If you're a Northern Ontario filmmaker and want to make your first feature film, but don't know how to go about it, pay close attention.
A veteran Canadian filmmaker has teamed up with Music and Film in Motion to give one lucky newbie filmmaker from this part of the province a leg up.
Avi Federgreen has created Indiecan20K, which gives the chosen filmmaker access to about $250,000 of in-kind services from industry partners, including post-production and gear rental.
Federgreen will distribute the film himself through his production company, Indiecan Entertainment, and will mentor the filmmaker through the process along with writer-director Warren Sinoda.
Thanks to the in-kind contributions, the filmmaker will be able to make the movie with a $20,000 budget.
They'd responsible for raising about $15,000 for their project themselves. But Music and Film in Motion is kicking in the first $5,000.
“My motto has been for a numerous number of years is 'No is not an option,'” said Federgreen, who's made about 50 films himself, and screened his film “Kiss & Cry” at Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival on Tuesday.
“It's very easy in this country, especially in the cultural industries, that people don't get to realize their dream — writing their first book, making their first film, making their first record, whatever the case may be.
“If I lived by all the 'no's I've heard in the industry in the last 25 years, I wouldn't be making films. There aren't enough initiatives in this country to help support the emerging filmmaking community that exists within Canada.”
Patrick O'Hearn, who's associate managing director of Music and Film in Motion as well as managing director of Cinéfest, said the organization wants to encourage Northern Ontario storytelling.
“It's going to make sure the industry has what it needs to survive and thrive,” he said, adding he hopes to eventually see the film resulting from this program be screened at a future edition of Cinéfest.
The project is also being run in Southern Ontario, with the Harold Greenberg Fund kicking in the first $5,000 to help out a filmmaker in that part of the province.
Indiecan20K is extension of a project called Indiecan10K that Federgreen ran two years ago.
In that case, six Canadian filmmakers were given in-kind services, but were expected to raise $10,000 themselves — they mostly did this through online crowd-funding campaigns.
The deadline to apply for Indiecan20K is Oct. 31. The winners will be announced in December. The filmmakers must then shoot and complete their films by April 30, 2018, with the goal to hit the 2018 film festival circuit.
For more information and to apply, email indiecan20k@gmail.com.
