Featuring Aboriginal Stories Program

Project development for established audiovisual professionals to move into feature film.

Program status:

Past program offered by the National Screen Institute

History

The Featuring Aboriginal Stories Program (FASP) was offered to Indigenous media professionals across Canada. It was an initiative of Telefilm Canada in partnership with APTN for which the training was delivered by the National Screen Institute.

FASP was created to encourage established audiovisual professionals to move into feature film and to enable Indigenous filmmakers to more easily access the main funding programs of Telefilm’s Canada Feature Film Fund. Solo writers and writer/producer teams with projects at the outline, treatment, first draft or subsequent draft stages were eligible.

Participants received a development advance, administered by Telefilm Canada, in addition to the training delivered by the National Screen Institute. The program was open to both English and French participants.

Creators including Marie Clements, Michelle St. John, Laura Milliken, Shelley Niro, Dennis Jackson, Shane Belcourt, Zoe Hopkins, Tracey Deer and Lisa Jackson all began or further developed feature film projects through FASP.


Alumni