The National Screen Institute is adding a few more tiles to the cultural mosaic this autumn by adding to Canada’s stock of aboriginal and minority filmmakers through two programs.

The Winnipeg-based film and TV training center has joined forces with VisionTV to launch DiverseTV, a rigorous program for six aboriginal and visible minority writers. The 10-month program will start off with a five-day incubator session in Toronto, after which three participants will advance to the ‘boot camp’ phase in January – a series of workshops and one-on-one sessions delving into the reality of broadcast TV and the market.

The writers will work with NSI training manager Mickey Rogers to develop their material and refine their pitches. They’ll also participate in the Banff World Television Festival in June.

The program wraps up in July, when writers will deliver their series bible, pilot script, and other material. From this group, one project will be chosen to go into production as a short-run series on Vision.

‘Canadian audiences want more television programs that reflect our cultural mosaic,’ says Susan Millican, NSI’s chief executive.

The deadline for applications closes on Dec. 12. Application forms are available at the NSI website.

NSI is also sending six aboriginal film and TV producers to New Zealand this month as part of its Storyteller program, launched in cooperation with that country’s Screen Production and Development Association.

Also working with Rogers, the producers will undergo a two-day crash course on pitching to potential coproducers before spending 10 days Down Under for an intensive ‘export mission.’

Under the tutelage of local program coordinator Mikki Tapara, they will network and make pitches to Maori producers.

The program, previously known as the Aboriginal Cultural Trade Initiative, has fostered such joint Canadian/New Zealand productions as the documentary Finding Our Talk: A Journey Through Aboriginal Languages and Aboriginal Architecture (2001) by National Film Board director Paul Rickard and the clay animation children’s feature Christmas at Wapos Bay (2002), by director Dennis Jackson.

This year’s Storyteller participants are: Shirley Cheechoo of Spoken Song Productions, M’Chigeeng, ON; Lisa Meeches of Meeches Video Production/Eagle Vision in Winnipeg; Melanie Jackson of Saskatoon’s Dark Thunder Productions; Carol Geddes, The Thing With Feathers Productions of Teslin, YK; Clarence Michon of Eclipse Media in Thunder Bay, ON.; and Paul Rickard from Mushkeg Media in Montreal.

www.nsi-canada.ca