industries, all of which continue to push boundaries and generate world-class content, products and companies for the global marketplace. cfccreates.com

About CFC Media Lab
The Canadian Film Centre’s Media Lab (CFC Media Lab) is an internationally acclaimed digital media think tank and award-winning production facility. It provides a unique research, training and production environment for digital media content developers and practitioners, as well as acceleration programs and services for digital entertainment start-ups and related SMEs. Program participants have emerged as leaders in the world of digital media, producing groundbreaking projects and innovative, sustainable companies for the digital and virtual age. CFC Media Lab is funded in part by a contribution of up to $4.76 million through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario. For more information, visit cfccreates.com/programs/media-lab or ideaboost.ca

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For media inquiries, please contact:

Margaret DeRosia
Communications Specialist / Digital Writer & Editor, CFC
416.445.1446, X463
mderosia@cfccreates.com

We’re gearing up for the 10 ^th year of the CBC Actors Conservatory, Canada’s only full-time comprehensive professional onscreen acting program. The conservatory is renowned for offering a transformative artistic experience that strengthens the performers’ instrument, builds their professional and creative skill sets, and empowers them to navigate career and marketplace opportunities.

The Actors Conservatory now boasts an impressive 74 alumni – alumni who are recognized industry-wide, in Canada and abroad, for their unique and exciting talent. Alumni who have landed lead roles on a range of hit TV series in a variety of genres (like Annie Murphy on Schitt’s Creek, Giacomo Gianniotti on Grey’s Anatomy, Emily Coutts and Patrick Kwok-Choon on Star Trek: Discovery, Alex Paxton-Beesley on Pure, Emmanuel Kabongo on Frankie Drake Mysteries, Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs on American Godsand the list goes on …) and roles in hit feature films (like Canadian Screen Award-winning actor Nabil Rajo for his performance in Boost, and Erin Carter and Grace Glowicki in Suck it Up). Actors Conservatory alumni are garnering international industry attention (like Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs making The Hollywood Reporter’s 2017 list of Canada's Rising Stars: 15 Breakouts Making an Impact in Hollywood), are creating exciting content, and are enriching the global entertainment landscape. Alumni of the conservatory have inspired tremendous interest in this program – the work they are doing and their long list of successes are the best tools for recruiting future residents!

And now, we are thrilled to welcome eight talented actors into this year’s program. The Canadian talent pool is deep and strong – as a result, our selection process was harder than ever. As Kathryn Emslie, CFC’s Chief Programs Officer, explains, “The CBC Actors Conservatory continues to attract wonderful actors that reflect an exciting range of backgrounds and experiences, stemming from theatre, dance, musical theatre, improv, comedy, TV, film and yes – even Cirque du Soleil! This year’s actors have much to offer our community and our creative industries; we’re delighted to have them join our program and we can’t wait to see them get to work!”

Get to know our 2018/19 CBC Actors Conservatory residents below. We asked the incoming residents what character from a notable film or TV show has inspired them and why. Read their answers and bios:

Annie Briggs

Character Annie is inspired by: “Anne Bancroft (The Miracle Worker). I find myself attracted to characters that ignite a polarized response in me. I fell in love with her violent relentlessness, layered with surprising humour. And those spectacles!”

Vivien Endicott-Douglas

Character Vivien is inspired by: “Maria in The Sound of Music is an inspiration. I mean she sings whenever she has feelings about anything. Brilliant.”

Eric Hicks

Character Eric is inspired by: “Joker in The Dark Knight makes me question the dimensions of complexity possible in character work and has me itching to get innovative.”

Daniel Jun

Character Daniel is inspired by: “The Terminator (Terminator 2). If ever I get slowly lowered into a pool of molten steel, I'm going down with my thumbs up. And screaming.”

Brandon McKnight

Character Brandon is inspired by: “Daniel Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood– the first time I saw what work and commitment looked like.”

Michelle McLeod

Character Michelle is inspired by:“Harriet. M. Welsch from Harriet the Spy inspires me to be intrigued by perspective. She also inspires me to dance to James Brown in a potato costume.”

Araya Mengesha

Character Araya is inspired by:“I watched The Mask a million times. A guy with a green face became anyone he wanted, saved the day and he got the girl.”

Nicki Whitely

Character Nicki is inspired by:“Christine Baskets on FX’s series Baskets is the most heartwarming, heartbreaking, hilarious character I've ever seen. She is so genuine – the comedy never feels scripted.”

These eight residents will start at the CFC on Monday, July 16, 2018. Stay tuned for more updates on their activities throughout the six-month program.

Want to learn more about the CBC Actors Conservatory? CLICK HERE for more information.

Srinivas Krishna grew up asking questions. He knew the artistic life was for him from a young age. As a director of feature films, including the award-winning Masala (1991), as well as a TV producer and installation artist, he has worn many creative hats throughout his widely varied career.

The founder of both the AR video app, Geogram, and mobile AR/VR design and development company, AWE, Krishna has been affiliated with the Canadian Film Centre (CFC) Media Lab’s IDEABOOST Network Connect community since the program’s inception. Read on to learn more about his experience of moving from traditional media to VR/AR, about why it’s important to ask questions without easy answers, and what his visions of a fully interconnected future are.

How did you first transition from film and TV production into virtual and augmented reality?

Sometime around 2005 or 2006, I got bored with what I was doing. With TV and movies, I felt like I knew the end of the journey before I even started a project. Professionally, I have learned to follow the questions that you care about. I wanted to do something where I had no idea what would happen.

My first “break” came with a commission from City of Melbourne in Australia, to create an installation at Federation Square. I was putting large-scale media images on these big sculptural forms, and just seeing what would happen. At the time, no one had really done that kind of thing before. There was no context for this: no gallery, no theatre, nothing on TV. I ended up doing that kind of work all over the world, and I learned a lot about context: how it defines meaning, and how that changes everything.

Then I got a commission to produce 10 films of athletes competing for Bell Media on the Vancouver Olympics. One of the requirements was that we would geo-locate clips of the athletes from the Olympic Village to the competition venues. This sounds relatively easy to do today. But in 2010, two years after the introduction of the smartphone, it was a huge challenge. I didn't really know what the developers were doing, but found that one line in the budget kept growing. So I asked them, “What are you actually doing?”

While I’d been introduced to the smartphone, but I finally saw it and all it’s designed to do. I suddenly realized this was not just a phone. It was also a camera, attached to a computer that was more powerful than the one we sent people to the moon using. It was going to do beautiful display and access the internet, and I thought, “This is going to change everything.”

That experience really turned my head. At that time my son was three years old, and my wife had won an iPad at a raffle. Neither of us knew how to do anything, but we plugged it in. A few days later, I saw my three year-old turn it on. He was walking around with some demo from a game company and I had a vision of what was possible: what if you could walk around and inhabit these 3D worlds? What if you could interact with characters and events and somehow marry them to the real world? It was an epiphany. I got it on the brain and it wouldn't leave.

It took me about a year to find people who said they could build such a thing. They were scientists, with a lab at Ryerson University, so I entered into research collaboration with them and sank a lot of money into it. They raised more through academic grants. Then, in 2012, we built a prototype Fort York, in that building called the Blockhouse – the oldest, longest-standing building in Toronto – and we staged a mixed-reality drama there. We thought the patent that came out of that, which was finally approved barely two months ago, might take off when we retire. But it just took off in a very interesting way!

"The future is not that difficult to predict if we learn to recognize patterns."

- Srinivas Krishna

What was the best moment of that journey? Can you share any of the challenges?

I'd say the most exhilarating moment was in the [Fort York] Blockhouse, when we finally got this thing working. Digital characters were interacting with us in a real space on an iPad in 2013. That was really like a miracle. We put about 200 people through that experience, the first time they were experiencing anything like it, and it was hugely humbling – as well as exhilarating to realize that we were creating a novel, brand new experience in the world.

We gave the first five users iPads and in classic user-testing form, we told them nothing. We dimmed the lights and started the show, a 15-minute experience. For 15 minutes, three of those people didn’t move. Two others managed to look up, and just pointed the camera in one direction and didn't move. We all thought, “What? Don’t they realize they can walk around?” But it was the first time, and nobody knew. So we thought we’d kind of failed somewhere in communicating. We had to give more clues and guidance.

Then we brought in five kids, from ages 12 to 15. They took to it like fish to water. They were just walking around, singing along, with the characters talking back to them. The whole user-testing period was such an education in what it means to be a human dealing with new tools. It's like the first time movies were experienced, that apocryphal story of how people ran out of the theater when they saw a train onscreen. One lesson we learned is that we're really running social experiments when we do this work. We don’t learn about technology as much as we learn what it means to be a human being, how our minds and our bodies function, and how that changes over time. How we get habits and how we can change habits, change ways of seeing, and change ways of interacting. That was the high point.

In terms of challenges, we were early in pitching technologies that now we call the AR Cloud. We had people saying things like, “Cloud-based mapping and tracking of users? I don’t see a need for it, now or ever.” I can’t tell you how many people said that to me. That was extraordinarily disappointing, because we realized we had such a long journey ahead of us. That also spoke to the culture that we must reckon with, as innovators in Canada. The future is not that difficult to predict if we learn to recognize patterns. The part that was the greatest challenge for us was, and continues to be, financing. Developing core technologies and foundational technologies is an ongoing challenge in this climate and in our country. There's a reason why many Canadian companies go abroad.

Are you willing to make some predictions as to where things will go with this type of technology?

I'm not the first to say this, but I think what we're seeing is the dawn of what people call the Physical Web, or the Spatial Web. Until now, the internet has been disassociated from the world as it is, literally or metaphorically. It’s lived in the cloud or it's been placed on screens. What we haven't done is embed the web into the material world. I think that's what we're going to see in the next decade. When we talk about the Internet of Things (IoT), what we're really talking about is physical objects becoming able to communicate with other objects and other machines.

When you tie that in with AR technologies, which are essentially digital “twins” of the world, and when you create digital maps of the world, that enables you to track the movement of objects and people. We can create multiple shared experiences and devices that communicate with each other in ways we can only begin to imagine. Add to that machine learning and the ability to understand those patterns of usage, and then watch what happens over time. I think you’re going to find a material world that is fundamentally different than the one we have today.

At the same time, we need to realize there are real downsides to these changes, too. They touch on our fundamental human right to step out of the community, to disappear into the woods, as it were. We also need to acknowledge that loss, account for it, and ensure that we're not going to be completely oppressed by an entirely communicative material world. And we need to take steps to address issues of access to that interconnected world.

How have Geogram and AWE benefited from your association with IDEABOOST and the CFC?

We’ve been part of the CFC Media Lab’s IDEABOOST community since its beginning. My company, AWE, joined Network Connect early on, and more recently Geogram joined Network Connect.The great thing about it is that it's really a hub. It has fostered a sense of community in in the GTA for people like me, who work at the core of innovation. So there are a few things. For one, it’s an examination based on the evidence. We look at what's around and say, “How is it? Why is it this way?” We start with that question, with a fundamental dissatisfaction about the way things are and a search for truth around it. Then there's always a question of ethics: “How should it be? If it shouldn't be this way, how ought it to be?”

That's the design thinking that's at the core of innovation. When you look at what IDEABOOST does, it gives a home for the tribe that thinks this way. What I found is a community of people who share a basic sense that we can make this better. Therein lies an ethical question. It’s not about only design ethics, an ethics of form. It’s about an ethics of understanding human needs at their most fundamental level. That is, I think, what the philosophy is behind IDEABOOST-ers. That's why it's such a great place for people like me.

"Follow the questions. Seek the answers to the questions that you keep asking."

- Srinivas Krishna

Did you always know that you were going to work in a creative field?

Yes. I had a funny conversation with my father when I was applying to university. I wanted to go to art school and he was an engineer. He had the talk with me and said, “Why don't you go into engineering? You're so good at math and physics,” and I said, “Dad, I want the creative life.” So he said, “Well, I'm doing this and it’s creative,” and I said, “I don’t know about that.” Finally we reached a deal. He said, “Okay, go to art school, but at least go to one that will give you a degree.”

Jump ahead 25 years, after two decades of theatre and movies and television production. I talked to him and said, “Dad, I just started this new company. I'm working with scientists and engineers, and my whole studio is completely changed. You won't believe it, but it's the most creative, challenging thing I've ever done!” So he had a very long laugh.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Don't get stuck. Don’t keep doing something because you think that’s your identity or profession. Follow your curiosity. Follow the questions. Seek the answers to the questions that you keep asking. It doesn't matter whether it's in movies or in technology or whatever. Don't let the time guide you. Look at the questions and let them guide you. Don't get stuck.

Photo credit, top and bottom: Michael Tjioe. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

The 2018 Cineplex Entertainment Film Program Residents. 
Directors (L to R): Kim Albright, Joseph Amenta, Isa Benn, Karen Chapman, Julia Hart. 
Writers (L to R): Brooke Banning, Laurel Brady, Sina Gilani, Murry Peeters, Julia Rowland. 
Producers (L to R): Evren Boisjoli, Samantha Kaine, Elizabeth Melanson, Alexandra Roberts, Danny Sedore. 
Editors (L to R): Ben Allan, Orlee Buium, Christopher John Malanchen, Lee Walker.

The CFC is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, which also means the 30th anniversary of the Cineplex Entertainment Film Program– our longest running and signature film program. At its core, this program champions original voices, entrepreneurism and collaboration. 

Throughout its 30 years, the program has helped launch and/or accelerate the careers of hundreds of remarkable directors, producers, writers and editors, and has developed and packaged a significant number of projects, many of which go on to receive awards and critical acclaim, including recent features Never Steady, Never Still; Mary Goes Round; Closet Monster and Un Traductor.

We are excited to welcome 19 new Cineplex Entertainment Film Program residents into the 2018 program on Monday, July 16, 2018. This incoming group of filmmakers represents an incredibly exciting mix of diverse voices, viewpoints and perspectives. Their previous work includes visual art installations, acting, blogging, poetry, documentaries, music videos, commercials, theatre, sketch comedy, webseries, short films and features. What’s more – for the first time ever, the residents of the Cineplex Entertainment Film Program will be comprised of predominantly female talent; 13 out of the 19 residents are women!

“We are extremely moved and inspired by this year’s talent,” shared Kathryn Emslie, CFC’s Chief Programs Officer. “The stories they’re tackling traverse the world and range from the fantastical to magical realist, from the absurd and existential to dark comedies and social realism – they’re about love, family, identity, loss, community, displacement, race, gender and sexual politics. What a rich and exciting sandbox they’ll be working in this year."

Read more about this year’s Cineplex Entertainment Film Program residents below.

DIRECTORS

Meet our five 2018 Directors’ Lab residents and learn what is at the heart of the stories they’re currently drawn to:

WRITERS

Get to know our five incoming Writers’ Lab residents and what major themes are inspiring their current body of work as writers:

PRODUCERS

Which film(s) or TV show(s) has/have greatly influenced our incoming Producers’ Lab residents’ sense of storytelling? Find out below:

EDITORS

We asked our four incoming Editors’ Lab residents which notable film they would have loved to edit and why. Check out their answers and bios below:

Learn more about the Cineplex Entertainment Film Program HERE.

There’s always something new to learn in an industry that changes as rapidly as Virtual Reality (VR). That was evident throughout the third annual Virtual and Augmented Reality World Conference and Expo, which took place at the Rogers Communication Centre in Toronto on June 16-18. Better known as “VRTO,” the event featured some of the biggest names in the worlds of Virtual and Augmented Reality (AR), who were on hand to discuss everything from screens and headsets to the growing importance of blockchains in digital security.

VRTO attracts a range of people and companies. Keynote speaker and Second Life creator Philip Rosedale has been pioneering immersive online worlds for more than two decades. A company like AccessAR, a fashion startup that uses AR to allow clients to digitally try on glasses, jewelry and other accessories, is a relative newcomer. Both are vital to the VRTO mission, which blends age and enthusiasm in its search for innovative new applications of VR technology.

“That spirit of discovery strengthens the ecosystem,” says Keram Malicki-Sanchez, the founder and executive director of VRTO. “Anybody who’s established needs to stay with the times. Companies that put everything on the line teach people what the future might look like.”

CFC Media Lab showcased IDEABOOST companies at two interactive booths in VRTO’s B2B Expo.

VRTO was designed as a forum where companies at both ends of the economic spectrum could meet and exchange ideas. As a sponsor and an exhibitor, the Canadian Film Centre (CFC) Media Lab has been a crucial partner, a relationship that continued in 2018 with the IDEABOOST AR Zone and the IDEABOOST Startup Zone. Both booths gave VRTO floor space to multiple members of the IDEABOOST Network Connect community, including the aforementioned AccessAR.

“The CFC represents a way to foster and incubate nascent companies,” says Malicki-Sanchez. “They’re trying things that haven’t been tried before, so it’s essential to have that kind of organization helping these people along in the germination phase.”

“Keram and his team have created a very welcoming and supportive environment where ideas are exchanged freely and meaningful connections are made,” says Kori Golding, the President of Albedo Informatics, which is currently developing LARGE (Location-Based Augmented Reality Gaming Engine). For companies like Albedo Informatics, a booth at an event like VRTO is one of the perks of being in IDEABOOST.

“It’s nice to feel like you’re a member of a tech community and exhibit without having to deal with the application and the high seas,” says Chrissy Gow, the CEO of AccessAR. Gow met with many potential employees and potential investors at VRTO. Tapping into that wider network can have other tangible benefits for small startups that don’t have the resources (or the inclination) to handle every problem internally.

“[VRTO] is a great opportunity to meet content creators that are looking to get into VR or are already in the VR space,” says Aria Shahingohar, the Technical Lead at PCPVR, which is developing an intuitive new platform for entertainment companies looking to create VR content. Though Shahingohar is confident in the product, PCPVR focuses on tech. The company doesn’t have the infrastructure or the expertise needed to populate its platform, and VRTO is an excellent place to find partners that can fill that role.

“We get to understand how we fit in, and how we can collaborate,” says Srivinas Krishna, the CEO of Geogram, a mobile app that allows users to create and share interactive, location-based AR and VR content.

“We just met a gentleman who’s trying to do something in the winery space, and what he was describing is what we’ve been doing for the past five years in other spaces. It gave us a chance to talk about how we can bring our technology to bear on what he’s doing.”

According to Krishna, it can be just as beneficial to find overlaps. Many startups face similar challenges. If someone else has already solved an issue that’s been causing trouble, there’s no point in wasting time that could be dedicated to a more essential task. Events like VRTO allow companies to compare notes and more easily spot redundancies.

“We’ve met a ton of industry professionals who have experience in the field we’re in,” says Gow. “In terms of troubleshooting, we’ve had some great ideas thrown our way.”

That sense of mentorship is one of the most important takeaways for many VRTO attendees. It’s comforting to know that someone else has been there before, and it can give a fledgling startup the confidence it needs to keep moving forward.

“Everyone has problems,” says Gow. “Keep iterating. That’s what everyone else is doing, so there’s no reason to be ashamed of it.”

IDEABOOST Network Connect company, BreqLabs, demos their mobile VR headset at VRTO.

The 2017/18 Slaight Music Residents (from L to R): 
Lora Bidner, Virginia Kilbertus, Jonathan Kawchuk and Sarah Slean

Yesterday evening, we celebrated the 2018 Slaight Music Residency Showcase at TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto. This event serves as the official wrap on the 2017/18 Slaight Music Residency and also as an industry launch for the outgoing songwriters and/or composers who participated in the program: Lora Bidner, Jonathan Kawchuk, Virginia Kilbertus and Sarah Slean.

Kathryn Emslie, CFC’s Chief Programs Officer, welcomed guests to the showcase and provided a glimpse into what these four residents have accomplished over the course of their nine-month residency, “They’ve been busy creating original music for more than 49 different productions, collaborating with more than 32 different film and TV creators, they have participated in more than 125 workshops, sessions, exercises, meetings and case studies, and they’ve met with some key power players in the global film and TV industry.” She continued, “They are leaving our doors with a substantially increased body of onscreen work, many new relationships, they are more confident in their skill sets and are more than ready and willing to take on [scoring for] film and TV.”

CFC CEO Slawko Klymkiw took to the stage to thank the program’s title partner, “We would never have been able to run this program without the support of Gary Slaight and The Slaight Family Foundation; their belief in Canadian music has allowed this program to prosper.” He went on to thank the program’s incredible mentors, as well as Program Chairs Juno Award-winning singer-songwriter Marc Jordan andcelebrated composer and musician Lesley Barber.

Last night’s showcase event included the premiere of a cinematic piece from each of the four residents, based on a 3-minute visual concept that reflects aspects of their creative voice and that features an original song and/or composition in a cinematic and compelling way. This exercise enabled the residents to experience the full script-to-screen process. Take a look at – and have a listen to – their pieces below:

Following the screening of the cinematic pieces, the residents were called on stage to accept their certificates of achievement, which were presented by Gary Slaight and Marc Jordan.

(From L to R): Gary Slaight, Jonathan Kawchuk, Lora Bidner, Virginia Kilbertus, Sarah Slean and Marc Jordan

Guests were then treated to a special live musical performance by the four residents, who were joined by a string quartet, which included Slaight Music Residency alumnus Michael Peter Olsen, as well as alumnus Dillon Baldassero on synthesis. The performance was a tribute to some songs and score in film that were selected by the residents as points of inspiration for each of them, and included musical selections from Portishead, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Philip Glass, Harry Warren and Mack Gordon, and Sufjan Stevens. Select scenes from each film were projected on the screen behind them throughout the nine-minute compilation.

The 2017/18 residents performing at the showcase.

The six individuals who have been selected to participate in the 2018/19 Slaight Music Residency were also announced at last evening’s showcase: Suad Bushnaq, Jason Couse, songwriting duo Ashley Jane and Timon Wientzek of In the City, Stephen Krecklo and Antonio Naranjo. Stay tuned for the full 2018/19 residents announcement, which will be available on our website tomorrow.

See more photos from last night’s showcase HERE.

All photos by Ernesto Di Stefano/George Pimentel Photography.

(From L to R, top to bottom): Antonio Naranjo, Suad Bushnaq, Stephen Krecklo, Jason Couse, and songwriting duo Ashley Jane and Timon Wientzek.

We’re pleased to announce the 2018/19 Slaight Music residents who will be starting at the CFC on Monday, July 16, 2018 (alongside the previously announced 2018 CBC Actors Conservatory and Cineplex Entertainment Film Program residents).

The CFC received another round of exceptionally strong candidates for this year’s Slaight Music Residency. Six music creators, including a songwriting team, have been invited to participate in this year’s Slaight Music Residency, a creative and business initiative for composers and songwriters that is chaired by Juno Award-winning singer-songwriter Marc Jordan and celebrated composer and musician Lesley Barber.

“This group is incredibly accomplished and brings an exciting range of experience and sounds to the table,” says Gary Slaight, CFC Board Member; President and Chief Executive Officer, Slaight Communications Inc.; and patron of The Slaight Family Music Lab.“They are going to benefit from the traction this program and our alumni have built over the last six years, and I have no doubt they will emerge as even stronger music creators with a lot to offer the film and TV industry.”

Since its inception, The Slaight Music Residency has had many talented, multifaceted and innovative music creators come through its doors – like Jeffrey Morrow, who scored Olaf's Frozen Adventure (alongside Christophe Beck) and was nominated for an Annie Award for his work. Or Erica Procunier, who scored the award-winning feature Don’t Talk to Irene and CBC series Little Dog. Or Robyn Dell’Unto, who was presented with SOCAN’s No. 1 Song Award for “I See Gold,” which topped the CBC Radio 2 Top 20 chart in January 2018. Or Ben Fox, who was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for his original score on the multi-award-winning feature Never Steady, Never Still. Or Aimee Bessada, who created music for the award-winning CBC webseries, How to Buy a Baby. Or Todor Kobakov, who has been recognized for his work on several productions, including features Backstabbing for Beginners and Born to Be Blue, and TV series Cardinal (for which he won a Canadian Screen Award), The Indian Detective and Bitten. And so many more incredible composers and songwriters!

Read about our 2018/19 Slaight Music Residents below. We asked the incoming music creators what specific piece of music blew them away recently and the reasons why. Here’s what they had to say:

Learn more about The Slaight Music Residency HERE.

Over the years, there are so many stories, so many times we’ve gone through difficulties and great successes. I really think that the Canadian Film Centre has grown into an essential space in the development of Canadian talent. That’s what it’s all about. That’s why you’re here tonight.
Norman Jewison 

L-R: Christina Jennings, CFC Board Chair, Chairman and CEO, Shaftesbury; Slawko Klymkiw, CEO, CFC; Norman Jewison, CFC Founder and Chair Emeritus; and Lynne St. David-Jewison, with the CFC's 30^th anniversary cake. Photo by Tom Sandler.

Neither humidity, rainclouds nor showers could dampen the spirits of our intrepid guests at the 2018 CFC Annual Garden Party on Wednesday, June 27. Many of them come from the entertainment business, so they know the show must go on. And so it did, complete with fine food, drink, entertainment and by evening’s end, a beautiful pale pink sunset.

This year’s Garden Party also marked the 30 ^th anniversary of the founding of the Canadian Film Centre (CFC). In 1988, the vision of our celebrated CFC Founder and Chair Emeritus, Norman Jewison, drew together the first members of the CFC Circle of Supporters. This group of philanthropic individual donors – and guests of honour at our annual Garden Party – generate contributions to the CFC that have continued to make our work possible and keep us at the vanguard of new industry developments.

Since that auspicious beginning, and across three decades of substantial industry-wide transformation and flux, the CFC has continued to grow, adapt and lead. It has nurtured new content, careers and companies of Canadian creative and entrepreneurial talent in the screen-based and digital industries – a remarkable journey worth celebrating last night.

Photos by Ernesto Di Stefano/George Pimentel Photography.

Guests arrived early and, from the shelter of tents, admired the grounds of Windfields Estate rich in bloom. They received a handy, if not entirely glamorous gift upon entry: a rain poncho, which some took playful advantage of. Our two signature cinematic cocktails, the “Green Screen” and “Red Carpet,” were as refreshing as they were beautiful in hand. So was the parade of gastronomic delights our food and beverage partners specially created for the event.

In addition to Norman Jewison and Lynne St. David-Jewison, some of this year’s special attendees included: Paul Bronfman, Chairman/CEO of Comweb Corp. and William F. White International Inc. and Chairman of Pinewood Toronto Studios Inc.; Peter Apostolopoulos, President, TriBro Studios; Rochelle Adonis, Judge, The Great Canadian Baking Show; journalist and documentary producer, Ann Medina, one of our first producer residents from 1988; Peter O’Brian, Chair of the Board of Directors, TVO (and the first executive director of the CFC); and Rob Oliphant, M.P., Don Valley West.

Top L-R: Guests under the tent and inside the Northern Dancer Pavilion (Photos by Tom Sandler); Stephanie Coffey and Christine Armstrong, CFC alumna (Photo by Tom Sandler); Christina Jennings and Slawko Klymkiw (Photo by Ernesto Di Stefano/George Pimentel Photography).

Early in the evening, our emcee, Christina Jennings, CFC Board Chair, Chairman and CEO, Shaftesbury, welcomed everyone. She acknowledged our loyal CFC Circle of Supporters, some of whom present that night had been involved in the CFC since its inception. She thanked the event’s partners, sponsors, donors and volunteers for their support and then introduced Slawko Klymkiw, CEO, CFC.

Klymkiw recognized some of the instrumental figures from CFC’s past, especially the board members and former executive directors of the CFC. These luminaries, he noted, have “led the organization in the right direction,” and helped build a strong network of generous donors, supporters and industry partners. Klymkiw also paid tribute to the man of the hour, Norman Jewison, for having the foresight 30 years ago to say, “’We need a place that incites Canadian talent, gives them an opportunity to grow, and gives them a chance to do great cultural and entertainment work.’” Thirty years ago, that vision led to the start of the CFC. Klymkiw then turned to Jewison and said, “On behalf of all of the board members and people who have worked here, it has been a privilege to be a part of your vision. And that vision continues to grow."

Then, Norman Jewison himself rose to offer his personal reflections on the CFC’s start, emphasizing how he is “so proud of this place” (as are we!). Jewison narrated a brief story of his conversation with Charles Taylor, the son of E.P. Taylor, who owned the original Windfields Estate. More than 30 years ago, Jewison flew Charles Taylor to California to see the American Film Institute, then at a mansion in Beverly Hills. There, he turned to Taylor and said, “We can do the same thing in Canada. We can have a national film centre, a place where Canadian talent will grow, will be nurtured, where they will have their own place in the world. I said to him, ‘It’s very important, Charles, that we grab a piece of the action on the screens of the world. And Charles really came through.’"

Photos by Ernesto Di Stefano/George Pimentel Photography.

No anniversary celebration would be complete without a cake, and at the end of Jewison’s remarks, we received a gorgeous one lined with vintage pics from the Centre’s history. We didn’t even need to wait for anyone to cut us a slice, as trays of equally beautiful cupcakes soon emerged from the wings.

L-R: Bill King and Kim Stockwood; Neil Haverty. Photos by Ernesto Di Stefano/George Pimentel Photography.

Following the speeches, guests enjoyed two sets of musical performances. First, Slaight Music singer/songwriter Kim Stockwood, accompanied by Bill King, sang for us, and second, Neil Haverty, an alumnus of The Slaight Family Music Residency, and his band, Understudy, composed of Leon Taheny, Kenta Aoki and Zach Bines, picked up the pace by rocking out. These two groups treated us to two songs each, and since the rain had cleared by then, there was even a bit of dancing on the lawn. The CFC extends our appreciation to The Slaight Family Foundation, both for these fine performers and for their support of the CFC Slaight Family Music Lab – which just graduated its latest alumni earlier this week at our Music Showcase.

Inside the Garden Party was the CFC Innovation Zone, where four of CFC Media Lab’s IDEABOOST-Network Connect companies took part: Albedo Informatics’s LARGE; Geogram’s “An Experience by Geogram”; House of VR’s “Fairland Funhouse App”; and Impossible Things’ ReBlink, an excerpt reprised from its earlier show at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO).

One of the guests enjoying the augmented reality experience, ReBlink, by Impossible Things in the CFC Innovation Zone. Photo by Tom Sandler.

Guests also marveled at Small Wonders: The VR Experience, a groundbreaking VR collaboration of CFC Media Lab, Seneca’s School of Creative Arts and Animation and the AGO. This VR experience depicts a complex scene of heaven and hell that was originally represented in a 500-year-old European prayer bead, a bead small enough to fit in the palm of one’s hand. The VR experience, produced by micro-computed topography (micro-CT) scans, allowed viewers to explore the intricate carvings of this tiny prayer bead from various angles and in detail otherwise inaccessible to the human eye.

This year, guests also took part in a special fundraising raffle. Four lucky recipients took home these generously-donated and enviable experience packages: “Beauty, Fresh Off the Vine,” from Caudalíe; “Essential Relaxation,” from Woodlot; “Happy, Healthy, Hydrated,” from Flow Water; and our own contribution, “The CFC Silver Screen Experience."

As last night proved, our esteemed guests would never let poor weather stand in their way of a fun party. They also would not miss the opportunity to join us in honouring the CFC’s last 30 years. On this momentous occasion, we look forward to the next generation of talent to come from the CFC and make it shine even more brightly in the years to come. No matter the challenges and changes our entertainment landscape will no doubt face, the CFC is more than ready to respond, reframe and lead into the next 30 years and beyond.

A warm thank you to everyone who braved the elements to attend, and to everyone who supports the CFC Annual Garden Party and the CFC year-round. Enjoy a selection of photos from the party here.

Special thanks to all of our 2018 CFC Annual Garden Party Sponsors:

Presenting Sponsor, A&E; CFC Automotive Sponsor, Roy Foss; Official Media Sponsor, Toronto Life; Experience Package Sponsors, Caudalíe, Flow Water and Woodlot; and all of our Event Sponsors, including Gelato Fresco, Holy Cannoli, Holy Chuck, Kaiseki Yu-Zen Hashimoto, Lollicakes, Luxe Modern Rentals Inc., Pizzaville, Platterz, SALT Staffing & Events, Official Water Sponsor Flow Water, Official Vodka Sponsor Crystal Head, Official Beer Sponsor Mill Street Brewery, and Official Wine Sponsor Dreaming Tree Wines

Join the CFC Circle of Supporters today! Get sneak peeks at the best films before they hit theatres. And take pride in knowing you’re advancing the groundbreaking work of the CFC and building on Norman Jewison’s legacy for the future – another 30 years and more!

Happy Anniversary, CFC. Photo by Tom Sandler.

CFC alumni are continually making waves in the Canadian and international screen-based entertainment industries – from awards to festivals, industry recognition, “it lists” and more. Here’s the latest round of updates and success stories for CFC residents and alumni from June 2018.

NOMINATIONS & AWARDS

'Travelers'

Rockie Awards 2018

The hit sci-fi series Travelers, developed through CFC’s Bell Media Prime Time TV Program and featuring a number of CFC alumni in the writers room, won two awards at this year’s Rockie Awards: Best Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Action Series and the Rogers Prize for Excellence in Canadian Content. See the full list of winners HERE.

As previously announced, alumni company New Metric Media (alumnus Mark Montefiore, President) was presented with the Innovative Producer Award at the Rockie Awards Gala Ceremony.

'Rupture'

2018 Leo Awards

CFC alumni took home six 2018 Leo Awards, including three awards for alumna Yassmina Karajah for her short drama Rupture (Best Short Drama, Best Direction and Best Screenwriting). See the full list of CFC alumni award winners HERE.

'Don't Talk to Irene'

2018 Canadian Comedy Awards

Alumni film Don’t Talk to Irene from Pat Mills (writer/director), Alyson Richards and Michael MacMillan (producers), which was developed through the Telefilm Canada Feature Comedy Exchange, won two awards at the 18^th annual Canadian Comedy Awards, including Best Feature and Best Writing in a Feature. See the full list of winners HERE.

'The Things You Think I'm Thinking'

The 2018 Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival Awards

Alumni film The Things You Think I’m Thinking (directed by Sherren Lee, written by and starring Jesse LaVercombe, produced by Charlie Hidalgo, edited by Simone Smith, with music by Casey Manierka-Quaile) won Best Canadian Short at the 2018 Inside Out Film Festival. See the full list of winners HERE.

'The Breadwinner'

2018 Annecy International Animation Festival Awards

Alumni film The Breadwinner (co-written by alumna Anita Doron and produced by alumni Anthony Leo and Andrew Rosen) received three prizes at the Annecy International Animation Festival, which ran from June 11 to 16): Jury Award (Feature Film), Audience Award (Feature Film) and Best Original Music for a Feature Film. See the full list of winners HERE.

'Un Traductor'

21^st Annual Golden Goblet Awards at the Shanghai International Film Festival

Alumnus Sebastián Barriuso and his co-director and brother Rodrigo Barriuso won the award for Best Director at the Shanghai International Film Festival for their work on Un Traductor. More info HERE.

FESTIVAL WATCH

2018 Fantasia International Film Festival

Two alumni projects are among the 10 that international copro market Frontieres will present at the Fantasia International Film Festival, which runs from July 12 to August 1, 2018 in Montreal:

• Alumnus Matt Code is a producer on Creature He (written/directed by Leah Johnston)
• Daniel Bekerman is a producer on Slash/Back(co-written/directed by Nyla Innuksuk)

Learn more HERE.

INDUSTRY UPDATES

'Window Horses,' written/directed by Ann Marie Fleming

• CFC alumni Ann Marie Fleming, Anita Doron and Anthony Leo are among the 928 artists and executives who have been invited to join The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. See the full list of 2018 invitees HERE.

• Telefilm Canada and the Talent Fund announced the 45 projects selected under the Talent to Watch Program, which CFC is an affiliate partner of. CFC is proud to be a partner on two of this year’s projects: Easy Land, from writer/director CFC alumna Sanja Zivkovic; and Learn to Swim, from CFC alumni team Thyrone Tommy (director), Marni Van Dyk (writer) and Alona Metzer (producer). Additionally, CFC alumni are involved in a number of other projects (see the full list of projects selected HERE).
  •  Lora Campbell (producer, 40 ACRES)
  • Lauren Corber (producer, Islands)
  • Rich Williamson (director, Scarborough)
  • Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs (writer, This Place)
  • Karen Chapman (incoming Cineplex Entertainment Film Program resident; writer/director, The Village Keeper)
  • Reem Morsi (writer/director, HATE)
• Hit comedy ADVENTURES IN PUBLIC SCHOOL (from CFC alumni writer/director Kyle Rideout and writer/producer Josh Epstein), the 23^rd film to be developed and financed for production through CFC Features, is now available on iTunes. Check it out HERE.
• Paper Year, starring actors Conservatory alumna Grace Glowicki, produced by alumna Jennifer Shin and edited by alumnus Bryan Atkinson, hit theatres in Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa on Friday, June 22. You can also check it out on iTunes and On Demand. Read more about the film HERE.
• Corus greenlit the third and final season of alumni series Mary Kills People (created by Tara Armstrong), set to air as part of Global’s 2018 midseason lineup. Learn more HERE.
• CBC Actors Conservatory alumna Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs has been cast as Sam Black Crow in the upcoming season of American Gods, which is set to return in 2019. Read more HERE.
• Production has wrapped on Natalie, a dramatic feature produced by alumna Sally Karam (Sixth Avenue Productions) and executive produced by alumnus Damon D’Oliveira (Filmshow). Alumna Kathleen Hepburn is a co-writer on the feature. More info HERE.
• Alumni Marc Tetreault and William Woods are producers on the upcoming indie comedy feature Spinster, starring Chelsea Peretti (Brooklyn Nine-Nine). More info HERE.
• On June 13, Historica Canada launched their first LGBTQ2 Heritage Minute, which features pioneering gay activist Jim Egan, and was directed by alumnus Stephen Dunn. Watch the Heritage Minute HERE.
• Season 2 of Bad Blood (executive produced by alumni Mark Montefiore, Virginia Rankin and Josée Vallée) returns to CityTV as part of its 2018/19 primetime schedule. Learn more HERE.
• Alumna Sarah Goodman has been selected as 1 of 12 participants for the 2018–19 TIFF Writers’ Studio. Read more HERE.
• Hulu has acquired the U.S. streaming rights to the first two seasons of the hit Canadian comedy series Letterkenny, executive produced by alumnus Mark Montefiore (New Metric Media). More info HERE.
• Alumna Natalie Urquhart has joined Amaze Film + Television as their new Director of Development. In this role, she will oversee development in Canada. Read more HERE.
• Three CFC alumni are among the eight Canadian producers selected to participate in this year’s Trans Atlantic Partners (TAP) co-pro training program: Jessica Adams, Josh Epstein and Jennifer Mesich. Read the full list of participants HERE.
• Production is underway on the female-driven indie The Rest of Us, the directorial debut from alumna Aisling Chin-Yee. Alumnus William Woods is a producer on the feature, and alumnus Damon D’Oliveira is an executive producer. The film stars Heather Graham and Jodi Balgour. More info HERE.
• Alumna Gail Harvey will direct two episodes of the upcoming series Northern Rescue, from Don Carmody Television. Learn more HERE.
• Production has wrapped on She Never Died (a sequel to the 2015 horror comedy He Never Died), which is directed by alumna Audrey Cummings and produced by alumna Jennifer Mesich. More info HERE.
• Monterey Media has acquired the U.S. rights to The Sun at Midnight, starring alumna Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs. Read more HERE.
• Alumnus Chris Agoston is the writer on one of six writer-producer teams that were selected to participate in WIFT-T’s inaugural Scripted Digital Series Incubator, which ran from June 18 to 21. He and producer Marie-Marguerite Sabongui took part with their political comedy series The Mission. Learn more HERE.
• Alumni webseries How to Buy a Baby (line produced by alumnus Matt Code, executive produced by alumna Lauren Corber, edited by alumnus Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux, with music by alumna Aimee Bessada) has been named one of 17 funding recipients from the Independent Production Fund for 2018/19. More info HERE.
• CBC Actors Conservatory alumna Alex Paxton-Beesley will return toPure Season 2 as Anna Funk, with alumnus Ken Girotti as series director. Read more HERE.

Have some alumni news to add/share? Get in touch at alumni@cfccreates.com.

Brian J. Smith as Ben in 22 CHASER

Hey Canadian film fans! Love mystery-dramas? Live for action and thriller movies? We have good news for you: now is your chance to catch the gripping and emotionally charged tow truck drama 22 CHASER on the silver screen. Opening this Friday, July 6, 2018 at Carlton Cinema in Toronto, you can purchase your tickets through the cinema’s website HERE for the weeklong run. What’s more, director Rafal Sokolowski and writer Jeremy Boxen will be in attendance to participate in a Q&A on opening night (July 6) at the 6:55 p.m. screening.

22 CHASER is the 22^nd feature film to be developed and financed for production through CFC Features, a program that invests in and collaborates with filmmakers from across Canada who have engaging feature-length stories for the screen. The theatrical release follows the sold out Special Presentation of 22 CHASER that we were pleased to present back in April in celebration of National Canadian Film Day.

22 CHASER follows a struggling tow truck driver, Ben (Brian J. Smith), who risks everything in order to become king of the road and piece together his broken family. It provides a look into the often mysterious and gritty underbelly of tow truck culture, and shows the extent to which some drivers are willing to go to make it in this cutthroat world.

The film is the feature directorial debut from Rafal Sokolowski (Three Mothers, Seventh Day) and is based on a screenplay by CFC alumnus Jeremy Boxen (Imposters, Orphan Black), who developed the idea for the script after seeing tow trucks all around Toronto. “Wherever you go in the city, there are always tow truck drivers perched somewhere, as if hiding in plain sight. They cut a bit of a romantic figure if you know nothing about them. They’re like lone cowboys, just sittin’ and lookin’ out over the range, waiting for their chance to spring into action,” said Boxen. “I’d see them as I was driving around and I’d make up stories about them, until, eventually, I decided there was a movie in this.”

The script for 22 CHASER first came to the CFC back in 2004, when it hit Justine Whyte’s desk, “I was quickly sucked into the salty world of tow trucks and drivers. It’s a modern-day Western with principled guys in trucks, instead of on horses. It appealed to the old punk in me,” recalls Whyte, Director & Executive Producer of CFC Features. “It was a very complex film to realize within the limited financial parameters of what the CFC could offer at the time, however the CFC’s CEO, Slawko Klymkiw, had a steadfast desire to see this film made with CFC Features’ support, so that was a big tipping point.”

Whyte knew that seasoned producers would be required to help realize this script, so she reached out to producers Don Carmody, Aeschylus Poulos and Daniel Bekerman, who also saw the merit in the screenplay, and a unique producing trinity was formed. From there, the producers brought on Sokolowski to direct, “Rafal was the ideal choice for this story,” Bekerman explained. “We needed someone who could bring raw, naturalistic, grounded performances out of the actors.” Sokolowski was immediately drawn to the human element of the script and to how he believes the story speaks to the crisis of masculinity in the modern world, “I was fascinated with the process of how dreamers need to learn how to be assholes in order to make it.”

The CFC championed this project from the very beginning and remained unwavering in its commitment to the filmmakers and to the project and worked hard to see it go from script to screen. Now, 14 years later, we are so proud that 22 CHASER is ready for public audiences.

The film stars Brian J. Smith (Sense8, SGU Stargate Universe), Tiio Horn (What Would Sal Do?, Hemlock Grove), Raoul Trujillo (Sicario, Cowboys and Aliens), Aaron Ashmore (Killjoys, Regression), John Kapelos (The Breakfast Club), Aidan Devine (October Gale, Suicide Squad) and Shaun Benson (The Girlfriend Experience, Saving Hope). It is produced by CFC board member Don Carmody (Shadowhunters, Resident Evil franchise) and CFC alumni Daniel Bekerman (The Witch, Bang Bang Baby) and Aeschylus Poulos (Mary Goes Round, Sleeping Giant); is co-produced by Brendan Carmody (13 Eerie, Home Again); and is executive produced by Justine Whyte (Rhymes for Young Ghouls, Adventures in Public School). The film was edited by CFC alumni Kye Meechan and Jane McRae (who earned a CCE Awards nomination for their work on the film), and also features appearances by CFC alumnae Lisa Codrington, Camille Stopps and Emily Piggford.

SCREENING DETAILS

Carlton Cinema
20 Carlton Street, Toronto
Weeklong run beginning Friday, July 6
Daily screenings at 1:40 p.m., 3:55 p.m., 6:55 p.m., and 9:30 p.m.

Check the cinema’s website HERE to confirm showtimes and to purchase tickets.

22 CHASER was produced through the Canadian Film Centre’s CFC Features program. Development at CFC Features is supported by the Government of Ontario, and production support and financing are supported by the CFC and The Movie Network, a division of Bell Media.

The producers secured additional production financing from Telefilm Canada and Ontario Media Development Corporation. Canadian distribution for 22 CHASER is handled by levelFILM and the film is represented by XYZ in the U.S. and Red Sea Media in the international market.

Learn more about CFC Features HERE.

We're introducing a new monthly series, “Notes from Silicon Beach,” written by Nick DeMartino, chair of the IDEABOOST Investment Advisory Board and LA-based media and technology consultant. 

When it launched as an entertainment accelerator in 2012, IDEABOOST introduced the goals and methods of the lean startup movement to a generation of aspiring Canadian media entrepreneurs. Those principles survive to this day, as IDEABOOST helps young companies validate their product/market fit and find a business model that can scale.

This has not been the case with transmedia, a movement that also emerged around 2012. Initially, “transmedia” seemed poised to become a major force in the entertainment business. It described emerging media formats and practices. With the rapid adoption of mobile devices and social platforms like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, stories and entire story worlds could be consumed across media, inviting direct audience interaction. Producers around the world, including the CFC Media Lab, began format experiments, which started to coalesce as a movement.

Movie studios, TV networks, game companies and brands underwrote projects they eagerly labeled “transmedia,” to catch the buzz, but a less commercially oriented group resisted, preferring small-scale efforts like “alternate reality games.” These folks pushed back when the Producers Guild of America designated an official credit for “transmedia producer,” igniting a war of words, as I reported at the time.

I pondered the fate of transmedia recently, as I participated in three recent events in California, events that were once a hotbed of transmedia: StoryWorld 3.0, a scaled-down edition of an event that, as much as any, showcased the theory and practice of transmedia when it premiered in 2011; Digital Hollywood, now in its 24^th year, a sprawling array of media, business and tech sessions that track buzz and trends; and the San Francisco-based TV of Tomorrow Show, which has been tracking interactive and advanced television developments for 11 years.

Nowhere at these events was “transmedia” uttered to describe the contemporary media production, distribution and consumption landscape. It would seem “transmedia” is dead, a victim of what one of its producers and authors, Andrea Phillips, called the transmedia diaspora.

Still, one thing is clear. The transmedia movement’s principles influence today’s media ecosystem in dozens of programs, platforms, formats, entertainment experiences and media types, such as this short survey attests.

From UGC to Digital Brands

Nearly 13 years ago, YouTube invited users to produce and share their own videos under the banner “Broadcast Yourself.” They unleashed a massive amount of content, as well as new formats like the “video blog.” It also incorporated viewer engagement and niche community-building as core media values that have permeated other media since. What started as “user-generated content” (UGC) has become an empire built on evolving audience consumption and engagement.

“What the audience of the YouTubers reacted to were YouTube stars who spoke directly into the camera as though they were talking to the audience,” said investor Mark Suster in a recent post, adding that “the lower-quality production was a feature, not a bug.” New YouTube celebrities as “influencers” have an authentic connection with enormous audiences, one that in turn has spawned an entire industry to package this talent. The first wave of “multichannel networks” have evolved into sizeable media companies, such as Jukin Media, who discovers, acquires and licenses UGC clips, generating content sites like FailArmy, or Otter Media (co-owned by ATT and Chernin Media) with brands like Crunchyroll, VRV, Fullscreen and Gunpowder & Sky. TV4 Entertainment runs 30 genre-oriented video destinations, what they call the largest collection of OTT (over-the-top) networks in the world. Seeker Media specializes in video and VR content about science and technology topics. New Form finances, produces and distributes digital original series, many in partnership with talent from the YouTube pool. Amazon’s Twitch platform has created a new user-engaged format around watching videogame play. 

Multiplying Platforms

One of the key innovations of the transmedia era was multiplatform storytelling, with a primary platform like television, and ancillary engagement ones like Twitter, YouTube, blogs, etc. That tradition continues in HBO’s recent miniseries, Mosaic, starring Sharon Stone and directed by Steven Soderbergh. The linear story unspooled on the network while backstory was available as choose your own adventure on iOS and Android devices. Here's a sample of other examples I learned about at Sandra Lehner’s presentation at StoryWorld:

• Skam: This series (check out the image below) was developed in Norway and adapted in several markets, including North America via Facebook Watch. SKAM Austin popped up, without warning, with fragments appearing on Facebook and Instagram comments and texts, which the New Yorkerposited as “the future of TV," something we've certainly heard before; will it be true this time?

• Five Points: A scripted drama about high school kids from Chicago’s South Side, from producer Kerry Washington and studio Indigenous Media, this is another Facebook Watch series, with additional content on Instagram and Facebook via groups.

• T@gged: An American psychological thriller about online stalking, this web original from Awesomeness TV unspools on Hulu with extensions on Instagram and Twitter.

• #karmadraama: This Finnish original video series appeared on Instagram in near-real-time with the events it depicted, and the entire package aggregated on YouTube.
• South Africa’s Uk’shona Kwelanga is the country’s first ever WhatsApp drama series.

The Triumph of Immersion: VR, AR, MR, XR

Facebook’s purchase of Oculus in 2014 set off a frenzy of development in virtual reality (VR) and its related technologies/content such as augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR). It also upstaged any pretensions that “transmedia” could credibly immerse users in a story. AR and VR took creative energy away from entertainment formats like alternate reality games, which had offered more limited “immersion.”

What’s now termed “XR” describes a family of technologies, with varying degrees of immersion, that subsumes many of the inventive and game-like features of transmedia experiences, whether it’s finding Pokemon figures or battling bad guys in the real world (both from Niantic). With its photo-realistic world-building capacities, these VR applications offer an enhanced sense of wonder that surpasses high-density, surround-sound cinema.

Get Out: Digital Devours the Physical World

Full-scale digital interaction in the real world remains alive in the so-called “out-of-home” industry. This includes theme parks and other physical destinations like The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios, which lets visitors become a wizard, with wands that seem to empower them to perform tricks.

The wizards around the corner at Disney Imagineering are loading up on interactive features in the new Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge attraction, scheduled to open in 2019, allowing guests to “live their own adventure.” The team has been working for years on incorporating a story engine to automate interactions in real time at scale. Disney has also invested in Utah-based VR destination operator, The Void, and launched Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire as their first fully immersive commercial VR experience. The Void’s downtown Toronto venue features an immersive Ghostbusters experience, and new capital will allow the company to build nine more centers.

The Void is only one of a few VR-fueled destination chains designed for curious audiences. Denise Chapman Weston from Apptivations is another indie inventor and park designer (Magiquest, water parks, and more), who is retrofitting many of her iconic destinations with digital enhancements and MR functionality.

The whimsically named Meow Wolf offers a surrealistic theme park blending media content and physical spaces, including many commissioned from artists in its home base in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with new venues opening next year in Denver and Las Vegas. The company is rumored to have a deal to deploy AR with secretive mega-company, Magic Leap. A success of less corporate-themed entertainment, Meow Wolf is also reverse-engineering the formula, producing movies based on their attractions.

Conclusion: Linear Storytelling, Still Winning

All of these transmedia offshoots are small potatoes in the context of the global media war between tech giants, such as Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and content studios and networks. A wave of mergers and acquisitions among the latter is underway. These older businesses are responding to the global scale and massive budgets of new tech-powered competitors with better business models. Both groups are spending billions to deliver an embarrassment of riches, including the mega-franchises of Marvel and Star Wars, and the phenomenon known as peak TV, but almost none of this content is interactive, multiplatform or user-centric. It reveals linear storytelling is winning by a mile.

Transmedia, R.I.P.

IDEABOOST Cohort 7 has wrapped, revealing how our companies are navigating market shifts and developing strategies founders to seize emerging opportunities. Here are three insights this cohort taught us:

I. New Technologies Can Tap Into Established Networks

We’ve seen how two-sided markets over the last few decades have found their way into the online world. We’ve also seen that the network effects that fuel them favour early entry and scale. Apple’s install-base allowed it to mobilize developers to create the app store. Amazon’s vast pool of customers has helped attract more sellers to its marketplace.

Sometimes a new technology can unlock half of a new two-sided market. When webcams and digital video on phones became cheap and ubiquitous, YouTube’s online distribution allowed a new crop of content creators to find an audience, and in turn, a new audience to find content they’d never seen before, generating enormous success for those early content creators.

Many believe we are one generation of technology away from a similar moment with virtual reality (VR), that plunging prices and lighter forms will create a massive install-base looking for content. Cohort 7 company, Flipside, sees an opportunity here to enable content creators to make content that not only lives on 2D YouTube, but also in a volumetric space capable of capturing VR audiences.

Lesson: Opportunities opened by new technologies can give creators a chance to find their audience. One might never have been able to pitch an unboxing video to a network, but one could create the space for those people to find each other.

John Luxford, CTO and Co-founder of Flipside.

 II. Large User Bases Can Crave Engagement and Community

In an age of unprecedented media consumption, we’ve ended up with fake news: a mess of murky production in content farms, or shared in radically unaccountable distribution through platforms not classified as publishers. From a civic standpoint, we are in a crisis of democracy. From a commercial standpoint, there is an unmet need for quality information to be produced by more trustworthy mechanisms – and large audiences are increasingly willing to pay for this content.

Business models in the space of news production are shifting rapidly, as this industry was gutted by the rise of “free” digital content. That resulted in a shift to hard ad-driven programming and the paywall. Enter the Netherlands’ De Correspondent, with 20,000 members backing the news media upstart in a $1.7 million crowdfunding campaign. Their bet: that engaged readers are hungry for journalism that digs deeper than clickbait.

Learning from this model, Cohort 7’s The Discourse is fusing high quality investigative journalism with a community engagement model. They’re betting that Canadian news readers have a similar hunger for quality, in-depth reporting that has been diminishing in digital journalism.

Lesson: If everyone is reading the news but fake news is undermining democracy, there’s an unserved market for in-depth community engagement.

Erin Millar (left), CEO and Founder of The Discourse.

III. Large Data Sets Can Unlock New Answers

The buzz of “big data” may have come and gone in the corporate world, but now, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are revisiting those vast pools of data to squeeze new value out of them.

Data’s value has always been based on its questions. For analytics companies like SAS, this has led to an awkward procurement journey from the IT departments that buy software, back to the C-suite who need them but should be asking better questions, such as how to measure the performance of a campaign.

For startups with access to large data sets, AI and ML can help find better answers. Cohort 7 company, PaddleHR, has a huge, longitudinal career data set that allows them to ask, “What string of jobs tend to make up a person’s career path?” Most companies are not equipped to ask that question of their own data, so they lose employees who leave for a competitor, rather than registering opportunities in their current situation. By taking a unique set of data, and by applying machine learning to compelling questions, PaddleHR has been able to unlock a market of those willing to pay for the answers.

Lesson: Get creative with questions when faced with new data. What does it allow you to know that you didn’t know before?

Pat Whelan (centre) and Sid Bhargava (right), Co-founders of Paddle HR.

Photos by Brian de Rivera Simon.

'He Hated Pigeons'

On lucky Friday the 13^th (July 13, that is), the Canadian Film Centre (CFC) was proud to present two film screening events at the dynamic new Harbourfront Toronto festival, Brave: A Festival of Risk and Failure. Audiences were treated to the feature He Hated Pigeons from CFC alumna Ingrid Veninger with a live score performed by CFC/Slaight Music Residency Alumnus Casey MQ (Casey Manierka-Quaile), as well as a curated selection of three short films made by CFC alumni early in their careers.

Continuing through July 29, the Brave Festival presents some of the world’s most courageous and outlandish artists, thinkers, writers and musicians. These artists embrace risk in a spirit of trailblazing that we at the CFC also foster. The CFC is celebrating our 30^th anniversary this year, and we could not have lasted this long by playing it safe, not amid the last three decades of upheaval transforming – and continuing to change – digital screen-based entertainment. So we were happy to join Harbourfront and this festival in living out the motto: no risk, no reward.

Friday’s film events were free and held in the large, open-air Concert Stage on the water. They showcased outstanding CFC talent and content to a broader public, including the rewarding, rarely-seen feature, He Hated Pigeons, from CFC alumna Ingrid Veninger, with a live score performed on the spot by talented CFC/Slaight Music Residency Alumnus Casey MQ (Casey Manierka-Quaile). Casey MQ is a Canadian composer, singer, songwriter and record producer from Toronto whose music blurs ambient productions and melancholic soul, distorted club music and electronic pop.

Each of the He Hated Pigeons’ screenings feature an improvised, unrecorded musical performance, making for a unique, unrepeatable event. Although Veninger could not attend (she was in Barcelona editing her latest feature), we were fortunate to have venerable Canadian indie music icon Jane Siberry as screening host – a perfect choice given that she also live-scored He Hated Pigeons for the Female Eye Film Festival in 2016.

Jane Siberry and Casey MQ in conversation after the screening and live performance of 'He Hated Pigeons.'

Improvising a film score before a live audience is daunting under optimal circumstances. Veninger, however, adds additional restrictions to insure spontaneity. The musician can only view the film one time before the performance. Harbourfront as a space contributed its own soundtrack: loud laughter from nearby bars, crackling seagulls, barking dogs along the pier, whooshes of waves rolling in and planes taking off. Casey MQ took it all in stride, working these ambient sounds into his understated electronic score to enhance the story of grief, longing and memory.

He Hated Pigeons chronicles the story of a young Chilean man, Elias, who embarks on a spontaneous solo trip through Chile after the unexplained death of his Canadian boyfriend – a journey his lover had wanted them to make together. The film treats its themes and characters gently, finding emotion in the score. Grief’s eloquent silences surface against stunning landscapes that morph from ocean to forest to desert as Elias drives South.

In addition to sound and melody, Casey MQ’s score deftly incorporated recorded breath and breathing, a motif that accentuated Elias’ struggle to bear his lover’s death. The score as a whole lent the film’s numerous beach and cliffside scenes an undertone of sadness, rage and isolation while, for example, Elias rests on a beach alone, surrounded by sunbathers, playful children and crashing waves.

Rather than ceasing a melody at each scene’s conclusion, Casey MQ often continued to let the sounds and melody of one scene trail into the next. These sound bridges layered emotions across scenes, suggesting the palimpsestic stages of Elias’ various journeys: through Chile; through his memories; and through the ambivalent terrain of his own grief. For all of death’s finality, the film and its live musical performance suggest that for those who go on living after a loved one’s death, much of life after remains open-ended and uncertain.

Just before the screening of He Hated Pigeons, the Festival also showed CFC Presents: Celebrating Bold Storytellers and Their Short Films, three short films made at the CFC by notable alumni, films that experiment with modes of storytelling and creative expression: We Wanted More, directed by Stephen Dunn, a hypnotic psychological thriller about a singer who loses her voice pre-world tour; Evelyn: The Cutest Evil Dead Girl, directed by Brad Peyton, a dark comedy about a lonely dead girl seeking new friends; and Short Hymn Silent War (see left), directed by Charles Officer, a quietly moving drama of how four African-Canadian women are altered by gun violence.

Also at the Brave Festival were several accompanying art installations, including the playful Pop-Up! Museum of Failure (see right), which displays and chronicles failed product launches for items like laser discs, Google glasses, purple ketchup and the “Growing Skipper” doll; the intricacies of a collective creative process in Exchanges: Dialogue, Hesitation & Creation, from the Feminist Photography Network’s Online Residency; and Harbourfront Centre’s inaugural Visual Artist-in-Residence Sean Martindale, whose project with JP King offers the mesmerizing large-scale Our Desires Fail Us.

“Don’t behave. Be brave” is the Brave Festival’s maxim. We’re proud that these CFC alumni, their films and Casey MQ’s live music all – like the wider Festival – favour risk over restraint, experimentation with rather than adherence to rules, and work that takes both artists and audiences on unexpected journeys. These artists and the broader festival invite us all to be brave, venture forth, and see where the path of creative (re)invention may lead.

The Brave Festival continues through July 29; check out what's still to come.

Erin Millar is the founder and CEO of Discourse Media, which produces The Discourse. She has written investigative features for publications such as Macleans, The Globe and Mail, Readers Digest and The Walrus. Her in-depth reporting and writing has been translated into 20 languages and published in 34 countries around the world — pretty impressive for a sax player who studied in jazz performance at university!

Millar is also an alumna of the most recent IDEABOOST Accelerator Cohort 7. Read on to hear more about her journey from music major to award-winning investigative journalist, as well as the importance of local media to communities and the need for diverse voices in the public dialogue.

Q: What sparked your interest in journalism?

A: Initially, I studied music during my undergraduate years— to be specific, saxophone performance at the University of British Columbia, which has a fantastic jazz program. I got interested in journalism because the student newspaper was such crap. That was more or less it. I’m a problem solver, so I want to get in and start fixing things myself.

What happened was that the student newspaper, for their Valentine’s Day issue, published a bunch of pornography. I thought, “What is this?!” Then I showed up at a meeting to ask, “Why are you publishing pornography in this student publication that is paid for by student dollars?” They didn’t have a good response. So I got together with a couple other people and said, “Let’s take this place over.” We formed a coup in the next student election and I became the editor. So that’s how I got into journalism.

Q: Can you make connections between your study of jazz music and the work you do now?

There are a lot of similarities, actually. Not just the improvisation: I studied concepts like counterpoint, harmony, tension and release, and the form of a piece of music. All of these concepts are really about creating a narrative, and that is fundamental to how humans experience art. Those are the same concepts that I then brought to my writing, especially feature writing. I moved over to Macleans, and then worked freelance overseas for The Walrus, Readers Digest and The Globe and Mail, writing mostly longer-form features.

I also think studying jazz performance gave me a way of learning that helped. It’s very much about studying from the greats and practicing through mimicry, really understanding how the greats put together these performances. Eventually, through all of that close study, you evolve your own voice. So I took that same approach to studying and mentorship and applied it to writing.

Another thing I got from music school is that they’re teaching you to be entrepreneurial: to be self-employed, to put together bands, to market those bands, to find different channels to make money, all of these tasks and concepts. I was exposed to an entrepreneurial approach that has served me well in my journalism career. It was very good training.

From there, I got hooked, and eventually became the President of the Canadian University Press, which is a student news organization founded in 1938. It’s a very cool organization. I moved on to work at Macleans. Yet initially, I was a music student. I never actually studied journalism.

"The main thing – really the number one thing I gained – was relationships. I came away from IDEABOOST with a network of extremely high-level supporters specific to my industry, people who spent three months giving me great feedback on the business."

- Erin Millar

Q: Why is The Discourse so necessary?

A: Oh, so many reasons. The Discourse is necessary because journalism is a key part of the social fabric that unites our communities. As we’ve seen the industry contract and advertising business model fail, we’re losing more journalists and media outlets. That matters because these losses have an impact at the community level. There are large portions of the Canadian public that are not represented in our national narratives, which are informing policy. What we’re all about at The Discourse is directly serving underserved markets in media. We’re widening, improving and making more diverse the voices informing the public dialogue — and that’s impacting what we do as a society together.

That’s what we’re all about. It’s critically important at this particular moment in time, when we’ve seen a lot of co-opting of our media environment through social media and our politics to fuel polarization and misinformation. It’s a worthy thing to dedicate our time and talents to creating something that builds trust with communities again and improves our public discourse. 

Q: Can you identify some highlights of your work with The Discourse so far?

A: One of the early projects we did that I’m most proud of, because of its impact, is this data journalism project, Justice Is Not Blind, which looks into racial profiling by police against Indigenous people in Western Canadian cities. Macleans brought us this project. One of their reporters, Nancy Macdonald (who’s now with The Globe and Mail), had heard a number of stories from Indigenous people saying that police were racially profiling them. Whenever she brought those stories to police, they would say, “Oh, that was just a one-off case,” or “This person had a chip on their shoulder,” or it was a “Bad apple cop,” or whatever – whereas the people she was listening to were saying, “There’s a wide systemic issue at play here.”

Yet there was no data. And police would not make available any data about ethnicity in their traffic stops and other interactions. So we compiled original data about that and found that yes, there was a systemic issue at play. It was so important because we were genuinely responding to a gap of information that was not in the public before. A number of academics cited our research, and an inquiry that at the time was looking into the death of an Indigenous man in police custody led to policy change. Police are now under more scrutiny to release data under the Freedom of Information Act in Saskatchewan. 

In journalism, so often everybody complains about insufficient resources. We’ve lost so many jobs and all kinds of stuff has changed. Yet I think we’re really inefficient with how we apply resources a lot of the time. When we have 25 journalists all covering the same last day of Jian Ghomeshi’s trial, for example, it’s not like they’re writing 25 original stories that create value for all of their communities.

In the case of my example, doing the analysis and being strategic about providing value generates a larger impact, especially by collaborating with other media outlets to ensure that the work reaches the audiences that will make change. This story captures a lot of the core things about The Discourse. That database continues to this day and in 2017, the project earned a coveted Edward R. Murrow Award for excellence in investigative reporting by a small digital news agency. 

Q: Has your connection with the CFC Media Lab’s IDEABOOST Accelerator helped shape The Discourse?

A: It was an amazing experience. The quality of mentorship and the network that I came away with are both extremely valuable to the business. They really honed my thinking, challenged me on multiple levels, and accelerated our progress. They also helped us focus and winnow down what we were doing so that we could have more impact, and more quickly. Ana Serrano (IDEABOOST’s managing director) is amazing. She’s my main mentor and continues to support us. I still speak to her weekly.

The main thing – really the number one thing I gained – was relationships. I came away from IDEABOOST with a network of extremely high-level supporters specific to my industry, people who spent three months giving me great feedback on the business. Now I will carry forward those relationships.

Q: What’s the best professional advice you’ve been given?

A: This isn’t only professional, but it’s from one of my mentors, Anne Giardini, a recently retired CEO who is now the Chancellor of Simon Fraser University. She’s written a bunch of novels, and is the late Canadian novelist Carol Shield’s daughter, so she oversees her mother’s estate. She has a family, a beautiful home, volunteers on a million things, and she mentors me. So I asked her, “How the hell do you do it? Because I feel like I’m losing my mind here, only doing half the stuff you’re doing.” She had the best advice. “Oh, I just say yes to everything that seems interesting, and then I forgive myself when I screw some of it up.”

Q: What’s next for The Discourse?

A: Hmm, that’s actually a tough one to answer because we’re right in the middle of rethinking all of that. But I would say: continued growth! We are building The Discourse into a national player in Canada. We want to see be a household name recognized for its impact and community-based work. I would invite readers to check out The Discourse and our work. There’s some amazing about journalists doing impactful work, and we only do it with the support of our community.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Photos by Brian de Rivera Simon.

Students from the Ontario College of Art and Design University (OCAD U) met at the Canadian Film Centre (CFC) to start mapping their projects for OCAD U’s Graduate Program in Digital Futures. The program offers masters’ degrees (MA, MDes and MFA) and operates a partnership between OCAD U and CFC Media Lab. The program goal: to respond to the increasingly important and sophisticated role of digital technology as a catalyst for change. The goal for this first intensive? A working prototype to hit the ground running.

Digital Futures has been in operation at OCAD U for 10 years, with many recent graduates garnering national and international interest. As was evident at this opening intensive, the program takes a student-centred and peer-focussed learning approach through collaborative group work.

Emma Westecott, co-director of the game: play lab and Digital Futures faculty, introduced and then led many of the sessions, which focussed on “ideation rather than technologies.” These early sessions are designed to see what might advance the participants’ theoretical ideas best. They focus on a small set of the final project and how this set functions. Prototyping, she said, can take a variety of approaches:

• Framing an idea or concept
• Sketches of ideas or theories
• Concepts to address a need or answer a question
• Digital and/or analog in form
• Goal-based or activity-based
• Low-fi or hi-fi
• Quick concepts rather than fleshed-out answers
• Working models of a particular experience

By the end of the first three days, with its series of feedback sessions and working groups, participants were already formalizing their first prototype. By summer’s end, they were likely to have a series of prototypes, from which they would refine and develop over the year. As Westecott described these opening approaches, “The program operates under the mantra: Make, Play, Connect. Prototyping ideas forms a central focus of our program, and the CFC Media Lab collaboration provides a unique opportunity for our students to access the significant expertise of the CFC network as they start their own thesis process.”

Ana Serrano, the director of CFC Media Lab, joined several of the sessions, not only providing guidance on their developing concepts and methodologies during critiques, but also highlighting three of CFC Media Lab’s guiding principles for defining, and redefining, these core ideas of the program’s curriculum:

1. Diversity breeds innovation: Here, diversity refers to more than one’s cultural, lived experience and identity. It also references a breadth or diversity in thinking, points of view, approaches, disciplines and domains of expertise.
2. Building personal leadership skills: Given that much of the program is collaborative in nature, students must learn to manage both themselves and their teams. The strength of any collaboration will depend on the strength of the individual’s own relationship to themselves.
3. Innovation is idea-driven: Too often, we focus on technologies as the source of and inspiration for innovation. By contrast, this program focuses on idea-driven innovation; the objective is to focus on meaning, key messages and solutions to problems.

Some of the recent outstanding projects that have come out of Digital Futures illustrate how these early-stage ideas and prototypes materialize into thesis projects, including, for example:

• Very Frustrating Mexican Removal, by Fusun Uzun. This thesis project examines the Canadian immigration detention system through an immersive, interactive artwork. It employs the practice of Verbatim Theatre and the techniques and technologies of 360° Cinema to present the events surrounding the death in 2013 of migrant Lucia Vega Jimenez while in detention with the Canada Border Services Agency.
• It’s the little things that matter, by Ling Ding. Informed by democratization in material and digital design and inspired by the practice of enchanted objects, Ding’s thesis project, SMARTKIT, is a hacking toolkit. It allows individuals with little hacking ability to enchant the ordinary functionality of home furnishings and endow them with new capabilities, ones that provide personal and social services that monitor and manage home consumables.
  
• Emilia, by Marcelo M. Luft. For many elder adults, the aging process is challenging, rife with social isolation that leads to depression and loneliness. This thesis project uses a research-through-design methodology to investigate and reflect on the application of the concepts of Ambiguity, Tangible User Interfaces and Calm Technology in mitigating loneliness. Its prototype, “The Happy Box,” consists of a pair of internet-connected boxes that aims to support connectedness and affective awareness through non-verbal intimate and tangible interaction between elder adults and their family and friends.

By blending art, activism and digital media, the Digital Futures program focuses on practice-based learning and prototyping, with an enterprise component, industry partnerships and supporting thesis research. It features collaborative overseas global courses with worldwide educational and industry partners, and appeals to people with a background in design, technology, culture and/or enterprise. Students are designers and artists, filmmakers, architects, journalists and media specialists, scientists, engineers and business people – a diversity that will no doubt drive peer learning and collaboration across the heterogeneous disciplines that make up the backgrounds of these 19 people.

We at the CFC are excited to see what final projects emerge out of these exploratory peer-based sessions over the summer, as well as during the upcoming 2018-2019 school year, and culminating in the annual graduating exhibition each April.

Read more about the Digital Futures Graduate Program at OCAD U

The CFC is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. To commemorate this milestone, we’ve introduced a “30 things” series on our website – four stories that share 30 facts, memories, insights and/or pieces of information about the CFC, inspired by occurrences in our 30-year history. The first, which you can read HERE, explored 30 of the groundbreaking, award-winning and flat out awesome film, television, interactive and VR productions that CFC has had a hand in making in its 30 years.

The second piece in this series focuses on 30 interesting insights, facts and pieces of information that you might not know about the CFC – from our unique campus being located on the historic Windfields Estate in Toronto, to our history of ghost activity, and some of the impressive guests who have visited the CFC over the years.

1.

Norman Jewison in the Sobey Empire Theatre at the CFC (photo by Peter Bregg)

We’ll start off with one fact you probably already know: Norman Jewison, renowned and award-winning filmmaker, established the Canadian Film Centre (originally called the Canadian Centre for Advanced Film Studies) in 1988, fuelled by his passion for storytelling and his commitment to emerging Canadian talent.

2.

Christopher Plummer (second from the left) with Norman Jewison (centre) at a fundraising event for the CFC

The first fundraising event that Mr. Jewison hosted to secure funds to open the CFC – and to spread word of its impending opening – was centered around a screening of John and the Missus, where guests were welcomed by Christopher Plummer, who was a strong supporter of Mr. Jewison’s vision and dream of creating the CFC.

3.

E.P. Taylor, former owner of Windfields Estate (photo courtesy of the Taylor Family Archives)

CFC’s campus is located on the historic and picturesque grounds of Windfields Estate in Toronto, Canada – the former home of prominent Canadian businessman, E.P. Taylor. The Taylor family lived on the property until 1987, at which time the estate was transferred to North York, and eventually amalgamated into the City of Toronto, with the agreement that it be leased to the Canadian Film Centre and adapted for use as a creative media institution.

4.

The Queen Mother visits Windfields Estate (photo courtesy of the Taylor Family Archives)

Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, stayed at Windfields Estate on occasion when the Taylor family inhabited the house. The Taylor family would “move” into one of the cottages during her visits, so that The Queen Mother would have the main house to herself.

5.

E.P. Taylor, Northern Dancer and Huratio Luro at Windfields Estate
(photo courtesy of the Taylor Family Archives)

Another special guest who used to visit Windfields Estate is Northern Dancer, the greatest racehorse of the 20^th century – who won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and the Queen’s Plate in 1964 – and was owned by breeder of champion racehorses, E.P. Taylor. The beautiful grounds of Windfields Estate were complete with a back paddock for horses, as well as stables, where Northern Dancer was housed when he stayed on the property.

6.

Windfields Estate undergoing renovations to prepare the building and property to house the CFC

Once the CFC was up and running, we welcomed the following 12 filmmakers into the inaugural film program: Brigitte Berman, Holly Dale, Mary Jane Gomes, John Gunn, Gérald L’Ecuyer, Lael McCall, Ann Medina, Ann Petrie, Peter Raymont, Joan Schafer, Aiken Scherberger, and Terry Williams.

7.

CFC’s first twelve residents gather in a suite at Yonge and Bloor Streets in Toronto, a temporary headquarters for the CFC while Windfields Estate was undergoing renovations

While Windfields Estate was undergoing renovations in preparation to house the CFC, operations were headquartered in a suite in a high rise on the northwest corner of Yonge and Bloor Streets in Toronto, where the aforementioned first group of residents were welcomed.

8.

Some of inaugural group of residents standing in front of the Stables on Windfields Estate

When the CFC originally opened its doors, there were only six staff and one program offered that was attended by the 12 residents. The first program was the Film Resident Programme, which is still running today by the name of the Cineplex Entertainment Film Program– it’s CFC’s longest running and flagship film program.

9.

Two Editors’ Lab residents in the edit suite

In 1997, the Editors’ Lab was launched as the fourth discipline to be a part of the Cineplex Entertainment Film Program.

10.

Early CFC staff and residents enjoy a meal at the CFC

From its inception until the early 2000s, before the area surrounding Windfields Estate was developed and there was anywhere nearby to eat, the CFC had chefs who worked onsite to prepare meals and food offerings for residents and staff. Once the area began to urbanize, the complex at Bayview Avenue and York Mills Road (which was once owned by E.P. Taylor!), became the go-to spot for residents and staff to grab a quick bite not far from CFC’s campus.

11.

Margot Kidder with Norman Jewison at the CFC in 1989

Lois Lane, well, the actress who played her in Superman I, II, III and IV alongside Christopher Reeve – the late Margot Kidder– was a resident of the CFC in 1989. But long before the CFC and before Superman, Margot landed her first major feature film role in Gaily, Gaily, directed by none other than CFC founder Norman Jewison.

12.

Martin Scorsese at the CFC in 1988 when he was a visiting filmmaker meeting with the inaugural residents

CFC has a history of welcoming celebrated and talented filmmakers, artists, creators and guests to the CFC to host discussions, lectures and master classes with our residents. One of the first few visiting filmmakers to lead a master class at the CFC was the illustrious Martin Scorsese, who travelled to the CFC in 1988 to meet with the inaugural film residents.

13.

One of the first images advertising The Second Monday Reel Club

Nineteen eighty-eight was also the year that Mr. Jewison (with some help from Garth Drabinsky, then head of Cineplex Odeon) launched “The Second Monday Reel Club” at the CFC – a film premiere club, modelled on the ones that were popular in Hollywood in the 1940s and 50s – that would act as an important fundraising tool for the organization. The club was open to public membership and offered members a film premiere a month, an annual party, and passes to see movies in theatre. This initiative has evolved over the years, and it still exists today as the CFC Circle of Supporters.

14.

Martin Scorsese at the CFC signing a poster for ‘The Last Temptation of Christ’

The first film premiere of The Second Monday Reel Club was Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ. Scorsese was in attendance for the event, and he and moviegoers had to be escorted or wend their way through a crowd of religious protestors.

15.

An image from The Great Gatsby-themed first-ever ‘The Second Monday Reel Club’ party (now the CFC Annual Garden Party) on August 8, 1988

It was The Second Monday Reel Club that gave birth to The CFC Annual Garden Party, also in 1988 (it was a busy year!). The CFC hosted a celebration on August 8, 1988 to promote the club, its benefits, and to invite people to take part. This was the first of what would become an annual Garden Party held at CFC, an event that now serves to thank the donors who participate in our giving program, the CFC Circle of Supporters, and our generous sponsors.

16.

Lewis Gilbert, Norman Jewison and Liza Minnelli at the CFC

In its early years, the CFC ran an initiative called “Air Canada’s Masters of the Cinema Lecture Series,” whereby Air Canada would fly in a prominent filmmaker, artist or creator, who would lead a lecture for CFC’s residents, and the CFC would host an evening to which the public was invited to hear them speak. Among the many who took part in this initiative were Liza Minnelli, Arthur Penn, David Cronenberg, Stephen Frears, James Horner, Neil Jordan, David Puttnam, Jeff Bridges, Topol, Rod Steiger and Daniel Petrie. One former CFC employee recalls these creators being very fond of Mr. Jewison and his work, and wanting to support him however they could.

17.

Norman Jewison wearing a ‘Moonstruck’ sweater

The world premiere for Norman Jewison’s beloved and multi-award-winning romantic comedy Moonstruck was a fundraising event for the CFC. It was held at the Columbus Centre in Toronto, following a screening that was held at the Eglinton Theatre. Olympia Dukakis (who plays Rose Castorini) and Nicolas Cage (who plays Ronny Cammareri) flew to Toronto to attend the premiere.

18.

A still from BLOOD & DONUTS

The first feature that was produced through the CFC (CFC Features) was BLOOD & DONUTS (1995), directed by Holly Dale, an alumna of the inaugural film program. The screenplay for the film, by Andrew Rai Berzins, was typed out on a 1992 Underwood typewriter.

19.

A user trying out a VR experience at the CFC

The CFC runs programs and initiatives that span a wide range of areas across the screen-based industry – from film and TV to screen acting, songwriting and composing, as well as digital media. In 1997, CFC launched a digital media branch, CFC Media Lab. Originally called Habitat New Media Lab, it has become an internationally acclaimed digital media think tank, an award-winning production environment for interactive and immersive media experiences (120 interactive digital media prototypes and VR experiences have been developed through CFC Media Lab), and it runs Canada’s first digital media and entertainment accelerator, IDEABOOST. CFC Media Lab also implemented an entire VR strategy, which includes (co)productions of VR experiences, programming for creatives, and data collection/analysis of the emerging ecosystem of VR in Canada through Pulse on VR: A Living Ecosystem.

20.

The front cover of the booklet that was prepared for the celebration and presentation of Norman Jewison’s Lifetime Achievement Award

In 1998, the year that the CFC celebrated its 10^th anniversary, it also presented our Founder and Chair Emeritus Norman Jewison with the first-ever Canadian Film Centre Lifetime Achievement Award, in order to pay tribute to Mr. Jewison as an international visionary in the screen-based industry. Read the feature story on Mr. Jewison that was written for the booklet HERE.

21.

A photo from the first-ever CFC Annual BBQ Fundraiser held at CFC’s campus on Windfields Estate, September 1988

The CFC Annual BBQ Fundraiser, our largest fundraising event that occurs every year during the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), grew out of a tradition that Mr. Jewison initiated: hosting a barbeque up at his farm just north of the city every year during the festival in honour of international filmmakers who were attending and/or participating in TIFF. As the barbeque grew exponentially year over year, Mr. Jewison decided to move the event to the expansive grounds of Windfields Estate – and so the official fundraising event was born. The event remains to this day one of the most sought-after tickets of TIFF.

22.

Norman Jewison and Whoopi Goldberg at the 1994 CFC Annual BBQ Fundraiser at Windfields Estate

Speaking of the CFC Annual BBQ Fundraiser, we’ve had lots of wonderful guests join us at the BBQ over the years, including Whoopi Goldberg, who came to the BBQ in 1994 as a guest of Norman Jewison.

23.

The Taylor Family and their guests enjoyed the pool and cabanas at Windfields Estate
(photo courtesy of the Taylor Family Archives)

Before the CFC underwent the Windfields Campus Improvement Project, a renovation and construction initiative to improve the CFC’s operating capacity, there used to be a pool and cabanas on the property, which was replaced with the Northern Dancer Pavilion in 2014. The swimming pool is "remembered" in the pattern of the Northern Dancer Pavilion floor and adjoining terrace through an outline of its former footprint, as a way of respecting the history and heritage of the property.

24.

Windfields Estate, circa late 1930s (photo courtesy of the Taylor Family Archives)

Windfields Estate has a history of ghost activities throughout its Main House, cottages and surrounding property. Several CFC staff members over the years have reported stories of encounters with ghosts and spirits. More to come on this in our next piece in our “30 things” series, coming out in October!

25.

An image from ‘Stories We Tell,’ developed through the CFC NFB Documentary Program (as it was formerly called)

Since its inception, the CFC has continually generated world class content, which is often award-winning and groundbreaking, for the screen-based industry worldwide. This content – short films, features, TV series, interactive productions, virtual reality (VR) productions, and more – is created, developed and/or produced through our various programs in film, TV, screen acting, music and digital media. CLICK HERE to browse through some of our past productions.

26.

(L-R): Don McKellar, Sarah Polley, Clement Virgo, Christina Jennings

Throughout our 30 years, we have seen more than 1800 alumni (and counting!) come through our doors – alumni who have been instrumental in shaping Canada’s screen-based industry – like: Don McKellar, Christina Jennings, Clement Virgo, Damon D’Oliveira, Holly Dale, John Fawcett, Graeme Manson, Semi Chellas, Brad Peyton, Tassie Cameron, Peter Raymont, Stella Meghie, Vincenzo Natalie, Andrew Rosen, Anthony Leo, Yung Chang, Sarah Polley, Jeremy Diamond, Ingrid Veninger and Charles Officer, to name a few!

27.

'Murdoch Mysteries,' developed/produced by alumni company, Shaftesbury

CFC alumni have also formed hundreds of renowned and award-winning content, production, technology and/or digital media companies and brands, like these ones you may have heard of:

• Shaftesbury (Murdoch Mysteries, Carmilla)
• Conquering Lion Pictures (The Book of Negroes)
• Aircraft Pictures (The Breadwinner)
• Secret Location (Sleepy Hollow: VR Experience)
• New Metric Media (Letterkenny)
• Sienna Films (Cardinal)
• Brinx Inc. (MasterpieceVR)
• Social Asset Management (SAM)
• Deep Inc. (Liquid Cinema)
• AsapSCIENCE

28.

(L-R): Sharon Lewis, Clark Johnson, Clement Virgo, Rachel Crawford, Damon D'Oliveira and Karen King at the world premiere of 'Rude' at Cannes.

Many of these companies were forged as a direct result of residents meeting while at the CFC – like Conquering Lion Pictures for example. Co-founders Clement Virgo and Damon D’Oliveira first met at the CFC in 1991, produced the short film SAVE MY LOST NIGGA’ SOUL together (through our Short Dramatic Film Program), then they went on to produce RUDE together (through CFC Features), and shortly after they founded Conquering Lion Pictures.

29.

David Cronenberg stars in Body/Mind/Change

In 2013, CFC Media Lab and TIFF launched a co-production entitled Body/Mind/Change (BMC), an immersive digital extension of TIFF's first major original exhibition, David Cronenberg: Evolution. The experience starred CFC Board Member (Ex-Officio) David Cronenberg and immersed audiences in a “Cronenbergian” world inspired by the film Videodrome, brought to life across three platforms — online, mobile, and real-world. It was the first web interactive experience that generated a 3D-printed object based on data collected from the player. The co-production was a huge success – it attracted participants from around the world, and received two Media & Technology MUSE Awards and the 2014 Ontario Museum Association (OMA) Award for Excellence in Special Projects.

30.

Christina Jennings (second from the left) was the 2018 CFC Award for Creative Excellence recipient

In 2014, the CFC created the CFC Award for Creative Excellence, an annual award that honours and celebrates the success of accomplished alumni who have made significant creative and entrepreneurial contributions to the screen-based and/or digital industry. Since the award’s inception, we have honoured the following alumni: Semi Chellas (2014); Graeme Manson and John Fawcett (2015); Don McKellar (2016); Clement Virgo and Damon D’Oliveira (2017); and Christina Jennings (2018).

Stay tuned in October for the third piece in our “30 things” series.

CFC Media Lab VR Made This Way to have its International Premiere at the 75^th Venice International Film Festival

The production, a deeply personal narrative of masculinity and gender transition, will screen in competition as part of the Venice Virtual Reality program

Toronto, July 26, 2018– The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) and CFC Media Lab are proud to announce that the VR experience, Made This Way: Redefining Masculinity, has been selected to screen in the Venice Virtual Reality program of the prestigious Venice International Film Festival (the 75^th Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica), from August 29 to September 8, 2018. Made This Way will hold its international premiere at the festival, and is eligible for the Venice Virtual Reality Competition, linear category – one of the first VR competitions to take place at an international film festival of this scale.

Made This Way had its world premiere in April at the 25^th Hot Docs Canadian International Festival of Documentary Film, North America’s largest documentary festival. A co-production of CFC Media Lab and Cinehackers, with additional support from Depthkit and the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), the 18-minute experience was made by artist/photographer Irem Harnak and writer/filmmaker Elli Raynai. It blends an installation of large-scale photographic portraits with volumetric VR testimonials of: Elijah Miley, a circus performer and belly dancer training to be a firefighter and raising a family in Toronto; and Devyn Farries, a New York-based, non-binary comic book illustrator who creates comic books about the everyday lives of queer people of colour. Both the installation and VR track their relationship to masculinity, generating an artistic rendering of identity and a deeply honest, personal narrative of gender transition.

The inclusion of VR at Venice began only recently with Jesus VR in 2016. As other major international film festivals started presenting small showcases of immersive experiences, Venice created the first competitive program of VR titles in 2017. This year’s Venice Virtual Reality program presents works in and out of competition, with a maximum of 30 world premieres or international premieres of VR immersive stories of any length and format, like Samsung Gear, Google Cardboard, HTC Vive, Oculus, SONY Playstation, haptic devices, AR and MR.

Made This Way’s producers are available for media interviews, before or during the festival. Please contact Margaret DeRosia at mderosia@cfccreates.com or 416.445.1446 x463.

Social Media
CFC: @cfccreates.com | facebook.com/cfccreates| cfccreates
CFC Media Lab: @cfcmedialab | facebook.com/cfcmedialab | cfcmedialab

About CFC
The Canadian Film Centre (CFC), celebrating 30 years, is a charitable cultural organization that supports, develops and accelerates the content, careers and companies of Canadian creative and entrepreneurial talent in the screen-based and digital industries. Its uniquely designed programs and initiatives span film, television, screen acting, screen composing and songwriting, and innovative work in the digital media and entertainment technology industries, all of which continue to push boundaries and generate world-class content, products and companies for the global marketplace. cfccreates.com

About CFC Media Lab
The Canadian Film Centre’s Media Lab (CFC Media Lab) is an internationally acclaimed digital media think tank and award-winning production facility. It provides a unique research, training and production environment for digital media content developers and practitioners, as well as acceleration programs and services for digital entertainment start-ups and related SMEs. Program participants have emerged as leaders in the world of digital media, producing groundbreaking projects and innovative, sustainable companies for the digital and virtual age. CFC Media Lab is funded in part by a contribution of up to $4.76 million through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario. For more information, visit cfccreates.com/programs/media-lab or ideaboost.ca

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For media inquiries, please contact:

Margaret DeRosia
Communications Specialist / Digital Writer & Editor, CFC
416.445.1446, x463
mderosia@cfccreates.com

CFC alumni are continually making waves in the Canadian and international screen-based entertainment industries – from awards to festivals, industry recognition, “it lists” and more. Here’s the latest round of updates and success stories for CFC residents and alumni from July 2018.

NOMINATIONS & AWARDS

NSI Online Short Film Festival Awards

Three CFC alumni picked up prizes in the latest round of awards in the NSI Online Short Film Festival:

• She Came Knocking (pictured) directed by John Ainslie, and PYOTR495 directed by Blake Mawson, tied for the A&E Short Filmmakers Award for best film
• Kimberly-Sue Murray won the Brian Linehan Actors Award for her work in She Came Knocking

Read more HERE.

FESTIVAL WATCH

Alumni film 'Giant Little Ones' will have its World Premiere at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival

2018 Toronto International Film Festival

On July 24, TIFF announced the first wave of titles premiering in the Gala and Special Presentation programmes of the 43rd festival, which runs from September 6 to 16, 2018. We are pleased to share a number of films with CFC alumni involvement will be participating, including:

• The Weekend, directed by Stella Meghie (Special Presentations, World Premiere)
• Through Black Spruce, directed by Don McKellar (Special Presentations; World Premiere)
• Giant Little Ones, directed by Keith Behrman, with Daniel Bekerman as executive producer, Lauren Grant as co-producer and Brendan Brady as line producer (Special Presentations; World Premiere)
• Mouthpiece, produced by Jennifer Shin and line produced by Brendan Brady (Special Presentations Opening Film; World Premiere)
• The Hummingbird Project, starring Anna Maguire (Special Presentations Opening Film; World Premiere)

See the full lineup HERE.

NFMLA Monthly Film Festival – July 28, 2018

On July 28, 2018, NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA) celebrated their Monthly Film Festival, with a special focus on emerging Canadian Cinema, co-hosted by the Consulate General of Canada in Los Angeles and Telefilm Canada. The following alumni works participated:

• Bickford Park, directed by Dane Clark and Linsey Stewart
• Night Owl (Episodes 1 + 2), directed by Gillian Muller
• A Birthday Story, directed by Alyson Richards
• The Things You Think I'm Thinking, directed by Sherren Lee

See the full lineup HERE.

Venice International Film Festival

CFC Media Lab production Made this Way: Redefining Masculinity will participate in the Venice Virtual Reality Competition at the 2018 Venice International Film Festival, which runs from August 29 to September 8, 2018 in Venice, Italy. Read more HERE.

INDUSTRY UPDATES

CFC alumnae Molly McGlynn and Jennifer Podemski announced as new Ambassadors for TIFF's Share Her Journey movement.

• 22 CHASER, the high-octane drama and 22^nd feature film developed and financed for production by CFC Features, directed by alumnus Rafal Sokolowski, written by alumnus Jeremy Boxen and produced by alumni Aeschylus Poulos and Daniel Bekerman alongside CFC board member Don Carmody is now available on VOD. Watch the film HERE.
• TIFF announced alumnae Molly McGlynn and Jennifer Podemski as new Ambassadors for its Share Her Journey movement, and alumna Nikki Saltz as the inaugural Micki Moore Resident for her feature comedy screenplay, Work It. Learn more HERE.
• Alumni film Mary Goes Round, from writer/director Molly McGlynn (produced by Matt Code, executive-produced by Aeschylus Poulos, edited by Christine Armstrong and Bryan Atkinson, featuring music by Dillon Baldassero and Casey Manierka-Quaile, as well as two original songs by Lisa Conway, and an appearance by Bruce Novakowski), is now available on VOD. Watch it HERE.
• Never Saw it Coming, from CFC alumna and director Gail Harvey, will begin its theatrical run in Toronto on Friday, August 17, 2018. More info HERE.
• CBC Arts's film show The Filmmakers is back for Season 2 and will celebrate eight female directors throughout the season, including alumnae Mina Shum (Saturday, July 28 episode), Ann Marie Fleming (Saturday, August 11 episode) and Stella Meghie (Saturday, September 15 episode). Click HERE for more information and the full Season 2 schedule.
• Alumnus Brad Peyton is set to helm and produce the upcoming adaptation of graphic novel Skyward. Read more HERE.
• Alumna Jackie Olive, from CFC Media Lab’s 2016 Open Immersion: A Virtual Reality Creative Doc Lab, was selected as one of the directors for the Sundance Institute Film Music and Sound Design Lab, which ran from July 10 to 23 as a joint initiative of the Institute's Film Music Program, Feature Film Program and Documentary Film Program. More info HERE.
• Juggernaut, produced by CFC Features alumnus Matthew Cervi, edited by Rob Grant and featuring music by Michelle Osis, is now available is now available via Amazon Prime in the US and Canada. Find it HERE.
• Syfy in the U.K. has acquired season four of sci-fi drama Killjoys, created by alumna Michelle Lovretta. Learn more HERE.
• Cameras started rolling on July 9 on Season 2 of CBC’s original drama series Burden of Truth. Alumnus Grant Harvey will return to direct on Season 2, and alumni Shannon Masters, Hayden Simpson and Eric Putzer will return to the writers’ room. Read more HERE.
• Alumna Haya Waseem has joined the production company Variable as a director. More info HERE.
• Global renewed suspense drama Ransom, executive produced by alumna Jennifer Kawaja for Season 3. Learn more HERE.
• Alumnus Anthony Del Col’s digital comic Luke Cage is one of the new titles joining Marvel Digital Originals (MDOs), and will be released digitally worldwide on August 15, 2018. Find out more HERE.

Have some alumni news to add/share? Get in touch at alumni@cfccreates.com.