Banff, Alta.: Telefilm Canada, the Canadian Television Fund and a wide range of industry partners have announced a major international coproduction program for next fall called Storytellers’ Summit, scheduled for Sept. 3-8 in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto.

In unveiling the program at this month’s Banff Television Festival, Telefilm chairman Laurier Lapierre said the summit will bring together content creators from countries around the world, including Canada’s 54 international coprod partners, the 26 countries of the International Network on Cultural Policy, La Francophonie and the 54 Commonwealth nations.

Delegates will discuss issues such as the impact of technology on storytelling, cultural diversity and international partnerships in an atmosphere of creativity and deal-making, said Lapierre.

The summit is expected to cost about $2 million and will be held in conjunction with the Montreal World Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival. Delegates will be invited to join the summit ‘caravan,’ a train journey from Montreal to Ottawa and Toronto.

The summit’s executive board is cochaired by Lapierre and ctf chair Richard Stursberg. Other exec members include cftpa president Elizabeth McDonald, cab president Michael McCabe, Reseau tva president Daniel Lamarre, Royal Bank head of media and entertainment Robert Morrice, cafde president Richard Paradis and Manitoba Film and Sound Recording Development Corporation president Carole Vivier.

At the Banff press conference announcing the program, Montreal screenwriter Suzanne Aubry asked Lapierre why the summit’s board did not include a representative from either the Writers Guild of Canada or sardec, the Quebec writers guild. He told the somewhat distressed writer to ‘give me a break,’ and then promptly added screenwriter reps would shortly be added to the extended board’s roster.

According to Lapierre, the cost will be covered by registration fees (about one-third), the federal millennium fund and from the industry sponsors and various levies.