TIFF has named Tracey Deer (pictured left) and Meredith Vuchnich (pictured right) the recipients of its 2019 TIFF-CBC Films Screenwriter prize.

Created to help support diverse screenwriters and fund the development of Canadian scripts, the award recognizes work that presents diverse perspectives via a Canadian experience.

The duo’s script Beans follows the perspective of a 12-year-old Mohawk girl during the 1990 Oka Crisis. EMAfilms founder Anne-Marie Gélinas serves as a producer on the project.

All told, the team will receive a total of $13,500 in support, input from a script consultant and access to the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival and industry conference.

In August, the coming-of-age story was selected alongside writer/director Sadaf Foroughi’s Summer With Hope for the CFC’s 2018 Features program. Through the Features program, both projects received $500,000 in equity funding from the CFC and pre-sale pay TV agreements with Bell Media’s Crave.

In addition to Deer and Vuchnich’s win, Elyse Friedman’s Better Now script received the award’s Jury Prize. Her win includes a cash prize of $1,500 and a pass to TIFF 2019.

TIFF also selected 10 writers for its 2019 Writers’ Studio. Screenwriters set to take part in the five-day intensive include Maria Camila Arias, Connor Gaston, Sophie Goyette, Melanie Jones, Sharon Lewis, Faisal Lutchmedial,  Lindsay MacKay, Katie McMillan, Geoff Redknap and Linda Roessler.

Launched in 2012, the Studio provides mid-career screenwriters the chance to challenge themselves in a collaborative space. Led by TIFF international programmer Jane Schoettle, writers receive development support for their feature film scripts via one-on-one discussions from script consultants and experts, and access to the festival.

Prior to this year, the Writers’ Studio was an eight-month series but was modified in order to accommodate writers from across Canada, the release noted.

The Writers’ Studio will take place this March at the TIFF Bell Lightbox.