OYA Black Arts Coalition and the Canadian Film Centre’s Media Lab have announced the next 10 recipients of the OYA Scale Up Immersive for Black creative talent. The 2023 cohort will go through a four-month accelerator as part of the second round of the program, which aims to help a total of 30 organizations in original immersive media production over the course of three years.

This year’s cohort includes Playback‘s 10 to Watch alum Jadiel Dowlin Lewis of Istmo Productions; Sharrae Lyon of Ohm Anahata; Tendisai Cromwell of Tendisai; Queen Kukoyi and Nicole Nico Taylor of oddsidearts; and William Selviz of RENDRD Media.

The other participants are Hansel Alonzo and Benjamin Agbeke of Undertone Productions; Ella Cooper and Karen Chapman of Brown Rabbit Studios; Valerie Amponsah; Derek Brin of Fierce Music/Fierce Media; and Faduma Gure of The Black Nerds.

The cohort will have access to industry expert consultations, workshops and case studies, hands-on mentorship and networking opportunities, as well as a rapid prototyping lab. Participants work in teams to create original working prototypes in VR, AR or mixed/extended reality.

Jonathan Chuby wins WFF’s Power Pitch competition

B.C. producer Jonathan Chuby has won the $36,000 Power Pitch Competition at the Whistler Film Festival for his comedy feature Duck Race. The prize includes a production package valued at $25,000, with a post-production credit from Company 3, a $10,000 lighting and grip credit, and a $1,000 cash prize from William F. White International. Chuby will also receive a spot in the festival’s 2023 Producers Lab. The jury included Stefania Scarfo, head of content and strategy at Paramount+ Canada, and Gosia Kamela, head of CBC Films and CBC scripted content, English services.

RIDM announces Canadian doc winners

Sofía Brockenshire’s The Dependents won the top Canadian feature prize at the 25th edition of the Montreal International Documentary Festival, which wrapped on Nov. 27. The doc won best national feature, while the special jury prize in the national feature category went to Self-Portrait, from director Joële Walinga. RIDM’s People’s Choice Award went to Big Fight in Little Chinatown by Karen Cho. The film also won the women inmates’ jury award, which was determined by a panel of six inmates from the Quebec’s Joliette federal women’s penitentiary.

The New Visions award, which is geared towards debuting filmmakers, went to Veranada by Dominique Chaumont and the Magnus Isacsson Award went to The Myth of the Black Woman by Ayana O’ Shun. A special mention in the category was also given to Wochiigii lo: End of the Peace, from filmmaker Heather Hatch.

The best national short- or medium-length film award was presented to Landscape Suspended by Naghmeh Abbasi, and the special jury prize for national short- or medium-length film went to Infinite Distances by Pablo Alvarez-Mesa, with a special mention going to Mecánicos piratas de Lima by Carlos Ferrand. The Student Award, determined by a jury of college students, was given to Geographies of Solitude by Jacquelyn Mills.

Kelsey Aikman promoted at marblemedia

Toronto prodco marblemedia has upped Kelsey Aikman to VP of marketing and communications. Aikman will oversee the company’s marketing and communication strategies, and manage its creative, marketing, publicity and social teams. Aikman reports to co-CEO and executive producer Mark Bishop and Diane Rankin, SVP sales, rights and executive producer at Distribution 360. She previously worked in marketing and communications roles at CBC, Shaftesbury, Entertainment One and Paramount Pictures.

By Victoria Ahearn and Kelly Townsend

With files from Realscreen

Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images