the National Screen Institute-Canada is set to launch a second round of the Features First program, which will take five teams of emerging filmmakers from across Canada through an individually customized skills training and feature film project development program.

The $220,000 initiative is being financed by a long line of sponsors, including Telefilm Canada (West), the Harold Greenberg Fund, Alliance Atlantis Communications, A-Channel, and the majority of provincial funding agencies, including the Ontario Film Development Corporation, sodec and B.C. Film. Other sponsors are still to be confirmed.

The program emphasizes final development and packaging of the feature film projects in preparation for financing and the marketplace, says former ofdc executive director Alex Raffe, who is heading up the program. But equal emphasis will be placed on tailored professional development opportunities to hone the skill sets of the participants.

‘In this country we have programs to help filmmakers get started and teach basic craft, but there are few places they can go to actually [get] help in getting their film made,’ says Raffe. ‘So the idea is to put them through an intensive professional development course that is geared to helping them not only in making the film, but in making a better film. I will basically function as executive producer, overseeing the final stages of development.’

The film development side of Features First 2 will involve the creation of final development and packaging plans, the completion of a final draft screenplay with the assistance of experienced story editors, and the drawing up of preliminary casting, budgeting and financing plans. If the projects are ready, Raffe says the final two months will be spent moving the films into financing and pitching to the marketplace.

‘By the time the teams finish the program I would like to see that they are in the position to get financing or are well on their way to being fully financed and ready to shoot,’ she says.

Upgrading the skills of the participants and integrating them into their local production community is also a key priority of the program, says Raffe, who will work with participants on individual skills assessment and training plans. Expertise will be developed through short-term intern and mentoring placements – in their home region – which address the particular skill deficit of each participant.

‘We want to accomplish the professional development as much as possible in the participants’ home base so that they build local relationships,’ explains Raffe. ‘So at the end of the day, when the program is over, the participants are well integrated into the local industry. Chances are these relationships will translate into jobs so that participants are actually working at their discipline as well as moving their own projects forward.’

Members of the film industry with various skill sets will form a national advisory committee and act as mentors for their home teams, aligning the filmmakers with local resources and expertise, and helping to facilitate some of the mentorships.

The Features First pilot program ran in ’97/98 as a partnership between the nsi and Telefilm West and was only open to filmmakers outside of Ontario and Quebec. Of the five projects which went through the process, one has wrapped production – West of Sarajevo from Vancouver director Davor Marjanovic, writer Frank Borg and producer David Bouck – and one project has completed financing – Violet from the St. John’s Nfld. team of director/writer Rosemary House and producer Mary Sexton.

nsi executive director Cheryl Ashton considers the pilot year a success, but says the decision was made to take a year off to evaluate the program and redefine and fine tune the objectives.

It is anticipated that at least two projects will be produced within a year of the teams entering the revamped program.

Features First 2 has been opened up nationally to all filmmaking teams across Canada with some experience in short drama or television drama. Teams will be chosen based on the creative and market potential of their projects (the pitch package, proposed budget financing and marketing plans) and the readiness of the team (sufficient craft and technical experience) to move into feature film production. Applicants with more than one feature credit are not eligible.

Scripts must be dramas, at second draft stage, be intended for commercial international theatrical release, and ready for a final development phase.

Projects planned as interprovincial or international coproductions are eligible as long as the writer/director/producer on the Features First team is Canadian and the project is developed in Canada.

The application deadline is Oct. 26 and application forms are available at the nsi website (www.nsi-canada.ca). A short-list of potential teams will be chosen by Raffe in consultation with the national advisory committee. The teams will then have the opportunity to pitch their projects to Raffe.

Teams will be chosen by the end of November. Professional development evaluations and project development analysis will take place in December and January, with the formal program beginning Feb. 1, 2000 and running for six months.