FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December, 2015: Whistler, BC – Women In the Director’s Chair (WIDC) organizers are delighted to announce new sponsorship relationships with the Harold Greenberg Fund and Tattersall Sound and Picture that will disburse some significant cash and in kind services towards Women In the Director’s Chair (WIDC) programming. The new funds are geared to support women-directed feature film projects through five phases: script Polish, Packaging, Production, Post and Promotion.

Part of the funds are earmarked for WIDC’s road-tested mentorship program. This year, the eight directors are being supported to develop their first or second feature film projects at the new WIDC Story & Leadership program taking place in Vancouver and at the Whistler Film Festival. They include: Mary Walsh who gave the Key Note address at the Whistler Film Festival Industry Luncheon, Marie Clements, Frances-Anne Solomon, Anita Reilly McGee, Maya Gallus, Nicole Dorsey, Ana de Lara, and 2015 WIDC Feature Film Award-winner Jordan Canning.

“HGF has supported WIDC-nurtured projects such as Sitting on the Edge of Marlene and Never Steady Never Still, and we are proud to have formalized the partnership with Carol and her team,” says John Galway President & CEO, Harold Greenberg Fund. “HGF’s sponsorship will allow the WIDC to expand the national reach of their programs and help put more extremely talented women in the director’s chair.”

 

The second part of the sponsorship goes towards the WIDC Feature Film Award now worth up to $155,000 in cash and in kind rentals and services. This year’s winning project Suck It Up, directed by Jordan Canning, produced by Marc Tetreault, and Jason Lavangie, will be the first beneficiary of the new funds.

The WIDC Feature Film Award is handed out annually to a Canadian woman director for her first or second live action fiction feature film. Tattersall Sound and Picture, part of the SIM Digital Group, has also recently pledged to join the Award team making the prize truly national in scope.

Tattersall has an impressive record of helping Canadian directors. “It’s part of our DNA,” says Jane Tattersall. “We support Canadian filmmakers because it is the right thing to do.”

The new support from HGF and Tattersall Sound and Picture are added to in kind sponsorships from William F. White Intl., Encore, Deluxe, Panavision Canada, Clairmont Camera and Digital, SIM Digital, North Shore Studios, The Bridge Studios, Vancouver Film Studios, Front Row Insurance, and Creative Women Workshops Association which provides executive producing services.

“This is a tangible demonstration of industry confidence in the women directors and projects coming through the WIDC program,” says award-winning WIDC Producer Carol Whiteman.

2013 WIDC Feature Film Award winner, director Siobhan Devine’s debut feature The Birdwatcher premiered at the Whistler Film Festival December 3, 2015 and plays again December 6. Other features supported by the WIDC Feature Film Award, Katrin Bowen (Amazon Falls), Ana Valine (Sitting On the Edge of Marlene), and Lulu Keating (Lucille’s Ball), have all won multiple awards. Next to go to camera is Kathleen Hepburn (Never Steady, Never Still), recently feted by TIFF and VIFF for her proof of concept short same title, and Marie Clements (Red Snow).

Next Award deadline is June 30, 2016. www.widc.ca/

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BACKGROUNDER

About WIDC

Founded in 1997 by an initial collaboration among ACTRA, The Banff Centre and Women In Film & Television Vancouver, the Women In the Director’s Chair (WIDC) program is an internationally respected Canadian professional development offering, specially designed to advance the skills, careers and screen projects of women directors. In 1998, the national non-profit Creative Women Workshops Association was formed to oversee WIDC operations the design and delivery of hands-on workshops, mentorships, fiction project development, feature film production awards, and ongoing outreach initiatives with and for the screen community and alumnae. With over 200 director alumnae all across Canada, WIDC is presented with major support from Telefilm Canada, Harold Greenberg Fund, William F. White Intl., and appreciates the participation of the Canada Council for the Arts | Conseil des Arts du Canada, SIM Digital, Tattersall Sound & Picture, Panavision Canada, Clairmont Camera Film and Digital, Deluxe Entertainment Group / Encore, North Shore Studios, The Bridge Studios, Vancouver Film Studios, Front Row Insurance, TELUS Optik Local, Actra Fraternal Benefit Society, UBCP/ACTRA, ACTRA Alberta, IATSE 669, Creative BC, BC Arts Council, WIFT Vancouver, Female Eye Film Festival, St John’s International Women’s Film Festival and Whistler Film Festival.

Contact: Office: 604-987-0747 | enquiries@widc.ca | www.widc.ca | FB: /widc.ca | @WIDC_ca | #WIDC

 

About Harold Greenberg Fund

The Harold Greenberg Fund/Le Fonds Harold Greenberg is a national funding organization that supports the development of Canadian dramatic feature films. Since 1986, we have invested almost $84 million in the Canadian film and television industry. That’s over 3,892 projects. We represent the English-Language Program (Fund) and are partners with the French-Language Program (Fonds). The English-Language Program is supported by Bell Media and The Movie Network. The Fund helps support: Story Optioning, Script Development, Equity Investment, Industry Initiatives including, Shorts-to-Features Program. Applications are reviewed by our English-Language Committee, which includes Suzette Couture, Damon D’Oliveira, Melanie Friesen, John Galway, Richie Mehta, Jane Tattersall and Corrie Coe.

Contact: hgfund@bellmedia.ca | www.bellmedia.ca/harold-greenberg-fund/ |

 

About Bell Media

With passion and an unrelenting commitment to excellence, Bell Media creates content and builds brands that entertain, inform, engage, and inspire audiences through the platforms of their choice. Bell Media is Canada’s premier multimedia company with leading assets in television, radio, out-of-home advertising, and digital media. Bell Media owns 30 local television stations led by CTV, Canada’s #1 television network; 34 specialty channels, including TSN and RDS, Canada’s most-watched specialty channels in English and French; and four pay TV services, including The Movie Network and Super Écran. Bell Media is also Canada’s largest radio broadcaster, with 106 licensed radio stations in 54 markets across Canada. Bell Media owns Astral Out of Home, one of Canada’s most dynamic and innovative out-of-home advertising companies with a network of more than 13,500 advertising faces in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Québec, and Nova Scotia. Bell Media also operates more than 200 websites; delivers TV Everywhere with premium subscription on-demand streaming service CraveTV, as well as its innovative GO video streaming services including CTV GO, TMN GO, and TSN GO; holds an equity stake in digital startup Hubub; is partners in Cirque du Soleil Media, a joint venture with Cirque du Soleil; and owns Dome Productions Inc., a multi-platform production company. Bell Media is part of BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE), Canada’s largest communications company.

 

About Tattersall Sound and Picture

Tattersall Sound & Picture is home to Canada’s top sound team and leading picture teams. We’re thought of as Canada’s premier post-production boutique. But we’re also the post-production home away from home for major production companies such as Take 5 Productions, Rhombus Media, Showtime, Starz, New Line Cinema, Serendipity Point, NBC Universal, Whizbang, Marblemedia, Sienna Films, USA Networks and Paramount Pictures. Creative inspiration. Innovative use of technology. And a commitment to excellence. We continually look for ways to excel in every project we do. Now if we weren’t Canadian, we would brag about the over 75 awards we’ve accumulated in over 20 years of operation.

Contact: Peter.Gibson@tattersallsound.com | www.tattersallsound.com | @tattersallsound