Vancouver, Canada (June 2011) – Creative Women Workshops Association (CWWA) is pleased to announce the winner of a $10,000 cash prize. Made possible through the support of the CTV-CHUM Benefits, the award is designed to advance the career and next fiction screen-directing project of the recipient. This is the third and final installment of this award.
Award-winning filmmaker Carole Ducharme is the 2011 recipient of the CTV WIDC Director Development Award, to be presented June 13 at the annual WIDC Launch Event during the Banff World Media Festival.
This award, administered by Creative Women Workshops Association, will support Ducharme to attend the Banff World Media Festival where she will be meeting with potential funders. The funds will also be used as a first cash grant towards the production of her hilarious feature film directorial debut, The Donor. In addition to the cash, the prize includes ongoing support in-kind from Creative Women Workshops Association.
Trish Williams, Director, Independent Production, Drama, Bell Media who will be on hand to make the presentation, says, “Carole Ducharme writes with humor, originality and wonderful energy. I was immediately taken with her talent and am excited to see her career thriving as she continues to distinguish herself.”
“I am very fortunate and grateful to have such strong supporters who believe in me and in my projects,” says Carole Ducharme. “My feature comedy The Donor is a labor of love dedicated to all my donors who have given me the strength, courage and the necessary funding to keep going, in an industry where abandoning is part of the selection process.”
”We are so proud of our all WIDC alumnae,” says Carol Whiteman, President & CEO CWWA and award-winning WIDC Producer. “Carole Ducharme has the potential to make her mark as a filmmaker on an international scale with this film.”
The award presentation will be made at the WIDC Launch Event, June 13 at 3:00 pm MT, in the Conservatory of the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. Previous recipients of this award have included: Smita Acharyya and Dominique Keller for their web series TheBabyCliff.com and Carolyn Combs who used the award to complete her award-winning short film, Small Currents.
Research shows that women still make up less than 10% of directors on industry funded feature film projects in Canada. Since 1997, Creative Women Workshops Association has been working in partnership with The Banff Centre and ACTRA to present the critically acclaimed Women In the Director’s Chair (WIDC) program which now boasts 150 alumnae directors across Canada. WIDC receives major support from Telefilm Canada, William F White International, Panavision Canada, Fund, IATSE 669, IATSE 891, and the Directors Guild of Canada, BC District with the participation of Actra Fraternal Benefit Society, the Independent Production, the Banff World Media Festival, and many others who help to level the playing field for women screen directors in Canada.
CONTACT: Carol Whiteman, CWWA / WIDC | 1-604-913-0747 | carol@creativewomenworkshops.com
About the CTV WIDC Director Development Award 2011 recipient
Carole Ducharme ~ Carole Ducharme is an award-winning writer, director and producer recognized for her own unique vision and her delightful creative voice, making her a hugely exciting filmmaker who inspires confidence and exudes a contagious positive attitude. A graduate of the University of Montreal’s Law School and of the Women In the Director’s Chair, Carole is the founder of Witness Media Inc. based in Vancouver. She is currently developing the feature films The Donor with the support of Telefilm, BC Film and the HGF, as well as the acclaimed feature script The Women of My Life, with the support of Telefilm, BC Film, HGF, Movie Central, NSI Features First and the WIDC. She is also developing the 6 x 1hr drama television series Pourquoi Vancouver? for SRC in coproduction with Cirrus Communications in Montreal. Her short film Ben voyons Camille! won Best Short Film at the Female Eye Film Festival in Toronto; her short film Straight from the Suburbs won Best Short Film and Best Music at the Women in Film Festival in Seattle and her latest short film Autumn won the VFS Impact Award in the Difference Maker category. Carole lives in Vancouver with her partner and her dog (and co-writer) Willow. www.vimeo.com/caroleducharme
THE DONOR ~ When diagnosed with heart disease, Simone, a dyed-in-the-wool hockey-lover, moves across the country to be closer to her estranged daughter, Isabelle and her Asian girlfriend, Kim. Simone wants to be a grandmother before it’s too late and will stop at nothing to find the perfect Asian sperm donor so her daughter can get pregnant. After many unsuccessful attempts – even attending speed dating sessions – Simone finally finds the perfect donor. She “coaches” him like the ruthless hockey coach that she is.
“It’s all about getting into the head of your opponent to manipulate and defeat her. If you want to score, find the opening and shoot”. ~ Simone from The Donor
The Donor has been developed with the support of Telefilm Canada, BC Film, Le Fonds Harold Greenberg, and CTV WIDC Director Development Award.
About Creative Women Workshops Association
Creative Women Workshops Association (CWWA) is a national non-profit organization whose main activity, The Women In the Director’s Chair Workshop (WIDC), now celebrating its 15th Anniversary, is a one-of-a-kind annual professional development and mentoring program specially designed to advance the leadership and creative capacities of mid-career women screen directors of fiction, presented in partnership with The Banff Centre, ACTRA with major support from Telefilm Canada, William F White Intl, Panavision Canada, CTV, IATSE 669, Directors Guild of Canada, BC, Actra Fraternal Benefit Society, North Shore Studios, The Bridge Studios, Deluxe Vancouver, Post Modern Sound; with the participation of the Independent Production Fund, the Banff World Media Festival, and many others. www.creativewomenworkshops.com
ABOUT THE WOMEN IN THE DIRECTOR’S CHAIR PROGRAM (WIDC)
Since 1997 the WIDC program has advanced the careers of 150 Canadian women screen directors, 66% of whom reported career advances in the past twelve months. There are currently four fiction television series airing on six different networks, created or co-created by WIDC alumnae: Stephanie Morgenstern, FLASHPOINT (CTV/CBS); Zarqa Nawaz, (LITTLE MOSQUE ON THE PRAIRIE, CBC); Carol Geddes, (ANASH AND THE LEGACY OF THE SUN ROCK, APTN) and Jinder Oujla Chalmers (COMBAT HOSPITAL, Global/ABC), and four feature films directed by WIDC alumnae: Katrin Bowen (AMAZON FALLS), Penelope Buitenhuis (A WAKE), Jennifer Kierans (THE BEND), and Anne Marie Ngo (A TROIS MARIE S’EN VA), have been theatrically released in the past twelve months. Modules one and two of the WIDC program are delivered at The Banff Centre, and cover all aspects of screen fiction production: Story to Screen. Module three includes awards, fellowships and other practical opportunities to advance the projects and careers of women screen directors.
CONTACT: Carol Whiteman, CWWA / WIDC | 1-604-913-0747| carol@creativewomenworkshops.com
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