TORONTO – Astral’s Harold Greenberg Fund announced today that it has relaunched its Shorts-to-Features Program with the help of Astral’s The Movie Network and Corus Entertainment’s Movie Central.
Previously called the “Short Film Program,” the initiative has been renamed to further reinforce the connection between the calling card short and the feature film version. The program received funding from Movie Central, additional script-development support from the Fund, and the potential of additional financial support from various provincial agencies and production service providers.
“Last year’s inaugural ‘Short Film Program’ was a huge hit and we received nearly 200 applications to support the next generation of Canadian feature filmmakers through an emphasis on helping create a short that will act as a calling card,” said John Galway, president, English-language program, Astral’s Harold Greenberg Fund, in the announcement. “We made the effort this year to enhance the resources available to the filmmaking teams. We are thrilled to welcome Movie Central as well as provincial agencies with complementary programs. Various service providers have also offered cost effective production and marketing support.”
“Movie Central is proud to champion young filmmakers and bolster the Canadian film industry through the development of emerging talent,” said Jocelyn Hamilton, vice-president, original programming, kids, comedy, drama, Corus Entertainment. “We look forward to supporting the brightest talent in short films.”
Three prizes of $30,000 each are available, consisting of a contribution from Astral’s Harold Greenberg Fund and pay-TV broadcast license fees from The Movie Network and Movie Central. The Fund is also offering an additional $10,000 script development loan for the feature film project associated with the short. Additional provincial support and in-kind production support is also available.
Interested applicants can check out Astral’s website for full guidelines. Applications are due by June 5, 2013.
The 2012 Short Film Program winners were: Honor Code from writer/director Pascal Trottier and producer Paul Lenart; Little Pig from writer/director Spencer Maybee and producer Tara Woodbury; and Supernova from director Peter Mishara, writer Jane Maggs and producer Alex Lalonde.
