The National Screen Institute, in partnership with FilmPEI and Creative PEI, are pleased to introduce the participants of our newest course, NSI Market-Ready Producers – PEI Edition, as training begins today. Each producer will be trained by industry professionals to create a pitch package for a project currently in development.
We are so happy to welcome these five talented producers to this inaugural program. Below, you can find more information about the program and participants. Please let me know if I can help you further or put you in touch for an interview.
Thank you,
Rachel Young, NSI Alumni Outreach Coordinator
Top L-R: Emma Fugate, Logan Fulford. Bottom L-R: Nathan Carter, Susan Rodgers, Shane Mountain
Meet the inaugural participants of NSI Market-Ready Producers – PEI Edition
[Read this announcement on the NSI website]
The National Screen Institute – Canada (NSI), in partnership with FilmPEI and Creative PEI, is pleased to welcome five producers from Prince Edward Island who begin training today through NSI’s newest online producing program NSI Market-Ready Producers – PEI Edition.
NSI Market-Ready Producers – PEI Edition is a five-week, part-time, online training program designed to help producers develop essential skills and prepare a pitch package for a project currently in development.
This is a pilot program created to foster the growth of producing professionals in the region and increase the reach of PEI production across Canada and globally. The curriculum will be tailored to the needs, experience and location of participants.
We are proud to introduce the five selected PEI producers and their projects, as training begins today. Full bios can be found at the end of this announcement.
- Nathan Carter – The Secret of Ridgemoor Resort
- Emma Fugate – Fire in Her Heart
- Logan Fulford – Sea Salt
- Shane Mountain – Incident
- Susan Rodgers – Like a Song
“Partnering with FilmPEI and Creative PEI has provided a unique opportunity to develop a customized training program addressing the needs of producers in what is often an underserved region,” says NSI program manager Jessica Gibson. “Prince Edward Island is full of talented and hardworking filmmakers and we believe we have found a group of producers ready to take their careers to the next level.”
“Our partnership with the National Screen Institute, and the passion shown from each participant, proves that this training is both appreciated and beneficial,” says FilmPEI executive director Renee Laprise. “We are always looking for new opportunities to support PEI filmmakers and we are excited to see what comes from this program.”
NSI Market-Ready Producers – PEI Edition begins with in-depth online training from May to June where students will attend two to three mandatory sessions a week ranging in length from one to three hours.
Participants will take part in interactive group discussions, round tables, peer reviews and hear from national industry experts on topics such as business affairs/contracts, labour and employment law, pitch consultations, project workshopping and more. Students will also receive mentorship from national industry professionals.
During the program, students will prepare a pitch to present at the Pitch for Your Life competition at the 2021 PEI Screenwriters’ Bootcamp this fall where one pitch will win $15K towards a proof of concept.
NSI Market-Ready Producers – PEI Edition created and delivered by the National Screen Institute; presented by Creative PEI in association with FilmPEI; funded by SkillsPEI and Canada Media Fund.
About the National Screen Institute – Canada (NSI)
Since 1986, the National Screen Institute – Canada (NSI) has supported creators from across Canada to tell unforgettable stories through industry-informed training and mentoring in film, television and digital media. Propelled by a visionary network of donors, private and public organizations, board members and staff, the National Screen Institute is the only national training institute in Western Canada for writers, directors and producers. Many of Canada’s top creators got their first break at NSI.
NSI 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.
About FilmPEI
FilmPEI is an innovative and socially conscious film industry association and media arts cooperative focused on growing vibrant careers and developing a thriving sector. The organization fosters film production on PEI by providing infrastructure, training, communication, advocacy and opportunity creation.
About Creative PEI
PEI Cultural Human Resources Sector Council Inc. was founded in 2006 to foster the growth of the culture sector in PEI through the development of the cultural workforce. In 2011, the organization rebranded as Culture PEI to reflect the fact that it had become the de facto leader and voice for the culture sector in the province. In November 2017, the organization rebranded again to establish a new role as Prince Edward Island’s creative sector catalyst. The new name: Creative PEI.
All media enquiries:
Rachel Young, NSI Alumni Outreach Coordinator
Meet this year’s students
Nathan Carter
Nathan is a producer and filmmaker from Prince Edward Island. He graduated from UPEI in 2017 with a bachelor of science and decided to pursue filmmaking by launching Wrong Horse Productions – producing commercials, documentaries and providing post production services as a full-time occupation. He is also the content producer for local Island artist Problematic.
Nathan works with a number of local directors producing music videos viewed by millions globally, as well as developing marketing strategies to maximize audience growth and engagement. Nathan’s first short film The Wraith of Rustico Vale was part of the 2019-2020 Film 4Ward program and is currently in post production to be released this spring.
Emma Fugate
Emma became involved with the filmmaking community through her accounting business, working with independent producers. After taking a production accounting course in 2011 she became interested in working in the industry, initially in accounting and subsequently as a producer/writer/director.
She now volunteers with FilmPEI (president from October 2017 to 2019), Charlottetown Film Society (treasurer and founding board member since 2012) and Women in Film and Television – Atlantic (treasurer and board member from 2015 to 2018) and has attended many industry events (Hot Docs, Women Making Waves, FIN Atlantic International Film Festival, Produced By L.A.) developing an extensive network of industry mentors and contacts.
Emma has credits for writing, directing and producing two music videos and has produced three dramatic short films, one of which she wrote and directed. She has several projects currently in development – a short documentary, a documentary series and a musical drama feature film based on the music of Jill Chandler (lead actor in Fire in Her Heart).
Logan Fulford
Logan Fulford was born in England and moved to Prince Edward Island, Canada in 2007. He has completed over 25 short films in that time and is currently in pre-production on an Atlantic Canada TV series. After studying film production at Concordia University in Montreal, Logan now works as a writer, director, producer and art director.
Shane Mountain
Shane is an emerging Canadian writer who recently wrote, directed and produced his first short film The Seventh Man (FIN Reel East Coast Shorts, ChFF Islanders to Watch), having won the funding with a live pitch at the Pitch For Your Life competition at the 2019 PEI Screenwriters’ Bootcamp.
Shane is currently working on a marketing plan, funded through an investment by the provincial government’s innovation department, with mentor producer Walter Forsyth, to market, pitch and attach talent to The Seventh Man feature film.
Shane has also been accepted into the National Screen Institute’s Market-Ready Producers – PEI Edition with his original TV series Incident which has garnered attention from Bell Media and Space Channel, having received a letter of intent in 2018.
Shane has been writing for over a decade, he has had two scripts place in the top 20% in the Nicholl Fellowship in 2014 and 2015. He had four projects selected for workshops at the PEI Screenwriters’ Bootcamp in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019. Shane works with the GiFTed Writers group and, as co-founder, has supplied materials for three short story collections published by the group. Shane is a graduate of the Holland College journalism program 2006.
Susan Rodgers
Susan used to work as a museum curator and is now a writer and filmmaker – ‘If you believe it, you can achieve it!’
After she was named a finalist in the Atlantic Writing Awards in 2011 (for unpublished manuscripts) she started writing novels: her Drifters series (A Song For Josh) was supposed to be three books in total but has expanded to 15. The Dallas White series is growing too! She’s currently writing the fourth book in that series and developing the second book, Like A Song, into a feature film.
Her dream of shooting a feature was realized in the spring of 2020 when her first movie Still The Water was completed. Susan’s mother always said she had her head in the clouds – and she was right! She loves to ‘imagine’ – especially intense, angsty stories with themes of healing, hope and forgiveness.
She just finished a feature screenplay called Kristian’s Cross. She’s about to start the edit on a short documentary for the NFB, and is thrilled that her Drifters book series has been optioned for television.
Susan lives with her two kittens and her partner Steve in Prince Edward Island and she makes frequent trips to Vancouver to visit her son Christopher, his gal Eunsong and their sweet puppy Winston.
“Music has the power to heal” – music, a great cuppa joe … and maybe love …
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