FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – October 2018: Three women directors have been selected to partake in the St John’s 2018 edition of the WIDC Career Advancement Module (CAM) taking place during the St John’s International Women’s Film Festival, October 17 to 21, 2018. Aiming to generate career momentum while they develop pitch materials for their next screen projects are Nova Scotia-based filmmaker Nicole Steeves, who is developing her third feature film; Quebec-based filmmaker Anne Kmetyko and Alberta-based filmmaker, Melanee Murray Hunt, each developing their debut feature films.

Each of these talented and award-winning directors is developing additional projects for the screen.

Other Canadian directors that have spring-boarded their careers forward through the CAM include Kate Green, whose sci-fi web series NarcoLeap was recently nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for Best Web series; Siobhan Devine, who has since won ‘Best Direction’ awards and nominations for her debut feature film The Birdwatcher and television series Package Deal; and Winnifred Jong, whose comedic web series Tokens On Call was WIDC’s nominee for the Telefilm Canada Talent to Watch program and will officially launch in spring 2019.

This session of the CAM is led by WIDC co-creator and producer, Dr. Carol Whiteman who facilitates the CAM, along with CEO and Producer, MCE, Marina Cordoni who is a returning Guest Mentor to the CAM. Beginning with intensive WIDC master classes prior to the St John’s International Women’s Film Festival, WIDC director participants also meet with industry experts, CBC Films Mehernaz Lentin, Telefilm Canada’s, Atlantic Regional Feature Film Executive, Lori McCurdy, Harold Greenberg Fund John Galway,  Independent Production Fund, Andra Sheffer, Canadian Screen composers Guild, Janal Bechthold, and mentor director Lulu Keating who offer insights into navigating career paths and connecting screen projects with the market place. At the end of the week, each director sets strategic career goals then meets for one to one coaching with Whiteman once a month for the three months following the workshop to keep up the momentum generated during the festival.

Telefilm Canada, provides major funding support for WIDC. This session of the CAM, is presented in collaboration with St John’s International Women’s Film Festival.

The next deadline for director applications for a CAM session will be January 15, 2019. That session will take place at the Vancouver International Women In Film Festival, March 7 to 11, 2019, in part at Vancouver’s VIFF Vancity Theatre.

WIDC Contact: enquiries@widc.ca | www.widc.ca | facebook.com/widc.ca | @WIDC_ca | #WIDC

Director bios here.

ANNE KMETYKO

MELANEE MURRAY HUINT

NICOLE STEEVES

ABOUT WIDC – Founded in 1997, Women In the Director’s Chair (WIDC) is an internationally respected Canadian professional development offering, specially designed to advance the skills, careers and fiction screen projects of women directors. With 250+ director alumnae across Canada, who have earned over 100 awards and nominations for their work this year alone, over the last twenty-two years WIDC has fostered the development of a generation of women screen directors. WIDC is presented with major support from Telefilm Canada and ACTRA, and with the participation of the Canada Council for the Arts | Conseil des Arts du Canada, Actra Fraternal Benefit Society, ACTRA National, TELUS STORYHIVE, Creative BC, UBCP/ACTRA, Independent Production Fund, ACTRA Alberta.

WIDC appreciates community collaborations with 1st Weekend Club’s Canada Screens, National Film Board of Canada, WIFT Vancouver’s International Women In Film Festival, Female Eye Film Festival, St John’s International Women’s Film Festival, Winnipeg Film Group, Crazy 8’s, TIFF, and the Whistler Film Festival.

WIDC Feature Film Award is supported by William F. White International, Panavision Canada, Sim, Keslow Camera, Encore Vancouver, Technicolor Toronto, Skylab Vancouver, Poste Moderne, Walters Lighting & Grip, North Shore Studios, The Bridge Studios, Vancouver Film Studios, The Research House Clearance Services Inc., MELS Studios, Front Row Insurance, White Hart Post Production, and Descriptive Video Works, National Captioning Canada, Line 21.

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