The Harold Greenberg Fund has supported 28 new Canadian feature films through its Script Development program – representing an investment of $349,500.

Focused on supporting Canadian films through all stages – such as story optioning, drafts and polish and packaging – projects supported as part of the Story Option stream include: Lumanity Productions’ Chaos to Canvas (producer Robert Budreau and writer Rebecca Snow); Rebelfilms’ Claremont (producer/writer Jeremy Podeswa); Seagull & Starfish Productions’ The Huns (producers Chantelle Kilpatrick and Luke Humphrey, writer Michael Ross Albert and director Marie Farsi); and Mad Samurai Productions’ The Rule of Three (producer Matthew Cervi and writer Lynne Kamm).

Meanwhile, Circle Blue Films and Freddie Films’ Pow Wow Summer (producers Amos Adetuyi and Floyd Kane, writer Norman Champagne) is among the projects tapped for the First to Second Draft section alongside Neophyte Productions’ How and When (producers Jordan Walker and Paula Brancati, writer/director Jeremy LaLonde), Clumsy Ophelia Productions’ Enduring (writer/director/producer Daniel Wrath and producer Josh Clavir) and FIN script development program winner Scott Jones’ Opus 118, No 2.

Others selected include: Road Trip Films’ Cloud Striker (writer/director/producer Allan Hopkins and producer Andrew Currie); Shadow Shows and Lodsdomos Film Productions’ Little Sister (writer Tina Cooper, director/producer Bruce McDonald and producer Merle Anne Ridley); Goodbye Productions and Mercury Filmworks’ Once Our Land (writer Philippe Ivanusic, director Peter Ricq, producers Amber Ripley and Chantal Ling); New Real Films’ Spencer and Jesse (writer Ella Farlinger, producers Jennifer Jonas and Leonard Farlinger); Incredibly Fast Films’ Wayfaring (writer/director/producer Jai Dixit and producers John Calvert and Craig Warnock).

Of note, two Experimental Forest Films projects made the Second to Third Draft list: writer/director Liz Cairns’ Inedia and The Narrow Edge from writer/director Kathleen Hepburn of the Vancouver-based production company. Both titles see Experimental Forest Films’ Tyler Hagan attached as a producer.

Last month, Cairns and Inedia were tapped as one of the eight directors set for the Women In the Director’s Chair’s 2020 Story & Leadership program. Additionally, this summer, the feature was among 20 English-language features selected for funding from Telefilm Canada.

The rest of the list includes: Soapbox Productions and Marie Clements Media’s The McLean Boys (writer/producer Marie Clements and producer Nick Orchard); A71 Releasing’s Harbour House (writer Amir Kahnamouee and producer Justin Rebelo); Unsolicited Pictures’ ExMas (writer Adrianna DiLonardo, director Sarah Rotella and producers Heidi Tan and Rebeka Herron); Comedy’s Prude (writer Emily Southwood and producer Robert Vroom); and finally, Trembling Void Studios’ Home(Less) (writer/producer Amy Fox, writers Wren Handman and Beth Cantor, and producer Ingo Lou).

On the Polish and Packaging side, Wexford Plaza writer/director Joyce Wong’s second feature All My Love, Vadim and Caitlin Cronenberg’s first feature film Humane both picked up support.

All My Love, Vadim is attached to Serendipity Point Films and sees Melissa Coghlan and Bonnie Do serve as producers, while Cronenberg’s Humane is with Victory Man Productions and was penned by producer Michael Sparaga.

Additionally, writer/director Anita Doron (The Breadwinner) secured funding with producer Arnie Ziprusky for CCI Productions’ Prisoner of Conscience, while others in the section include MCP Productions’ Starfall, which sees director Daniel Grou (Vikings), writer Jesse Heffring and producer Marie-Claude Poulin attached, and Baswewe, Atikameksheng Anishnawbek’s Stellar from writer/director/producer Darlene Naponse (Falls Around Her) and producers Paula Devonshire and Jennifer Weiss.

Finally, Lithium Studios Productions’ In Cold Light (director Maxime Giroux, writer Patrick Whistler and producers Mike MacMillan and Yanick Letrouneau), Middle Child Films’ Bar Mitzvah Boy (writer/director Mark Leiren-Young and producer Tony Wosk) and Wango Films’ Hello Stranger (director/producer April Mullen, writer Ryan Churchill and producer Tim Doiron) round out the selections.

Alongside this news, the Harold Greenberg Fund also announced that Montreal-based director Aisling Chin-Yee and Saskatoon-based producer Anand Ramayya had joined the fund’s selection committee as industry jurors – noting that the addition “increases diversity of voices from the filmmaking community in the selection process” and that their roles will see them participate in script development program meetings.

It should be noted that both of these announcements come as the future of the Harold Greenberg Fund comes into question.

Earlier this year, Bell Media revealed that the fund’s French-language program would close as of Feb. 28, 2021 and that its English-language program would continue as “status quo for at least the next 12 months with the support of Crave as the Fund invites additional partners to invest in its future.”

Photo by Cytonn Photography on Unsplash