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I’ve been working on a TV Series, Bar Haven, with Deanne Foley and Elisabeth de Mariaffi.  It has been a blast. Love these two!  Stay tuned for more…

Mystery of the Secret Room screens on April 25th at 7:45 pm at the Newport Beach Film Festival in Orange County, California.

https://www.newportbeachfilmfest.com/event/mystery-secret-room/

 

 

 

Mystery of the Secret Room has been nominated for two Golden Sheaf Awards: Emerging Filmmaker and Animation.  I am soooooo thrilled! Thanks to the Yorkton Film Festival!

See the full list of nominees here.

Mystery of the Secret Room (Trailer) from NFB/marketing on Vimeo.

Crocuses played in four festivals in March in Canada and the U.S.:

• Kamloops Film Festival in Kamloops, BC
• Eve Film Festival in Ottawa, ON
• LOYNO Film Festival in New Orleans, Louisiana
• Equinox Film Festival in Palmer, Alaska.

We’re so happy that audiences are seeing this film.  Thanks to the programmers!  You can learn more about Crocuses here.

Tonight is the World Premiere of Crocuses at the St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival‘s Closing Night Gala! We are thrilled that it will be opening for the the highly acclaimed feature film Maudie starring Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke. Congrats to Mary Sexton and team on their success.

Crocuses was the winner of the RBC Michelle Jackson Award. The director mentor was Anita Reilly McGee. It was produced by Latonia Hartery of LJH films. And, the uber talented Ian Vatcher was the cinematographer.

Crocuses stars Sheilagh Guy Murphy, Paula Morgan, Emily Corcoran, Kyle Snow, Mike Daly and the show stealing Maggie Deming  Emily Deming Martin.

My short animation Mystery of the Secret Room produced by the National Film Board of Canada is playing at the St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival Saturday OCT 22 at the LSPU Hall at 7 pm. Tickets can be bought here: http://rca.nf.ca/box-office/purchase-tickets-2/

Exec Producer/Producer Annette Clarke, Associate ProducerJon Montes, Animation Supervisor and Art Direction Claire Blanchet.

My short animation Mystery of the Secret Room is premiering at the Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax next week. Check out the link to see the trailer. There are so many people to thank when it comes to this project. But, first and foremost, I have to thank Annette Clarke and Jon Montes who always push me further than I think I can go. Animation Supervision and Art Direction by the fiercely talented Claire Blanchet.

Mon Sep 19, 2016 | 2:00PM NFB Showcase: Shorts Cineplex Cinemas Park Lane Theatre 2

Thursday, Sept. 22 | 9:15PM Reel East Coast Shorts, Program 6 Cineplex Cinemas Park Lane Theatre 3

Here is the gorgeous trailer. Music by Jeff Johnson.

Mystery of the Secret Room (Trailer) from NFB/marketing on Vimeo.

The first film I ever wrote will be showing at Raw Refrains, August 9th at 7 pm. It will play at the Abbey Café at Monastery Spa, 63 Patrick Street, St. John’s, Newfoundland.

Kalem Mahoney will be the songwriter for the evening, Emily Bridger will be reading from her new work and Catherine Marshall will be exhibiting her artwork.

We shot my RBC Michelle Jackson Award film “Crocuses” from July 31 – Aug 2nd. I had an incredible crew of focussed, smart and creative people.

The whole production ran without a hitch due to the even hand of Latonia Hartery.   It was a ton of work and I am so deeply grateful for her time and generosity.

Ian Vatcher was the director of photography. And, Deb Vatcher was the production designer. They made the film look incredible.

The RBC Michelle Jackson Award film is for emerging directors. It’s a huge opportunity and I learned so much! Thanks to Anita McGee, the director mentor. And a huge thanks to the St. John’s International Film Festival for the award.

 

 

On June 17 at 1:30, my animator and collaborator, Claire Blanchet, will be joining me to talk about storytelling and animation. The focus will be my short film Mystery of the Secret Room, see schedule here: http://www.womensfilmfestival.com/2016-scene-heard-schedule/

Ellie Yonova’s documentary about artists Luben Boykov and Elena Popova received a green light for production in May by the National Film Board of Canada.  The producer is the amazing Annette Clarke. I was the story consultant on the proposal.

An incredible artist in her own right, Ellie is the perfect person to tell this story.

My episode for the web series Sex in Cars was shot on March 20. It stars Alison Woolridge and Brian Marler.

Sex in Cars is a web series developed and directed by Justin Simms.  He asked several writers in the community to write scripts. The instructions were simple, write something that involved sex and a car.  Other contributors are Ed Riche, Emily Bridger, Mark Hoffe, Dave Sullivan and Justin.

The series should be out in the fall.

In the Fall, I wrote episode 2 (The Atlantic Bastion) for Hors Circuits, a French television program produced out of Newfoundland by Sibelle Productions. I worked with a great team, including Xavier Georges (producer), Christian Sparkes (director), Allison White (producer), Scott McClellan (cinematographer) and Justin Oakey (director).

It’s a documentary mini-series about forbidden and inaccessible places starring Lou Poirier.

Thanks to Phillip Lewis for this fabulous post on my animation The Mystery of the Secret Room http://blog.nfb.ca/blog/2015/10/14/madness-animation-mystery-of-the-secret-room/

I am this year’s winner of the RBC Michelle Jackson Filmmaker Award.  I’m absolutely thrilled and grateful. This award was founded by St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival in honour of filmmaker Michelle Jackson. It is sponsored by the RBC Foundation. Plus a whole host of other organizations and people who support the arts and know the importance of telling stories.

From Aug 5-13th, I am on the Writer in Residence in Bird Cove/Plum Point on the Great Northern Peninsula. Thanks so much to the 50 Centuries’ Interpretation Centre and Dr. Latonia Hartery, lead archaeologist for the area. Latonia is also an accomplished filmmaker. I’ve been learning so much about this magical place from her.

Thanks to the Overcast and Mark Hoffe for the great interview. The Magic and Mystery of Storytelling: a profile of writer and filmmaker Wanda Nolan

Our short film Four Sisters is playing at World Storytelling Day in Mt. Pearl, March 20, at 7:30

It was released in 2010 through the incredible Picture Start program (NIFCO). It was the first film I ever wrote; directed by Dana Warren and produced by Lynn Andrews.

Nice to see it out there again.

DANNY will be featured as a special presentation at HotDocs! It is a part of the Scotia Bank Big Ideas Series.

SCREENING
Bloor Hot Docs Cinema Sat, Apr 25 6:30 PM
Tickets: $22

I was the researcher and story consultant on the project. I worked with a great team: Justin Simms and Bill MacGillivray (Directors), Annette Clarke (Producer), Jon Montes (Associate Producer) and Chris Darlington (Graphics and Animation).

I’m teaching two screenwriting workshops on the West Coast of Newfoundland.

• On Friday March 13, I’ll be at the College of the North Atlantic in Stephenville
• On March 14 and 15, I’ll be at MUN, Greenfell Campus. Click here for details.

These workshops are offered in conjunction with the St. John’s Women’s Film Festival, Newfoundland and Labrador Film Development Cooperation (NFLDC), Memorial University and the College of North Atlantic.

We got the best present this Christmas. The National Film Board green lit The Mystery of the Secret Room and we start production this week. The film tells the story of a little girl who turns into a super heroine to save her Mom from depression. It’s an adventure story that speaks to the challenges of dealing with mental health issues and the lack of support for all those involved.

I’m working with the amazing Claire Blanchet (animator) and the unstoppable Annette Clarke (producer). I’m so grateful and thrilled to tell this story.

Danny, a documentary by the National Film Board about politician Danny Williams, starts its Arts and Culture tour across the province today. Whatever your politics, it’s worth a watch. Besides focusing on Danny, the film uses his life to talk about the history of Newfoundland and Labrador and its complicated relationship with Canada since joining the country in 1949.

I was the researcher and story consultant on the project. I got to work with a great team: Justin Simms and Bill MacGillivray (Directors), Annette Clarke (Producer),  Jon Montes (Associate Producer) and Chris Darlington (Graphics and Animation).

It’s official. Claire Blanchet is the animator for my short film (in development with the NFB), The Mystery of the Secret Room. She’s been story boarding for the last several weeks but today contracts were signed so we’re feeling legit!

Claire did the incredible stereoscopic film called End of Pinky. The film premièred at TIFF and was named on the Toronto International Film Festival’s annual top ten list.

It’s been amazing working with Claire. Her vision and sensitivity are so inspiring. Feeling incredibly blessed.

The table read of my feature The Magic of Boxer Connors was received well. Carsten Knox from Flaw in the Iris said, “[Nolan’s] script, in its current draft form, is already better, both  funnier and more gripping, than many I’ve seen made in the region in the past decade.”

Thanks to the AFF, director Josh MacDonald and the great group of actors who presented the script.

Thanks to The Overcast for the article about my upcoming table read at the Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax!

OFFSHOOT: WANDA NOLAN’S NOVEL IN PROGRESS HAS INSPIRED AN AWARD-WINNING SCRIPT TO BE PRODUCED BY POPE PRODUCTIONS

I am reading at the Cape St. Mary’s Ecological Reserve August 23, 2014.

My screenplay The Magic of Boxer Connors will have a live, staged full read-through at  2014 Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax in September. Grateful to the Atlantic Film Festival. They play an important role in fostering Atlantic Canadian screenwriters.

The uber talented and generous Elisabeth de Mariaffi named me as a writer to watch for on Canada Writes.