Bell Media’s The Harold Greenberg Fund, in partnership with premium pay television networks The Movie Network and Movie Central, announced today the latest recipients of The Harold Greenberg Fund’s Shorts-to-Features Program, a unique funding program designed to encourage up-and-coming Canadian filmmaking talent.
Four teams of emerging filmmakers will receive $32,000 each towards the production of their short film projects, designed to be calling cards for long-form feature projects. In addition, a $7,500 commitment will be made toward the development of their feature projects. The chosen short films are: Beat The Bush from writer/director Brianne Nord-Stewart and producer Krista Martin; Lady, Be Good from writer/directors Matthew de Filippis and Elisia Mirabelli, and producer Miriam Levin-Gold; Lewis from writer/director Fantavious Fritz and producer Jason Aita; and Portal To Hell!!! from writer Matt Watts, director Vivieno Caldinelli and producer Lori Fischburg.
“We were pleased with the number of submissions we received this year, and are proud to be backing the chosen four short films,” said John Galway, President, The Harold Greenberg Fund. “These films all have enormous potential. We are thrilled to lend our support to these talented filmmakers as they take their projects to the next level.”
About the films:
Beat The Bush
A buttoned-down 75-year-old widow throws caution to the wind after a fated dementia diagnosis and tries her hand at attaining her first orgasm…ever.
Lady, Be Good
A young woman struggles to sever ties from the boy who loves her, as she joins the Novitiate stage of an order of nuns.
Lewis
A wandering neighbourhood cat named Lewis decides not to return to his owner one August evening. During his adventure he makes an unlikely friend in an 81-year-old Lithuanian widow.
Portal To Hell!!!
A gruff building superintendent and a group of his tenants stumble across a portal to an ancient underwater city in their basement guarded by two elderly naked cultists whose sole purpose is to bring their god C’thulu into our world.
The Harold Greenberg Fund has been a long-standing supporter of industry training, project development and promotional initiatives. In addition to the Fund’s Script Development and Equity Investment Programs, the Industry Initiatives Program invests $200,000 each year in the Canadian film and television industry. Funded by The Movie Network and Viewer’s Choice Canada, this program is reviewed annually by the English-Language Committee, including Suzette Couture, Damon D’Oliveira, Melanie Friesen, John Galway, Bryn Matthews, Jane Tattersall, and Corrie Coe.