National Screen Institute | Business for Producers

Program status:

Training underway

About

Are you a woman on the producing path? Do you work in business affairs, or as a production manager or coordinator? Are you an emerging producer or associate producer who wants to add more fuel to their fire?

NSI Business for Producers – Atlantic Women’s Edition is designed to foster the growth of women producing professionals in the Atlantic provinces, as well as enrich the region’s production community, and its position across Canada and globally.

During this six-week, part-time online training program, six women* will build on essential producing skills, including preparing a pitch package for a current project in development. The curriculum will be customized to fit the needs of each producer, with training from regional and national industry professionals, advisors and business experts.

At a glance

Applications open: January 31, 2022
Application deadline: February 21 at 4 p.m. AST
Selected participants notified: March 2, 2022
All other applicants notified: March 6
Online training sessions: March 23 to April 28

Program dates: March to April 2022
Location: Part-time, online
Cost: $50 non-refundable application fee; $250 tuition (payment plan available)

This training is for you if:

You’re a woman producer living in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia or Prince Edward Island committed to developing your career in producing

You have one on-screen producing credit OR demonstrated experience in production, business affairs, legal, marketing, distribution or development

You possess the rights to a scripted project currently in development

You want to gain practical, pitching and producing experience while building your professional network

You’re a Canadian citizen or permanent resident living in Canada, aged 18 or over

You agree not to participate in another initiative, or have inflexible commitments, that prevent you from fully engaging in this program

Training sessions (March 23 to April 28, 2022)

So what makes this program different?

NSI Business for Producers – Atlantic Women’s Edition will take a small group of participants (six max.) through 12 to 15 online sessions. These will take place as 75 minute to two hour ‘lunch and learn’ style sessions, held twice weekly on Wednesdays and Thursdays, for six weeks. You can expect interactive group discussions, presentations, relevant case studies, masterclasses and one-on-one consultations.

The one-on-one sessions will be with a content development and pitch consultant to prepare your pitch. The program culminates in an online forum where participants will pitch their projects to a panel of industry experts for their feedback.

Session topics may include:

Role of the producer

Pitching and packaging a project

Process of development and working with your team

Business affairs / contracts

Labour and employment law

Fundamentals of running a workplace under COVID-19 rules

Building and managing a production team (working with unions and guilds and receiving an outline of the production process)

Production financing (understanding tax credits, finance structures, cash flows, waterfalls and private financing)

Production case studies through a producer’s lens

Sales and distribution

*Our commitment to underrepresented voices

The National Screen Institute is committed to training participants from a diverse community of voices including Black, Indigenous, People of Colour, women, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning and two-spirit (LGBTQ2S+), people with disabilities, those outside large urban centres, those from regional and remote areas, and various religious groups.

Questions

Please review the FAQ below. Program manager Amy Reitsma (bizproducers@nsi-canada.ca) is happy to answer any further questions about the application process or training, or to discuss any concerns regarding application or tuition fee.

Frequently asked questions

How much time do I have to commit to the program?

I’m a creative professional (ie: writer or director) but would like to expand my producing skills. Is this program right for me?

Can we apply as a two-person team?

What projects are eligible?

How are participants selected?

What rights does the National Screen Institute have on the project?

What is the relationship between the National Screen Institute and the selected applicant?

Does the National Screen Institute give feedback on my application?

I’m not sure I’m right for this program. Who can I speak to?

Meet the faculty

Jan Miller

Consultant, Co-Founder

Jan Miller is an international consultant and trainer specializing in film and television co-production and co-venturing

Read bio

She also continues to present one of the world’s top pitching and content development workshops.

In Canada, her unique brand of training has been presented across the country from TIFF and the Academy to Yellowknife and Newfoundland for major festivals and film coops.

Globally her workshops have been featured at Berlin’s Talent Campus, Cuba’s Escuela Internacional de Cine y TV, Poland’s ScripTeast, Cannes, China and Iran. In great demand, Jan’s workshops have also crossed sectors into the music industry where, for almost a decade, she has been offering, through the East Coast Music Association, export-ready training for musicians to present their work to the screen industry and travel internationally.

A talent that makes things happen, Jan collaborated 11 years ago with the Erich Pommer Institut to design the hugely successful Trans Atlantic Partners (TAP), a unique two-module international training program for established film and TV producers. Jan is director of the TAP initiative.

Jan has also served as an international consultant for many organizations including Creative BC and the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA), leading and supporting Canadian delegations to Hong Kong’s FILMART, Rio Content Market and Berlin. She launched and served as director of Halifax’s Strategic Partners, one of the world’s pre-eminent international co-production markets for 15 years.

Jan was one of the driving forces behind setting up Canada’s first film school, the National Screen Institute, serving as executive director for seven years introducing NSI Features First and the Local Heroes International Screen Festival which she ran for 13 years.

From 1999 to 2001, Jan was vice-president of development for imX Communications, responsible for moving forward numerous features, television and animation projects including her role as associate producer for Lynn Johnson’s acclaimed comic-book strip, For Better or For Worse.

Committed to supporting women working in the industry, Jan established Women in Film and Television-Atlantic (WIFT-AT), serving as the founding chair for six years. During this time Jan launched the annual Women Making Waves Conference, WAVE Awards, Shadow Project for Atlantic women directors and the first collaboration with the Centre for Women in Business, designing the screen version of its Advanced Management and Mentoring Program. Jan continues as a mentor and Women Making Waves program chair for WIFT-AT.

Jan has also been very active in presenting two versions of Five in Focus training opportunities for Women in View. Jan presently serves on the Women in View board and recently completed a term on the AFC board.