WOMEN DIRECTORS HONOURED
AT BANFF 2006
Vancouver, BC � Creative
Women Workshops Association honoured two Canadian
women filmmakers at the 10th Anniversary Launch Event for The Women In the Director�s Chair Workshop (WIDC),
Canada�s one-of-a-kind workshop at the 2006 Banff World Television Festival. Jinder Oujla-Chalmers was
presented the 4th Annual WIDC Banff World
Television Festival Fellowship and organizers announced the winner of the 4th
Annual @Wallace Studios WIDC Alumnae Award.
Leslie Ann Coles, a multiple award-winning
filmmaker/actress and founder of the Female Eye Film Festival, receives $10,000
worth of rental fees Toronto-based @Wallace Studio. She will use the prize to
direct a teaser for her new comedy television series, Variety Store.
Organizers will host a reception where Ms. Coles will be presented with the
Award, Wednesday, August 2nd from 5:00 to 7:00 pm at the @Wallace
Studios, 258 Wallace Ave, Toronto, Ontario.
"I am honoured to be
the recipient of this award. It's always wonderful when there is a reward for
one�s efforts in the wild and wicked world of show making, the support this
prize offers will be invaluable to my project,� said Coles.
"We understand the challenges that women often
face in this industry. We�re so proud to be partners with the WIDC in creating this award, and we hope that it helps to
put the work of women directors on the map,� says Lillyann
Goldstein, owner and CEO @Wallace Studios, North America�s only Studio facility
owned and operated by women.
As a 10th Anniversary gift to WIDC, @Wallace is expanding their support by offering all WIDC alumnae a one-year subscription to mymediabiz.com,
their growing industry portal and community to spotlight their work and market
themselves.
Jinder Oujla-Chalmers is currently seeking production financing
for Elvis and Mrs. Singh her first feature and along with Omni Film and
Television Productions and Invert Media she has just finished the first draft
of her MOW, Code of Silence for APTN and
Global Television, expected to go to camera in 2007.
�There is nowhere better than the Banff World TV
Festival to network. Being able to attend has allowed me to build on the
creative tools I gained in the WIDC workshop and puts
my in touch with the people who can help me take my career and my projects to
the next level,� said Chalmers.
�The Banff World Television Festival has had a more
than 10-year association with Creative Women Workshops and WIDC.
We�re pleased to present this Annual Fellowship in recognition of what WIDC brings to the community and the added value that WIDC alumnae bring to the festival,� says Robert
Montgomery, CEO, Banff World Television Festival and Achilles Media.
WIDC also kicked
off its 10th Anniversary session at the Annual Launch Event where
organizers announced plans for WIDC 2007, which will
be lead by internationally acclaimed Canadian writer/director/producer Lea
Pool. Additional 2007 personnel include: Peg Campbell, Genie Award-winning
filmmaker, Head of Media Arts at Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, and WIDC co-creator; Carolyn Mamchur,
award-winning author and professor at Simon Fraser University, Gabrielle Rose,
award-winning actress and WIDC co-creator, Roger
Vernon, Gemini Award-winning cinematographer; and Mary Ungerleider,
Leo Award-winning editor.
For more information: Carol Whiteman, WIDC Producer
Tel: 1.604.913.0747; Email: [email protected]
Web: www.creativewomenworkshops.com,
www.banffcentre.ca/bnmi or www.actra.ca.
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WIDC Backgrounder: WOMEN
DIRECTORS HONOURED AT BANFF 2006
Biographies of Leslie Ann Coles and Jinder Oujla-Chalmers attached.
@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 56,000 square-foot studio rental facility can meet all your film,
photography, television and video needs under one roof. With three versatile,
fully equipped 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. 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 the world's
most important television content creation event. Now in its 27th year, this
annual forum is dedicated to the development of business and creative
opportunities for those in television programming and new media industry. 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.
Contact: Keri Levinsky, Director Partnership
Marketing Achilles Media, 1.416.921.3171 x226 or visit www.banff2006.com
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
skills of women screen directors. Eight women are awarded director�s
chairs annually to attend the workshop now celebrating is 10th
Anniversary. WIDC takes place 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, and the Independent Production Fund. Visit
www.creativewomenworkshops.com for more details.
Creative Women Workshops Association through
initiatives like The Women In the Director�s Chair
Workshop is dedicated to strengthening the voice of women story-tellers through
the media of film, television and video drama and ensuring that voice is heard
across the country and globally. It is also committee to uniting, promoting and
developing the different layers of talents behind domestic production in Canada
as well as a diversity of stories told from women�s perspectives. Contact:
Carol Whiteman, WIDC Producer, 1.604.913.0747 or
visit www.creativewomenworkshops.com
The Banff New Media Institute commissions research,
trains people, provides supportive creative production and learning
environments, develops new media art and industry capacity and actively engages
in interdisciplinary partnerships and projects. Practitioners are able to
access a range of expertise, peers, facilities, and environments - all in the
inspiring mountain campus location of The Banff Centre. Contact: Tahira Baulackey, BNMI Special Events and Workstudy
Coordinator, 1.403.762.6624 or visit www.banffcentre.ca/bnmi
ACTRA (Alliance of Canadian Cinema,
Television and Radio Artists) is a national organization of professional
performers working in the English-language recorded media in Canada. ACTRA represents the interests of more than 21,000 members
across Canada - the foundation of Canada�s highly acclaimed professional
performing community. Contact:
Joanne Deer, National Public Relations Officer, 1.416.489.1311 ext 4045 or
visit www.actra.ca
2006 @Wallace Studios WIDC Alumnae Award
Leslie Ann Coles
is a multiple award winning filmmaker/actress whose background in Dance Theatre
and mixed media performance led her from stage to screen in the late 1990�s.
Her debut film, In The Refrigerator, which she
co-produced, wrote, directed and starred in, was selected for screenings in
more than 35 international film festivals and garnered multiple awards for Best
Picture, Best Short Film, Best Debut Filmmaker, Best Avant-Garde,
Best Actress and the Grand Jury Award: Filmmaker In an Acting Role.
Following the
success of her debut film, Leslie Ann�s TV documentary series, Shooting
Stars, won the Banff TV and Film Festival Fellowship 2003 has been optioned
by Microtainment/ Docutainment
Plus Productions.
A Women In The Director's
Chair (WIDC) 2005 alumna, Leslie Ann continues to
work as an actor/filmmaker and is the proud Founding Director of the Female Eye
Film Festival (FeFF), a showcase for women directors
which will celebrate its 5th annual event June 2006.
This year the Female Eye launched the first annual Young
Filmmaker Development Workshop (YFDW) to encourage
young women in their pursuit of directing in which nine high school students
had the opportunity to work with Female Eye Film Festival alumnae directors on
the production of their first Super 8 experimental film. The student�s films
will be premiered at the 5th Annual Female Eye Film Festival, June 2006.
Mentors for the YFDW were Anita Doron,
Ingrid Veninger, Edie Steiner and Leslie Ann Coles
and sponsored by the Ontario Art Council, The Zukerman
Family Foundation, Liaison of Independent Filmmakers (LIFT) and the Female Eye
Film Festival.
W: www.femaleeyefilmfestival.com
WIDC Backgrounder: WOMEN DIRECTORS
HONOURED AT BANFF
JINDER OUJLA-CHALMERS
2006 WIDC BWTVF
Fellowship
Jinder is a WIDC 2005 director
alumna and a graduate of the BCIT Broadcast
Journalism program. Her first ten years the industry included on air reporting
stints with Global, CBC, and CKVU
in regional and national news. She also spent several years as a news
reporter and traffic reporter in radio at CFUN, CHNL and CISL radio.
Jinder has spent the last 12 years pursuing her
passion for writing, directing and producing film and television
projects. She studied Screenwriting and Film at Ryerson Polytechnical University in Toronto then moved to Vancouver
and mentored with Alan Difiore from the Vancouver
Film School and head writer for DaVinci�s
Inquest. Stepping out of learning mode she joined forces with Dusmar Productions and wrote, co-produced and directed
numerous documentaries, corporate and educational videos. Somewhere in
there she also found the time to research and write an East Indian cookbook.
Following her experience with Dusmar, Jinder decided to try it out on her own and formed her own
production company, Inner Vision Productions. With Inner Vision Jinder has produced, written and directed two national
documentaries, Colour Blind for the NFB and Going Beyond the Pain
for Vision TV.
In 1999, Jinder was the first recipient of the
BC Film�s Episodic Writing for Television Grant, which took her to Touched By An Angel where she worked and co-wrote a television
series pilot with Co- Executive Producer, RJ Colleary.
Jinder then in 2000-2001 joined forces once again with
ABC�s Emmy Award-winning Executive Producer and Show-runner Michael Braverman, who over saw the editing on her new series, The
Seeker. That association led her to doing a directing mentorship on
Fox Family�s series, Higher Ground.
In 2001, Jinder once again headed to Los
Angeles, this time as the honoured recipient of a
mentorship placement with eight-time Emmy Award-winning director, James Burrows
whom she shadowed on two episodes of NBC�s hit comedy series, Will &
Grace.
Jinder was commissioned to write an episode of the CBC day-time serial 49th & Main. She
recently finished the first phase of CBC development
her movie of the week version of the Komagata
Maru and completed the final draft of a movie of
the week called Code of Silence that she is co-producing for APTN and Global Television with Omni Film and Television
Productions and Invert Media in Vancouver. With funding from Telefilm Canada and BC Film and SASKFilm
Jinder has completed the final draft of her feature
film script Elvis & Mrs. Singh for which she now seeking production
funding with plans to direct it fall 2007.
Inner Vision Productions Inc.
T: 1.604.946.0422