So, my writing partner Duane Murray and I are about to embark into the TV waters! We’ve been selected as one of the creative teams for the 2011 Totally Television development program that NSI runs to great success every year. Very thrilled about this. Here’s their press release on the whole deal (and many thanks for our inclusion!).
UPDATE – Oct 10th, 2011: Duane and I had an amazing time at the one-week TV crash course. Many top TV creatives were on hand to help steer us in the right direction and inspire us with their own works and insight. Next up is the revamped series outline along with the pilot script due December 1st! Let the typing begin!!
UPDATE – May 11th, 2012: Duane and I were selected as one of two teams to take our project to Banff for the 2012 World Media Festival June 9-13, 2012!!! So, we’ll be walking around taking in this truly outstanding conference. http://www.banffmediafestival.com/
TV heavyweights mentor NSI Totally Television teams
Rachel Nelson (Shaw), Deborah Day (Innovate by Day) and Virginia Thompson (InSecurity) are among the industry execs sharing their expertise with NSI Totally Television phase two participants Andrew DeAngelis, Mark Montefiore, Shane Belcourt and Duane Murray during their training week at the end of March.
Through NSI Totally Television, writer/producer teams hone their TV series concept so it’s ready to pitch to broadcasters. Teams that advance to phase two of the program also get individual meetings with targeted broadcasters in April and wrap up with attendance at the Banff World Media Festival in June.
Program manager Brandice Vivier takes great care in matching participants with the right mentors: DeAngelis and Montefiore have been paired with story editor Kristofor Brown (head writer on Beavis and Butthead) and producer mentor Louise Clark (Corner Gas, Flashpoint, The Real Housewives of Vancouver). Together they will work on their TV project What Would Sal Do?
Belcourt and Murray are working on their project Embracing Mason with project mentor Sheri Elwood (Call Me Fitz) and producer mentor Sarah Adams (Picnicface, Less Than Kind). Elwood made news recently after securing a blind development deal with Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
“Shane and Duane have such a fresh, twisted quality to their writing, my value as project mentor is helping beat that exuberance into a saleable premise,” said Sheri Elwood. “Once the foundation is solid and the main characters have clean, relatable obstacles and goals, that’s the time to bust it out again. Contained crazy = great TV.”
The teams hope to emulate the success of last year’s NSI Totally Television participants Pat Mills, Tammy Marlowe Johnson and Shaun Johnson whose projects are in development with CTV. In the past nine years of the program, 12 shows have gone into development, five have gone to air, one was piloted and one was produced as a feature film that had its world premiere at TIFF.
NSI Totally Television 2011/12 is made possible by Presenting Sponsor CTV and the CTV/CHUM Benefits; Program Partner Telefilm Canada; Strategic Sponsors Rogers and Women in Media Foundation (WIMF); Award Sponsor ZoomerMedia Limited and Provincial Sponsor Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC).