Established filmmakers looking to take docs to the big screen will get a helping hand from the Canadian Film Centre and the National Film Board, which have unveiled plans for a joint program to develop theatrical documentaries.

Details of the six-month program were announced during the Hot Docs film festival, though it will be tailored to meet the particular needs of the four to six filmmakers who are chosen to participate. It is set to launch in January.

Program manager Jerry McIntosh says the time is ripe for the initiative, citing the recent box-office successes of Canuck docs including Jennifer Baichwal’s Manufactured Landscapes and Up the Yangtze. The Yung Chang-directed doc has generated nearly $500,000 at the domestic box office since opening Feb. 8.

‘There’s an appetite and an interest among audiences in documentary… it’s a good time because of the amount of talent that’s out there, [but] that’s been developing primarily for the television viewer,’ explains McIntosh, who worked as a director and exec producer for CBC and CBC Newsworld.

He says the initiative was the brainchild of CFC exec director Slawko Klymkiw and NFB chair Tom Perlmutter.

The program is open to accomplished filmmakers who have ‘substantial’ doc credits, according to McIntosh. Successful applicants will be paired with industry experts for various sessions, beginning with an intensive week in January. Rhombus Media veteran and docmaker Larry Weinstein (Beethoven’s Hair, Mozartballs) will serve as senior mentor.

The NFB and CFC will consider producing one or more of the projects at the end of the program. The submission deadline is Aug. 29. Details and application forms are available at www.cfccreates.com/docs.

On Wednesday, the Banff World Television Festival also unveiled a new prize for docmakers, and this year will give $15,000 to the winning feature at its Pitch This! competition. This replaces the long-running CTV Documart, however, which last year gave out prizes totalling $60,000.