November 18, 2020
Western Arctic Moving Pictures hosted its 14th annual Yellowknife International Film Festival (YKIFF) virtually this year. The five-day (Nov 4-8) celebration of Canadian and Circumpolar northern films saw over 1,250 individual streams of 13 feature films and 30 short films.
Yellowknife International Film Festival 2020 Virtual Edition
This year’s YKIFF also featured an industry professional development series comprised of live-stream workshops, information sessions - and even a pitch competition.
One of the workshops launched at YKIFF was the Virtual Screenwriter’s Program sponsored in part by the NWT Film Commission.
Ten aspiring NWT screenwriters will spend the next month learning foundational screenwriting skills in five key areas: format, structure, character, execution and story development.
The Virtual Screenwriter’s Program is being delivered by Ruth Atkinson, a Los Angeles-based story editor and script consultant with over 25 years of experience in the film/television business. She has consulted on many award-winning feature and short films and is a co-facilitator and mentor for the annual Whistler Film Festival Screenwriters Lab.
The screen-writing workshop has been timed to allow participants to fine tune a final script in-time to apply for the Bell Media’s Harold Greenburg Fund Northern Short Program which has a deadline of December 4th.
Short Film Funding Program Announced for NWT Short Film-Makers
In engagements held to inform a new film strategy for the NWT, the need for professional development was identified as an important area of needed investment.