Local Production Companies to Benefit from Mentor Program

Two up-and-coming Nova Scotia filmmakers have been selected as the first participants in the Canadian Film and Television Production Association's new Atlantic Mentorship Program.

Jason Eisener and Jeff Coll will each have a 26-week internship with two association-member production companies.

Mr. Eisener, whose short Hobo with a Shotgun recently won a grindhouse film contest run by filmmaking duo Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, will intern with Arcadia Entertainment. Mr. Coll, who worked on Chaz Thorne's Just Buried, will intern with Standing 8 Productions.

"The Nova Scotia Film Development Corporation congratulates both filmmakers and production companies on being chosen for this program," said Ann MacKenzie, CEO of the Nova Scotia Film Development Corporation. "Programs like this one are vital to the continued growth of Nova Scotia's film, television and new media industry."

The Atlantic Mentorship Program is funded by Telefilm Canada and Atlantic Canada Film Partners. Successful applicants were selected by a judging panel with members from the film partners, the production association and were supervised by new media production staff from the production association.

For more information on the program, visit www.cftpa.ca.

The Nova Scotia Film Development Corporation is a provincial Crown corporation reporting to the minister of Economic Development. The corporation provides a wide range of programs and services to build the capacity and competitiveness of the province's film, television and new media industries

The Canadian Film and Television Production Association is a non-profit trade organization that works on behalf of almost 400 companies engaged in the production and distribution of English-language television programs, feature films, and interactive media products in all regions of Canada.

The Atlantic Canada Film Partners comprises Atlantic Canada's four film-development corporations; New Brunswick Film, Newfoundland and Labrador Film Development Corporation, Nova Scotia Film Development Corporation, Technology P.E.I., the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) and Telefilm Canada.