Jessica R.J. Fraser just won another Laurel for her short film Seashells! She is named as a semi-finalist in the Best Film Awards, Best Director competition out of London, England. We’re very pleased to have her work recognized internationally!
To view click here: Seashells
To find out about the Best Film Awards, follow @best_film_awards
We’re so EXCITED here because Jessica Fraser’s films “Still” and “Seashells” were part of the Bright Ideas Film Festival! You can now view these two short films on Vimeo for a limited time. You can vote for your favorites of the festival!
They’re rerunning most of the festival this week! Runs from now to Dec 26th, 2020 8 p.m. Pacific.
“Still” is Jessica’s stop-motion skateboarding film. She did all of this by herself including music, special effects, direction and writing. Personally, I love what she did with the titles.
“Still” is at 8 minutes & 13 seconds –>
Bright Ideas Film Festival 2020 – Screening 2, Part 2
“Seashells” is Jessica’s West Coast film about friendship. Again, she did it all except act one of the parts! This is a beautiful film.
“Seashells” is at 17 minutes & 30 seconds –>
Bright Ideas Film Festival 2020 – Screening 3, Part 1
BIFF- Audience Choice Vote- Screening 2 – Post Festival
BIFF- Audience Choice Vote- Screening 3 – Post Festival
Bright Ideas Film Festival was tremendous! Full of young eager filmmakers and their pieces! We watched it Saturday and were very impressed.
The script for “Lights, Camera, Paranormal Action” is available to interested producers now.
My first list consists of the producers I met in late July at Frontieres Film market.
I also added the list of local producers I met in March at the WIFT-V festival during their pitch sessions.
It was wonderful to realize that there are people actively looking for new scripts.
I’ve now sent it to producers who agreed to read it during our meeting.
I loved the experience of meeting the producers and was pleased with the level of interest the script garnered.
I’ve been working on my script “Lights, Camera, Paranormal Action!” since the #DarkSide week in early March. It’s done to first draft now at 105 pages. First drafts in film and TV are really ‘starting points’. You need to get through a few drafts before sending it anywhere serious. So, it’s not yet at the point where I’m sending it out to producers. I’m looking at a rewrite or two before July’s pitching at the digital edition of the Frontières International Co-Production Market – July 23-26, 2020.
Next step is the story editing which is provided by Women in Film. I’m really pleased to have another set of eyes on it. So far, only one writer friend has read LCPA and she likes it, so that’s good! However, I’ll need some critiquing to get it into super shape for pitching and for selling ultimately.
Graphics design – I’m so pleased to be working with Kelman Design – Keli Manson and Glen Schroeder on the design of my pitch poster! I can’t reveal any of the design yet, but it’s truly wonderful. I want to put it on all of my things! It’s not done yet, there are phases to developing a great graphic for something like this and I’m learning about what my Designers need to know in order to proceed.
The image must be something useful for the Market but also something that is a true sales tool. It needs to tell them what they are (potentially) buying, using images, colours, fonts, tone, and texture.
I’m so very pleased to be a winner in the Women in Film & Television, from our Dark Side contest. This win allows me to develop my winning pitch into a pilot and a great series plan, complete with graphic designer and story editor mentors! So we’re going to Montreal in July with this project! Thanks Women In Film & Television Vancouver!
Women in Film & Television Vancouver
In keeping with this week of announcements, we’re excited to present the selected winners of our From Our Dark Side Genre Contest! Congratulations to:
Selaine Henriksen (ON) – “Cold Snap”
Julia Rowland & Kristy La Pointe (ON) – “A Better Brain”
Cat Girczyc (BC) – “Lights, Camera, Paranormal Action!”
Lauren Marsden (BC) – “Mama D’Lo”
Marie Clements (BC) – “Sparrow”/ “Nel Dzay Ya”
Read all about it: http://bit.ly/FODS6Win
1. Look for a day job in film.
Anyone interested in film and TV should work in it even for a short time – in any capacity! Look for ways to get onto a film union list, starting as a PA maybe even? There are many jobs, too, not all of them on shoots. This includes the behind-the-scenes stuff or animation, distribution, etcetera. That way you really get a feel for your field & make contacts. I’m not a hugely successful TV writer, but I’ve sold over 15 scripts and all of them due to personal contacts – not the 2 agents (!).
2. Sell what scripts you have in the best way possible. I often use a real estate metaphor, because it is the same, believe it or not. As I learned the hard way, a local agent here like Integral or Characters won’t ‘sell’ your big script or new TV series idea. They’ll offer the ‘houses’ they have at their level – think Surrey. If you have a Shaughnessy mansion of a script, go to an LA agent. Many of them will look at new stuff from young writers. I will say that even a Vancouver agent would be good to start your talks with any producer though.
In this light, check out the Writers Guild of Canada. You can’t join until you have a credit, but they sometimes have open events and checking the website for good materials and references is good. WGC is the Canadian version of the WGA, in fact we have sharing $$ agreements with them.
So, for example, if you are ready to look for an agent, look at the public list on the WGC site: http://www.wgc.ca/resources/agents.html
It’s usually possible to meet with Canadian agents if you have a project. I’m currently not agented, due to the fact that I had to turn down the last 3 offers in a row (for bad reality shows that pay poorly).
All my work’s sold solely due to industry contacts but having an agent may have gotten me ‘in the door’. I have had 2 agents, both Canadian and neither earned me a cent I didn’t find myself. However, if you have a fantastic script, ready to go, for a movie, for example, you should try to get an agent to help you sell it.
I usually write TV episodes, so my work’s differently focused. If it’s a huge script – the Hollywood style ones have to be agented in the USA – our agents just don’t have the contacts to sell huge scripts. Check out the Hollywood Screenwriting Directory for ‘who to send it to’. https://www.writersstore.com/hollywood-screenwriting-directory It costs $29 US but is worth it.
Links:
TO film list – good for applying to current films. These are often updated: https://www1.toronto.ca/static_files/economic_development_and_culture/docs/currently_filming.pdf
BC file list – from the DGC site
https://www.dgc.ca/bc/production_list/Production%20List.pdf
Unions to check out:
Vancouver: ACFC is the easiest to get into. They don’t have ‘all’ the productions but they usually have something and are more willing to train. See http://www.acfcwest.com/become.html
ACFC also has a list of great links for beginners in film: http://www.acfcwest.com/industry.html They have a Production Office area and it’s good if he wants to get some local experience. Pay rates are lower than IATSE and hours sometimes longer but it’s a way in. Most ACFC members eventually join IATSE.
IATSE: This I’d recommend only if he’s going the ‘office’ route first. https://www.iatse.com/ Local 891 is Vancouver. It’s more or less a route to get into an office and see production and work from there.
DGC: This is where locations starts, also directors. But I never have seen Locations lead to writing gigs, they’re too far from the office and the writers. If directing is your interest, though, it’s good. They have offices in Vancouver and TO.
http://www.dgc.ca/en/index.cfm
The TV and film world can look like a jungle, but I’ve had some great experiences and earned a lot out there at times!
Cat
p.s. Below is from http://thecollectortv.com/36.html and is the listing for 1 of my Collector tv series episodes. Producers: Larry Sugar, Showrunners: Jon Cooksey and Ali Marie Matheson. The Collector is a wonderful show – a dark fantasy & I thoroughly enjoyed writing two episodes for it!
