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Partnership and Vision
t was with great enthusiasm that we learned that the
government was assigning Telefilm Canada to administer
the Music Entrepreneur Program. Created within the framework of the Canadian Sound Recording Policy, this program
is intended for experienced companies that promote the work
of Canadian creators and performers.
The MEP extends the scope of Telefilm Canada’s cultural
action. We will work closely with the music community, and
our Montréal, Toronto, Vancouver and Halifax offices will all
contribute to meeting this new challenge.
Concurrently on our agenda is the annual review of
guidelines for the television, feature film and new media funds.
This is a collective effort, which we are undertaking with
the evolution of your environment, throughout the country,
firmly in mind.
Our website (www.telefilm.gc.ca) will keep you informed
of developments in these sectors and in the sound recording
field. In this regard, I am pleased to announce that our site is
currently being renovated and, as of next spring, will allow us
to communicate with you in more user-friendly fashion.
Improving our services remains a priority. This fall we
commissioned a survey to assess the quality of our services
and the level of satisfaction among our clients. You can rest
assured that we will heed the ensuing recommendations.
Lastly, Telefilm Canada has convened an Industry Summit
for December 9-11 at Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, under the theme
Towards Tomorrow. Industry associations and our other partners
have been asked to delegate representatives. We are looking
forward to vigorous brainstorming that will enable Telefilm to
act as an effective catalyst of Canada’s cultural energies.
I hope you will enjoy this issue of Expresso!
I
Johanne St-Arnauld,
Interim Executive Director
Western
Production:
Recognition
on the Rise
I’m delighted to be back at
Telefilm Canada’s Western office
after a ten-month maternity leave,
once again as Interim Regional
Director. Elizabeth Friesen has
taken on duties as Interim
Director of Canadian Operations.
This has been a year of great
acclaim for Western productions.
Lauren Davis,
Interim Director – Operations
Western Region
Feature Films
Heater, Terrence Odette’s poignant story of two homeless men,
won seven Blizzard awards, including Best of the Gala, presented
by the Manitoba Motion Picture Industries Association.
The Gary Burns comedy waydowntown picked up seven
Rosie awards, including Best of Festival, from the Alberta Motion
Picture Industries Association.
First-time feature film director Zacharias Kunuk took the
Caméra d’Or award for Atanarjuat at the Cannes International
Film Festival and went on to tie for Best First-Time Director at
the Edinburgh Festival and garner Best Canadian Film at the
Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
Inertia, Sean Garrity’s Manitoba-based feature debut,
took the prize for Best First Feature by a Canadian at the
TIFF, while Bruce Sweeney’s Last Wedding opened that venue
and closed the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF).
Andrew Currie’s first feature Mile Zero opened the
Canadian Images Section at the Vancouver fest. Also in
Vancouver, Robert Cuffley walked off with the Telefilm
Canada Award for Best Emerging Western Feature Film
Director for Turning Paige, and Asghar Massombagi received
an honourable mention for Khaled.
At Sprockets, the Toronto International Film Festival
for Children, The Impossible Elephant won the Audience
award for Best Live-action Feature.
And Lunch With Charles, the first Canada-Hong Kong
coproduction funded out of the Western office, ranked
among the top ten titles at the 2001 Shanghai Film Festival.
Continued on page 2
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(continued from page 1)
Television
At the Leos in Vancouver, DaVinci’s Inquest scooped four awards,
with two episodes tying for Best Scriptwriter.
Nuclear Dynamite, which screened at the VIFF last year
and aired on CBC, garnered awards at the Beijing International
Scientific Film Festival, Ohio’s Columbus International Film
and Video Festival, and the Medical and Scientific Film Festival
in Parma, Italy.
The Telefilm Canada/Aboriginal Peoples Television Network
Award for Best Aboriginal Production in English or French was
won by Jeff Bear and his partner Marianne Jones
for the documentary Burnt Church – Obstruction of Justice.
An honourable mention went to Hulqumi’num’ Lumutoul’qun
Syaas – The Story of Coast Salish Knitters, produced by
Christine Welsh and Colleen Craig of Prairie Girl Films.
Shorts
Jeff Cunningham and Adam Locke-Norton shared the
Telefilm Canada Award for Best Emerging Western Director
of a Mid-length or Short Film for 10-Speed at the VIFF.
Lauren Davis, Interim Director – Operations
Western Region
Flash! Atanarjuat
Congratulations to the entire team of
Atanarjuat, Canada’s official submission
for Best Foreign Language Film
at the 2002 Oscars!
Our Staff
Interns – where are they now?
Don Copeman has returned to Saskatchewan to take on the
job of producer at Four Square Productions for Water Water,
a three-way coproduction with Singapore’s The Complete
Picture and China’s Shaanxi Television Station, and Renewal,
a CUSO-supported project. He is also developing a one-hour
documentary called Pierre le Canadien, a potential CanadaFrance coproduction.
Jacqueline MacDonald has transferred to Telefilm’s Toronto
office, working as an investment analyst in the Feature Film Unit.
Marc Stephenson left to pursue independent production
opportunities in Vancouver and then briefly returned to cover
for Bill Hurst, who had taken a short leave of absence to tour
the British Isles. Marc is now back in the indie world, developing
both documentary and feature film projects. He has also developed
a keen interest in post-production.
Deborah Patz has elected to stay on at Telefilm and is
industriously working on your files.
Exchange program with Canadian Heritage
After eight years of formulating national policy at the Department
of Canadian Heritage in support of the film and television sector
– most recently the Canadian Feature Film Policy and the Canada
Feature Film Fund – Marc Séguin is currently participating in
a six-month professional development exchange at Telefilm’s
Western regional office. This experience will give Marc a better
grasp of our operations and the specifics of the West Coast film
and television industry. While working from the Vancouver office,
Marc will contribute to a number of corporate-level initiatives,
including updating guidelines for several programs.
Telefilm Canada, Signed Projects,
April 1 – September 30, 2001
http://www.telefilm.gc.ca/en/fin/listinv/apr_sept01.htm
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Feature Films
Television
This has been an intense and eventful year for the Western
office, transiting from the former Feature Film Fund to the
framework of the new Canada Feature Film Fund. Four Western
region companies have earned performance envelopes based
on the success of their past films, and one of them is already
in production using this funding.
In addition to the selective and performance-based
sections, we administer the Fund’s other programs, including
those for writers (Screenwriting Assistance Program) and
directors (Low Budget Independent Feature Film Assistance
Program). If the volume of applications is any indication,
these new programs are fast becoming invaluable components
of our support for feature films.
The next deadlines for the Screenwriting Assistance
Program are November 5 and January 14. Recent changes to the
guidelines have expanded the clientele for this program. Please
consult our website for the guidelines and application forms:
www.telefilm.gc.ca/en/fin/fonds/canada_fonds.htm
In other movie news from the West, Protection producer
Eric Paulsen orchestrated the very successful theatrical release
of his film at the Fifth Avenue Cinemas this past summer.
Protection is playing at repertory theatres across Canada
this fall and as part of the travelling festival Moving Pictures:
Canadian Films on Tour. Telefilm Canada’s Western office is
a senior supporter of Moving Pictures, which is heading into
its eighth year of operations and now screens 37 Canadian
films in 14 cities across Canada.
Telefilm Canada is once again pleased to support the
National Screen Institute’s Features First program. Turning Paige
(formerly “At Shepherd Park”) began life as one of five films developed through Features First. The other NSI-nurtured projects that
have moved from script to screen are My Father’s Angel, Violet,
Poor Superman and Inertia.
Calgary is the location of a new 13-hour primetime drama series
for CBC called Tom Stone. Created by Andrew Wreggitt, and
executive produced by Wreggitt, Tom Cox and Doug MacLeod,
this quirky series follows a rough-and-tumble ex-cop sprung
from jail to work as an undercover operative… and determined
to find out who framed him.
Also in prime time, the series Da Vinci’s Inquest (CBC)
and Cold Squad (CTV) have been renewed.
What About Mimi?, a 13-part half-hour animated series
for Teletoon, follows 11-year-old Mimi Morton growing up in
Starfish Bay, B.C., and struggling to find her place in this wacky
world! Executive producers are Blair Peters and Chris Bartleman
of Studio B Productions.
Dracula – Tales from a Virgin’s Diary is a newly imagined
dance interpretation of a classic story, produced by Vonnie
Von Helmolt, directed by Guy Maddin and featuring the Royal
Winnipeg Ballet.
Water, Water, an ambitious three-hour series from Four
Square Productions of Regina for Discovery Channel and SCN,
looks at how the burgeoning population and growing demand
are increasingly challenging the world water supply.
Expresso is published in four editions
– Western Region, Ontario, Atlantic Region, Quebec.
Produced by the Communications
and Public Affairs department, Telefilm Canada.
New Media
Since the beginning of the fiscal year, a lot of time and energy
has gone into redesigning the guidelines for multimedia support.
Our team has worked closely with Telefilm’s other Operations
groups to come up with new rules, application forms and a
budget template. These changes will be announced shortly,
and we will keep you informed through our website.
A Prairie tour will likely be scheduled after the launch of
the new guidelines.
Director: Danielle Dansereau
Coordinator: Michèle Thibault
Reporters: Shelley Nowazek (Western Region),
Alejandra Sosa (Ontario), Nicola Hanson (Atlantic Region),
Ginette Pépin (Quebec)
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At the Vancouver International Film Festival
From Telefilm Canada:
François Macerola,
Chair of the Board
and Elizabeth Friesen,
Interim Director –
Canadian Operations
Carrie Chase, CIBC, a guest, Doug Holiston,
Motion Picture Bond, and Judith Downes,
Bull Houser and Tupper
Betty Thompson,
Raincoast Storylines,
and Peter Strutt,
Investments Analyst,
Telefilm Canada
Marc Séguin,
Senior Analyst, Policy,
Planning and Research,
Telefilm Canada,
Karen Weggler,
Global Kora Films,
and Nic Wry, Wry Films
Victoria Hirst,
Victorious Films,
Elizabeth Stewart,
story editor, and Kim Todd,
Original Pictures
Koa Padolsky and
Bryan Glisserman,
Odeon Films
Joëlle Medina,
Remstar Distribution,
and Dave Forget,
Investment Analyst,
Telefilm Canada
Phil Savath,
Arms Length Productions,
and Stephen Hegyes,
independent producer
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Asia-Pacific Initiative
Cultural and Linguistic Diversity
This program, which is administered by our office, is proving
increasingly productive. Six coproductions are currently under
way between Canada and China, and agreements have been
signed for the first coproductions with Singapore.
Projects seeking support from the Aboriginal-language envelope
of the Canadian Television Fund are on the rise in both quantity
and quality. For the last round, in June, the Western office received
19 projects and approved 10. Telefilm Canada is working with
broadcasters and producers to satisfy the growing market for
stories told in Aboriginal voices.
Working through the Interdepartmental Partnership
with Official-Language Communities (IPOLC), Telefilm’s Quebec
office has developed innovative initiatives to help Francophone
producers, directors and writers from outside Quebec strengthen
their position on the national scene. Immersion sessions in
Montréal with Francophone producers and broadcasters and
training workshops in Montréal and Ottawa have benefited
French-speaking professionals from our Western community,
providing them with new skills and contacts.
Also through IPOLC, Francophone producers outside
Quebec now have access to envelopes for project development.
Two Western Canada production companies are currently
enjoying this support through the Equity Investment Program
of the Canadian Television Fund.
Banff brings results
At the 2001 Banff Television Festival, a Telefilm-sponsored lunch
with the Singapore delegation drew more than 100 people. The
first Canada-Singapore TV coproductions, two historical documentaries for the series Scarred by History, were announced later
that week, and our networking efforts continue to bear fruit:
Omni Films (Vancouver) and Peach Blossom (Singapore) recently
signed a coproduction agreement for the series Quiet Minds.
With Telefilm’s assistance, China Central Television shot
a series of interviews with prominent Canadian producers
and industry professionals at Banff for a CCTV-6 World Film
Report special on Canadian cinema, which aired in October to
a potential audience of 200 million viewers. Interviewed were
Denise Robert (Cinemaginaire, Montréal), François Macerola
(Telefilm), Thomas Waugh (Canadian film historian, Concordia
University, Montréal), Jacques Bensimon (NFB), Susan Atkinson
(Sheridan College), Shane Smith, Wayne Clarkson (Canadian Film
Centre), Chris Bartleman (Studio B, Vancouver), Mark DesRochers
(BC Film Commission, Vancouver), James Griffin (Vancouver
Film School), Daryl Duke (Pacific Entertainment, Vancouver)
and Michael Parker (Holiday Pictures, Vancouver).
Vancouver and Toronto
Telefilm Canada sponsored a Canada-Asia Pacific coproduction
networking lunch at the Vancouver International Film Festival
Trade Forum. Forty producers (10 from the UK and Singapore,
30 from Canada) attended and pursued discussions during
the day in one-on-one meetings.
Telefilm will also sponsor a seminar on Canada-Asia coproduction during the Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival in November.
Singapore
For the first time this year, Telefilm will have an “umbrella”
stand at the Asia Television Forum, which is taking place in
Singapore December 4 – 7 with a focus on the Asian animation
industry. To date, six Canadian sales companies have confirmed
their presence. The indefatigable Pat Ferns is scheduled to lead
a pitching session at the ATF.
Telefilm West Was There!
Banff Television Festival
In addition to regular meetings with Western clients and
stakeholder groups, our team was on hand for an information
meeting with clients and Telefilm’s International Relations on
the various services that division provides. We also took part
in a new media industry consultation and a meeting with the
national training schools.
Vancouver Film School
Deborah Patz presented a talk on funding sources for the
animation industry in Canada.
Growing Locally Succeeding Globally
In mid-September, at the request of the Saskatchewan industry,
Sandy Karr made a presentation on documentary financing.
Toronto International Film Festival
John Dippong and Ken Webber met with a number of Western
filmmakers attending the Toronto festival this year. John hosted
a “micro-meeting,” giving filmmakers one-on-one access to
industry decision-makers.
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Dates to Remember
Baddeck International New Media Festival
Carol Parnell joined the staff of the Atlantic office and
Keith Clarkson, new media analyst from the Toronto office,
for a week of discussion on current developments in the
industry at the Baddeck New Media Festival in Nova Scotia.
Vancouver International Film Festival
Telefilm Canada sponsored International Sales and Coproduction
Tête-à-Têtes at the Trade Forum. We also had an information
kiosk and hosted a reception for the industry. This year we
brought a freelance publicist on board to assist filmmakers
with media coverage.
NextFest
In late October, Shelley Nowazek joined digital filmmakers
from across Canada to celebrate NextFest in Saskatoon.
Events
November 2, 2001. Drama Prize application deadline.
November 2 – 8, 2001. Cinémental Festival, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
November 23, 2001. Entry deadline for Film Exchange,
NSI’s Canadian Film Festival.
February 1 – 10, 2002. 8th Annual Victoria International Film
and Video Festival, Victoria, B.C.
Telefilm Canada
November 5, 2001, and January 14, 2002. Deadlines for applications to the Screenwriting Assistance Program. Eligibility for this
program has been extended to new client groups. See our website at www.telefilm.gc.ca/en/fin/fonds/canada_fonds.htm
February 15, 2002. Deadline for submission of applications for
drama, children’s, variety and performing arts projects to the
Equity Investment Program of the Canadian Television Fund.
Staff List and Direct Lines
Barron, William
Dajani, Najat
Davis, Lauren
Dick, Kathleen
Dippong, John
Dryden, Sasha
Fenyvesi, Aniko
Forget, Dave
Friesen, Elizabeth
Gueymard, Camille
Hurst, Bill
Karr, Sandra
Lockhart, Julianne
Moore, Monica
MacGregor, Carrie
Newsom, Kathryn
Nowazek, Shelley
Parnell, Carol
Patz, Deborah
Séguin, Marc
Strutt, Peter
Webber, Ken
Toll-free
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Interim Director, Television Business Unit
Project Assistant
Interim Director – Operations, Western Region
Receptionist and Project Assistant
Director, Feature Film Business Unit
Project Coordinator
Project Assistant
Investment Analyst
Interim Director – Canadian Operations
Investment Analyst, Distribution/Officer, Market Development – Asia
Investment Analyst, Creative Content
Investment Analyst, Business Affairs
Office Manager and Administrative Assistant
Project Assistant
Receptionist and Project Assistant
Special Projects
Communications Officer
Senior New Media Investment Analyst
Investment Analyst
Senior Analyst, Policy, Planning and Research
Investment Analyst
Investment Analyst, Legal Counsel
Please direct general inquiries to Kathleen Dick at reception, or to Carrie MacGregor.
All questions regarding funding applications should be directed to Sasha Dryden.