Almost every famous Director got their start with a short film. Film school, DIY, or funded through grants or investors, the short is a rite of passage that can help make your career take off. This panel of experts brings together experience from all facets of the industry to help you with how to develop, fund and shoot that short film that jumpstarts your career.
Panelists:
Greg Jeffs - An NSI Features First alumni, has written and produced short films that have been broadcast, released theatrically and are available on iTunes. His short film, THE HUNT, was named the best short film of 2013 by RUE MORGUE MAGAZINE. His directorial debut, IT’S ALL IN YOUR HEAD premiered at the 2016 Horror Channel Fright Fest and continues to tour the worldwide festival circuit. Through his work with William F. White he helps new talent learn the industry procedures and develop a plan for their project that will help maximize the results.
Richmond Obeng is a Canadian cinematic director moved by thought-provoking authentic narrative. Starting his filmmaking journey shooting commercials, music videos and corporate branded content, Richmond quickly embarked on his own inspired path, focusing on creating stories grounded in truth and representation. These efforts include the award-winning and internationally praised anti-bullying short “Helping Hands”, and the HIV/AIDS branded content trifecta “PrEP”, “It Takes Courage” and “The Test”, which was featured at various community events including World Aids Day 2017. Continuing on his mission to bring important stories to light, Richmond’s long-form debut came with his 2018 Toronto inner-city documentary “Some Sort of Judas”, which after debuting to 100,000 homes on TVO, has been dubbed by several educators and activists as one of the most important Canadian documentaries in crime and justice, and made its way to the 2018 Cannes Marche du Film. Richmond’s latest project takes him to historical non-fiction, as he works with Peoples Temple cult survivor Leslie Wagner-Wilson, author of “Slavery of Faith” and the main focus of his June 2020 YouTube short docu-series “No Church in the Wild”. After securing the rights to Leslie’s autobiographical novel Richmond is now working on adapting it into a scripted miniseries.
Paige Murray has worked at the CBC for over eight years within the content areas and is currently the Development Manager, Comedy and Drama for CBC English Television. As the key point of contact for comedy and drama submissions, Paige actively looks for new talent and projects and evaluates series pitches to fulfill CBC’s programming needs. Paige is also the programmer for Canadian Reflections, the longest running Canadian short film showcase on national broadcast television. Paige currently sits as Vice Chair of the Breakthroughs Film Festival Board. Breakthroughs is the only festival in Canada devoted exclusively to showcasing short films made by emerging women, trans and non-binary directors.
Almost every famous Director got their start with a short film. Film school, DIY, or funded through grants or investors, the short is a rite of passage that can help make your career take off. This panel of experts brings together experience from all facets of the industry to help you with how to develop, fund and shoot that short film that jumpstarts your career.
Panelists:
Greg Jeffs - An NSI Features First alumni, has written and produced short films that have been broadcast, released theatrically and are available on iTunes. His short film, THE HUNT, was named the best short film of 2013 by RUE MORGUE MAGAZINE. His directorial debut, IT’S ALL IN YOUR HEAD premiered at the 2016 Horror Channel Fright Fest and continues to tour the worldwide festival circuit. Through his work with William F. White he helps new talent learn the industry procedures and develop a plan for their project that will help maximize the results.
Richmond Obeng is a Canadian cinematic director moved by thought-provoking authentic narrative. Starting his filmmaking journey shooting commercials, music videos and corporate branded content, Richmond quickly embarked on his own inspired path, focusing on creating stories grounded in truth and representation. These efforts include the award-winning and internationally praised anti-bullying short “Helping Hands”, and the HIV/AIDS branded content trifecta “PrEP”, “It Takes Courage” and “The Test”, which was featured at various community events including World Aids Day 2017. Continuing on his mission to bring important stories to light, Richmond’s long-form debut came with his 2018 Toronto inner-city documentary “Some Sort of Judas”, which after debuting to 100,000 homes on TVO, has been dubbed by several educators and activists as one of the most important Canadian documentaries in crime and justice, and made its way to the 2018 Cannes Marche du Film. Richmond’s latest project takes him to historical non-fiction, as he works with Peoples Temple cult survivor Leslie Wagner-Wilson, author of “Slavery of Faith” and the main focus of his June 2020 YouTube short docu-series “No Church in the Wild”. After securing the rights to Leslie’s autobiographical novel Richmond is now working on adapting it into a scripted miniseries.
Paige Murray has worked at the CBC for over eight years within the content areas and is currently the Development Manager, Comedy and Drama for CBC English Television. As the key point of contact for comedy and drama submissions, Paige actively looks for new talent and projects and evaluates series pitches to fulfill CBC’s programming needs. Paige is also the programmer for Canadian Reflections, the longest running Canadian short film showcase on national broadcast television. Paige currently sits as Vice Chair of the Breakthroughs Film Festival Board. Breakthroughs is the only festival in Canada devoted exclusively to showcasing short films made by emerging women, trans and non-binary directors.