The Whistler Film Festival (WFF) has revealed the 2022 cohorts for three of its talent programs, including Power Pitch, the Indigenous Filmmaker Fellowship, and Doc Lab.

The festival has selected five Canadian producers for the Power Pitch program, including B.C.’s Brendan Prost for Stifle, Jonathan Chuby for Duck Race, Kate Kroll for What Comes Next, and Sina Sultani for Trace, as well as Northwest Territories’ Jen Walden for Mother.

The program is designed to help filmmakers and producers to package and pitch their projects through workshops and one-on-one consultations, running from Nov. 16 to 22. It ends with a pitch competition on Dec. 1 with a production prize valued at $36,000. The prize includes a $25,000 post-production credit from Company 3 Method, a $10,000 lighting and grip credit, a $1,000 cash prize from William F. White and a spot in the WFF’s 2023 Producers Lab.

The Power Pitch competition jury includes Stefania Scarfo, head of content and strategy at Paramount+ Canada, and Gosia Kamela, head of CBC films and CBC scripted content for its English services. The program is facilitated by Kevin Wright, principal at The Optimal Pitch and former SVP of programming for The Movie Network, HBO Canada and the Family Channel.

Meanwhile, B.C.-based filmmakers Denise Halfyard for So’wesilel, Linda St. Pierre for The Phoenix, and Mitchell Saddleback for Kids from the Rez have been tapped for this year’s Indigenous Filmmaker Fellowship.

Other participants include Manitoba-based Katarina Ziervogel for Visitation; Alberta-based Tai Grauman for Lou Garou; and Nunavut-based Simeonie Kisa-Knickelbein for VHF.

The fellowship, which begins on Nov. 29, focuses on strengthening and advancing short-form scripted projects and is led by facilitator Camille Beaudoin, co-founder and CEO of Mosaic Entertainment, and Barbara Hager, president of Acimow Media. It is supported by Creative BC, RBC, William F. White International, APTN, IATSE 891, Brightlight Pictures, and Eagle Vision.

Six Canadian documentary filmmakers have been chosen to participate in WFF’s Doc Lab, including B.C.’s Alixandra Buck for Lobster Queens, Bal Brach for Lost Boys, Jon Chiang for Wild Heart, Nessie Blanes for Demolished, and Tammy Jones for 807, as well as Ontario-based filmmaker Laura Friedmann for The Painting.

Doc Lab is a two-phase project development program that begins on Nov. 22 with a multi-day online immersion, followed by a five-month long mentorship program that begins in January 2023. The program is facilitated by Lynn Booth, executive producer of Make Believe Media, and mentored by documentary filmmakers Selwyn Jacob and Ying Wang. It is supported by Creative BC and Big Time Decent Productions.

WFF has 10 talent programs that it runs throughout the calendar year, including the Producers Lab and Screenwriters Lab, with cohorts announced earlier this year. The festival said 54 Canadian directors, producers, screenwriters, and actors have taken part in the 2022 programs, according to a news release.

This year’s festival and content summit will run from Nov. 30 to Jan. 2, 2023 and will offer hybrid programming. WFF has already announced six B.C. titles in its lineup, including the world premiere of Jason James’ Exile.

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