The government of Canada has appointed Russell Grosse (pictured) to the board of directors of the Canada Media Fund (CMF).

Grosse is the executive director of the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia, which preserves and promotes the history and culture of the Black community in the province. As part of his work with the centre, Grosse has produced community-based cultural projects and showcases and developed a virtual museum platform.

“The directors and I are delighted to welcome Russell Grosse to the CMF Board,” said chair Alain Cousineau in a statement. “Mr. Grosse’s track record is impressive. Under his tenure and thanks to his multimedia and administration experience, the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia has seen tremendous success.”

WFF sets participants for two Atlantic programs

The Whistler Film Festival (WFF) has partnered with PictureNL, which promotes film and television projects across Newfoundland and Labrador, to launch a new project development and business mentorship program. The Producers Accelerator Program aims to support independent producers in developing original narrative or factual projects with strong market potential.

Five Newfoundland-based filmmakers have been selected for the multi-phased initiative, and over the next eight months they will work with media industry advisors and mentors in individual, group and market-oriented development sessions to expand their creative and business skills. They will also receive project-specific feedback to strengthen their ability to position their project for investment and to take advantage of opportunities at the Whistler Film Festival + Content Summit.

The five producers participating in the 2023 PictureNL Producer Accelerator Program are Anthony Butt with his film The Republic; Caroline Godin with Dropped Stitches Sisterhood; Jessica Brown with Northern Hearts; Lian Morrison with Gamer Girls; and Vaida Nairn with Santa Saw Everything.

The PictureNL Producer Accelerator Program is one of three new talent labs announced at WFF ’23, joining the already-established collection of talent programs provided by the festival, which now offers 13 mentorship-based talent development programs each year.

Another of the new talent labs announced is the PEI Market Accelerator Program, which sees WFF, in partnership with FilmPEI, selecting 14 P.E.I.-based screenwriters and producers to participate in a new multi-phase project development program designed to accelerate their original narrative or factual projects.

The 14 producers and writers participating in the 2023 PEI Market Accelerator are: Luc Trottier with the project First Sight; Shannon Shura with the project Sex In The Small Town; Walker MacDonald with Tomato Frog; Hélène Lebon with Mended Women, Tailored Bodies; Sharlene Kelly with The Snake; Logan Fulford and Celeste McNiven with the project Sea Salt; Shane Mountain with Incident; Jeana MacIsaac with Please Return To My Father; Susan Rodgers with Watch Over Me; Richard Lush and Julie Pellissier-Lush with Meskeyi (I Am Sorry); and Daniel Brown and Simon Reid with their project Into the Arcane.

Forest City Film Festival conference awards pitch prizes

Filmmaker Jesse Thomas Cook has picked up the $60,000 Feature Film Pitch prize at London, Ont.’s Forest City Film Festival for his screenplay Turn It Up.

The prize is one of three pitch competitions held at the annual festival’s Ontario Screen Creators Conference, with the other two being the Web Series Pitch and the Short Film Pitch.

The Feature Film prize nets Cook a $30,000 grant from Film London for production taking place in the city, and an additional $30,000 in in-kind support from a group of companies that includes William F. White International, NOFX Studio, Bizable Media, and more.

In the other competitions, Judith Schuyler’s Lake’niha’ (My Father) won the Short Film Pitch, which comes with $16,000 worth of cash and in-kind prizes; and Rahul Chaturvedi and Charlie Whalley’s 18 to 35 won the Web Series Pitch, which provides a licence from Bell Fibe TV worth up to $50,000.

This year’s edition of the Forest City Film Festival concluded with Rebecca Snow’s The Boy in the Woods (Lumanity Productions, JoBro Productions) winning the Best Narrative Feature and Old Oak Audience Choice Awards.

With files from Justin Anderson