Balancing Creativity and Business |

Strategies for Short Form Series from Concept to Release

Presented with the participation of the Independent Production Fund

Description

In this dynamic peer to peer session, two teams that have received funding from the Independent Production Fund will interview each other in depth on the process behind their short form series - from concept to development, to production, working with streaming platforms and successful release strategies. The teams will discuss how this medium can offer a space to develop IP, catalyze the careers of emerging talent, and the creative control necessary to authentically tell the specific and engaging stories at the heart of their series.

Date
Thursday, April 13, 2023
Time
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM (EDT)
Session Language
English language session

Christopher Yip

Director

Christopher Yip is a Queer Chinese Canadian writer & director based in Toronto whose works examine love, family, and sexuality through a distinct diasporic lens. His latest film Fish Boy, will have its World and European Premiere at the BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival. His series Streams Flow From a River, produced by Fae Pictures, will have its Digital World Premiere at the Canadian Film Fest. It will air on Super Channel, Amazon Prime Video, and Apple TV in April. In 2020, Christopher was named one of Playback Magazine's 10 to Watch and Reelworld Screen Institute's Emerging 20. He is represented by Jennifer Irons at META Talent Agency.

Gwenlyn Cumyn

Creative Director
Boss & Co

Gwenlyn Cumyn is an award-winning creator and actor based in Toronto. After appearing in All for One (Corus/ABCSpark) and Chasing Valentine (Best Actress, MIFF), Gwenlyn developed two seasons of the digital series, Barbelle (KindaTV, Revry), produced by her company, Boss & Co. Beyond the digital space, Gwenlyn has written and produced the short films, The Fates (TIFFxInstagram) and Cons and Pros (Telefilm/Cannes Not Short on Talent). Gwenlyn appears in, co-created, and showruns the softball mockumentary, Slo Pitch (IFC/OUTtv). Most recently, Gwenlyn co-created, wrote, and directed the CBCGem series, Homeschooled, based on her own experiences with home education.

Karen Knox

Filmmaker

Karen Knox is a filmmaker and actor based in Toronto. She has served as the showrunner for Homeschooled (CBC), Slo Pitch (IFC/AMC+) and BARBELLE (Shaftesbury) for multiple seasons, while also directing and writing. Knox's directorial debut feature film Adult Adoption (Level Film) premiered at the Glasgow Film Festival in 2022, before its critically acclaimed theatrical release in North America. Knox's sophomore feature film We Forgot to Break Up (Motel Pictures) based on the award winning novel Heidegger Stairwell by Kayt Burgess is slated for a festival run in 2023. As an actor Knox is best known for SYFY's LTSC and opposite Gabourey Sidibe in Paramount's All I Didn't Want, as well as appearances in her own work.

Shant Joshi

President | Executive Producer

Shant Joshi is an award-winning producer and president of Fae Pictures, based in Los Angeles and Toronto, on a mission to decolonize Hollywood by creating cinematic content for, by, and about queer, trans, and BIPOC people. On his mission, his projects have won awards at Sundance (Framing Agnes), Berlin (International Dawn Chorus Day), Inside Out, and Bend (Noor & Layla), and premiered at festivals like TIFF (Diaspora, Scaring Women at Night), Aspen Shortsfest (I Live Here), Canneseries (Streams Flow From A River), Hot Docs, BlackStar, Bentonville, and BFI.

Shant is currently vice chair of the BIPOC TV & Film Board, sits on the Canadian Media Producers Association’s EDI action committee, and sits on the advisory board at the Future of Film Showcase. He is an alum of the Canadian Film Centre, Rotterdam Lab, and Osgoode Hall Law School, and was named a Reelworld Trailblazer, nominated for an Indiescreen Award, and named in York University’s Top 30 Changemakers under 30.

Independent Production Fund