FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 2015, Toronto, ON – The Women In the Director’s Chair Career Advancement Module (WIDC CAM) kicks off the Female Eye Film Festival (June 16 to 21, 2015). The award-winning director participants selected for this session of the CAM include, Toronto-based filmmakers Jackie English (Nimby), Nadine Valcin (In Between/Entre Deux), and Vancouver filmmaker, Maryam Najafi (Kayan). Each has a slate of feature film and series projects they are developing.

The WIDC master class will be led by Marina Cordoni and Carol Whiteman with FeFF 2015 Honourary Director, Lea Pool and Telefilm’s Anne Frank. Following the master class participants will have a series of one to one meetings with industry guests. The program culminates in a three-month coaching mentorship where the directors are supported to achieve a series of short-term goals, and set in motion long-term goals.


CAM Participants (l to r), Jackie English, Maryam Najafi, Nadine Valcin

Also, receiving a WIDC Mentorship Award is alumna Christine Buijs (Divorce Photographer) who has been selected to pitch at the FeFF’s inaugural LIVE PITCH! competition. Buijs will receive a series of one to one coaching sessions.


WIDC Mentorship Award recipient, Christine Buijs

“The directors will hone in on their stories for pitching, identify strengths, goals and strategies to advance their careers,” says WIDC producer, Carol Whiteman. “This group of directors have completely diverse and strongly compelling stories to tell and we’re here to point them in the directions that will help them make them happen.”

Participants will also attend an insider information session: Demystifying Web Series with the Independent Production Fund’s award-winning CEO, Andra Sheffer. This particular session is open to the public and runs Friday, June 19 from 5 to 7 pm at ArtScape YoungPlace, 180 Shaw St, Toronto.

Deadlines and criteria for the CAM sessions at the St John’s International Women’s Film Festival (October 20 to 24, 2015) and the Vancouver International Women In Film Festival (March 8 to 12, 2016) will be announced in the near future, along with collaborations with the Winnipeg Film Group.

The WIDC CAM is presented by Creative Women Workshops Association in collaboration with the Female Eye Film Festival which runs June 16 to 21, 2015. WIDC operates with major funding from Telefilm Canada, and with the participation of the Independent Production Fund.

ABOUT WIDC – Founded in 1997, the Women In the Director’s Chair (WIDC) Program is a seriously road-tested, award-winning intensive hands-on modular mentoring initiative specially designed to advance mid-career women screen directors, their careers, and their narrative fiction projects. As of 2015, over 200 WIDC alumnae across Canada have directed 1,000+ hours of award winning screen entertainment, including 37 feature films. WIDC alumnae have created 6 network fiction television series, show running 10+ series. The internationally respected WIDC was created through an initial collaboration among The Banff Centre, ACTRA and WIFT Vancouver, spawning the national non-profit organization, Creative Women Workshops Association to over see operations; WIDC receives major funding from Telefilm Canada, and key support from William F White Intl, Panavision Canada, SIM Digital Group, Encore, Deluxe Entertainment Group, North Shore Studios, The Bridge Studios, Vancouver Film Studios, Front Row Insurance, Actra Fraternal Benefit Society, UBCP/ACTRA, IATSE 212, ACTRA Alberta, IATSE 669, Independent Production Fund and the participation of many other industry organizations and individuals, including Canada’s three major international women’s film festivals (St John’s, Toronto and Vancouver), the Whistler Film Festival, unions and guilds across Canada.

For more information:
Email: enquiries@widc.ca
 | Web: http://www.widc.ca
Toll free: 1.877.913.0747 | Mobile: 1.778.809.0747
Twitter: @WIDC_ca

–30–