PROFESSOR SHANNON WALSH ANNOUNCED AS ONE OF THE WOMEN IN THE DIRECTOR’S CHAIR’S EIGHT DIRECTOR PARTICIPANTS FOR THE STORY & LEADERSHIP PROGRAM AT THE WHISTLER FILM FESTIVAL.

Women In the Director’s Chair (WIDC) organizers are pleased to announce the eight Canadian women directors who will attend the highly acclaimed script development and director mentoring program WIDC: Story & Leadership, that takes place in part at the Whistler Film Festival (November 29 to December 3).
Working on their debut fiction features are multiple doc maker crossing over to drama, Shannon Walsh (Unidentified Minor), TV director Sandi Gisbert (All Pranks, No Fun), and award-winning short filmmaker Sophie Jarvis (Invasion).
Developing their second fiction feature films are Sonia Bonspille Boileau (Rustic Oracle), Jessica Bradford (Finn McKain and the Lost Toad), and Elizabeth Lazebnik (Hannah).
Directors Guild of Canada member Katia Café Fébrissy (Grounded) and AFI alumna Leah Cameron (The Communist’s Daughter) are developing new web series.
These eight directors-to-watch will join the ranks of WIDC’s prestigious alumnae network of over 220 women directors across Canada. Between 2006 and 2016 over 60% of Telefilm Canada funded features directed by women were directed by WIDC alumnae.
“The Harold Greenberg Fund is pleased to continue our work in developing talent and fiction feature films together with Carol Whiteman and the WIDC program,” says John Galway, President, The Harold Greenberg Fund. “We know that projects coming out of the WIDC modules are made stronger and the filmmakers have a community of support behind them.”
This year’s line-up of WIDC mentors includes director, Gail Harvey whose latest feature Never Saw It Coming is screening at the Whistler Film Festival; award-winning WIDC alumnae director, Siobhan Devine (The Birdwatcher which premiered at WFF in 2015), along with popular WIDC instructors, writer and Jungian expert, Dr. Carolyn Mamchur, screenwriter / story consultant Linda Coffey (These Arms of Mine), actor and filmmaker, Lori Triolo (Cold Squad).
Industry guests include independent producer, Lael McCall (Principia Productions), Telefilm Canada’s Lauren Davis, Harold Greenberg Fund’s Alan Bacchus. Representatives from CBC, STORYHIVE and the Independent Production Fund will participate in roundtables. Multiple industry award-winner Carol Whiteman facilitates the program and additional mentors and guests will be announced.
WIDC and the Whistler Film Festival collaborate again through the WIDC WFF Industry Immersion, offering the eight director participants a chance to mingle with the industry’s top-tier players during the fest’s four-day run that includes screenings of two WIDC alumnae-directed feature films, Becoming Burlesque (directed by Jackie English) and the multi-director feature, Ordinary Days (directed by WIDC Story & Leadership alumnae Jordan Canning, Renukua Jayapalan, along with Kris Booth). Alumna Ana de Lara’s BC MPPIA award-winning short Good Girls Don’t will also have its world premiere at the festival.
Shannon Walsh has written and directed three feature documentary films, which have screened in cinemas, museums, and over 60 film festivals around the world. Her films have been broadcast in Canada, South Africa and the U.S. Now based in Vancouver, she is currently finishing her 4^th feature doc, and working on her first fiction feature, Unidentified Minor.
About WIDC – Founded in 1997, and celebrating its 20^th anniversary, Women in the Director’s Chair (WIDC) is an internationally respected Canadian professional development offering, specially designed to advance the skills, careers and fiction screen projects of women directors. With 220 director alumnae across Canada, WIDC is presented with major support from Telefilm Canada, Harold Greenberg Fund, William F. White Intl., and appreciates the participation and support of the Canada Council for the Arts
http://www.widc.ca/women-in-the-directors-chair-widc-announces-eight-director-participants-for-story-leadership-program-to-take-place-at-the-whistler-film-festival/