Category Archives: Festivals and Awards

September 8 deadline for CIFF Pitch Sessions

Posted on by
Reply

Folks who follow this blog, know that I love Telefilm‘s Talent to Watch competition. It remains your best chance at funding your first feature film in Canada.

Until they allowed direct submissions from underrepresented folks two years ago, this is normally a two-stage process. Each of approximately 70 industry partners get to forward one (and sometimes two or three) projects to Telefilm and then the Talent to Watch jury selects eighteen or so for funding.

The prize? $250,000. One quarter of a million dollars.

Don’t belong to one of the Industry Partners? No problem!

The Chilliwack Independent Film Festival has got you covered. Launched last year, Pitch Sessions lets you throw your first feature project into the ring; five are selected to then pitch in person at the festival and the winner becomes CIFF’s nominee to Telefilm’s next Talent to Watch competition.

Oh yah, the top five also get free passes and a hotel room for the festival.

The deadline to apply to Pitch Sessions at the 2024 Chilliwack Independent Film Festival is September 8.

My take: If you’ve got a spare $100 and you want to hone your pitch in public, this is a great opportunity. Note that each industry partner sets their own rules but this is the only one I know of that incorporates a live pitch. Just be aware that Telefilm typically doesn’t open the Talent to Watch competition until mid-April.

Deadline approaches for women to apply to BANFF Spark

Posted on by
Reply

The application deadline for this year’s BANFF Spark Accelerator for Women in the Business of Media: Producers Edition is rapidly approaching: August 12, 2024.

BANFF Spark provides market access, training, and networking opportunities to help build more Canadian women-owned media businesses.

“Since the program began in 2019, BANFF Spark has already provided opportunities for more than 200 women entrepreneurs. The program is open to all candidates and is designed to empower women of colour, Indigenous women, women with disabilities, 2SLGBTQI+ women, and non-binary individuals.”

All selected participants will receive:

  1. Online workshops (that address the core components of business development).
  2. Networking opportunities with top industry professionals.
  3. A full-access pass to the 2025 Banff World Media Festival (June 8-11, 2025) and its complement of top industry sessions and international marketplace.
  4. A $1500 CAD travel stipend to attend the 2025 Banff World Media Festival
    (on the condition of in-person Festival attendance).

Apply here.

My take: I love that this is focussed on people and not squarely on projects. I don’t have to mansplain this, just apply!

Nemo breaks The Code to win Eurovision 2024

Posted on by
Reply

Last weekend Switzerland‘s Nemo won the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden.

Wow! What a song! What a voice! What staging! What lighting! What direction! All culminating in the win!

Leonor Gomes, writing in D5 MAG, treats us to A Little Amuse-Bouche of Eurovision 2024’s Stage Lighting Design.

In it we learn some of the technical details: “Movable LED cubes, LED floors, light, video, and stage technology will be combined to create dynamic and customisable-to-the-brim variations in the arena. The stage is placed right in the middle of the audience, in a cross-like shape, giving people a 360-degree experience where lighting design, music, and performances are not just seen and heard but felt.”

Over at the European Broadcasting Union official site, more details abound:

  • over 400 radios and 200 intercom panels
  • more than 60 radio channels, both analogue and digital
  • 196 variable speed hoists used to position and move the lighting and LED elements in the design
  • 204 tons of technical gear suspended from the arena ceiling, supported by 3.5 km of truss
  • over 2000 light fixtures, each with LED or laser sources
  • approximately 1000 square meters of LED screens enveloping the set, from the stage floor to LED video cubes
  • 68 speakers
  • 56 microphones
  • 9 sound desks
  • 3 different sound mixes, including in-ear monitors for artists, PA for the on-site audience, and the broadcast mix for TV viewers worldwide
  • 55 seconds to move each prop into place while simultaneously rolling another off the stage
  • over 1000 accredited media representatives from around 60 countries

The Eurovision site names the two people most responsible: Florian Wieder and Fredrik Stormby.

Take a look at the incredible live Steadicam work during the French song:

My take: I love this show and watch it each year. I love the now-permanent slogan: United by Music.

 

The FCC complaints regarding John Cena presenting at the Oscars

Posted on by
Reply

Kory Grow reveals in Rolling Stone what the Three People [who] Did Not Enjoy John Cena’s Physical Perfection at [the] Oscars wrote.

He begins with the admission that “Rolling Stone was able to review the irate messages via a Freedom of Information Act request.”

One wrote:

“Indecent Prime Time TV: There is no reason why a grown man will come to national television like a streaker and molest and abuse all the children who will hear and see this in TV and in the various media the following day. There is need for Cena and the Oscar organizers to be cancelled for promoting gratuitous and inappropriate nudity in such horrific levels that they deserve boycott in the first order.”

Another wrote:

“What more can I say….other than an undresses [sic] man coming out on stage with only and piece of paper covering his private parts! Do your job! Get this filth off our TVs!”

A third wrote:

“Double standards with nudity: John Cena’s almost-complete nudity during the Oscars on March 12th, 2024, was abhorrent. If that had been a woman, the world would have ended.”

Riley Utley reports on Cinemablend that the Academy specified that “a bulge cannot be showing, and you can’t show crack.”

No crack proof.

Watch the costume change.

My take: lol! The world did not end. In fact, it was one of the high points of the broadcast. Perhaps those three were just jealous?

How to piss off film festivals in 16 easy steps

Posted on by
Reply

Elliot Grove lists on Raindance the 16 Things Film Festivals Hate About Filmmakers.

Here are the points but please visit the site for the full elaboration:

  1. Filmmakers who don’t read the festival rules and regulations
  2. Filmmakers who don’t complete submission details
  3. Filmmakers who send wrong or incorrect email and telephone numbers
  4. Filmmakers who are incommunicado
  5. Filmmakers who are too communicative
  6. Filmmakers who are having fights with their team
  7. Filmmakers who haven’t cleared music rights
  8. Filmmakers who send faulty preview discs
  9. Filmmakers who want us to watch their films on DVD
  10. Filmmakers who send bad production stills
  11. Filmmakers with no social network
  12. Filmmakers without a press kit
  13. Filmmakers who are rude
  14. Filmmakers who don’t understand the role of a festival
  15. Filmmakers who fall for cons
  16. Filmmakers who ignore relationships

In other words, if you want to be loved by film festivals, do the exact opposite of this list.

My take: FilmFreeway lists over 13,000 film festivals. The biggest piece of advice that I think is missing from Elliot’s list above is: choose wisely. In other words, understand the goals for your film, set a budget and then narrow down your list of festivals to the ones that have shown films like yours in the past. Be honest with yourself about the film’s quality and uniqueness. After all, it will be competing against potentially thousands of other submissions: “For TIFF, we get between 4,000 to 4,500 films every year. Sundance gets 10,000 to 11,000 every year.”

Academy makes it harder for indies to qualify for Best Picture in 2024

Posted on by
Reply

Josh Rottenberg and Glenn Whipp report in The Los Angeles Times that The Oscars are changing the rules for best picture.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the news on Wednesday, June 21, 2023:

“The Academy’s Board of Governors has approved new requirements to broaden the public theatrical exhibition criteria for Oscars® eligibility in the Best Picture category starting with the 97th Academy Awards®, for films released in 2024.
Upon completion of an initial qualifying run, currently defined as a one-week theatrical release in one of the six U.S. qualifying cities, a film must meet the following additional theatrical standards for Best Picture eligibility:

  • Expanded theatrical run of seven days, consecutive or non-consecutive, in 10 of the top 50 U.S. markets, no later than 45 days after the initial release in 2024.
  • For late-in-the-year films with expansions after January 10, 2025, distributors must submit release plans to the Academy for verification.
  • Release plans for late-in-the-year films must include a planned expanded theatrical run, as described above, to be completed no later than January 24, 2025.
  • Non-U.S. territory releases can count towards two of the 10 markets.
  • Qualifying non-U.S. markets include the top 15 international theatrical markets plus the home territory for the film.”

My take: These new rules begin in 2024, for Best Picture contenders in the 2025 awards. It’s interesting to compare the number of theatres for winners Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Whale and Nomadland.

How the most-awarded film in history did it

Posted on by
Reply

Hilton Dresden tallies in The Hollywood Reporter 2023’s Oscar Wins By Film: ‘EEAAO’ Leads With 7 Statues.

They write:

“As expected, Daniels Kwan and Scheinert’s Everything Everywhere All At Once has come out on top at 2023’s Oscars ceremony, with the most wins of anything nominated. The A24 multiverse dramedy, only the second feature film from the directing duo, took home seven awards: best picture, director, lead actress for Michelle Yeoh, original screenplay, editing, supporting actor for Ke Huy Quan and supporting actress for Jamie Lee Curtis.”

Alex Stedman analyzes on IGN How Everything Everywhere All At Once Went From Intriguing Indie to Awards Juggernaut.

She plots out this timeline:

  • Dec. 14, 2021: Trailer Debuts and Picks Up Steam
  • March 11, 2022: Everything Everywhere All At Once Opens SXSW to Rave Reviews
  • March 25, 2022: Everything Everywhere Opens in Limited Theaters
  • April 16, 2022: A24 Doubles the Theater Count, Continues to Expand, and Cashes in
  • Jan. 24, 2023: Everything Everywhere Scores 11 Oscar Nominations and Begins Awards Sweeps

To date, the film has made almost $108M worldwide on a budget of $25M.

Guy Lodge explains in The Guardian how ‘A24 finds the zeitgeist and sets the trend’: how a small indie producer came to dominate the Oscars.

He writes:

“With 11 nominations, Everything Everywhere All at Once leads the Oscar field; A24, likewise, is the leader among studios, having also secured nominations in various categories for its films Aftersun, The Whale, Causeway, Close and Marcel the Shell With Shoes On. And this kingmaker status has been achieved with surprisingly few concessions to the mainstream.”

He traces the company’s 10-year history and quotes filmmaker Lulu Wang as saying:

“‘A24’s brand is intertwined with the identities of the artists that it works with, and [is] known for championing unique voices. At the same time, they just have a really incredible ability to identify the zeitgeist before everybody else has. They set the trend…. The world has changed. Our industry has changed. And who is saving cinema? We have to draw people to theatres. And we don’t want the tentpoles to be the only things on offer. If A24 are able to continue getting independent films made, and protecting the voices that make those independent films, I don’t care if it has to come with a mug.’”

My take: Great work, A24! This is evidence the tide has turned and more interesting films are in vogue once again. I guess we’ll know for sure in 12 months.

BIFA replaces gendered acting awards

Posted on by
Reply

Annie Martin reports on UPI that the British Independent Film Awards introduce gender-neutral acting categories.

She says:

“BIFA will replace its gendered acting categories with five new awards: Best Lead Performance, Best Supporting Performance, Best Joint Lead Performance — for two or three performances that are the joint focus of the film — and Best Ensemble. The new categories join Breakthrough Performance. Other organizations have also switched to gender-neutral categories, including the Berlin Film Festival, the MTV Movie Awards and the BRIT Awards.”

Meanwhile, John Norris argues on The Daily Beast Why the Oscars Should Do Away With Gender.

He says:

“It’s long past time for acting awards like the Oscars to be non-gendered. Whenever this, to my mind, sensible, modest proposal is brought up, the objections generally come down to three areas: (1) that if men and women competed against one another for Oscars, Emmys, Tonys, BAFTAs and Golden Globes, the result would be an XY tsunami, in which women would hardly stand a chance; (2) the inequality of acting opportunity in Hollywood and beyond is so skewed in favor of men that having separate female categories is necessary; and (3) that no one, from award show producers to networks to the public, wants to see any change that could potentially decrease the number of stars on stage or on a red carpet in a designer gown.“

He proposes that the two five-person categories should be combined into one ten-person category. Note that Best Picture is a ten film category.

My take: just to play Devil’s Advocate, I think we should acknowledge more excellence by female creators and therefore recognize male and female winners in every category. How about separate nights for each Academy Awards: one night the women can bask in their collective successes and the next the men can duke it out among each other for supremacy?

Cannes 2022: film quotas drive national production

Posted on by
Reply

Scott Roxborough reports in The Hollywood Reporter that Wall Street Hits the Croisette: Why Private Equity Investors Are Bullish on Indie Film.

He claims:

“Private equity, or PE, firms are pumping money into the entertainment content, financing independent production and snatching up companies at a level never seen before in the indie industry…. Some of the biggest players packaging projects and inking deals on the Croisette have backing from private equity groups…. The bet PE investors are making is that the explosive growth in streaming services will lead to a similar demand boom for content. And that the companies that own the IP, the original films and TV shows the streamers need, will be best positioned to benefit.”

He traces this demand squarely back to government policy:

“Many see particularly strong growth potential in Europe, where European Union (EU) content quotas for SVOD platforms — 30 percent of all content on streaming services in Europe must be European-made — has created guaranteed demand for original, home-grown films and series which most streamers will be unable to fill on their own.”

As to Cannes, filmmaker Jeremy Lutter (pictured above) compares this year’s experience with previous ones:

“Cannes is in some ways the same and in some ways different. I would say it’s two thirds the size as previous non-COVID years in terms of events. But, considering the situation, it’s impressive! The crowds are smaller but it’s still busy. As for deals — people are looking — there’s been less movies made recently — everyone is hungry for movies. Oh yeah, instead of a gift bag, this year you get a PPE mask with a logo on it!”

My take: of course, quotas drive national production. We proved that with CanCon and Canadian music; witness the dozens of Canadian superstars, who, as Simu Liu points out about Shawn Mendes, Avril Lavigne and Arcade Fire, “like me have fulfilled the ultimate Canadian dream of making it in America — but to our credit, we always come back!”

Michael Korican to host Q & A at Short Circuit Pacific Rim Film Festival

Posted on by
Reply

Thursday night, May 5, 2022, at the Vic Theatre, Victoria, BC.

As you may know, I’m the current President of CineVic, Victoria’s largest media arts centre, and sound editor and co-producer of its podcast, Push In.

I’m also the Selection Committee Chair of its Short Circuit Pacific Rim Short Film Festival.

It’s in that capacity that I’ll be hosting the Questions and Answers for Thursday night’s screening.

Joining us will be:

  • Joyce Kline (Director, Cancelled Stamp)
  • Jocelyn Russell (Producer, Cancelled Stamp)
  • Tammy Tsang (Director, Lauren in the Bathroom)
  • David Lennon (Actor, Wallpaper)

The films are:

  1. A Tight Ten (California • 17 mins • Chelsea Spirito)
  2. Cancelled Stamp (Victoria • 13 mins • Joyce Kline)
  3. Fumes (Singapore • 7 mins • Dominic Graham)
  4. Wallpaper (Vancouver • 9 mins • Tanya Jade)
  5. Lauren in the Bathroom (Vancouver • 2 mins • Tammy Tsang)
  6. The Old Man Next Door (New Zealand • 15 mins • Aidan Otene Dickens)
  7. Purea (New Zealand • 6 mins • Kath Akuhata-Brown)

My take: Honoured to do this!