Sixteen B.C. filmmakers’ projects receive $1.8M in production financing from Creative BC

Vancouver, B.C. (March 5, 2024) – Today, Creative BC announces the 16 projects that will receive production financing for their long form scripted feature length films, documentaries, and series projects. With grants of $27K to $180K each, this is the third round of filmmakers funded through the Production Program (the Program). The Program was announced in 2020 and funded by the Domestic Motion Picture Fund (the Fund) announced in 2020 by the Province of British Columbia. 

This round of funding represents a $1,835,762 investment for production phase financing, and these 16 projects bring the total number supported by the Program to 24. The Program allows B.C. filmmakers to complete their projects for broadcast, sale, and distribution. All recipients of the program are B.C. resident individuals, or B.C.-owned and controlled production companies, that own the intellectual property behind their projects.

The Program aims to enhance funding access by eliminating the requirement for a ‘market trigger,’ proof of existing financing to the project through a distributor or broadcaster’s commitment. The result is support for creators at a variety of career stages, and for a mixed slate of projects that do and do not have existing market trigger financing, with many now given the opportunity to leverage this grant in securing further investments.  

The Program’s financial support boosts each production’s budget, enhancing its appeal to attract additional investments from private and public funders. This enables projects to move into the production phase and transform fully developed scripts into screen-ready products. 

Acknowledging that there have been systemic barriers to access, and that supporting new and diverse talent is crucial to a vibrant and thriving motion picture industry, 93% of the funding is distributed to projects from emerging filmmakers and/or from one or more of the following systemically excluded groups: Indigenous, Black, People of Colour, 2SLGBTQIA+, Women, Non-binary, or people with disabilities. This program embodies Creative BC’s actions for equity and inclusion in program delivery. 

The following projects are this year’s successful recipients: 

1. Project: AKASHI
When a struggling artist returns to Japan for her grandmother’s funeral, a staggering family secret upends everything she’s ever wanted out of life and love.
Company: AKASHI Pictures Inc.
Producers: Nachapol Dudsdeemaytha, Tyler Hagan
Amount/Type: $180,000, Scripted Feature Length Content

2. Project: UNTITLED SCREEN SIREN PROJECT
A 3×1-hour documentary Canadian crime series for Crave.
Company: Screen Siren Pictures Inc.
Producers:  Trish Dolman, Steven Thibault
Amount/Type: $180,000, Documentary or Factual Content

3. Project: CAN I GET A WITNESS?
In the not-too-distant future, we’ve solved all the world’s problems: mitigated climate change, eradicated poverty, achieved true trans-species democracy. There’s just one catch–humans must end their lives at 50 years old and teenage artists are forced to document it. It’s Kiah’s first day on the job.
Company: CIGAW Productions Ltd.
Producers: Ann Marie Fleming, Ruth Vincent, Raymond Massey
Amount/Type: $112,261.50, Scripted Feature Length Content

4. Project: CONCRETE TURNED TO SAND
Concrete Turned to Sand traces the present realities of oyster farming on Cortes Island, BC through temporal, geographic, and scientific modes of perception.
Company: Slag Pile Films Ltd.
Producers: Jessica Johnson, Ryan Ermacora
Amount/Type: $45,000, Documentary or Factual Content

5. Project: CONSTANT BATTLES
Constant Battles follows Nyousha Nakhjiri, a Canadian boxing sensation with Iranian roots, as she confronts anxiety and ADHD to try and reach the Olympics and become a professional. Witness her relentless pursuit to redefine the world of women’s boxing and bring attention to women’s rights issues in Iran.
Company: Constant Battles Films Inc (Mack Stannard)
Producers: Mack Stannard, Sina Nazarian, Sepehr Samimi, Sepideh Yadegar
Amount/Type: $27,000, Documentary or Factual Content

6. Project: CRY FROM THE SEA
A grief-stricken lighthouse keeper is jolted out of his solitary existence by the arrival of a mysterious American war widow, who awakens in him the possibility of a new beginning.
Company: Water Horse Productions Inc.
Producers: Tina Pehme, Kim Roberts, Larry Bass, Aaron Farrell
Amount/Type: $67,500, Scripted Feature Length Content

7. Project: KARAK
With the death of his newborn shaking an already tumultuous marriage, Adrian is chased through the night by a haunted yellow Volkswagen Beetle seeking to kill him.
Company: Yellowbug Productions Inc.
Producers: Ian Tan, Nancy Kamar, Joshua Lam
Amount/Type: $45,000, Scripted Feature Length Content

8. Project: LUPE Q AND THE GALACTIC EARWORMS
A disgruntled Latinx misfit in a high school punk band discovers her uniquely terrible music is the only thing that can save the world from an alien invasion.
Company: Spacepunks Productions Inc. (Spitshine Flicks and Holiday Pictures)
Producers:  Javier Badillo, Michael Parker, Shan Tam
Amount/Type: $180,000, Scripted Feature Length Content

9. Project: MEMORIA
The true story of a young girl and her family, clouded by trauma, and their struggle to grieve their home country and the life they once knew.
Company:  Red Slide Productions Ltd.
Producers:  Mike Johnston, Martin Calvo
Amount/Type: $180,000, Scripted Feature Length Content

10. Project: NECHAKO
In the wake of the damming of the Nechako River and a looming court decision, two communities form an unlikely alliance to rebuild their Nations.
Company: Nechako Films Inc.
Producers: Jessica Hallenback, Tyler Hagan, Teri Snelgrove (NFB)
Amount/Type: $108,000, Documentary or Factual Content

11. Project: SWEET SUMMER POW WOW 
A young Indigenous couple get a break from their troubled lives when they find each other through a summer of love on the Pow-Wow circuit.
Company: OCM Pow Wow Films Inc.
Producers: Leslie D. Bland, Harold C. Joe
Amount/Type: $108,000, Scripted Feature Length Content

12. Project: SACRED CREATURES
SACRED CREATURES is a darkly comic exploration of faith and family. Estranged Italian-Canadian siblings reunite years after the middle sister had a psychotic episode that she experienced as a spiritual awakening. Her behaviour at the reunion grows stranger, disrupting family dynamics, and draws in a group of eccentric zealots.
Company: My Sister Miriam Films
Producers: Ines Eisses, Chris Sanchez, Frieda Luk
Amount/Type: $180,000, Scripted Feature Length Content

13. Project: SAINTS AND WARRIORS
Throughout the course of the Haida basketball season, Saints And Warriors, tells an intimate and sweeping story of how basketball has become the heartbeat of contemporary culture on the remote Indigenous nation of Haida Gwaii.
Company: Ball is Life Entertainment Inc., Grand Scheme, and InnoNative
Producers: Michael Tanko Grand, Patrick Shannon
Amount/Type: $108,000, Documentary or Factual Content

14. Project: TOJO AND THE TALE OF DARUMA
In TOJO AND THE TALE OF DARUMA, a visionary chef grapples with his life’s work and reflects upon the struggle to make himself and his culinary creations palatable to a Western audience. Amidst the push and pull between his traditional Japanese heritage and his new persona in Canada, Tojo embarks on a journey of identity intertwined with the mythical presence of Daruma, a legendary monk from Japanese folklore – shaping a narrative that transcends borders, realities, and flavors.
Company: Cedar Sento Documentary Inc.
Producers: Natalie Murao (Writer/Producer) Luis Guerra (Producer)
Amount/Type: $45,000, Documentary or Factual Content

15. Project: TOMBS
TOMBS is a period drama that converges the dreams, blood, and tears of three separated Indigenous sisters against the political, social, and cultural currents of the 1970s.
Company: Tombs Production Inc.
Producers: Christine Haebler, Marie Clements, Trish Dolman
Amount/Type: $180,000, Scripted Feature Length Content

16. Project: TREASURE OF THE RICE TERRACES
A filmmaker sets out on a journey of self-discovery to meet Apo Whang-od, unearthing the global impact of traditional tattooing and the need to end its stigma, preserve cultural heritage, and fight for cultural sovereignty.
Company: Treasure of the Rice Terrace Ltd.
Producers: Bailey Wood, Jacob Crawford, Kent Donguines
Amount/Type: $90,000, Documentary or Factual Content

View a list of the recipients by program online here.    

To learn more about the Production Program, visit Creative BC’s website: www.creativebc.com/funding-programs/domestic-motion-picture-programs/production-program/   

This program partnership is supported by the Province of British Columbia’s historic announcement made on April 19, 2023, for $15.9 million three-year investment into B.C.’s domestic motion productions, workforce and creators through 2027. The Program and the Fund are part of Creative BC’s Reel Focus BC suite of support for B.C.’s domestic motion picture industry.

Quotes:  

Honourable Lana Popham, Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport
“Congratulations to the B.C. creators who have received production support. We are thrilled to see more of their stories on screen. Our government is proud to support local productions and people working in the motion picture industry in B.C. It’s amazing to see more emerging filmmakers and equity-deserving people in the industry having access to the support they need to unleash their creativity.” 

Bob D’Eith, Parliamentary Secretary for Arts and Film
“Congratulations to all the recipients. We are so proud of the calibre of our local talent. Our support will ignite B.C. creators’ careers, giving them more opportunities to reach a broader audience and showcase their made-in-B.C. stories. These stories will continue to inspire us and promote a better understanding of the world we live in.” 

Prem Gill, CEO, Creative BC
“We are proud to be supporting the production of these 16 projects via this highly competitive program. This year, we are supporting more projects and higher grant amounts than previously for domestic filmmakers to bring their IP to life. Thank you to the Province of British Columbia for this continued investment into B.C. talent, we can’t wait to see these projects on the big screen at home and around the world.”  

Mack Stannard, Program Recipient
“We’re immensely grateful for Creative BC’s multifaceted support. It has not only propelled our film’s success but also ignited our ongoing enthusiasm for contributing to the thriving artistic landscape of our province. I continue to be inspired by the collaborative spirit and forward-thinking initiatives that are shaping our local industry, which Creative BC is at the heart of.” 

Media Contact:
Creative BC
Lisa Escudero
media@creativebc.com
+1 604-730-2235 

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About Creative BC
Creative BC is an independent non-profit society created and supported by the Province to sustain and help grow British Columbia’s creative industries: motion picture, interactive and digital media, music and sound recording, and magazine and book publishing. The society delivers a wide range of programs and services with a mandate to expand B.C.’s creative economy. These activities include: administration of the provincial government’s motion picture tax credit programs; delivery of program funding and export marketing support for the sector; and provincial film commission services. Combined, these activities serve to attract inward investment and market B.C. as a partner and destination of choice for domestic and international content creation. The society acts as an industry catalyst and ambassador to help B.C.’s creative sector reach its economic, social, environmental, and creative potential both at home, and globally. Website: www.creativebc.com