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Film Training Manitoba and the National Screen Institute present
“2010 Script Analysis Program with Marlene Rodgers”

The Script Analysis Program with Marlene Rodgers is a unique opportunity for three selected Manitoba feature film projects to benefit from working with an experienced story editor, the goal being to develop a market-ready feature film project. Feature length scripts and treatments of all genres are eligible. Training will take place June through August, 2010.

WHO CAN APPLY

This competition is open to residents of Manitoba only. Solo writers, teams of two writers who are collaborating on a screenplay, or two person teams comprised of one writer and one producer are eligible to apply.  In any case, a maximum of two people per selected project will participate in the training.

Application Process

Applicants must apply with either a completed draft of a screenplay approximately 80 to 125 pages in length or with a treatment approximately 20 to 30 pages in length (max. 30 pp), plus two sample scenes; a completed application package (see next page); and a non-refundable submission fee of $95 for each script ($30 application fee $65 for the reader’s report), by noon Friday, April 23rd. Incomplete packages will not be considered. Submissions by fax or email will not be accepted. The market value of the training is $3000.00.

Application Form: Script Application Form

Province of Manitoba Forms:

Consents and Privacy Notice

Province of Manitoba form

SELECTION PROCESS
Admission to the program will be highly competitive.  A jury comprised of three industry professionals who work for local production companies will read each submission. Applicants’ identities will not be revealed to the judges.  The three finalists will be determined in May. Following the judging period, the remaining applicants will receive a one-page reader’s report from the jury in June. These reports will provide insight to help writers improve their work. To ensure that you get the most out of your reports, make sure that the script is properly formatted and proofread it before sending it to us.  Please Note: All rights remain with the writer. FTM and NSI have no proprietary interest in the projects.

WHAT’S INVOLVED – (schedule subject to change)

1. First Script Consultation takes place at the beginning of June – Marlene will meet with the three finalists over a weekend.  Day One – meet as a group; Day Two – each writer or writer team meets individually with Marlene
2. Writers will then have 4 weeks to work on a rewrite based on the notes received from the first Script Consultation*
3. Second Script Consultation with Marlene takes place mid to late July. Note: these notes will be provided via phone or by email
4. Writers will then have 4 weeks to work on a rewrite resulting from the second set of notes
5. Scripts are delivered to Marlene for her final review in mid to late August.
6. Table Read: end of August – Marlene returns to Winnipeg for a weekend to facilitate a table read of each script using actors
7. Final Notes – following the table read Marlene will deliver final notes in group and individual discussions.

Writers should leave each session with a clear direction of how to proceed through the next draft.
*Note: If your treatment is selected we will expect a complete draft of the script submitted for the second script consultation.

ABOUT THE STORY EDITOR

Marlene Rodgers is a writer, producer, and story editor who loves to help filmmakers tell their stories.  Early in her career, she worked as a development executive at Canadian funding agencies and the CBC Movies and Mini-Series Unit.  As a story editor, Marlene has assisted countless screenwriters in bringing their vision to the page, and has mentored filmmakers at the NSI, the CFC and Praxis. She works primarily in the independent feature film sector, but also story edits on television series for the Food Network and W Network.  Marlene is currently developing her first feature film, SKIN TO SKIN, which is anticipated to shoot in 2010.

MORE QUESTIONS?
Contact Film Training Manitoba at 989-9669 or info@filmtraining.mb.ca

Story Editing Internship

The Story Editing Internship 2010 is now accepting applications.

The opportunities for our Interns to observe and work with senior professionals are invaluable for developing the complex skills required – not only the ability to analyze story, character, genre and theme, but also the interpersonal skills required in the delicate task of guiding creative work and mediating between writer and producer.

The training program for 2010 includes:

1. Participation in the Praxis Summer Workshop, a series of script readings and discussions, followed by private sessions between Praxis advisors and their writers. The Interns will also attend meetings with producers and other professionals who advise the writers on both creative and practical issues.

2. Each Intern will be placed in a Production Company in her/his region for a two or three week position to gain practical training and experience.

3. A supervised story editing project, following the June session, in which each Intern will be paired with fourth year SFU film students to work on their final projects.

The Story Editor Internship is open to interested individuals from all over Canada.

Please note that there is one bursary to cover travel expenses for a successful applicant from outside of the Lower Mainland.  Signify on your application if you wish to apply for this bursary.

All applicants must be Canadian citizens or landed immigrants.

Applications must include:

• a letter describing your experience and intent, and how you expect to benefit from the internship

• a brief resumé

• the names and contact information of three references

• three samples of script analysis that you’ve written for feature film scripts (professional script analysis or professional script analysis formatting is preferable)

Deadline for applications is Friday, May 1st.  All applications must arrive at Praxis by 5pm PT May 1st.

Send your package to the Praxis office: Suite 3120 – 515 W. Hastings St., Vancouver, BC  V6B 5K3

For more information on Praxis and its programs, please visit their website at www.praxisfilm.com

… And This is my Garden

a documentary film about the Mel Johnson School Gardening Project

by Katharina Stieffenhofer in Association with Buffalo Gal Pictures

Saturday, March 13^th | Gas Station Theatre, 445 River Ave

Doors open at 6:30 pm.

Screening begins at 7:00

*Reception to follow screening, with a cash bar.

Free Event – Donations gratefully accepted for the Mel Johnson School Gardening Project.

Eleanor Woitowicz, and Bonnie Monias, both teachers at Mel Johnson School, in Wabowden, Northern Manitoba are literally breaking new ground in education and are growing a healthier community in the process. Over the past 4 years the teachers have established 58 small vegetable gardens right in their students’ backyards.

This documentary film follows the teachers and their students for a season of seeding, planting, harvesting, preserving and ultimately celebration of the fruits of their labour at the school’s annual community harvest display and feast.

A reception will follow the screening of the film, with a performance by the Mel Johnson School Fiddlers. Teachers & students will be in attendance.

Seating is limited. Please RSVP to kast12@mts.net before March 8^th.

http://www.youtube.com/user/meljohnsonschool

Freeze Frame International Film Festival

March 4th to 13th, 2010

Film Training Manitoba is pleased to announce its participation in the Freeze Frame International Film Festival. As a part of FTM’s mandate to provide training to the francophone community, FTM and Freeze Frame will partner to offer two workshops for French professionals during this year’s festival.  Both workshops will be conducted in French.

Pour vous inscrire, contactez Anna Fontaine: execdirector@freezeframeonline.org, ou vous pouvez nous rejoindre par téléphone au 949.9355. Le coût est de 25$ par personne.

Scénarisation des documentaires avec Marie Cadieux

Quand : Le 7 mars, de 13h30 à 15h30

Où : Studio Winnipeg Film Group, 200 rue Arthur

25.00$

Le dernier documentaire de Marie Cadieux, Éloge du chiac – Part 2 (Bellefeuille Production) vient d’être présenté en primeur au Festival des Films du Monde à Montréal. Deux de ses documentaires precedents, À Double Tour et Sentence Vie (ONF), ont été projetés et commentés partout au Canada. Originaire de Moncton, elle a travaillé et séjourné dans de nombreuses régions canadiennes ainsi qu’en Europe et en Afrique.

L’Écriture Humoristique avec François Avard

Quand : Le 13 mars, de 9h à 16h30

Où : Salle 0133, Collège universitaire de Saint Boniface

25.00$

Une collaboration entre Freeze Frame, Le Collège universitaire de Saint Boniface et Les Productions Rivard, avec le soutien de Film Training Manitoba

Cette formation laboratoire a pour but d’offrir aux scénaristes et humoristes des éléments de réflexion sur leurs propres schèmes de pensée en plus d’inviter les participants à explorer d’autres démarches créatives. François Avard est auteur, scripteur et scénariste pour la télévision. En plus de collaborer à l’écriture des textes d’humoristes québécois de renom, il mène aussi en parallèle une carrière d’écrivain. Pour la télévision, en plus de ses nombreuses collaborations, il a crée la série Les Bougon, c’est aussi ça la vie.

March 14th |1 pm – 3 pm | FREE for ACTRA members, $5 for non-members
Colin Jackson Studio | Prairie Theatre Exchange | 3rd Floor Portage Place
There will be a Q&A following the panel discussion.

Auditions can be nerve-wracking for even the most experienced actors. They are essentially a job interview, used in the casting process to demonstrate the level and range of a performer’s talent. Regardless of the role you are auditioning to fill, you need to be prepared when you arrive to perform.  Many new actors have misconceptions about how the casting process works. More often than not, beginning actors are not sure who’s involved, who finds the actor to audition, who makes the decisions, and what the steps are throughout this process.

All auditions have requirements, making the casting process complex and selective. Casting directors meet with thousands of actors over the course of a given year. They must determine whether an actor fits the look of a character as well as whether or not that particular actor would be believable in the role they are casting. This seminar will unlock the mysteries of the casting process in order to discover what the key players involved are looking for, and how you can improve your own audition process as a professional actor.

Moderator:
Ross McMillan – Actor, Less Than Kind, The Stone Angel, and Walk All Over Me

Panelists:
Kim Todd – President and Founder of Original Pictures, Producer Locked Down and Falcon Beach
Shawn Watson – Vice President, Scripted Programming Frantic Films, Producer Todd and the Book of Pure Evil and Keep Your Head Up Kid: The Don Cherry Story
Gary Yates – Director, Writer, and Producer High Life and Seven Times Lucky, Director Shadow Island Mysteries
Jim Heber – Casting Director, The Haunting in Connecticut and Todd and the Book of Pure Evil
Sarah Constible – Actor Highlife and Writer of and Actor in House Party

For more information, or to book your spot in this seminar, please contact:

Film Training Manitoba
Ph: 989.9669
E: info@filmtraining.mb.ca