Advanced Screenwriting with Wanda Nolan

I’m teaching a 4 week advanced screenwriting class with the Nickel Film Festival from January 23 – February 13th. Check out the Nickel Film Festival for details.

The National Film Board of Canada presents Luben and Elena at The Rooms, on December 3rd. It was directed by the brilliant Ellie Yonova, produced by Annette Clarke, and I had the good fortune of being the story consultant on the project.

The Rooms is screening films from the National Film Board of Canada this fall, including my short Mystery of the Secret Room. It plays November 12th at 7 PM, along side Conviction, directed by Teresa MacInnes, Nance Ackerman, and Ariella Pahlke

Pretty chuffed to get this in the mail today

The St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival’s Scene and Heard week is coming soon! It’s a week of professional development that includes chats with filmmakers, masterclasses, and screenings.

Myself and Deanne Foley will speak to Andrea Dunne about Finding Your Path. It’s happening on Thursday, March 18 at 1 PM. There’s more information here: https://www.womensfilmfestival.com/events/18/finding-your-path

Looking forward to talking about careers for women in film with Skilled Canada on February 9th from 4-5:00 PM.

Always Going Never Gone is now airing on CBC GEM. You can check it out here.

Congrats to the brilliant Mary-Colin Chisholm for her nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Female Role as Ailish in Always Going Never Gone. It was an absolute pleasure to work with, and learn from, Mary-Colin

My next film will be part of the National Film Board’s Reimagining series. My producer is the most awesome Annette Clarke.

Prajwala Dixit and Susan Rodgers are also making films as a part of this series. I’m so happy to work along side these talented women.

Thanks to the Nickel Independent Film Festival for selecting Crocuses from their vault to show as a part of their 20th anniversary! It plays on July 28th.

It was an absolute pleasure speaking to the brilliant Michelle Latimer as a part of the St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival Cozy Chats series, done live on Instagram.  I learned so much from her.  Key an eye out for her upcoming TV series, THE TRICKSTER on CBC.  http://www.streelfilms.com/the-trickster

I am spending this week (March 9-15) as a Visiting Writer at UBC’s Creative Writing Program.  I love talking about story and I’m so looking forward to a week of focusing on it with Master and Bachelor Fine Art students in Creative Writing.

Always Going Never Gone will be playing at the prestigious Newport Beach Film Festival in California. This festival was in my top ten and I’m really honoured to screen there. I’m so grateful of their support of my work in the past.

Thanks to Horror Fuel and Joseph Perry for this amazing review! It’s so wonderful to see our cast and crew singled out. Follow the link here.  Here’s what he has to say.

Writer/director Wanda Nolan’s chilling Canadian short Always Going Never Gone has a gripping, ethereal tone. A graduate student in folklore (Allison Moira Kelly as Kari) interviews an older lady (Mary-Colin Chisolm as Ailish) as part of the former’s research on supernatural legends. This short is a difficult one to write about, as even giving some praise where it is due means giving away spoilers, and it should be seen knowing as little as possible going in. Chisolm and Kelly play off of each other beautifully, and Rhiannon Morgan also gives a fine performance. Sarah Harris’ unsettling score and Justin Simms’ sound design perfectly complement Nolan’s fantastically directed otherworldly tale, gorgeously shot by cinematographer Duncan De Young. 

So stoked to be nominated for Best Supernatural Short and Best Score (composer and rock star Sarah Harris) at the Women in Horror Film Festival in Atlanta, Georgia. This is festival is truly stellar.

Always Going Never Gone plays Thursday, February 27th 2020 at 6PM as part of the Not of this World showcase.

We are stoked to be showing at the Final Girls Berlin Film Festival in February. It’s a bad ass feminist fest. Thanks to the programmers for selecting us!

So happy to be an OFFICIAL SELECTION of the 2020 Women in Horror Film Festival in Altanta!

Always Going Never Gone will be at Reels of the Dead in Chicago on November 23rd at noon.

Thanks to Andy Bulman for the chat about horror stories and why Newfoundland is the perfect place for them.  At the end of the piece, there’s a podcast with all the filmmakers. It also features our lead, the multi-talented Allison Kelly, who brought so much to the film. Read and listen here.

The University of British Columbia’s Creative Writing Program has invited me to be a visiting artist in the Spring of 2020.  I’m incredibly honoured to do this.

I spoke with Malone Mullin about our short Always Going Never Gone.  We talked about the themes the film touches on.

Interview here: In a tale of grief and dying outports, St. John’s filmmaker nods to banshee lore

Mary-Colin Chisholm as Ailish (photo by Greg Locke)

This festival was on one of my top fav lists. I’m so happy to be selected. Happening in Vermont in November!

Luben and Elena will be playing at the St. John’s International Film Festival:

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2019
2:30 PM 4:00 PM
THE ROOMS

I was the story consultant on  this film by Ellie Yonova. The documentary follows renowned artitsts, Luben Boykov and Elena Popova, who settled in Newfoundland, Canada, in the early 90s after escaping communist Bulgaria. Their work went on to contribute to the culture and landscape of the province, underscoring in a very real and visual way how the immigrant experience shapes and defines place.  Ellie  is a masterful story teller. She makes a film about art, a piece of art.  I’m honoured to have had such a tiny part of this story.

Always Going Never Gone will play at the St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival!  It’s their 30th anniversary and we’re thrilled to be a part of it!

Sunday, October 20th
12-1:30pm
LSPU Hall!

Get your tickets here https://www.womensfilmfestival.com/tickets

Thanks to my bud Carsten Knox for giving Always Going Never Gone a shout out in his review. Knox  describes the film as “David Fincher-esque levels of icy creep”.

A few, brief words about shorts at #FIN2019

Always Going Never Gone will make it’s world premiere at FIN Atlantic International Festival!

http://program.finfestival.ca/Guide/e8f74145-5b39-4c2a-8d98-94a58640efe9/Always-Going-Never-Gone?fbclid=IwAR3Ov024IFiv0YG4-9r9Zf5DZoOr-L8LOdBdHhnYshz2Y3U5r34jq5LSGy0

Final mix and playback of Always Going Never Gone today!! Super grateful to everyone who worked on this film. All of them story tellers. It’s a ton of work getting to this point. Big love and respect to all the filmmakers out there. Stay tuned for festival updates #film #womeninfilm #supernatural

I’m teaching a feature film screenwriting workshop in September. Here’s the deets:

Application Requirements:
A short synopsis and a one-page long synopsis of your story. A four page writing sample. E-Mail info@nickelfestival.com with your materials!

Deadline for submissions August 18th
Notify successful submissions by August 23rd
Workshop on Sept 10th, 16th, 23rd, 30th, Oct. 7th
Cost $150

Find it on Facebook

“If there is something wrong with the third act, it’s really in the first act.” Billy Wilder

The first act lays the groundwork for your entire story. It is what activates your character, defines their world, the central conflict, the emotional stakes, and sets off the action across the length of your film. It determines if an audience will stay with your story.

In this hands-on screenwriting class, we will use writing in-class exercises, lecture, and film examples to write the first act of your film. In the process we will explore screenwriting elements like:

· Dramatic premise
· Plot (external world)
· Theme (internal world)
· Ethos/World
· Tone and point of view
· Character/Character arcs/Transformation
· Dialog
· Scenes and sequences
· Transitions
· Subplots

This class will be small and intimate. It requires each writer to share their work.

Creating Your Short Screenplay/Picture Start Short

Thinking about submitting to Picture Start? I’m teaching a short film workshop for NIFCO on July 30th that will help you with your script.  Sign up here through eventbrite

Thrilled that Mystery of the Secret Room is playing at the Art Gallery of Hamilton as a part of their exhibition This is Moving: Illustration on Screen http://bit.ly/2wwXtnC 

The exhibition runs June 21 – September 8, 2019