Vancouver: Leaders of the B.C. Council of the Directors Guild of Canada are spearheading the new Motion Picture Institute of British Columbia for independent filmmakers, it was announced during the recent Banff Television Festival.

The mpi-bc, a non-profit society, will feature the same kind of professional development programs offered by the American Film Institute and the Sundance Institute.

Once-yearly screenwriters labs, directors labs and producers conferences could begin as early as March 2000, says organizer Rhonda Monteith, executive director of the local dgc.

Monteith sits on the mpi-bc board with the dgc’s b.c. chair Crawford Hawkins, who is also chair of the institute’s board. Carrie Hunter, founding executive director of the Banff Television Festival, and festival programmer Hannah Fisher are developing the program. Director Norman Jewison sits on mpi-bc’s board of advisors.

Like its American counterparts, mpi-bc will require participants – newcomers and veterans alike – to present a script that will be developed in the writing and directing labs. Labs will have a maximum of 15 participants.

‘We’re doing this so that a filmmaker who wouldn’t otherwise make it through the [film] system can get their films made and seen,’ says Monteith, who will organize mpi-bc through the local dgc office. ‘We want to provide access to people who can get participants’ projects made.’

She adds that the annual labs and conference are not necessarily about teaching skills, but about ‘honing talent.’

Eileen Hoeter, program director for film at the Vancouver Film School, says the establishment of mpi-bc will be complementary, rather than competitive, with existing film programs in b.c.

‘The Vancouver Film School is a foundation film school,’ says Hoeter. ‘This institute will be for people who are in the industry and want to branch out. It’s more for above-the-line types.’

Monteith says the program’s tuition – which is yet to be set – will be offset by sponsorships and scholarships from industry partners.