CFC alumni content is a welcome bright spot among an otherwise cold, dark and dreary January. There are loads of exciting films and series featuring CFC alumni talent to check out this month, including the highly anticipated One Night in Miami, starring Actors Conservatory alumnus Eli Goree, and the premiere of buddy cop show Pretty Hard Cases, from co-creators and alumnae Tassie Cameron and Sherry White.

Read on for more CFC alumni updates.

Kim Albright

AWARDS & NOMINATIONS

Critics Choice Awards

• Actors Conservatory alumna Annie Murphy has been nominated for Critics Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Alexis Rose on Schitt’s Creek; the 26^th annual Critics Choice Awards will air March 7 on The CW

Whistler Film Festival Awards

• Little Orphans, starring Andy McQueen and executive produced by Sherry White, won Best Canadian Feature at WFF

Women in the Director’s Chair Awards

• Kim Albright’s in-development feature debut With Love and a Major Organ, executive produced by fellow alum Lori Lozinski, has won two awards from Women in the Director’s Chair (WIDC): the CBC Films WIDC Talent Development Award and the WIDC Feature Film Award

Indiescreen Awards Nominees

The CMPA announced the nominees for the 2020 Indiescreen Awards, and we are proud to see the following CFC alumni among them:

• Established Producer Award nominees
  • Jennifer Holness (Hungry Eyes Media) – Stateless
  • Lori Lozinski (Violator Films) – Sugar Daddy
• Kevin Tierney Emerging Producer Award nominees
  • Charles Officer (Canesugar Filmworks) – Akilla’s Escape

The Indiescreen Awards ceremony will take place on February 10 at 4:00 pm ET / 1:00 pm PT.

FESTIVALS

The Boston Science Fiction Film Festival

February 10-15, 2021

• Between Waves, from co-writer/director Virginia Abramovich, producer Alex Jordan, editor Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux, with music by Stephen Krecklo, is an official selection of Boston SciFi 2021

TIFF Next Wave Film Festival
February 12-15, 2021

• BEANS, from director Tracey Deer, co-written by executive producer and CFC alumna Meredith Vuchnich, and developed and financed for production with the support of CFC Features, is playing as part of TIFF Next Wave starting Saturday, February 13. Learn more and get your virtual tickets.

Toronto Black Film Festival
February 10 to 21, 2021

CFC is proud to co-present two panels at this year’s festival:

• Not Just Another “N-Word” on Thursday, February 11 at 4 p.m. on Facebook, featuring CFC Media Lab Fifth Wave alum Alison Duke (Oya Media Group)
• What Has Changed Since the BLM Movement on Friday, February 19 at 4 p.m. on Facebook, with alumni Jennifer Holness and Sudz Sutherland (Hungry Eyes Media)

WATCH

• One Night in Miami, the feature directorial debut from Regina King that stars Actors Conservatory alumnus Eli Goree as Cassius Clay, is available to watch on Prime Video as of January 15, 2021
• Falling, produced by Daniel Bekerman, premieres on the Apple TV app in the U.S. and Canada on February 5, 2021
• Tempted By Danger, directed by Annie Bradley, landed on Hulu on February 1
• Catch Actors Conservatory alumna Humberly González as Sophie Sanchez on the upcoming Netflix series Ginny & Georgia, coming February 24
• Season 2 of Snowpiercer, from showrunner Graeme Manson, comes to Netflix on January 26
• Catch up on the fifth and final season of the Baroness von Sketch Show on CBC Gem

A number of hit series that feature CFC alumni as actors, directors, writers, producers and editors over the years return as part of the CBC’s winter lineup, including:

• Hit detective series Murdoch Mysteries (Season 14) and Frankie Drake Mysteries (Season 4) on January 4
• Kim’s Convenience (Season 5) on January 19
• Legal drama Burden of Truth (Season 4) on January 28
• Procedural crime drama Coroner (Season 3) on February 3
• New buddy-cop drama series Pretty Hard Cases (formerly Lady Dicks) premieres on February 3
• Season 4 of The Great Canadian Baking Show (which is filmed on the CFC grounds!) returns on Valentine’s Day, February 14
• Workin’ Moms (Season 5) on February 16
• Season 9 of Letterkenny, executive produced by Mark Montefiore and featuring Lisa Codrington as Gail, is now streaming on Crave

ALUMNI INDUSTRY NEWS AND UPDATES

• Several CFC alumni will take part in 21 Black Futures, “an anthology of 21 filmed monodramas, commissioned from 21 multigenerational Black playwrights across the country, directed by 21 Black directors and performed by 21 Black actors,” set to premiere in February 2021, including Alison Duke, Charles Officer, Ngozi Paul, Lovell Adams-Gray, Sabryn Rock, Lisa Codrington, Motion and Djanet Sears
• Valley of Exile, written, directed and produced by Anna Fahr, is one of the projects selected for Game Theory Films’ distribution fund initiative for BIPOC creatives
• Production is underway on Donkeyhead, from producer Anand Ramayya; the film is shooting in Regina until mid-February with an expected release this fall/winter
• Sarah Polley is set to direct a feature adaptation of the bestselling novel Women Talking starring Frances McDormand
• Cameron Pictures, helmed by alumnae Amy and Tassie Cameron, as optioned the adaptation rights to Heather O’Neill’s 2017 novel The Lonely Hearts Hotel; Tassie is penning the TV adaptation
• Fox picked up legal drama Diggstown, which features lots of alumni involvement
• Shaftesbury and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra teamed up to create original music specials for Murdoch Mysteries and Frankie Drake Mysteries
• Annie Bradley is a director on Season 3 of In the Dark
• Pacific Northwest Pictures (PNP) has secured the Canadian rights to Violation, starring Actors Conservatory alumni Anna Maguire and Jesse LaVercombe
• Fifth Wave member Needslist won an award from the Global Innovation Exchange
• Fifth Wave Cohort One alum Sarah Selecky Writing Schoolis launching the 10^th Anniversary edition of their Story Course
• Fifth Wave member Hibnb launched their website
• Fifth Wave member Sisterhood Media TV celebrated their one-year anniversary in January
• Fifth Wave member Art Collision is teaming up with fellow Fifth Wave member Artcryption to interview artists to determine what art-tech needs they have as a result of the pandemic. Their sister company, Artgate VR will also be hosting their 2nd annual global art fair in virtual reality, #ArtGateInternational2021
• IDEABOOST alum Stagepage released StagePage Recommends, a new personalized recommender system for the performing arts that matches audiences with great upcoming art experiences
• IDEABOOST alum MetaVRse announced 6 new corporate partnerships

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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