This month, four CFC alumni walked away with WGC Screenwriting Awards, and nine alumni project were nominated for 2021 Rockie Awards in the International Program Competition, while CFC alumni films continue to screen at Hot Docs. What’s more – there are new shows and films featuring alumni talent to devour – like Nobody, Jupiter’s Legacy, The Parker Andersons and more. Read the latest alumni updates and successes below.

Beans

AWARDS & NOMINATIONS

WGC Screenwriting Awards

Four CFC alumni took home prizes at this year’s WGC Screenwriting Awards:

DRAMA SERIES

• Trickster, “Episode 105” I Story by Tony Elliott

FEATURE FILM

• Beans I Story by Tracey Deer, Screenplay by Tracey Deer and Meredith Vuchnich

SONDRA KELLY AWARD WINNER

• Kate Hewlett

Congratulations to all of this year’s winners! Find the full list here.

Canadian Film Fest Awards

• Sugar Daddy, from produced by Lauren Grant and Lori Lozinski, edited by Christine Armstrong and featuring Andy McQueen, won Best Feature at the 2021 Canadian Film Fest

WGC Jim Burt Screenwriting Prize

Three CFC alumni are among the five 2021 nominees for the bi-annual Jim Burt Screenwriting Prize awarded for best unproduced longform script:

• Magnificent, written by Travis McDonald
• Sluggy and Bogie, written by Tommy Gushue
• Struck, written by Lynne Kamm

Rockie Awards International Program Competition Nominees

The following alumni content has been nominated for the 2021 Rockie Awards International Program Competition:

• Transplant, created by alum Joseph Kay, was nominated in the Drama Series: English Language category
• Detention Adventure, produced by Lauren Corber’s LoCo Motion Pictures, was nominated in the Live Action: Youth category
• I Was Lorena Bobbitt, directed by Danishka Esterhazy, was nominated in the TV Movie category
• Odd Squad Mobile Unit, which sees Warren P. Sonoda as a director, was nominated in the Live Action: Children category
• Hey Lady!, with episodes directed by alumnae Sarah Polley and Adriana Maggs, was nominated in the Short Fiction Program category
• Baroness von Sketch Show, which saw lots of alumni involved as directors (Jordan Canning, Jeremy LaLonde, Vivieno Caldinelli) and editors (Jeremy LaLonde, Michael Pierro, Aren Hansen) over its five-season run, was nominated in the Comedy & Variety category
• The Book of Distance, from creator Randall Okita, was nominated in the Interactive: Youth category
• Toxic Beauty, produced by Peter Raymont’s White Pine Pictures, was nominated in the Science & Technology category
• Highway to Heaven, produced by Shirley Vercruysse, was nominated in the Short Non-Fiction Program category

See the full list of nominations here. The winners will be announced in a livestreamed ceremony on YouTube on June 15.

Utah Film Festival Awards

• The Norman Jewison Film Program resident Kent Donguines short Watershed home the award for Best Narrative Short at this year’s Utah Film Festival

Canadian Screen Award Nominations

• ICYMI: CFC alumni received a total of 94 nominations across 50 categories in this year’s Canadian Screen Awards – congratulations to all of this year’s nominees!

SAG Awards

• The cast of Schitt’s Creek, which includes Actors Conservatory alum Annie Murphy as Alexis Rose, won a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

Images from Subjects of Desire

FESTIVALS

Hot Docs

April 29 – May 9, 2021

• Subjects of Desire (Special Presentations): directed/written/produced by Jennifer Holness, produced by Sudz Sutherland
• Wuhan Wuhan (Special Presentations): directed by Yung Chang
• A.rtificial I.mmortality (Opening Night film): music by Todor Kobakov
• Until Further Notice (Canadian Spectrum Shorts: Bodies Release): edited by Xi Feng
• The Hairdresser(Canadian Spectrum Shorts: Stories of Growth and Learning): edited by Pauline Decroix
• The Gig Is Up (Canadian Spectrum): produced by Ina Fichman
• Hell or Clean Water (Canadian Spectrum): edited by Justin Simms
• Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy (Canadian Spectrum): written/directed/produced by Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, produced by Lori Lozinski, edited by Hans Olson
• My Tree (Canadian Spectrum): produced by Aeschylus Poulos, edited by Ben Lawrence
• One of Ours (Canadian Spectrum): produced by Laura Perlmutter and Andrew Nicholas McCann Smith, executive produced by Jennifer Kawaja
• Someone Like Me (Canadian Spectrum): produced/executive produced by Shirley Vercruysse
• International Dawn Chorus Day (Markers Shorts Program): written/directed/produced by John Greyson, produced by Shant Joshi
• FANNY: The Right to Rock (Persister): executive produced by Ina Fichman
• Body Politics (Special Events – Citizen Minutes): edited by Pauline Decroix
• Blue Box (World Showcase): produced by Ina Fichman

Hot Docs Forum

Two alumni projects are among the 20 projects selected for this year’s Hot Docs Forum:

• Swan Song, from producer Nicholas de Pencier
• Wilfred Buck, from director/producer Lisa Jackson

Hot Docs Deal Maker

Four alumni projects are among the 36 participating in this year’s Hot Docs Deal Maker pitch program:

• Bam Bam: The Story of Sister NancyProduction Company: Oya Media Group Inc. (Canada)
  Director: Alison Duke
  Producers: Alison Duke, Ngardy Conteh George

• A Short History of Decay
  Producer: Aeschylus Poulos

• Stolen TimeProducer: Ina Fichman

• Theft of FireProducer: Ina Fichman

See the full list of projects here.

DOXA Documentary Film Festival
May 6-16, 2021

• Kalinga (Care), a short doc by current The Norman Jewison Film Program resident Kent Donguines, will have its World Premiere at this year’s DOXA festival in the Family in Focus Shorts Program; get your tickets to watch it virtually here

Rutherford Falls; credit: Colleen Hayes/Peacock

FOR YOUR WATCHLIST

• Check out Rutherford Falls, a new comedy about two lifelong best friends, Nathan Rutherford (Ed Helms) and Reagan Wells (Jana Schmieding), who find themselves at a crossroads – quite literally – when their sleepy town gets an unexpected wakeup call, edited by Christine Armstrong; watch on Showcase and STACKTV
• Watch action thriller Nobody, featuring Actors Conservatory alumni Araya Mengesha and Humberly González, on demand now
• You can also catch Humberly in Jupiter’s Legacy, which drops on Netflix on May 7
• CFC short film Lola’s Wake, from writer/director Tricia Hagoriles, producer Erin Byrnes, edited by Rick Bartram, with music by Kat Burns, is one of eight projects participating in the 12th annual WIFT Toronto Showcase, which will take place virtually on May 4, 2021
• Catch up on new episodes of related sitcoms The Parker Andersons and Amelia Parker, which follow the lives of a blended interracial family, on Mondays on Super Channel’s Heart & Home channel (at 8 and 8:30 p.m. ET, respectively); Ian Steaman and Murry Peeters are writers on the series
• Read: An article from NOW Magazine about the series and creatives behind it: How an all-BIPOC Canadian team made a TV show for a Mormon network in the U.S. from NOW Magazine
• No Ordinary Man, from co-director/writer Aisling Chin-Yee, is available in Canada on all VOD and digital platforms
• Sugar Daddy, produced by alumnae Lauren Grant and Lori Lozinski, and edited by Christine Armstrong, is now available on VOD
• Watch The Communist’s Daughter, a web series set in 1989 about the daughter of two happily married Communists who struggles between fitting in at high school and upholding her family’s idealistic beliefs, on CBC Gem – lots of CFC alumni are involved: Clara Altimas, Kaveh Mohebbi and Waneta Storms as writers; Lauren Corber as executive producer; and Chris Mutton as editor

FOR YOUR PLAYLIST

Listen to the following songs from alum of the Slaight Family Music Lab:

• Onyx, a new album from FJØRA (current Slaight Family Music Lab resident Alexandra Petkovski) is out now
• Soft, a new album from Kat Burns, is out now
• “Wild Again” by Ava;find it onSpotify, Apple Music and YouTube
• “Don’t Be Afraid” by TiKA; the theme Song for 21 Black Futures on CBC/CBC Gem, on Spotify
• “Human Heart” by TiKA on bandcamp
• “Chasing the Fall (Acoustic)” by The Darcys on Spotify

Actors Conservatory alumna Sarah Allen (left) stars in upcoming horror film ‘The Retreat’

ALUMNI INDUSTRY NEWS AND UPDATES

• Actors Conservatory alum Eli Goree is set as a lead opposite Chloë Grace Moretz and Jack Reynor in upcoming Amazon sci-fi thriller drama The Peripheral, based on the bestselling novel by William Gisbon
• Stephen Dunn will write, direct and executive produce the reboot of Queer as Folk for U.S. streamer Peacock
• Netflix commissioned a new sci-fi series The Imperfects, which sees Dennis Heaton serve as showrunner, executive producer and writer, and Shelley Eriksen as writer and executive producer
• Quiver Distribution has acquired worldwide rights to The Retreat, from director Pat Mills, Alyson Richards (writer/producer), Lauren Grant (producer), Leah Jaunzems (executive producer), Orlee Buium and Maureen Grant (editors), and starring Sarah Allen; the film will hit theaters and on-demand and digital platforms May 21
• Alumni series Hudson & Rex, from Shaftesbury / executive producer Christina Jennings, is returning for Season 4
• Shant Joshi was included on York University’s inaugural list of Top 30 Changemakers Under 30
• Dennis Heaton has stepped down from his role as president of the WGC, and Alex Levine has been appointed WGC president and Marsha Greene has been named VP
• Oscilloscope Laboratories has acquired the U.S. rights to co-director Aisling Chin-Yee’s documentary No Ordinary Man
• Iggy Pop has joined the cast of Jeremy LaLonde’s upcoming comedy Blue Iguana, which filmed in the Cayman Islands in March/April
• Annie Murphy has been cast in Russian Dolls Season 2 for Netflix
• Read: Slaight Family Music Lab alum Aimee Bessada interview with Vents Magazine
• Warner Bros. International Television Production (WBITVP) picked up the global distribution rights to International Emmy-nominated alumni series How to Buy a Baby, produced by LoCo Motion Pictures, alumni Lauren Corber’s company
• Production is underway in the Cayman Islands on action drama The Baker, written by Paolo Mancini and Thomas Michael
• Toronto-based digital studio Dark Slope Studios has launched a new business unit focused on immersive training called Lumeto, co-founded by CFC Board Member Raja Khanna

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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