Spring has certainly sprung for CFC alumni, who have been busy receiving nominations and awards, joining boards, taking on new roles, and of course – creating. See below for recent industry updates from our alumni, as well as a list of alumni films, TV series and music to watch and listen to in June.

AWARDS & NOMINATIONS

2020 Canadian Screen Awards

We’re proud to share that 19 CFC alumni won 2020 Canadian Screen Awards – a testament to the skill and talent of our alumni working across film, TV and digital in multiple genres. See the full list of alumni winners here.

LEO Awards

The following CFC alumni have been nominated for 2020 LEO Awards, which celebrate the achievements of the British Columbia film and TV industry:

• Best Motion Picture
  • Ash – Amber Ripley, producer
  • Come to Daddy –Daniel Bekerman, producer

• Best Television Movie
  • Indian Road Trip – Andrew Currie, producer

• Best Production Design – Short Drama
  • Liz Cairns – The Seahorse Trainer

• Best Screenwriting – Dramatic Series
  • Sarah Dodd – Fortunate Son, “Ruby Tuesday”

• Documentary Series
  • Greg Ng – Punk, “Episode One”

• Best Short Drama
  • She Came in Through… – Sara Anne Mitchell, producer

• Best Screenwriting – Short Drama
  • Sara Anne Mitchell – She Came in Through…

Hot Docs 2020 Festival Awards

• Stateless, produced by Jennifer Holness and Lea Marin; executive produced by Anita Lee and Sudz Sutherland; with music by Ben Fox, won the Special Jury Prize – Canadian Feature Documentary
• The Corus-Hot Docs Forum Pitch Prize was awarded to Ojiibikaan, which counts alumna Lauren Grant’s Clique Pictures among its producers

Cayle Chernin Awards

• Actors Conservatory alumna Mikaela Davies was one of the finalists selected for the 2020 Cayle Chernin Awards

Snowpiercer

WATCH

• Easy Land, the debut feature from Sanja Zivkovic (writer/director) is available digitally on Apple TV starting May 15; it features additional alumni in key creative roles: Julie Strifler (producer), Matt Code (executive producer), Chris Mutton (editor), with music by Casey MQ. Read the review in The Globe and Mail
• The chilling new post-apocalyptic drama, Snowpiercer, from showrunner Graeme Manson, is available on Netflix; keep your eyes peeled throughout the season for CBC Actors Conservatory alumnus Matt Murray
• Yung Chang’s documentary This is Not a Movie is now available to stream on the Documentary Online Cinema website
• Castle in the Ground, produced by Luke Black and William Woods, associate produced by Jennifer Mesich, edited by Jorge Weisz, is now available on demand; read this review from The Globe and Mail
• Canadian rom-com Red Rover, starring Cara Gee and Kristian Bruun and scored by current Slaight Music Resident Anthony Wallace, is available on digital and demand
• Season 1 of Avocado Toast, story edited by Annie Briggs, with music by Neil Haverty and Chris Reineck, is available to stream on OUTtvGo
• Ann Marie Fleming is among the filmmakers participating in Greetings from Isolation, a capsule collection of short Canadian isolation movies; watch them here
• The psychological drama Eadweard, inspired by the photographer Eadweard Muybridge and co-written/directed by Kyle Rideout and co-written/produced by Josh Epstein, is now available to watch on CBC Gem
• New episodes of The Bold Type, starring Actors Conservatory alumnus Dan Jeannotte, return on ABC Spark on Thursday, June 11 at 10 p.m. ET
• Check out the new Netflix series #blackAF, which features editing by Editors’ Lab alumna Christine Armstrong
• The series finale of the homegrown hit Cardinal aired on Monday, May 11. Several CFC alumni were involved in the series over the seasons. Catch up on episodes on CTV/CTV.ca
• Giant Little Ones, written/directed by Keith Behrman, executive produced by Daniel Bekerman and co-produced by Lauren Grant is available to watch on Crave
• The Weekend, written/directed by Stella Meghie, is now available to watch on Netflix Canada
• Cursed Films, a five-part documentary series exploring the myths and legends behind Hollywood’s notoriously cursed horror-film productions, executive produced by Andrew Nicholas McCann Smith and Laura Perlmutter, is available to stream on Shudder
• Darkside, a short film written/co-directed by and starring Erin Carter, produced by Carter and Brendan Brady, with music by Ben Fox and Michael Peter Olsen, is live on HighballTV
• Netflix Original Series The Order, created by Dennis Heaton, with additional involvement from alumni Shelley Eriksen, Rachel Langer, Jason Filiatrault, and starring Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs, returns on June 18

ICYMI – Catch up on these hit alumni films, now available on digital and demand:

• Blood Quantum, from writer/director Jeff Barnaby, produced by John Christou, starring Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs
• Tammy’s Always Dying, from director Amy Jo Johnson, producer Jessica Adams, writer Joanne Sarazen, editor Bryan Atkinson and composer Casey MQ

• She Never Died, directed by Audrey Cummings
• Canadian Strain, from writer/director Geordie Sabbagh
• The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open, from alumnae co-writers and co-directors Kathleen Hepburn and Elle–Máijá Tailfeathers and produced by Lori Lozinski – recent Canadian Screen Award winner for Original Screenplay and Achievement in Direction!
• James vs His Future Self,co-written/directed by Jeremy LaLonde and produced by Jordan Walker

LISTEN

• CFC is on Spotify! We’ve curated a selection of playlists featuring hit songs and scores from alumni of our Slaight Music Residency. Start listening here: Volume I, Volume 2, Epic Scores Volume 1
• Slaight Music alumnus Armen Bazarian released a music video for his single “Sight Lines”
• Reel Inspiration: The Podcast episode five features Vincenzo Natali, listen or watch
• Adaline recently released a new album entitled Dear Illusion,

Transplant

ALUMNI INDUSTRY NEWS

• CTV’s hit medical drama Transplant, created by CFC alumnus Joseph Kay, and featuring lots of additional alumni as writers and producers, has been acquired by NBC
• Brendan Brady and Victor Nicolle are two of the seven Canadian creatives selected for the Whistler Film Festival 2020 Screenwriters Lab
• The WGC re-elected Dennis Heaton (CFC alumnus and former Executive Producer in Residence of the Bell Media Prime Time TV Program) for a second term as its council president
• Alumni Ian Steaman and Michael Hanley have been selected as two of the five 2020 recipients of the Corus Writer’s Apprentice Program
• Karen Walton joined the WIFT-T Board of Directors
• Producers’ Lab alumna Lindsay Blair Goeldner has joined Toronto-based prodco Fae Pictures as director of production, where she will be responsible for expanding the prodco’s development and production footprint in Canada, the U.S. and internationally.
• Fae Pictures’ Framing Agnes has been selected as one of 42 standout concepts for documentary and non-fiction media from 17 countries for the Sunny Side of the Doc 2020 Pitch Selection
• Projects from alumnae Lea Marin (producer, Rita Marley Lived on DeGrassi Street), Shirley Vercruysse (producer, Martha, Old Dog and Spider) and Ann Marie Fleming (director, Window Horses) among 16 greenlit by the NFB
• Reel Suspects has acquired international sales rights to sci-fi thriller Come True, produced by Steven Hoban and executive produced by Vincenzo Natali
• Read: Chris Mutton on the editing process for Easy Land

Alumni! Do you have news to share? Want to update your alumni profile? Get in touch anytime at alumni@cfccreates.com

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