The Screen Media Makers Industry Summit

The Mississauga Arts Council is dedicated to enabling the growth of the arts by creating opportunity and connection between artists and residents in Mississauga and beyond. Celebrating our milestone 40th anniversary this year, The Mississauga Arts Council is a registered charity, dedicated to accelerating progress toward the attainment of our Vision of Mississauga, as a vibrant cultural community where arts and culture thrive! Our mission is to empower the Arts Economy by: Creating more opportunities & capacity; Connecting artists to audiences and each other; and Celebrating artist’s achievements.

Mississauga Arts Council

Join us for a full day of in-person conversations, interactive simulations, and networking to help emerging screen-based storytellers.

Living Arts Centre

The film, television, and streaming industry needs fresh stories from new voices. You have stories to tell but are challenged by the very size and nature of this complex industry. How do you get in the game? You need a plan to get your stories made and seen. This summit can help you with that.T﻿he Screen Media Makers Industry Summit: Making it in film, television and streaming, sponsored by TD Bank Group and presented by Mississauga Arts Council in partnership with producer, Cathleen MacDonald, is a full day of in-person conversations, interactive simulations, and networking to help emerging screen-based storytellers navigate the system to fund, produce, and distribute their projects. T﻿aking place at the Rogers Theatre in the Living Arts Centre (<a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Living+Arts+Centre/@43.5945472,-79.642624,14z/data=!3m1!5s0x882b472a470dc1eb:0x9d5d082a7e906a85!4m5!3m4!1s0x882b472a0d5f8f61:0x51eb3da61e7a1f6f!8m2!3d43.5897069!4d-79.6459594" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">4141 Living Arts Dr, Mississauga</a>) on Saturday, March 18th, 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM (doors open at 9:30 AM). Tickets are $17 a person and cover the cost of attending the summit, provided coffee/tea in the morning and a lunch of a choice of artisanal wraps including roasted vegetable, smoked turkey breast, and roast chicken (Halal) with assorted chips, fruit, cookies and soft drinks. Who should attend: The Media Makers Industry Summit is for emerging screen-based storytellers of all ages, backgrounds, races, genders, sexualities, and abilities. An Emerging Screen-Based Storyteller can be 18 to 80+ with approximately 1 to 5 years of industry experience who has made 1 to 3 works (written a script, made a film or short film, web videos or series, music video, digital media). There is no one path to the screen industry. Perhaps you’re pursuing a second career, or your screen career was interrupted. Students enrolled in a post-secondary film or media arts program who have made at least 1 work can also attend.<h3>F﻿or full panellists bios and more information, please visit our website: <a href="https://www.mississaugaartscouncil.com/programs/td-mediamakers/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">mississaugaartscouncil.com/programs/td-mediamakers/</a></h3><h3>A﻿genda is subject to change. All sessions include opportunities to ask questions directly to industry experts. S﻿peakers and panellists will be added in as they are confirmed.</h3>A﻿bout Cathleen MacDonaldCathleen MacDonald is a Canadian filmmaker whose fiction and documentary features, shorts, and series have screened at festivals and have broadcast nationally and globally. Her work includes the series WORKING ANIMALS (Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, and Canal D), the feature documentary ANIMAL IQ TEST (Animal Planet) the series MOVING ON (CBC, TVO), DE-ESCALATE produced with support from the Ontario Arts Council, and the anthology art series, THE LOST MUSEUM. Cathleen serves as a speaker and juror for industry festivals, organizations, and funders, and is a board member with the Oakville Film Festival. She has an Honors BFA in Film Production from York University.

Agenda

Introduction from Cathleen MacDonald and Mike Douglas

Join producers and industry experts to learn how teaming up with an established producer can help you open doors and get your project made. Learn how to connect with producers and what they look for in a project and partnership. Narrow your producer search with our mock “Producer Matchmaker” speed session. Tell us your project’s format and genre such as feature film, documentary, half-hour comedy series, reality series, etc. and our experts will help you focus your producer search. We’ll try to do as many projects as possible. About the panellists: Josiane Blanc is a Writer, Director and Producer with Sahkosh Productions. Sean Buckley is an award-winning Producer and Entrepreneur with over thirty years of experience. He is the driving force behind Buck Productions. Shazia Javed is the award-winning Producer & Content Creator and Founder of Lifesketch Media.

Working with Producers

Put the Fun in Funding! Join film funding experts to learn about available industry funding sources and how projects are financed. Then, participate in “Speed Funding”. Tell us your project’s format and genre. Based on industry averages, our experts will create funding plans. We will try to do as many projects as possible. About the panellist: Nicole McKechnie has been in the business of making television for over 25 years, producing and directing entertaining and educational multi-screen content for kids, small and big! Faran Moradi is an Iranian-Canadian filmmaker, born and raised in Ontario, best known for his feature film “Tehranto”. He is also a Producer - Director at Black & White Media. Jeanette Kong is a producer, director and writer. She has more than 20 years of media experience in Canadian public television at TVO and as an independent producer and award-winning director.

Get the Money

Networking Lunch

Festival presentations from Oakville Film Festival (Wendy Donnan, co-founder, Executive Director and Programmer), Ekran Film Festival (Speaker TBC), and Mosaic International South Asian Film Festival, (Arshad Khan, Festival Director). About the panellists: Wendy Donnan has over 25 years of experience working in the film and TV Industry as an independent Producer. Wendy is the co-founder, Executive Director, and Programmer for the Oakville Festivals of Film and Art Marta Pozniakowski established the Toronto Polish Film Festival and is a founder of the nonprofit organization, Ekran Polish Film Association. Arshad Khan, is a multiple-award-winning Canadian filmmaker and the Film Festival Director for Mosaic International South Asian Film Festival (MISAFF).

Festival Panel

Join buyers and other experts to learn who buys screen content, including who accepts pitches from new and emerging creators. Learn the difference between a commissioned project and an acquisition and what this means financially. Learn about pitch markets, pitch portals, and other opportunities to sell your project. Then participate in a “Mock Market”. Tell us your project’s format and genre and our experts will suggest potential buyers. About the panellist (additional panellist to be confirmed): Lisa Baylin is an Emmy Award-winning creative producer with over ten years of scripted development, production and directing experience. Lisa manages the scripted development team at Cineflix Productions as Director, Scripted Development. Fayeque M. Townsend-Rahman is a Filmmaker and the Director, Branded Content and Strategy at Narcity Media. Vinuja Shanthasoruban is a Tamil-Canadian Producer, Actor and Comedian. Vinuja is a Producer at Archipelago Productions.

Working with Buyers

Unlock your project’s potential through distribution. Learn about the different territories and rights, how to create a distribution plan that’s best for your project, hybrid distribution, and how to negotiate with a distributor. Then participate in our mock “Distribution Plan” speed session. Tell us your project’s format and genre and our experts will create potential distribution plans. We’ll try to do as many projects as possible. About the panellists: India Blaisdell is the Theatrical and Operations Coordinator at LevelFILM. Marina Cordoni is the Founder and lead Producer of MCE, a company dedicated to developing and producing original feature films and series. Mary Cubello (Marketing and Product Acquisition Manager, McIntyre Media) has over over 30 years of experience in the non-theatrical industry.

Working with Distributors

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