Canadian Film Centre

The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) is a charitable organization founded by filmmaker Norman Jewison in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1988. Originally launched as film school, today it provides training, development and advancement opportunities for professionals in the Canadian film, television, and digital media industries, including directors, producers, screenwriters, actors, and musicians.
The Executive Lead of the Center is E.J.Alon.

History

CFC was founded in 1988 by Canadian filmmaker Norman Jewison as the Canadian Centre For Advanced Film Studies;"Canadian film centre opens School on Taylor estate to train elite filmmakers". ''Toronto Star'', March 29, 1988. the first program was attended by 12 residents."Canadian film centre debuts with a dozen moviemakers". ''The Globe and Mail'', November 18, 1987. The inaugural class included writer Robert Hunter, filmmakers Holly Dale, Gerald L'Ecuyer, Anne Petrie and Peter Raymont, and producer Ann Medina. The school's campus was located at Windfields Estate, the former home of Canadian business magnate E. P. Taylor.

In 1991, after producer Robert Lantos received a $250,000 prize from Telefilm Canada to honour '' Black Robe'' winning the Genie Award for Best Picture, he immediately donated the money to the Canadian Film Centre to help establish its film unit, which serves as the primary film studio for projects being developed by CFC students.

Peter O’Brian was appointed the Executive Director of the CFC by Norman Jewison in 1988 and remained in the role until 1991. Wayne Clarkson served as the organization’s Executive Director from 1991 until 2005.

In 2005 Slawko Klymkiw, previously the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's executive director of network programming became CEO of the CFC, until he retired in the spring of 2021. Maxine Bailey, former Vice-President of Advancement at TIFF, was appointed Executive Director of the CFC in May 2021

In 2014, the CFC unveiled the new Northern Dancer Pavilion, a building to house its multidisciplinary study programs, on the Windfields campus.

As of 2018, its 30th year of operation, CFC has more than 100 residents and participants in 16 programs annually. CFC has more than 1,700 alumni and 100 alumni partner companies to date.

Training and advancement

CFC offers a variety of programs in five separate media streams: film, television, music, screen acting, and digital media. Each stream offers practical, intensive, hands-on programs that are administered under the guidance of faculty and industry professionals, and are operated in conjunction with entertainment companies and educational institutions including Netflix, AMC, A&E, Cineplex Entertainment, the National Film Board of Canada, Telefilm Canada, NBC Universal, Slaight Communications, WildBrain, Bell Media, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and OCAD University.

CFC's film programs include the Norman Jewison Film Program and CFC Features. Television programs include Bell Media Prime Time TV Program for series writers, and the WildBrain Experience for development of kid- and family-targeted content. CFC also runs the Netflix/CFC Global Project, which targets Canada's traditionally under-served creatives and communities

Its main program for actors is the CBC Actors Conservatory, a six-month program. For musicians, the centre operates the Slaight Family Music Lab, a part-time nine-month program for composers and songwriters.

The CFC Media Lab is a digital media think tank and production facility that provides a research, learning and production environment for digital media content developers and practitioners, as well as acceleration programs and services for digital entertainment start-ups. Its programs include the Fifth Wave Initiative, to accelerate and sustain the growth of women-owned or led businesses in southern Ontario’s digital media sector, Ideaboost, a digital entertainment accelerator, and VR Strategy, a program to develop virtual reality productions, and the UK-Canada Immersive Exchange, an immersive talent development lab and co-production fund for UK and Canadian artists and filmmakers.

Work produced by CFC

CFC has been involved in hundreds of film, television, and interactive productions and has produced a large catalogue of works, including the below productions.

Features

The CFC has supported the development of 47 feature films to date, including:
*''19 Months'' (Randall Cole)
*'' 22 Chaser'' (Rafal Sokolowski)
*''Adventures in Public School'' (Kyle Rideout)
*'' The Art of Woo'' (Helen Lee)
* ''Beans'' (Tracey Deer)
*'' Blood and Donuts'' (Holly Dale)
*'' Cast No Shadow'' (Christian Sparkes)
* ''Closet Monster'' ( Stephen Dunn)
*''Clutch'' (Christopher Grismer)
*''Cruel & Unusual'' (Merlin Dervisevic)
*'' Cube'' (Vincenzo Natali)
*'' The Dark Hours'' ( Paul Fox)
* Easy Land (Sanja Zivkovic)
*''Fairytales & Pornography'' (Chris Philpott)
*'' The Fishing Trip'' (Amnon Buchbinder)
*''Horsie's Retreat'' (Tony Asimakopoulos)
*'' House'' (Laurie Lynd)
*'' Khaled'' (Asghar Massombagi)
*'' The Lockpicker'' (Randall Okita)
*'' Mary Goes Round'' (Molly McGlynn

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