Four Canadian producers selected to network with potential U.S. partners at the No Borders International Co-Production Market during the Independent Film Week in New York

Montreal, August 16, 2011 – Four Canadian producers and their feature film scripts will be in the spotlight at the upcoming No Borders International Co-Production Market, an initiative during New York’s Independent Film Week organized by the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP). Canadian participants will be among 45 from around the world invited to present their projects in one-on-one meetings with potential U.S. investors, production partners, buyers and talent agents.

“Foreign markets represent important opportunities for Canadian creators to reach new international audiences and to access additional sources of financing,” said Carolle Brabant, Executive Director of Telefilm Canada. “We support innovative initiatives such as No Borders, which provide a platform for Canadian producers to forge solid professional relationships with the international film industry and to seek out co-production and co-venture deals.”

The No Borders International Co-Production Market is an international film financing forum that includes Canada among its Presenting Partners from 14 countries. Producers from around the world are given the opportunity to submit partially packaged and/or financed fiction projects to leading American and international partners through their respective national Presenting Partner.

After a pre-selection, Telefilm Canada – a Presenting Partner – recommended nine Canadian scripts to the IFP jury, who in turn selected three projects for the financing forum. The fourth Canadian project is backed by the Rotterdam International Film Festival’s CineMart, also a Presenting Partner.

IFP Executive Director Joana Vicente added: “We are thrilled to partner with Telefilm Canada and consistently impressed with the quality of the projects they bring to the No Borders International Co-Production Market, projects like this year’s Academy-Award nominated Incendies. It’s always exciting to bring together Canadian and American producers at Independent Film Week and to see the wonderful collaborations that come from the meetings. I have no doubt that this year’s program will produce exciting results from Canada.”

Producer Damon d’Oliveira, of Conquering Lion Pictures, also added: “With our projects, Poor Boy’s Game and The Book of Negroes, IFP was a strategic launching point to shop a packaged screenplay to key US decision makers, while offering a week of networking opportunities with the New York independent community.”

The three Canadian projects presented by Telefilm Canada are:

Lion’s Share
Director: Nathan Morlando
Producer: Allison Black
Production Company: Euclid 431 Pictures (Toronto, Ontario)
Presenting Partner: Telefilm Canada

A young journalist travels to Somalia for a career-making interview with a pirate who has become Public Enemy Number One. When the danger escalates for both men, the reporter learns that the only way back may be to deliver the head of the man who is both hero and criminal.

Nerds Versus Vampires
Director: TBD
Producer: Nicholas Tabarrok
Production Company: Darius Films (Toronto, Ontario)
Presenting Partner: Telefilm Canada

A special sect of Vampires not only needs blood to survive, but it has to be virgin blood. Where can you be sure to find a crowd of virgins? A sci-fi convention! So these vampires, who take the form of beautiful, sexy women, descend upon a ComicCon-like convention and begin to harvest the blood of the attendees. Our intrepid band of hero nerds notice that something doesn’t feel right and when they discover the sexy women’s true identities they decide to fight back. It becomes a Die Hard–like battle between Nerds and Vampires in a hotel.

Gerontophilia
Director: Bruce La Bruce
Producers: Nicolas Comeau, Jennifer Jonas and Leonard Farlinger
Production Company: 1976 Productions (Montreal, Quebec) and New Real Films (Toronto, Ontario)
Presenting Partner: Telefilm Canada

An 18-year-old boy gets a summer job in a nursing home and develops a deep emotional attachment to an old man. Discovering that the old man, along with the other patients, is being over-medicated to make him easier to manage, the boy weans him off his medication and helps him escape, resulting in a road trip across the country.

The Canadian project presented by the Rotterdam International Film Festival’s CineMart is:

The Feast
Director: Ed Gass-Donnelly
Producers: Ed Gass-Donnelly, Lee Kim
Production: Company 3 Legged Dog Films (Toronto, Ontario)
Presenting Partner: CineMart, Rotterdam International Film Festival

A rock-gospel musical about a mute girl who sells her soul to the devil for a singing voice, so she can win the love of a boy.

Presenting Partners at No Borders
In addition to Telefilm Canada, the  Presenting Partners are: funding bodies Film-und Medienstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen (Germany); Hong Kong – Asia Film Financing Forum (China);  Israel Film Fund; National Film and Video Foundation (South Africa); New Zealand Film Commission; Screen Australia; as well as support organizations ACE/Ateliers du Cinema Européen (France); Berlin International Co-Production Market (Germany); CineMart (The Netherlands); NFDC Cinemas of India/Film Bazaar; and TGP – Tokyo Gathering Project.

Independent Film Week takes place in New York from September 18 to
September 22.

About Telefilm Canada
Telefilm Canada is a federal cultural agency dedicated to developing and promoting the Canadian audiovisual industry. Telefilm provides financial support to the private sector to create distinctively Canadian products that appeal to domestic and international audiences. Telefilm also administers the Canada Media Fund. Visit telefilm.ca.

About the IFP
After debuting with a program at the New York Film Festival in 1979, the nonprofit IFP has evolved into the nation’s oldest and largest organization of independent filmmakers, and also the premiere advocate for them. Since its start IFP has supported the production of 7,000 films and provided resources to more than 20,000 filmmakers – voices that might not otherwise have been heard. IFP fosters the development of 350 new feature and documentary films each year through its Project Forum of Independent Film Week, Independent Filmmaker Labs and projects in its fiscal sponsorship program. Visit ifp.org.

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For more information:
Douglas Chow, Manager, External Communications
Telefilm Canada
(514) 283-6363, ext. 2225
chowd@telefilm.ca
http://twitter.com/telefilm_canada