College of the North Atlantic (CNA) student, Daniel Shears of Heatherton, will see his short film,
A Sense of Identity, make its big screen premiere later this year.
Shears entered and won a screenwriting contest held by the St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival this past winter. Having participated in the festival’s Forum West Screenwriting Workshop, which took place on March 13 at CNA in Stephenville, Shears heard about the contest from the workshop’s instructor, the award-winning screenwriter Wanda Nolan.
His short film will be made as part of the 2015 FRAMED West Film Education Program.
“It’s wonderful,” Shears said of having his script chosen. “It’s something that hasn’t sunk in yet and won’t until I get to see it. I feel really ecstatic that it is going to be made. I’m kind of nervous about how it’s going to turn out.”
A Sense of Identity is about a sick young woman named Marcy who is visited each week by her friend Greg. Each time he comes to visit he is dressed differently. “It’s like he is from a different clique each time and is trying to find his sense of identity. It’s about the changes that she goes through and the ones he goes through as he transitions from one clique to the next.”
Now in its fourth year, the FRAMED West Film Education Program is a continued partnership between the St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival, the Newfoundland Film Development Corporation, the Fine Arts Division at Grenfell Campus and CNA’s Film and Video Production program.
Allison White, the producer of the Canadian Screen Awards nominee
Cast No Shadow, will be returning this year to mentor the program, which is taking place between April 27 and May 1 at Grenfell Campus.
Program participants will begin the week by working with Shears’ script, conducting a script analysis and making modifications to suit the production resources. On the second day, participants will be invited to Stephenville, where instructor Peter Buckle and the Film and Video Production program will host an introduction to film gear seminar.
“It’s a great project,” Buckle said. “It’s something we’ve been doing for the last four years. It’s developed over time and we changed the format a little more every year. I think we have a formula that seems to work.”
Buckle and some of his students will be on set with the participants to shoot the film, which will be completed by the final day of the program.
“For our students it’s right down their alley because our students are very technical with what they do,” Buckle said. “It’s a really nice learning experience for students to learn how these workshops are presented and how to teach others how to use the equipment. That could be very valuable for when they get into the industry. In the film world holding workshops like this is how a lot of people make their living.”
Shears is one of the students selected to attend the workshop to give technical advice. On the Saturday following the program, a screening of the finished short film will take place in the Fine Arts building at Grenfell Campus, which will be free and open to the public.
A Sense of Identity will also screen at the 26th annual St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival, scheduled for October 20-24, 2015.
For more information about the Film and Video Production program visit:
Film and Video Production
-30-
Media Contact:
Roger Hulan
Communications Specialist
College of the North Atlantic
(709) 643-7938
roger.hulan@cna.nl.ca