DIRECTOR DEVELOPMENT INCUBATOR
WHAT IS IT?
Seeking filmmakers that have a unique vision and story for a short film in development, ready for production.
The Director Development Incubator was a 4-week mentorship program designed for emerging filmmakers, covering essential skills like cinematography, production design, directing actors, budget creation, financing, and integrating an anti-oppression lens into the creative process.
S U M B I S S I O N S D E A D L I N E
January 31st, 2025
M E N T O R S H I P S E S S I O N S
May 1 - JUNE 10TH, 2025
P I T C H C O M P E T I T I O N
JUNE 22ND, 2025
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This pitch competition is an opportunity for emerging filmmakers to gain support for a short film (15 mins or under) currently in development, and to premiere the completed film at the Future of Film Showcase in June 2025.
Leading up to their pitch in June 2024, six (6) selected pitch competition participants will receive mentorship sessions with established industry professionals working within a variety of departments.
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A grant of $5k as well as 50K worth of in-kind support from various partners will be provided.
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March 1st - 31st 2024: Submissions Open
April 29th - Mentorship Session #1
May 6th - Mentorship Session #2
May 13th - Mentorship Session #3
June 23rd - Live Pitch Competition
June 23rd - Winner announced after Closing Keynote Conversation
March 2025 - Film to be completed
June 2025 - Completed Short Film to premiere at FOFS
Submissions will not be accepted later than 11:59pm EST on March 29th 2024.
Selected participants will be notified in Spring 2024.
Due to the volume of submissions, only participants selected will be notified. Feedback on declined submissions will not be provided.
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CONCEPT
LETTER OF INTENT (500 words)
RÉSUMÉ/CV
PRODUCTION TIMELINE
BUDGET
KEY CREATIVES
For a full list of application materials, rules and regulations, please visit: https://filmfreeway.com/FOFSPitchCompetition
I N T R O D U C I N G O U R
2024 PARTICIPANTS
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I’m a French Canadian writer/director, originally from Kingston, now living in Toronto.
In 2020, I completed my MFA in Film Production at YorkU and have since been working on my feature film debut. My work spans multiple mediums, from film to stage to graphic novels. Despite the variety, I’m driven by one mission: Telling thoughtful and entertaining stories. My projects have been shown worldwide, and some were even kind enough to bring back a few awards. When not making films, I like to run, play guitar, and walk my dog, Augie.
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Victor Oly is an award nominated director and editor from Toronto, Canada. A graduate of Ryerson's Radio & Television Arts program, Victor has also studied production at UCLA and attended the ASC Masterclass in Los Angeles.
Victor’s directorial debut short, Pink Rabbit (2020), premiered at the academy award qualifying, BIFAN 2020 in South Korea. His second short, The Whipping Boy (2023), an ambitious and fantastical period piece, with twisted comedic elements, premiered at Canadian Film Fest 2024. Victor continues to refine his craft through directing music videos, commercials and asking himself at all times of the day - “would this make a good scene for a movie?”.
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Born to Canadian parents of Caribbean descent, Aisha Evelyna (She/Her) is a Toronto-based actor, writer, and director who is passionate about bringing underrepresented stories to the forefront of our social purview.
Aisha was named a 2023 MovieMaker Magazine X Austin Film Festival Screenwriter to Watch. Recent credits include the short film ALEX (2022), named a Vimeo Staff Pick after premiering at HollyShorts and screening at Austin Film Festival. Aisha wrote, directed, and starred in the film. Aisha is currently nominated for Three Canadian Screen Awards for her work on the Digital Series THE DROP. Aisha is set to shoot her directorial debut SEAHORSE, a Telefilm Talent to Watch fund recipient, in July 2024.
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Mick is a Toronto-based filmmaker. In 2019, she was introduced to short filmmaking when she acted in "I am in the World as Free and Slender as a Deer on a Plane," (premiere: TIFF, notable award: TIFF Top Ten).
In 2021, Mick made her first narrative short, "How is the Dog," (premiere: AIFF, 2022). For this film, she was named a TIFF Irving Avrich Fund recipient, which awards ten promising Canadian filmmakers each year. In 2023, she co-wrote and produced “Goblin High” (Official selection: “NoBudge: Live 36,” “TIFF Next Wave, 2024”). Mick is currently in post production on her second narrative short, “Every Other Weekend,” co-directed with Margaret Rose.
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Kathleen Burgess is an award-winning Tkaronto-based director passionate about exploring the dimensions of friendship, play, and queerness through a surreal lens. Her debut coming-of-age film Dandelion Green has screened internationally and across Canada, winning awards such as Best Student Film and Audience Choice at the 2023 Vancouver Short Film Festival.
Kathleen is also currently one of twenty creators selected from across Canada to be mentored in this year’s Canon FUTURES program. With a distinct soft and saturated style, they are excited to continue their mission of bringing unconventional and authentic queer stories to audiences.
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Yvette Sin is an emerging writer/director based in Tkaronto with a soft spot for diasporic Asian stories, community practice, and genre-bending. Her films have been selected for festivals in Canada and the US, including the National Film Festival for Talented Youth and the Vancouver Asian Film Festival.
Yvette is also a member of The Asian Canadian Living Archive (TACLA) Youth Critics Initiative in partnership with the Reel Asian Film Festival. She currently spends her days at a bookstore in the West End, reading queer horror and scheming up her next project.
I N T R O D U C I N G O U R
2024
JURY MEMBERS
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Janet-Rose Nguyen is a filmmaker, writer, and actress. Her work explores the awful ways humans treat each other using comedy, horror, feminism, and queerness. Her work focuses on the Asian diaspora. She is part of the inaugural Rising Voices Canada cohort presented by Hillman Grad, BIPOCTV & FILM and Indeed and pitched at the 2024 Creators Market at the Tribeca Film Festival. She is an alumnus of the Reelworld Emerging 20 Program and the Canadian Film Centre’s CBC Actors Conservatory. She taught screenwriting to youth as the first Writer in Residence for INKSpire and served on the bursary committee at Firefly Creative Writing.
Her films and screenplays have been featured with the National Screen Institute, Myseum Toronto, and the Regent Park Film Festival. She is a twice-elected ACTRA councillor and the previous co-chair of the Diversity & Inclusion Committee. She holds a BA in Creative Writing and a BFA in Screenwriting. Selected acting credits include Workin’ Moms and The Boys.
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Greg Jeffs has produced short films that are available on iTunes and have been broadcast, both nationally and internationally. He wrote and produced The Hunt (Dir: Spencer Estabrooks) which was named the best horror short film of 2013 by Rue Morgue Magazine. He has been funded by Telefilm, BravoFACT, Canada Council as well as Provincial Arts councils and he has participated in the National Screen Institute's Features first & Business for Producers, programs.
2016 saw his directorial debut (short film), It's All in Your Head, premiere at the Horror Channel fright Fest in London England and continue to travel the globe. When not making films, Greg works with William F. White international to assist emerging filmmakers take their first steps in the film and TV industry.
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Ikoro Sekai is a Toronto-based film programmer, media artist and youth facilitator. He graduated from the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema at Concordia University with a BFA in film and art history. Since 2016, he has worked at the Toronto International Film Festival as the Manager of TIFF Next Wave, dedicated to increasing access to film for young and emerging creators. Sekai is the lead programmer for the TIFF Next Wave Film Festival, where he curates the lineup of international features, industry talks and special events together with TIFF’s Next Wave Committee, a group of 12 socially engaged teen film enthusiasts.
Instagram: @ikorosekai
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Born in Bratislava and raised in Canada, Ingrid Veninger has produced fifteen feature films with premieres at TIFF, Rome, Rotterdam, Locarno, Slamdance, Hot Docs, Busan, amongst others. She has received retrospectives of her work at the Canadian Film Institute and FEMCine (Santiago, Chile). She has been the recipient of the WIFTS International Visionary Award, the Alliance of Women Film Journalists EDA Award, and the Jay Scott Prize presented by the Toronto Film Critics Association.
A participant in the inaugural TIFF Studio, Berlinale Talents, and Rotterdam Producer’s Lab, Ingrid has been a mentor at the Canadian Film Centre, Screenwriter-in-Residence at the University of Toronto and is the head of Screenwriting in the department of Cinema and Media Arts at York University.
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auren MacKinlay is an award-winning producer based in Toronto, currently operating as a Creative Producer with Neshama Entertainment. She recently served as an Executive Producer on season one of Neshama’s one-hour drama The Way Home (Hallmark). Other credits include Transplant (CTV/NBC), Bad Blood (Netflix), 19–2 (CTV), and This Life (CBC).
For Neshama, Lauren is working across scripted development and production in Canada, the US and internationally, and is currently developing a robust slate of film and television projects. In September 2022, she was one of ten women named on the Canadian Power List of Women in Film
@mackinlaymedia
T H A N K Y O U T O O U R
