Faculty of Arts Memorial University of Newfoundland and NIFCO (Newfoundland Independent Filmmakers Cooperative) present two courses in basic High Definition Filmmaking.

Course 1 is aimed at high school graduates (June 2009) and Course 2 is for adults 18 years and older.

Filmmaking (High Definition) COURSE 1: THIS YEAR’S Graduates from High School
Monday, July 6th- Tuesday, July 14th
Production: Write a SCRIPT, Light a SCENE, Record SOUND, Shoot a FILM
Post Production: Edit on an AVID Media Composer
Instructors: Roger Maunder, Derek Norman

Filmmaking (High Definition)
COURSE 2: Adults 18 years and older (No Experience Necessary)
Monday, July 13th – Tuesday, July 21st
Production: Write a SCRIPT, Light a SCENE, Record SOUND, Shoot a FILM
Post Production: Edit on an AVID Media Composer
Instructors: Roger Maunder, Derek Norman

COURSE REGISTRATION:
LOCATION: NIFCO, 40 KINGS RD
COST : $320.00 plus tax.
Cheques payable to: Memorial University of Newfoundland Faculty of Arts
CONTACT: Rhonda Buckley
rhondabuckley@hotmail.com
754-6519

REGISTRATION DEALINE: June 30th/2009

Stephenville Theatre Festival is seeking two non-Equity actors for the upcoming season.

Actor 1 – Male, 25 to 35 years of age, for Jonathan Monro’s Variations on a Nervous Breakdown and two other shows. Excellent singing and dancing ability is required. 8 week contract begins June 29.

Actor 2 – Male – 20 to 30 years of age, genuine Newfoundland accent preferred, for Lorne Elliott’s Culture Shock-the Musical. Must also sing, playing an instrument would be a bonus. 4 week contract begins June 29.

Please forward resume and headshot to eva@stf.nf.ca

“Ferron: girl on a road” at InsideOut, Toronto’s Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.

(Visit Augusta Productions for more information on this film.)

Before the Indigo Girls and before Ani DiFranco, there was Ferron, whose plaintive and poetic songs provided the soundtrack for an entire generation of lesbians. Nearing 60 and feeling the urge to reconnect with her audience, Ferron reunites with her band to perform a concert after nearly a decade away. Internationally award-winning director Gerry Rogers (My Left Breast) is there to capture the moment.

Part performance film, part biopic, “Ferron: girl on a road” traces, the life, the songs, the loves, the heartbreaks, and the pioneering path carved by a true folk legend.  Intimate, and sweeping all at once, this film moves beyond “chronicle” and captures in word and deed, the essence of a visionary artist, and the soul of an icon.

Opening on British Columbia´s Saturna Island, where Ferron welcomes her band mates into her home to rehearse, the action shifts to a stage in Victoria, where Ferron and the band perform some of her most adored songs-Shadows on a Dime, Girl on a Road and Snowin´ in Brooklyn. Interspersed between tunes are interviews with the band members and with Ferron herself, who talks openly about her painful childhood, her rise and fall in the music industry, her past feelings of shame regarding her Native ancestry and, finally, about coming to terms with herself after a lifetime of struggles.

“FERRON: girl on a road” premiers at InsideOut, Toronto’s Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, Sunday, May 17, 5pm at the ROM. Both Ferron and Director Gerry Rogers in attendance.

Air Canada is seeking short films by up-and-coming filmmakers to show onboard its flights.

The airline is accepting submissions for its enRoute Film Festival, and films will be broadcast on the seatback entertainment system between July and December of this year. The public will also be able to watch the films online at enroutefilm.com.

Air Canada will hand out an award for Best Short Film, as well as individual achievement awards in the areas of animation, direction and cinematography. The awards will be presented at a gala in Toronto at the end of the year, with the Best Short Film winner taking home a new Ford vehicle, and all winners receiving an all-inclusive Air Canada trip for two to a major international film festival.

The festival is open to emerging filmmakers, either currently studying in a film program, recently graduated or informally trained, anywhere in the world. More information on rules and eligibility is available at enroutefilm.com. Entry is free of charge, and the deadline to apply is May 31.

Do you have a short film script?  Maybe it’s your first script – maybe it’s your 100th…. The 5th annual Screenplay Series Workshop offers emerging and established independent filmmakers a valuable part of the script-writing process – a public reading by actors and feedback from screenwriters on your first draft.

The Nickel Independent Film Festival is looking for submissions of short screenplays for its 5th annual Screenplay Series Workshop to be held during the festival in June.

Workshop Description:
Facilitated by Lois Brown, a professional committee comprised of local producers, writers, and filmmakers will select three screenplays from all submissions received. The selected writers will receive a script consultation from a working professional screenwriter a week prior to the workshop. Following this, the writer may choose to do rewrites. On June 24, scripts are rehearsed by professional actors and a guest director in the morning, followed by a public reading in the afternoon. The audience is invited to give feedback to the writers after the reading.

Please drop off or e-mail submissions to:

Nickel Independent Film Festival
197-199 Water St.
nickelfestival@gmail.com

Scripts should be up to 20 pages (shorter is better) in a 12 pt font with page numbers. Please provide contact information with your submission. Writers must be available for the day of the workshop. Co-writers are eligible for submission. Submission deadline June 5, 2009. Writer notification June 8, 2009.

Hello everyone,

I am writing in my capacity as Co-Chair of the ACTRA National/Toronto Diversity Committee and our current Outreach and Education initiative. Please see the link below which takes you to an on-line survey that we are hoping you are able to circulate. We are looking for immediate responses and will be accepting submissions up and until May 22, 2009. We would appreciate your assistance in collecting as many responses as possible. Although the survey is targeted towards ACTRA members we are also accepting submissions from other sectors of the screen based industry.

http://www.actra.ca/actra/control/feature14
Read the rest of this entry »

Air Canada is seeking short films by up-and-coming filmmakers to show onboard its flights.

The airline is accepting submissions for its enRoute Film Festival, and films will be broadcast on the seatback entertainment system between July and December of this year. The public will also be able to watch the films online at enroutefilm.com.

Air Canada will hand out an award for Best Short Film, as well as individual achievement awards in the areas of animation, direction and cinematography. The awards will be presented at a gala in Toronto at the end of the year, with the Best Short Film winner taking home a new Ford vehicle, and all winners receiving an all-inclusive Air Canada trip for two to a major international film festival.

The festival is open to emerging filmmakers, either currently studying in a film program, recently graduated or informally trained, anywhere in the world. More information on rules and eligibility is available at enroutefilm.com. Entry is free of charge, and the deadline to apply is May 31.

NFLDtv.com is a new web portal for Newfoundland and Labrador filmmakers. It offers the opportunity for local content producers to broadcast their work. Now, local productions can be broadcast on the web from one central location.

“I wanted to have a place on the web that people could go to see work done in the province and about the province”

— Nick Hynes, Creator of NFLDtv.com

To find out more go to http://www.nfldtv.com or email nhynes@nfldtv.com

Focus on Arts Funding: a report from the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage
and another one on cultural infrastructure.

Just the facts
Two recently released reports on arts funding have refocused the debate on federal government investments in the arts and culture sector.

The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage recently published a report further to the hearings held in the wake of funding cuts to the arts made over the course of the summer and fall of 2008. The Committee heard from a wide range of witnesses that testified about the impact of the cuts on current and future activities and the financial stability of the sector.
Read the rest of this entry »

The Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council (NLAC) held its 24th annual Arts Awards Show and Gala tonight at the Reid Theatre in St. John’s.

The annual Arts Awards honour the accomplishments of Newfoundland and Labrador’s artists.

The six award winners are:

Artist of the Year Award: Sherry White (screenwriter, filmmaker and performer)
Congratulations Sherry from all of us at NIFCO.
Arts in Education Award: Rob Power (performer and music educator)
Patron of the Arts Award: Drs. Jean and Angus Bruneau
Hall of Honour Award: Rick Boland (actor)
Hall of Honour Award: Central Newfoundland Visual Arts Society (CNVAS)
Rogers Arts Achievement Award: James Anderson (photographer)
CBC Emerging Artist Award: Kellie Walsh (choral conductor)

NLAC Chair Camelita McGrath said, “This year’s winners represent artists who are achieving excellence in their fields both at home and away. We are proud to honour them here tonight and celebrate their accomplishments. Congratulations to all the winners and finalists.”

Nominations for the awards are submitted by the arts community, arts organizations and the general public. Members of Council vote by secret ballot to select the finalists and winners.

Winners of the Artist of the Year, Emerging Artist, Arts in Education, and Arts Achievement Awards receive a $2000 cash prize and a piece of artwork. Winners of the Patron of the Arts Award receive a piece of artwork. Inductees into the Hall of Honour receive a framed certificate.