WINNIPEG – Canwest on Friday spelled out how it will spend the $1.5 million it will be giving to the National Screen Institute (NSI) as part of its benefits package associated with its acquisition of Alliance Atlantis Communications.
As part of the deal for CRTC approval of Canwest’s $2.3 billion takeover of Alliance Atlantis, the Winnipeg-based broadcaster is required to provide a $151.25-million benefits package. Of that $151.25 million, Canwest committed $1.5 million over the next seven years to NSI.
The money allocated to NSI will go toward the following initiatives: NSI Global Marketing (provides training and professional development opportunities for established producers), NSI Drama Prize (provides one year of support, in-kind services and training to promising filmmakers so they can complete a short film), NSI Features First (provides training to emerging filmmakers who are working on their first or second feature), NSI Storytellers (provides training for emerging Canadian Aboriginal writers, directors and producers for the development of a scripted TV serial), NSI New Voices (provides skills development and a paid internship in an industry setting to young Aboriginal adults) and NSI Online (consists of the launch in 2008 of an online film festival and a suite of social networking tools).
“NSI has enjoyed a fruitful association with Canwest for many years, beginning with their support of NSI Global Marketing,” said NSI CEO Susan Millican. “We are pleased that they have chosen to expand their affiliation beyond that program across many of the NSI training platforms. Canwest’s support provides NSI with the stability we need to ensure that training continues for the next several years.”
