Emerging TV Producers Program

Program Overview

The Emerging TV Producers Program provides training and mentorship for up to ten women and gender-diverse creators, with the goal of providing business skills, training and connections to break into the complex Canadian TV production system.

We held an Information Session on May 27. You can watch it here!

Applications are now closed.

Key Dates

Program Outline

PHASE 1: Foundation Workshops

Participants will take part in an in-person, hands-on television business training in Vancouver, September 22-26, 2023. This is a series of Foundation Workshops led by instructors and assistants expert in industry business practices and possessing essential knowledge of what emerging TV producers need to know to get a foot in the door.

The Foundation Workshops will cover:

• Assessing your opportunities: Who and where the broadcasters are, what streamers and other TV funders exist in Canada and how they work with emerging producers. What are they looking for, whether your project is a good fit and what they expect from you as a producer.
• Navigating funding applications: Researching and interpreting the different requirements and intentions/mandates of each fund, how to do budget estimates and work with budget formats, and how to source and solicit required reference letters and mentors.
• Making a connection: Who and where to pitch your project and how to pitch when you get the chance. 
• Follow up: timing, techniques and skills. Attending markets, making and maintaining contacts, promoting yourself and your project.
• Putting the money together: Designing a financing plan: how broadcast licenses work, applying for CMF funding, tax credits and other sources and how to put them all together.
• Creating a budget and financing plan: Creating an appropriate budget – estimating, researching, calculating – and learning ways to scale your budget depending on the funding you might secure.
• The legal side: Understanding and assessing company structures, financing contracts, license agreements, deal memos, rights clearances and chain of title.
• Other sources of support for your TV project: distributors, broadcasters outside of Canada, crowd-funding, other grants. How to find them, and what they can do for you.

PHASE 2: Project Packaging with One-on-One Consultations

From October to December, 2023, participants will apply what they learned, at their own pace, to package their projects for development funding and or industry markets. Each participant will be matched to a mentor, who will review and provide advice on their project.

• Strategic Plan
• Financial Plan
• Budget & Budget Strategy
• Project Package
• Funding application

Costs

There is no cost to apply or participate in the program. Funds for travel, accommodations, and meals will be provided to out-of-town participants. Assistance will be provided for childcare and other accessibility barriers based on needs.

Applicant Eligibility

You are eligible to apply if you:

• Identify as female or gender diverse.
• Reside in British Columbia.
• Are a Canadian citizen or have a permanent resident status, and aged 18 or over.
• Do not have a credit as a producer or show-runner on an existing Canadian TV series project (Telus Storyhive project producers and writers are eligible to apply). 
• Have an eligible project in development, for which you have already completed narrative pilot script. 
• Own the intellectual property of the submitted project.

It is the program’s mandate to have a diverse cohort that includes women and gender diverse persons from the IBPOC, LGBTQ2S+, and persons living with disabilities communities. Sign language and mobility accommodations will be provided as needed.

Only one person per project may apply. If you have questions about your eligibility, please contact etvp@gemsvancouver.org.

Project Eligibility

We are looking for projects that have strong potential to succeed in the Canadian TV market. These types of projects will prioritize authentic storytelling and will showcase compelling stories through a bold and original point of view. We are looking for projects that already have a clearly developed pilot treatment and season outline. ETVP is not a story development lab, but rather a business skills training program for emerging producers and showrunners. However, the applicants will workshop the packaging of their project with their mentors in Phase 2, so it is important that the project be ready to package.

Projects should be: :

• Narrative live-action series only (reality, lifestyle, animation, variety or sketch comedy are not eligible).
• Limited (6-8 episodes) or recurring series.
• Projects can be half-hour or hour-long episodes, or short form series.
• Project should be well-suited to the contemporary Canadian TV landscape (could be made within similar budget and scope of existing Canadian TV projects).
• Project can be in any language, but application materials in languages other than English must contain translations.

If you are curious in learning more about what some Canadian broadcasters are looking for, please take a look at these guidelines outlined by CBC, APTN, Bell Media, and Crave. 

Application Requirements

• Completed Application and Release Form 
• Pitch document that clearly outlines the project’s story, themes, and creative approach (max. 10 pages, in a single PDF). This document should include:
  • Project details (program format, genre, running time, number of episodes).
  • Synopsis 
  • Series  Outline (Season 1 overview and mention of any further seasons if applicable)
  • Character descriptions
  • Target audience and any plans to reach/engage with them
  • Financing plan (no financing need to be in place, but please outline who you would pitch this project to)
  • List of any creatives attached to the project, if applicable
  • Brief description of other projects in your production or development slate, if applicable
• Letter of intent telling us more about who you are and your desired career path. Please outline why you want to participate in ETVP and how this program would help advance your career (max. 1 page).
• Applicant CV with filmography (max. 2 pages).
• Two letters of support (max 1 page each) from an industry or personal contact who is familiar with you and your work. If this presents a barrier for you, please contact us. 

Please note that each of the required materials should come as a single PDF file, and should be named using the format APPLICANTNAME_COMPONENT (for example: JANEDOE_PITCHDECK, JANEDOE_LETTEROFINTENT, etc).

2023 Selected Applicants

Sandi Barrett (she/her) is a writer and filmmaker originally from Cape Town, South Africa. Her work focusses on a female lens in storytelling. Sandi believes that the way in which women view the worldand the way in which we are perceived is an important narrative to share. Sandi has conducted research on immigration, belonging, and women and anger supported by the Canada Council for the Arts. Recurrent themes centre around female narratives, stories of transition, and outsiders in a new world.

Corina Bizim is a Romanian-born actor, writer, and aspiring showrunner. Raised in Toronto, she moved toVancouver ten years ago to pursue her Bachelor of Commerce at UBC. She has served on the TIFF Next Wave Committee, acted in numerous Film & TV projects, and is currently producing her first short film. Corina is passionate about telling high concept stories with a comedic flair, believing humor can solve most of life’s existential (and regular) problems. As a producer, she hopes to create the kind of feel-good television that one day becomes her generation’s Friday night nostalgia.

Jovanna has worked in the film and television industry for the last 20 years, strategically gaining experience on both sides of the camera. This past year she founded Grand Boulevard Entertainment with a goal of changing the narrative for women and minorities through compelling storytelling. Through her new company she has produced three projects so far, which include: JANE an award-winning short film currently going strong on the film festival circuit; PARALLEL a feature which has been picked up for distribution by VERTICAL ENTERTAINMENT.

Danielle Klaudt is a Vancouver based artist and graduate of the University of the Fraser Valley. As an actor, she has performed onstage with Western Canada Theatre, Miracle Theatre, Realwheels, and Pacific Theatre, and on screen in Riverdale, The Fall of the House of Usher, 1922, and Seagrass. As a producer, she is known for her work on the Jessie Award nominated production The Wolves. She is so thankful for this opportunity. They say if you teach a man to fish you feed him for a lifetime; can’t wait to see what’s possible when they teach this woman to produce!

Jenny Lee-Gilmore is a mixed Chinese Caucasian filmmaker based in Vancouver, BC. She completed her BFA in Film Production at the University of British Columbia in 2019. Her debut short film Breakaway played in festivals across North America and was selected in the Top 9 of the 2020 CBC Short Film Face Off. She recently wrote & directed a TELUS Originals mid-length documentary, entitled Overtime,about her mom’s 55+ hockey team. She’s passionate about telling female centric and Asian Canadian stories that are often forgotten or neglected by mainstream media.

Giselle Miller is a Jamaican-Canadian writer, actor and filmmaker living in Vancouver. After completing an MFA in Creative Writing at UBC, she went on to write, produce and direct two seasons of the Leo award-nominated web series Young, Single and Black (2021-22).She is a WIDC alumna, winner of the 2023 WIDC Advantage Award, and is currently participating in the 2023 Whistler Screenwriters Lab. Giselle is the founder of Orange Rose Productions, a company dedicated to stories that center Black people.

Krista Rand was one of six emerging producers invited to the Whistler Film Festival Producers Lab and Power Pitch competition in 2020 with the feature film Re Uniting (produced in partnership with Telefilm and supported by William F. White). Krista was selected for the FMA program and attended the Marche du Film in Cannes this year. She also received support from Creative BC to attend the Banff World Media Festival. She is laser focused on creating/producing series that focus on real people in vulnerable situations with a focus on strong female characters.

Katrina Reynolds is a Vancouver based actor and budding writer/director who started out in musical theatre performing on Broadway, at The Stratford Festival, The Shaw Festival and many other theatre companies across Canada and the US. Some favourite Film and TV credits include: Fire Country (CBS), Family Law (CW), Schmigadoon (Apple TV), and Batwoman (CW Network). Kat has fallen in love with acting in the film and television industry and is excited to branch out into writing, directing and producing while expanding her skills as a film creative and storyteller.

Rorelee Tio is a visual artist born in Manila and raised in Vancouver. With over two decades in the film sector, she has been a stunt double on productions like Joy Ride, Power Rangers, Deadpool, and The Continental. In her role as a stunt coordinator, Rorelee has contributed her expertise to network productions. Beyond action, her passion for narrative has driven award-winning indie endeavors, showcasing her as a producer.

Nikki Wallin is an award winning Art Director and Filmmaker. Her strength lies in concepting, supported by her technical and creative problem solving skills. Her first written and produced Short, REBUILD, went on a festival run over North America, bringing  home multiple awards including Best Horror Short. Nikki’s next steps have her concepting on a much larger scale as she pushes feature film and TV projects into production.

Selection Process

Applications will be scored heavily on the strength and originality of the proposed project, on the applicant’s potential as an emerging producer or showrunner, and on the project’s suitability for the Canadian TV landscape. The selection process will be influenced by the program’s intent to select a diverse group of participants, who are not all based in Vancouver.

Jury

Jessie Anthony, Producer/Writer/Director, DGC

Writer/Director/Producer Jessie Anthony is a proud Haudenosaunee woman from the OnondagaNation, Beaver clan, born and raised in the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory in Ontario, Canada. Jessie graduated from the Indigenous Independent Filmmaking Program with a Bachelor of Motion Picture Arts from Capilano University. Jessie is a Telefilm Talent to Watch winner for her first feature film titled “Brother, I Cry,” which won the 2020 BC Emerging Filmmakers Award at the Vancouver International Film Festival, the Audience Choice Award in the 2020 imagiNative Film Festival, Best Screenwriting Award at the 2021 Vancouver International Women’s Film Festival and Best Screenwriting and Best Direction in a motion picture at the 2021 Leo Awards. Jessie is also the producer of the Canadian Screen Award-nominated Indigenous Queer series QUERENCIA, which won the imagineNATIVE Pitch Competition, gaining a broadcast deal with APTN/The Bell Fund and Telefilm Talent to Watch. Jessie is currently in development with a television slate supported by CMF, AMAZON, ISO, CREATIVE BC and BELL MEDIA. Jessie recently wrapped up a writer’s room for a brand new Indigenous T.V comedy series titled “Acting Good.” with CTV and a director’s mentorship on THE HANDMAIDS TALE with Emmy award-winning cinematographer and
director Dana Gonzales.

Jessie has produced shorts through her production company Pass-Through Productions, which the Indigenous Screen Office has funded, Telus Optik and BravoFact. Jessie is a member of Red Castle Films and is one of the producers of the award-winning short film El Color Negro a story about black empowerment and many music videos. She was the first Assistant Director on The Edge of the Knife, co-directed by Helen Haig-Brown and Haida Artist Gwaai Edenshaw. Jessie was a finalist at the MPPIA short film award competition, receiving an honourable mention. She directed the documentary Through My Needle, which follows a Mohawk designer and her family, exploring culture and clan through the beading and design of indigenous regalia. Jessie worked on the Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce (NBC Universal), River of Silence (Telefilm), Going For Broke (Telus/Red Castle Films), Man in the High Castle (Amazon) and La Quinceanera (Lucha Gore -Time Warner) and many more.

Cailey Cavallin, Lark Productions

As Development Executive at Lark Productions, Cailey Cavallin collaborates on the development of a diverse slate of projects for the Canadian and international marketplace. She is a graduate of Vancouver Film School’s Writing for Film and Television program and holds an Honours BA in English Literature from the University of Ottawa. Lark Productions is an award-winning television production company with a proven track record of producing exceptional programming in Canada for the global marketplace. Lark’s scripted series, which have sold in over 180 territories, include the upcoming police procedurals LAW & ORDER TORONTO: CRIMINAL INTENT (Citytv) and ALLEGIANCE (CBC), as well as premium primetime network drama series MOTIVE (CTV/USA Network), FAMILY LAW (Global/CW), and FORTUNATE SON (CBC).

Jay Carolyn Wu, Development Executive

As part of Bell Media’s Original Programming team, Jay is a development executive with a focus on scripted original series. They take pitches and develop projects for CTV, Crave, and the Entertainment Specialty channels of Bell Media across both comedy and drama. They collaborate with everyone from seasoned production companies to the most exciting, bold, new voices in the industry. Titles include SULLIVAN’S CROSSING starring Chad Michael Murray, Morgan Kohan, and Scott Patterson, as well as THE SPENCER SISTERS starring Lea Thompson and Stacey Farber. Both shows have both been acquired by The CW for US distribution and will be premiering as part of their new slate of programming in 2023. Jay is also a writer/director whose films have screened at Inside Out Toronto, Reel Asian Film Festival, Wicked Queer Boston, and other film festivals internationally.

Their upcoming web series project PACKING was selected for IDM Futures’s development funding as well as IPF development funding in 2023, and will be produced by Fonna Seidu’s Snail Mail Media. Jay spearheaded the first-ever BIPOC-only cohort at the Canadian Film Centre in collaboration with Ins Choi in 2022. In 2017, Jay started Colour Theory, a Toronto-based non-industry event that celebrated short films of all sizes, genres, and budgets made exclusively by Black, Indigenous, or people of colour filmmakers who also identify as 2SLGBTQ (2SQTBIPOC).

Frequently Asked Questions

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