The Edmonton, Alberta-based National Screen Institute has embarked on its national expansion effort by staffing a recently opened Winnipeg office and developing a slate of new program initiatives.

The nsi is working with the Royal Bank in Winnipeg to develop the framework of a small business start-up course for filmmakers, says executive director Cheryl Ashton. Banks will be approached nationally to join the initiative once the business program basics are designed. Telefilm’s Western Canada office has a mandate to strengthen small production companies, says Ashton, and the agency will be invited to join the partnership.

With less government money available for film and tv training and steady production growth in the regions, Ashton says there is an increasingly vital role for the nsi to play in delivering professional development opportunities to emerging and established filmmakers in Canada.

Another national workshop to be offered beginning in 1999 is the Film Marketing program. Specialists in film marketing and distribution will be involved in developing and administering the program and preliminary discussions have been held with Cineplex Odeon Films to have a role in the project, says Ashton.

Also in the works is ‘Train the Trainer,’ an initiative designed to develop the teaching skills of established film and tv professionals. The intent of the program is to establish a pool of filmmakers who are qualified and effective educators, says Ashton. Furthermore, the nsi plans to create, as a resource, a database of qualified trainers in specific areas of the filmmaking process.

Expanded website

Last year the NSI expanded its website to include a resource guide to festivals and broadcasters of short films, and hits shot from an average of 500 per month up to 6,000.

With Telus as its main investor, the nsi is designing a new website ScreenTrade.ca. Created as a resource tool for emerging filmmakers, the site will include a Canadian Productions section, profiling recent and current releases; a Canadian Stars area with bios and updates on the country’s screen personalities; and a guide to screening locations for Canadian films. This first phase of the website will be up and running by the end of September.

The next step involves a pilot, online version of the nsi’s Producers’ Workshop. The site will also feature a resource section detailing the filmmaking process from the initial pitch through to marketing and distibution. The distant training program is expected to be online by January and further Internet-based delivery of nsi programs will follow.

Winter film fest

The annual Local Heroes International Screen Festival will be held February 20 to 27 in Edmonton and run March 6 to 13 in Winnipeg. In previous years, 16 short Canadian films were chosen for the Declaration of Independents program, whereas this year, 30 to 35 shorts will be selected, half to be screened at each festival. The crop of nsi Drama Prize films will premiere at Edmonton and then be shown again in Winnipeg. The conference line-up in Edmonton will be geared more towards the public and focus on ‘conversations with’ top filmmakers. The Winnipeg conference line-up will be more industry oriented, says Ashton.

Last year’s pilot effort, the Features First program – a partnership with Telefilm Canada which offers development support for first and second-time filmmakers – is being reviewed and recommendations on its future are expected to be announced by the end of October. Ashton says the program has been successful and will likely be renewed but one of the key proposals will be opening up the program to filmmakers in Ontario and Quebec. (Last year submissions from these provinces were ineligible.)

The new staff

The Winnipeg and Edmonton offices will organize professional development workshops at their home base as well as bringing the training programs across Canada.

To carry out the expansion plans, the nsi has brought on board Robert Hardy, a former writer/researcher at Brown Communications Group, in the newly created role of director of communications and marketing.

MTN Winnipeg’s sales assistant Tammy Yeomans joins the nsi as administrative assistant and Beth Philip has relocated to Winnipeg from the Edmonton office and assumes the position of programmer – Winnipeg. Tara Hogue replaces Philip in the Edmonton office as projects assistant.