CFC and Bell Media Announce Participants for the 2014 Bell Media Showrunner Bootcamp

To Tweet this release: http://bit.ly/1kSqNvi

Toronto, April 15, 2014 – The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) and Bell Media are pleased to welcome the four participants selected for the 2014 Bell Media Showrunner Bootcamp. Now in its third year, the Bell Media Showrunner Bootcamp invites up to four senior-level television writers who have been peer-nominated by key members of the broadcast community as “showrunners to watch”. Each participant has extensive writing credits, has worked on numerous shows in various capacities, has solid producing experience, and possesses both strong management and creative leadership qualities.

“We are delighted to have such a talented pool of candidates to choose from for this program – it is truly a testament to the strength of our industry,” said Trish Williams, Director of Independent Production, Bell Media. “These four writers have strong voices and impressive track records, and we see a world of possibilities in the future for them, and as a result, for Bell Media.”

The showrunners participate in a series of high-level discussions, meetings, and workshops in which key aspects of creating and running shows are discussed with some of the best professionals in the business. The Bootcamp runs part-time over several months, working closely with each of the individual showrunners, to further advance their knowledge and better position them for success at the helm.

The 2014 Bell Media Showrunner Bootcamp participants are:

• Sherry White, a Canadian-based screenwriter and filmmaker who is currently writing and producing for CTV’s hit series “Saving Hope”, and is the co-executive producer on the ABC/Global series “Rookie Blue”. Sherry has also written for ”Rookie Blue” for five seasons.  Previously, she has written for series such as “MVP: The Secret Lives of Hockey Wives”, “18 to Life”, and “Hatching, Matching & Dispatching”. Sherry is currently developing series for both ABC Studios and Warner Horizon. In addition to writing and producing for television, Sherry has written the feature films Down to the Dirt (2008), The Breadmaker (2003), and wrote and directed the Genie Award-nominated feature film Crackie (2009), which screened at over 30 festivals worldwide, including the Toronto International Film Festival, Karlovy Vary, and the Torino Film Festival, where it took home the jury prize. Crackie was also named one of the top ten films in Canada for 2009, and screened at the MOMA in New York City in March 2010. Sherry’s award-winning shorts Diamonds in a Bucket and Spoiled have also screened nationally and internationally.

• Sarah Dodd, an experienced screenwriter and story editor whose varied television credits include: “Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranorma”, “Code Name: Eternity”, “BeastMaster”, “Shoebox Zoo”, “Blood Ties”, “Falcon Beach”, “The Border”, “Endgame”, “Primeval: New World” and “Motive”. Sarah developed the popular book series The Saddle Club for television and helmed the story department in its first season. After two seasons as the executive story editor and writer on the YTV series “Zixx”, for which she won a Leo Award for Best Screenwriting, Sarah was promoted to act as showrunner for its third season. While working continuously in television since 1995, Sarah also co-wrote the award-winning short film The Sparkle Lite Motel with director Cory Kinney, and participated in the NSI Features First program with her horror feature, Extinction. As a story editor, Sarah has worked on such feature films as Defendor, Weirdsville, and Hank and Mike. Sarah just completed her third season on “Arctic Air” as a writer and co-executive producer.

• Sandra Chwialkowska, an alumna of CFC’s Bell Media Prime Time TV Program, has been working non-stop as a writer and her output has spanned television comedies and dramas, feature films, and even novels. In just four years, Sandra has produced or story edited some of the most popular series in Canada, including “Remedy” (Global), “Cracked” (Reelz/CBC), “Rookie Blue” (ABC/Global), and “The Yard” (Hulu/HBO Canada). Sandra began her career as a story editor on the third season of “Lost Girl” (Syfy/Showcase), and returned as a senior producer for Season Five just two years later. Sandra currently has features and television series in development at such major production companies as eOne, New Metric Media, Shaftesbury Films, and Temple Street Productions, including a half-hour comedy that was developed with TMN and Movie Central called “The Educated Pervert” and a one-hour drama with Rogers called “Between”.

• Matt MacLennan, an accomplished writer with 13 years experience writing for television, feature films and video games in the genres of comedy and drama. Since 2001, he has worked as a staff writer on 14 seasons and over 170 episodes of series television, penning more than 40 episodes of comedy and drama, and serving as a producer for six years. Some of Matt’s recent credits include the award-winning shows “The Listener,” “Rookie Blue”, “Call Me Fitz”, “Life With Derek”, and “Degrassi”. Matt has written several feature films, including Irvine Welsh’s Ecstasy, which premiered in 2012. He has recently branched out into video games, writing Ubisoft’s latest instalment of its multi-national, blockbuster franchise Splinter Cell: Blacklist. A firm believer in giving back to the writing community, Matt is an active mentor to emerging talent through Durham College, the New Brunswick Film Co-op, the Toronto Writers’ Centre and mentorship programs such as the NSI Totally Television Program.

The 2014 Bell Media Showrunner Bootcamp kicks off in Los Angeles the week of April 14^th, where the showrunners will meet with a lineup of leading industry professionals, television creators, and writers, including:

• Andrew W. Marlowe (Executive Producer, “Castle”)
• Bill Lawrence (Executive Producer, “Cougar Town”, “Scrubs”)
• Bridget Carpenter (Executive Producer, “The Red Road”; Co-Executive Producer, “Parenthood”, “Friday Night Lights”)
• Daniel Cerone (Executive Producer, “The Mentalist”, “Motive”, “Dexter”)
• Davey Holmes (Executive Producer, “Shameless”)
• David Shore (Executive Producer, “House M.D.”)
• Jeff Bell (Executive Producer, “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”, “Alias”, “Angel”)
• Jennifer Bicks (Executive Producer, “The Big C”, “Men in Trees”)
• Leonard Dick (Executive Producer, “The Good Wife”)
• Mark Wilding (Executive Producer, “Scandal”, “Grey’s Anatomy”)
• Steven DeKnight (Executive Producer, “Spartacus: War of the Damned”; Co-Executive Producer, “Smallville”)

Previous guests and mentors who have lent their time and expertise in support of the Bootcamp participants include; Hart Hanson (Executive Producer, “Bones”), Kurt Sutter (Executive Producer, “Sons of Anarchy”), Bob Martin (Executive Producer, “Sensitive Skin”, “Slings & Arrows”), Glen Mazzara (Executive Producer, “The Walking Dead”), Tassie Cameron (Executive Producer, “Rookie Blue”), R. Scott Gemmill (Executive Producer, “NCIS: Los Angeles”), Joel H. Wyman (Executive Producer, “Almost Human”, “Fringe”), Morwyn Brebner (Executive Producer, “Saving Hope”), Jeff Melvoin (Executive Producer, “Army Wives”, “Alias”), Peter Mohan (Executive Producer, “Lost Girl”, “The Listener”), and Tom Fontana (Executive Producer, “Copper”, “Borgia”), among many others.

To learn more about the Bell Media Showrunner Bootcamp, please visit cfccreates.com/showrunner

About CFC
CFC accelerates the careers of the brightest talent in film, television, screen acting, music, and digital media. A charitable organization, CFC is committed to promoting and investing in Canada’s diverse talent; providing exhibition, financial, and distribution opportunities, and fostering industry collaborations and creative partnerships. CFC makes a significant cultural and economic contribution to Canada by launching the country’s most creative ideas and voices to the world. For more details, visit cfccreates.com.

About Bell Media

With passion and an unrelenting commitment to excellence, Bell Media creates content and builds brands that entertain, inform, engage, and inspire audiences through the platforms of their choice. Bell Media is Canada’s premier multimedia company with leading assets in television, radio, out-of-home advertising, and digital media. Bell Media owns 30 local television stations led by CTV, Canada’s #1 television network; 34 specialty channels, including TSN and RDS, Canada’s most-watched specialty channels in English and French; four pay TV services, including The Movie Network and Super Écran; and is managing shareholder of premium pay-per-view service Viewers Choice Canada. Bell Media is also Canada’s largest radio broadcaster, with 107 licensed radio stations in 55 markets across Canada. Bell Media owns Astral Out-of-Home, one of Canada’s most dynamic and innovative out-of-home advertising companies with a network of more than 9,500 advertising faces in Québec, Ontario and British Columbia. Bell Media also operates more than 200 websites, delivers TV Everywhere with its innovative GO video streaming services, including CTV GO, TMN GO, and Bravo GO, and owns Dome Productions Inc., a multi-platform production company. Bell Media is part of BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE), Canada’s largest communications company. For more on Bell Media, please visit www.bellmedia.ca.

-30-

For media inquiries, please contact:

Cory Caverson-Angeletti

Communications Specialist, CFC

416.445.1446 x 463

cangeletti@cfccreates.com

Renée Dupuis

Acting Publicity Director, Communications, CTV

renee.dupuis@bellmedia.ca
416.384.3154