This Is You In Shorts

Congrats to Charles Hall, whose short film script, CIGAR STORE INDIAN, my buddy Maarten Kroonenburg just finished.

Maarten is looking for a new short film script, 4-6 pages. If you've got one, and you are Canadian, please contact his assistant, Patrick Greatbatch, at greatbatchmtl@gmail.com.

Thanks!

12 Ways to Say I'm Sorry

At last on the small screen, my 2007 short "12 Ways to Say I'm Sorry," in which we examine what Canadians mean by the expression, "I'm sorry."

Guess what it doesn't mean?

How Do You Look In Shorts?

My d.p. buddy Maarten Kroonenburg wants to direct a second short film. He's an accomplished d.p. with his own equipment company, and we're working together on a feature film, so there is a very good likelihood he'll shoot one early next year. Maybe yours.

The script should be no more than 7 pages long -- the film needs to be no more than 6 minutes long with credits. Small cast (two is ideal), no more than a few locations. Minimal special effects. Funny is good but not a requirement. The writer must be Canadian.

Check out a bunch of Bravo!FACT shorts for inspiration.

If you've got a script you'd like to see get made, email it to his intern, Patrick.

Fredericton?

If you happen to be in Fredericton, NB tonight, my short film, YOU ARE SO UNDEAD is playing at the midnight (well, 11:45 pm) screening of shorts -- "B Movies, Bad Behavior and Blood" at Tilley Hall on the UNB campus.

Brevity is the Soul of Wit

If you're a student in the UK, the National Student Film Association, would like you to submit your short film script (up to 5 pages) to the National Student Screenwriting Competition. The competition is free. Deadline is the 7th November 2010.

I've juried short films, and the one thing they had in common is they were all too long. Five pages is just about perfect. Who doesn't have five minutes to watch a short?

Short Film Financing Seminar in St. Laurent, Quebec

Financing Your Short Film!

Yes, it’s possible to finance short films in Canada, and this panel of experts will give insights and advice on just how to do it. Of course, it’s not easy, but if auteur filmmaking is the passion that drives you then this is a presentation you’re not going to want to miss! Our experts include the hugely successful animation short filmmaker Malcolm Sutherland (Bird Calls, Forming Game, Astronomer’s Dream), Tim Dallett from the pan-Canadian Independent Media Arts Alliance (umbrella group for Canadian media arts centres and co-ops), and funders Judy Gladstone (CTVglobemedia’s Bravo!FACT) and Felipe Diaz, program officer from the Canada Council for the Arts.

Financing Your Short Film! panel
Wednesday, June 30, 1pm to 2:30pm


Please join us with your questions, concerns and curiosity and take the chance to speak directly to those who’ve done it, are doing it and who make those decisions so crucial to your creative livelihood. Hosted by NFB animation producer Michael Fukushima.

If you’re able, please stay afterwards for some light refreshments and for the launch screening of our brand-new batch of Hothouse films, Hothouse 6: Inside Out, screened in glorious stereoscopic 3D!

Hothouse 6: Inside Out screening
Wednesday, June 30, 3pm to 3:30pm

National Film Board of Canada
Pierre-Perrault Theatre
3155 chemin cote-de-Liesse
St-Laurent, Quebec (H4N 2N4)

Here's What I've Been Up To...

I've been shooting a six minute teen vampire sex comedy short called YOU ARE SO UNDEAD.

Sprint for your Short

[QUEBEC] SODEC is doing their COURS ECRIRE TON COURT program again, soliciting the best short film scripts in both English and French from emerging but professional screenwriters between 18 and 35. There are two prizes for best script, and there's even a $1000 CBC prize for best English script. Check it out.

Applicants must:

- be between the ages of 18 and 35 (i.e., younger than 36 as of the submission deadline on August 17, 2009)
- be pursuing a professional writing career (i.e., high school, college and university undergraduate students are not eligible)
- be a resident of Quebec for at least two years
- be available between September 7 and October 19, 2009
- submit all the required entry material to SODEC
- never have been selected as a finalist in a previous edition of the contest.

Note also that the next deadline for the Young Creators program is in November. (PDF.)