On June 27th, we were proud to unveil our 45 Talent Fund recipients from across the country, as Globe and Mail announced “Meet Canadian Cinema’s Class of 2018,” at the celebratory reception held at Pinewood Toronto Studios. Co-hosted by Randy Lennox, President, Bell Media and Talent Fund Advisory Board member and Co-Founder/Co-Chair of Sleep Country Canada, Christine Magee, this invite-only event brought together key business (i.e. Enbridge, RBC Foundation and Power Corporation of Canada) and film industry leaders and Canadian talent to welcome the 45 new teams of diverse storytellers from across Canada.
This year, the Talent to Watch Program had the privilege to increase the number of grants from 15 to 45 projects due to the commitment of Talent Fund contributors. The calibre of the projects selected represents the different voices nationwide, with a distinct portfolio that boasts parity between men and women creators, diversity of language and culture, and our first ever project from the Yukon.
Watch the video of our 2018 recipients!
Read more about the unveiling of the new wave of Canadian talent here.
This program is designed to help passionate storytellers, with talent and determination, to achieve their goal in starting their first feature film or web narrative content. We understand the many hurdles that come with succeeding in the audiovisual industry and we want to be one of the firsts to give them the boost they need to flourish and make a career for themselves.
During the celebratory reception, Xavier Dolan, an internationally-acclaimed director, writer and producer made an inspirational speech to the 45 recipient teams:
The Talent To Watch Program (formerly Micro-Budget Production Program) has changed lives and Molly McGlynn, a past recipient of the Fund, also said a few words during the event:
Our mandate to support emerging Canadian talent and spotlighting filmmakers with different and distinct voices is extremely important to us. In a recent article from the Winnipeg Free Press that featured one of our Talent Fund recipients, Jordan Molaro, a Winnipeg-based filmmaker was quoted “Talent to Watch trains diverse individuals from a range of communities, the LGBT community, the First Nation/Métis and those storytellers that haven’t been given the same opportunities as the rest of Canada.”
We are excited to see what the future holds for our homegrown Canadian talent and we hope this Program will continue to encourage more Canadians to pursue their dreams.
Congratulations to all our recipients and a BIG thank you to all Talent Fund donors, organizers, and supporters!
