Banff, AB (June 12, 2007) – Creative Women Workshops Association recently honoured four Canadian women filmmakers at the 2007 Banff World Television Festival. The celebration occurred at the Annual Launch Event for The Women In the Director’s Chair Workshop (WIDC), Canada’s one-of-a-kind workshop. Leslie Ann Coles was presented with the 5th Annual WIDC BWTVF Fellowship, Rita Shelton Deverell won the 2007 @Wallace Studios WIDC Alumnae Award and Sibel Guvenc and Alana Cymerman shared the 1st Annual WIDC Director’s Chair Scholarships presented by the Quebecor Fund.

Leslie Ann Coles is currently seeking production financing for Shooting Stars, a documentary series about North America’s most famous music industry photographers.

“The festival is a launch pad for developing projects and the relationships you need to make them happen. Being at the BWTVF has given me and my projects a jump start to the next level,” said Coles.

“The Banff World Television Festival is pleased to present this Annual Fellowship in recognition of the talent that the WIDC program fosters and the fresh ideas WIDC alumnae bring to the festival,” says Robert Montgomery, CEO, Banff World Television Festival and Achilles Media.

Rita Shelton Deverell, broadcasting veteran and co-founder of VisionTV, and former News Director APTN, received $10,000 worth of rental fees from Toronto-based @Wallace Studio. She will use the prize to direct the drama portions of Not a Drop, her docu-drama about the aftermath of Katrina and disposable populations (Aboriginal peoples) in Canada.

“I am thrilled to receive this award. The WIDC program and @Wallace Studios are true champions of women’s voices,” said Deverell.

“Women often face real barriers in this industry. We’re extremely proud to support their voices with WIDC by continuing to offer this award, and we hope that it helps to place stories told by women in front of more audiences,” says Lillyann Goldstein, owner and CEO @Wallace Studios, North America’s only studio facility owned and operated by women. The prize is supplemented by a one-year subscription to mymediabiz.com, a growing industry portal and community from which Rita can spotlight her work and market herself.

Executive Director, Independent Production, SUN TV / Quebecor Media Inc, Derek Luis announced that Sibel Guvenc and Alana Cymerman were awarded the 1st Annual WIDC Director’s Chair Scholarships presented by the Quebecor Fund.

“The Quebecor Fund is pleased to provide this funding for the rich professional development opportunity offered by the WIDC program,” stated Luis. “This year’s recipients have already reported that they gained an enormous amount of momentum from their WIDC experiences.”

Creative Women Workshops and their Banff Centre and ACTRA partners are also rolling out the next session of the WIDC program at the Annual Launch Event where organizers will announce plans for WIDC 2008, led by Emmy Award-winning director Donna Deitch (Desert Hearts, Heroes, Bones). With another stellar line-up of mentors, WIDC 2008 promises to catapult participants into a new realm of story-telling for the screen.

For more information

Carol Whiteman, Producer, WIDC Tel: 1.604.913.0747; Email: carol@creativewomenworkshops.com
Web: www.creativewomenworkshops.com, www.banffcentre.ca/bnmi or www.actra.ca.

Biographies

Leslie Ann Coles
2007 WIDC BWTVF Fellowship
Leslie Ann Coles is an award winning writer/producer/director/actor. Following the success of her debut film, In the Refrigerator (2000) which garnered awards for Best Director, Best Short Film, Best Picture, Best Avant – Garde, Grand Jury Award for Actor In a Filmmaking Role and Best Actress, Leslie Ann won a 2003 CTV Banff Fellowship for a documentary series optioned by Microtainment/Docutainment. Upon completion of Women In the Director’s Chair (2005), Leslie Ann was awarded the 2006 @Wallace Studios WIDC Alumnae Award for her TV comedy series, Variety Store, recently optioned by Kaleidoscope Ent. Inc.. She was also one of five writer/actor/producer teams selected for the first Annual ACTRA Pitch the Networks (2006) for Wicked People. As an independent Creative Producer/Director Leslie Ann comes to Banff with an arsenal of projects to pitch including, Pirouettes In the Rain, a different kind of TV experience for children; and Shooting Stars, a documentary program that features the photographers who captured and made the music scene of the 60’s – 70’s. Prior to working in film and TV Leslie Ann dedicated 18 years to dance theatre as a performer and integrated arts specialist teaching young children. Leslie Ann is the proud Founding Director of the international Female Eye Film Festival.

Rita Shelton Deverell
2007 @Wallace Studios WIDC Alumnae Award
Order of Canada member, Dr. Rita Shelton Deverell was the first CanWest Global Fellow, University of Western Ontario, 06-07. Under her leadership APTN National News launched its first daily show, and she mentored her Aboriginal successor. Rita is a sought after teacher: formerly Acting Director, University of Regina School of Journalism; Reader’s Digest Visiting Professor at Western; and teacher, Diversity Journalism at Ryerson. Rita currently serves on four boards, including WIDC. She is one of the founders of Vision TV. Since her return to drama in 2005 she has written and performed two one-woman plays, and her company has just produced 6 TV dramas for OMNI, SCN, and APTN, and a Bravo!Fact short and is the recipient of the 2007 WIFT-T Quebecor BWTVF Fellowship.

Alana Cymeran
2007 Quebecor Fund WIDC Director’s Chair Scholarship
Alana spent several years working as a location manager and scout in Montreal’s film industry. She has worked with such internationally renowned directors as: Denys Arcand, Steven Spielberg, Frank Oz, Todd Haynes and François Girard. Inspired by the skills she learned from these masters, Alana self-produced & self-financed her first short film, Room Tones. In 2002, she directed an episode of Woman Warriors for CBC Sports/WTN, featuring Judo Olympian Michelle Buckingham. Her second short film, When Erma Made Herman, is currently touring the festival circuit and just won the BEST SHORT FILM award at the Canadian Filmmakers Festival. The film includes a musical score by recent Genie/Juno nominee, Patrick Watson. Alana is currently developing her feature film script, Erma Invents the Love Machine. It’s a fable filled with oddball characters, zany inventions and a world gone awry with consumption. Exhilarated by the energy of collaboration, Alana hopes to make films that enlighten audiences of all ages with magic, wonder and a healthy dose of the absurd.

Sibel Guvenc
2007 Quebecor Fund WIDC Director’s Chair Scholarship
Born and raised in Turkey, Toronto based, writer, director and producer Sibel oversees the development, financing and production of feature films and TV series for Kybele Films, www.kybelefilms.com. She recently co-wrote, directed and produced Hungarian Salami in the Magic, Myth and Dreams series, which is nominated for a 2007 Yorkton Golden Sheaf Award for Best Comedy. In 2006, Sibel received a Best Cinematography Award in New York and Bronze Award in Houston with her internationally acclaimed drama In the Penal Colony based on a Franz Kafka short story that she wrote, directed, produced, composed and edited. She has been interviewed by WHDH TV, affiliate of Deutches Welles in Florida, Omni-TV in Toronto, Hindustan Times in India and her film is programmed together with Orson Welles Kafka film in Kolkata, India and Philip Glass’s opera in Guarda, Portugal. In 2005, she received a Best Abstract Film award in Toronto with Palette. An honors graduate of Ontario College of Art and Design, Sibel received William F. White Proficiency in Film Prizes for Stigma and Ecce Homo. A 2007 director graduate of the WIDC program, Sibel is currently developing her features Broken Eggs, a sci-fi/drama, Eyes of Dreams, a psychological thriller, God Nabu, a comedy and Lucid Dreams, a TV series. She is currently mentored as a producer by Sandra Cunningham (Being Julia, Where The Truth Lies). Sibel also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Statistics with high honors and she is the Community Enrichment Chair of the Ontario College of Art and Design Alumni Council.

Backgrounder

The Women In the Director’s Chair Workshop (WIDC) is a one-of-a-kind professional development program specially designed to advance the leadership and creative capacities of women screen directors. Eight women are awarded director’s chairs annually to attend the workshop now entering its second decade. WIDC takes place annually at the world-class Banff Centre and is presented in partnership by Creative Women Workshops Association, The Banff Centre and ACTRA with the participation of a variety of film and television industry organizations including Telefilm Canada, CBC Television, CTV Inc, William F. White Ltd, Union of BC Performers / ACTRA, IATSE, Director’s Guild of Canada, the Independent Production Fund and the Quebecor Fund.

@Wallace Studios is the only studio rental facility owned and run by women in Canada. Located in the heart of Toronto’s west end the 50,000 square-foot studio rental facility can meet all your film, photography, television and video needs under one roof. With three versatile, sound stages, each sound stage is equipped with a hard-wall cyclorama, secured lighting grids, and easy-access loading doors. All studios at Wallace are fully air-conditioned. The floors have recently been resurfaced with Stonhard Stonshield, a patented undercoating that makes each space ideal for rolling casters or dollies. There are multiple independent services available onsite from lighting, carpentry, catering, editing and more. Contact: Lillyann Goldstein, CEO, 1.416.537-3471 or visit www.wallacestudios.com

MyMediaBiz.com is the essential online Community for people in the film and television industry. MyMediaBiz.com is an ever-growing organization that is designed to promote professional development, education and networking opportunities, as well as provide a diverse range of services to help members stay informed, find employment, locate training and connect with other players in the industry. Contact: Lillyann Goldstein as above or visit www.mymediabiz.com.

The Banff World Television Festival is a not-for-profit event produced by Achilles Media Ltd. In addition to honouring excellence in international television, the Festival provides a global platform for networking, discussion and debate, and explores current issues and challenges within the industry. Achilles Media Ltd. is an international events management company serving the television and digital media industries. Achilles Media Ltd. events include: the World Congress of History Producers, nextMEDIA — The Future of Digital Content and NATPE Mobile++. To register for BWTVF 2007, please visit http://www.bwtvf.com

The Quebecor Fund / PDPT recognizes that there is an under-representation of visible minorities and Aboriginals working in Canadian television and aims to contribute to creating equity in the Canadian television industry. The Fund supports non-profit organizations and professional associations providing professional development activities, that build capacity and strengthens the continued success of experienced professionals from those communities. Contact: Derek Luis, Executive Director, Independent Production, SUN TV / Quebecor Media Inc.

Creative Women Workshops Association through initiatives like The Women In the Director’s Chair Workshop and its alumnae development modules is dedicated to strengthening the voice of women story-tellers through the media of screen drama and ensuring that voice is heard in all its diverse embodiments, across the country and globally. It is also committed to advancing the skills and talents of actors and crew in Canada. Contact: Carol Whiteman, President and CEO/WIDC Producer, 1.604.913.0747 or visit www.creativewomenworkshops.com

The Banff Centre, Banff New Media Institute (BNMI) is devoted to research, production and academic exchange in the field of New Media. Each year research prototype labs, professional development workshops, co-productions, partnerships, project commissions, academic exchanges, and content development residencies provide opportunities for some of the most relevant and advanced discussion, production and research of new media in Canada and the world. Contact: Emily Paige, BNMI Coordinator, 1.403.762.6661 or visit www.banffcentre.ca/bnmi

ACTRA (Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists) is a national organization of more than 21,000 professional performers working in the English-language recorded media. We are self-employed artists working in feature films, TV, radio, digital media, corporate videos and commercials as dramatic actors, comedians, dancers, background performers, voice over specialists, singers, puppeteers, stunt performers – and more! Contact: Carol Taverner, National Public Relations Officer, 1.416.489.1311 ext 4045 or visit www.actra.ca