Five producer/writer teams across the country have been hand-picked to take part in the National Screen Institute’s Totally Television program for 2011-2012.

The 10-month TV series development training program pairs teams with execs from major Canadian networks, showrunners and story editors. Past execs have included Tassie Cameron (Rookie Blue), Vera Santamaria (Community) and David Barlow (King, The Border), as well as exec producers from the likes of Shaftesbury, Temple Street, Breakthrough and Omni.

Teams include Vancouver’s Erica Landrock (producer) and Kellie Ann Benz (writer) for Bordello, Toronto’s Duane Murray (producer) and Shane Belcourt (writer) for Embracing Mason, Montreal’s David Finch (producer) and Mark A. Krupa (writer) for Medic-1, Camille Beaudoin (producer from Edmonton) and Tony Binns (writer from Calgary) for Nerdvana, and Mark Montefiore (producer from St. Catharines) and Andrew DeAngelis (writer from Mississauga) for What Would Sal Do?.

“We were impressed by the volume of excellent projects sent from across the country,” said Brandice Vivier, NSI’s manager of programs and development, in a statement.

“The five teams we selected have unique stories perfect for Canadian screens, and in the coming months under the guidance of key industry players, they will evolve and finesse their series so they’re ready to pitch to broadcasters in the spring.”

At the end of the program, teams will also attend the Banff World Media Festival in 2012.

Shows developed through NSI Totally Television include Less Than Kind (pictured), Todd & The Book Of Pure Evil, ‘da Kink in my Hair and Wapos Bay.