Canadian Comedy Film Igniter 2025
We did it again. Firecracker Department and Canadian Film Fest partnered for the second annual Igniter Comedy Film Challenge. In four weeks, including networking and workshop events, 65 films short comedic films were made by female and nonbinary teams! Congratulations everyone! The top eight were selected to be showcased at CFF in Toronto in March 2025. Here they are… My Gay Demon Girlfriend – Samantha Wyss, Grievers – a Ziggy Schulting Film, New to the Neighbourhood – Sarah Adams, Meatball – Mishki Vaccaro, Festival – Courageous Heart Productions, Extremely Small Claims Court – Ray Resvick, Signs – Dani Kind, I’m Here – Becky Swannick and Maddy Foley.
The Writers Lab comes to Canada 2024!
Photo by Aislinn Paul
December 2024, The Writers Lab NYC shifted their focus to Canada, in collaboration with the Firecracker Department and the Female Eye Film Festival.
Co-founded by Elizabeth Kaiden and Nitza Wilon, the highly acclaimed screenwriting program, supported by Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman, is devoted exclusively to script development for female and nonbinary writers over the age of 40. It is designed to foster creativity, provide professional mentorship, and create a supportive network for experienced writers to hone their craft.
After an extensive adjudication process, 8 writers were selected for the Intensive. In our Firecracker way, we opened the final day to our community to be a ‘fly on the wall’ and 70 screenwriters joined us by auditing the events in-person or online. The day included the Art of the Log Line with Liesl Lafferty, an Industry Panel hosted by Leslie Ann Coles, inspiring conversations with our mentors, and a live podcast recording with our special ambassador Nia Vardalos!
Two Clients are Finalists for the Writers Lab Canada
Congratulations to two of my Scriptwriting Workshop clients for making the finals of a very tough competition! Yvonne Shieck – The Dealership – TV Script – Comedy, and Melanie Fox – TV Script – Drama. Looking forward to seeing these on my television!
Sedina Fiati wins!
Femme in 5, by Sedina Fiati – Through a series of flashbacks taking place every 5 years from 2000 – 2025 on Toronto Pride weekend, Femme in 5 offers a window into key events into Vivian’s life as a Black, queer, femme.
Sedina Fiati is a multi-award-winning, Toronto-based performer, producer, director, creator and activist for stage and screen. Sedina is the recipient of a Canadian Screen Award for Best Supporting Performance in a web series for her work on Tokens S2 and Lifetime Membership from ACTRA Toronto.
Sedina worked through her latest draft of this piece in our Sunday Scriptwriting Workshop!
Babalu, a narrative podcast by Kim Truong, is having its inaugural radio broadcast! An outlandishly huge thanks goes to Charles Moodj (our very own amazing sound designer for Babalu), KHNS Public Radio, and the Chilkat Valley ArtFest for sharing our pilot as a part of their 2024 festival.
Tune in live via Alaska’s KHNS – 102.3 and 91.9 FM or online at khns.org at these times: May 02, 2024, 6:30 PM (AKDT) – Censored version, May 09, 2024, 10:00 PM (AKDT) – Uncensored.
THEY MADE 37 COMEDIC SHORT FILMS!
Canadian Film Fest and Firecracker Department Comedy Film Igniter Challenge!
This year, I was thrilled to be asked by Ashleigh Rains, Naomi Snieckus, and Jen Pogue, (pictured here with CFF founder Bern Euler on the left) to create and co-produce the inaugural Canadian Film Fest and Firecracker Department Comedy Film Igniter Challenge, sponsored by Super Channel. All novice female and non-binary Canadian filmmakers were invited to apply. They started with prompts provided by Mae Martin and a one month deadline. Throughout the four-week program, they engaged in our series of development, networking, and mentoring activities, to help shape their vision, refine their comedy chops and hone their storytelling skills. Over one hundred people responded, forty two applied and ultimately, thirty seven comedic short films were submitted! Eight were selected to be screened at the 2024 Canadian Film Fest on Wednesday March 20. It was a resounding success!
MORE SCRIPTS COMPLETED!
Writers sure get a lot done in my Scriptwriting Workshops. During the Fall and Winter sessions, these women, (plus one not shown) accomplished the following…
- Her first full-length play
- Her feature film, proof of concept script, one-pager pitch doc, and 2 short films
- Work on three of her projects; her first pilot, drafting of scenes from her feature film and 1/3 of her first play
- Work on three of her projects; a one-act play, her first pilot and 1/3 of a full length play
- In the Fall sessions, one woman completed her first script – a very long short film
- In the Winter sessions, another woman did a second draft of her pilot and a new short film
We had lots of laughs and even a few tears. If you want to write a script, here is a great place to do it!
@beachlawrie @yeswriting @maharasinclaire @paulina.carranzar @dlynnnatheson @nowmustplayproductions
Asis Sethi, Toronto – Asis’s short film Slam Dunk, Sehaj! first aired on CBC on September 7, 2023 and is now streaming on CBC Gem. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26761947/
Update – The Wrong Bashir playing again this time at Crow’s Theatre in May 2024! https://www.crowstheatre.com/whats-on/view-all/wrongbashir
Zahida Rahemtulla, Vancouver and Toronto – Zahida wrote her first play in my Wet Ink Collective Intensives and private sessions. The Wrong Bashir was part of an audio series produced by the Arts Club Theatre and the full play will be presented by Touchstone Theatre in 2023. https://touchstonetheatre.com/shows-2022-2023-the-wrong-bashir/. Zahida started her play The Frontliners in my Wet Ink Collective Intensive and it was picked up by Playwrights Theatre Centre for workshop and presentation in Oct, 2022. https://www.playwrightstheatre.com/workshop-production-of-the-frontliners/
Sally Stubbs, Vancouver – Sally has a long list of successes. I was the Facilitator for her last Wet Ink Collective Intensive. We workshopped a late draft of Centurions, an adaptation of one of her plays, that she wrote into a jaw-dropping feature. The script has received multiple accolades and awards on the screenplay contest circuit, including ‘Winner of the Best Script/Unproduced Script’ at the LONDON NEW WAVE FILM FESTIVAL 7th edition. www.newwavecinemaawards.com/7th. Also, I was a fellow participant in the room while Sally created Our Ghosts, which is part of United Players of Vancouver’s next season.
Asis Sethi, Toronto – We had a one-on-one session with the final draft her short film, which is a ‘proof of concept’ for a feature film her team is creating Slam Dunk, Sehaj! Here is a promo video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6d-rtsyU2k
Laura Di Cicco, Vancouver – We worked in private sessions. I am listed as ‘second draft dramaturg’ for this play. There was a reading of Sandra at the Advance Reading Series at the Shadbolt Theatre on Mon Jan 30, 2023. https://tickets.shadboltcentre.com
Mahara Sinclaire, Mission, BC – In a combination of workshops and private sessions, this writer drafts a full length piece every year. In 2021, her script Hang the Moon had an in-person reading and was a finalist for Theatre BC’s Playwriting Competition. By the end of 2022, she was ready to submit her next play A Noble Truth for a workshop funding award. Now, she is writing a limited TV series.
Aida Rose, Vancouver – Her film outline for The Rules of Women was written so beautifully in prose that after couple of workshops and private sessions, she decided to write the piece as a novel instead. The first chapter is now published, available on Amazon. I am her editor. https://linktr.ee/aidarose_author
Rebecca Marquardt, Austin (now, LA) – Rebecca co-wrote, directed and co-produced her first short film, Biofriend, which has been accepted to every festival they have applied to, winning Audience Favorite at the very first one! She also enjoys combo of workshops and one-on-one sessions. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt25756324/
Martha Ferguson, Paris – In private sessions, we worked through a draft of her current film Land of Ghosts, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0272530/
David Copelin – In a series of dramaturgy sessions, we worked through a draft of his new play Broken Water.
Paulina Carrera-Renteria, just outside Mexico City – completed a draft of her first one-hour drama pilot along with elements of her pitch deck. Still active in workshops and one-on-ones.
Yvonne Shieck, Port Dover, ON – completed a draft her first feature film, which I am now story editing with her. She is taking a break for a honeymoon, but will be back in the spring to re-work her pilot.
Amanda McEwan, Vancouver –completed her first feature film. Astonishingly, she only took about three weeks to draw up her outline, then wrote the entire 120 page draft in one week! After ten weeks in workshop and two private sessions, it is ready to submit to a producer or start shooting. Double is stunning.
Natasha Markou, London, UK –completed a draft of her feature. And, a film she produced, A Mouthful of Air starring Amanda Seyfried, came out on major streaming platforms. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5882442/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
Norm Reynolds, Toronto – Having attained the rights for a beloved novel of epic pro-portions, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, by Anne Taylor. Norm wrote the first draft of a big, beautiful play. He took a break from that script to tour his one person show about meeting famed playwright, Edward Albee. https://www.normreynolds.ca/
Alison Kelly – We worked together in a combination of Wet Ink Collective Intensives and one-on-one sessions, while she completed a draft of her new play Rose’s Garden. She took a pause while her Christmas play, The Day Before Christmas, ran for two consecutive years at the Arts Club Theatre, and then launched the premiere of Mom’s the Word Talkin’ Turkey, and she published her first children’s book Granville Island ABC. Yes, she forgot to include me in the ‘thank you list’, but assures me I’ll be included in re-print, and I helped with her next book in the series, Stanley Park ABC. https://www.heritagehouse.ca/book-author/alison-kelly/
Olena Fesitova, Vancouver and Ukraine – In a combination of Scriptwriting Workshops, Olena completed drafts of her upcoming TV pilot In 2020, I met and lead Ms. Fetisova in a ten-week program at Wet Ink Collective, where we workshopped her hilarious TV pilot Lorraine’s House. Then, she and I worked one-on-one on her wonderful feature film If I Can’t Hold You.
Dale Willman, Toronto, We worked on a final draft of her short film Invisible through the Firecracker Department Script Reading Series, which she then produced. FIN Atlantic International Film Festival https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21090634/ Here is a link to her video testimonial
Some work done during the pandemic…
Susan MacRae, Vancouver –completed a draft of her Ghandi Dancer pilot, pitch deck and outline. Then, she wrote half hour spec script for the sitcom Mom.
Cheryl Mullen, Surrey, BC – In a middle of some extra chaos, Cheryl told me a hilarious story, and in the Scriptwriting Workshops she parlayed that tale into her first short film script.
Anna-Marie Anderson, Victoria, BC – completed a play and hosted an in-person reading.
Sandy Abley, Vancouver – completed a draft of her first TV series. Now doing her first short film Olesia’s Short Film Lab.
Rhonda Jesckey, White Rock –completed draft of a feature based on a Canadian historical event. And, she joined Olesia’s Short Film Lab.
Karen Hendry, London, ON –completed a draft of a feature film.
Julie Foldesi, Connecticut – completed a draft of her first musical.
Ian Kennedy, Toronto – Technically, Ian finished three drafts of his first short play.
Realwheels Theatre with their first Playwright in Residence for Kirsten Kirsch on her new musical Gimpy, https://www.kirstenkirsch.com/gimpy-a-new-musical/
Disability Tour Bus dramaturg for the Spring 2023 production of an original collaboratively writing play https://realwheels.ca/shows-in-development/disability-tour-bus/
For four workshop participants, I wrote letters of recommendation. Three were successful applicants for production funding or prestigious filmmaking programs!
Liesl Lafferty 