Canadian comedy filmmaking teams head to L.A.

The Canadian Film Centre has announced that six teams will be heading down to Los Angeles tomorrow to work with an assortment of comedy experts to further develop their projects. These six films were selected for the Telefilm Canada Features Comedy Lab, an initiative supported by Telefilm, the Canadian Film Centre and Just For Laughs. This will be the second module of their training program.

The six teams are: Mary Anne Waterhouse, Andrew Currie, Robert Chomiak (My Asshole Neighbour); Bruce Harvey, Grant Harvey, Jason Filiatrault (Nearly Wed); Nicholas Tabarrok, Stephen Kunc (Cold Blooded Snakes); Robert Scarborough, Shawn Myrick, Matthew Atkinson, writer Brendan Gall (The Wild Society); Andrew Barnsley, Vivieno Caldinelli, Bob Kerr (The House They Screamed In); Antonello Cozzolino, Josee Vallee, writer John Hazlett (Atlantic Gold).

Mentors include filmmakers from comedy hits such as The Hangover,  Elf, Legally Blonde, Little Miss Sunshine and There's Something About Mary.

The deadline to apply for the next Telefilm Canada Features Comedy Lab is set for August 15, 2011. 

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SIX FILMMAKING TEAMS HEAD TO L.A. TO WORK WITH COMEDY EXPERTS AS PART OF

TELEFILM CANADA FEATURES COMEDY LAB

Toronto, March 7, 2011 – CFC (Canadian Film Centre) is pleased to announce that six filmmaking teams will head to Los Angeles this week for the second module of the Telefilm Canada Features Comedy Lab, a CFC Film program presented in collaboration with Just For Laughs. 

Chaired by internationally acclaimed actor/writer Eugene Levy, the Telefilm Canada Features Comedy Lab pairs experienced Canadian feature film producers, their writer and/or director teams and their comedy scripts, with the best comedy minds in the world to further develop and package original theatrical feature-length comedies for Canadian and international audiences.

Taking place in L.A. from March 7^th – 11^th, the final 2010-2011 Comedy Lab training module will give filmmakers the opportunity to work with a stellar lineup of comedy professionals to strengthen each script and increase packaging appeal for investment. Through workshops, master classes and intimate one-on-one sessions the participants in the 2010/2011 Comedy Lab will continue to work with the following accomplished mentors and guests:

Jimmy Miller - Mosaic Media Group, Producer: Elf, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

Kirsten Smith - Producer/Writer: The Ugly Truth, Writer, Legally Blonde, 10 Things I Hate About You, Exec producer Whip It

John Hamburg - Writer/Director: I Love You, Man, Along Came Polly, Writer, Meet the Parents, Zoolander.

Daniel Goldberg -  Producer: The Hangover, Due Date

Debbie Liebling - President of Production, Universal Pictures, Producer: South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut

Charles Wessler - Producer: Dumb & Dumber, There’s Something About Mary, Hall Pass

Danny Leiner - Director: Dude, Where’s My Car, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle

Anne Carey - Producer: The Savages, Adventureland

Ron Yerxa - Producer: Little Miss Sunshine, The Switch

Tom Schulman - Writer: What About Bob?, Honey, I Shrunk The Kids, Producer,  Me, Myself & Irene

Michael Aguilar - Executive Producer: Semi-Pro, Producer, What Happens in Vegas

Andy Fickman - Director: You Again, She’s The Man, The Game Plan

Tim Dowling - Writer: Role Models, Just Go With It

Joe Medjuk - Producer: Old School, No Strings Attached, Exec producer, Up in the Air

The teams will also meet with guests and mentors from companies, studios and agencies including:

Paul Schiff Productions, Red Hour Films, Fox Searchlight, Montecito Pictures, Mosaic, WME, Bona Fide Productions, Paradigm, Depth of Field Productions, OOPS Doughnuts Productions, The Gotham Group, IndieVest, New Horizons Productions, Circle of Confusion, Myriad Pictures, Shoreline Entertainment, Dos Tontos, Artists International, Echo Lake Productions, ICM, Fox Films, Green Hat Films, Universal Pictures.

The six chosen projects and teams participating in the 2010/2011 session are:

From British Columbia: Quadrant Motion Pictures’ men-behaving-badly comedy MY ASSHOLE NEIGHBOUR: producer Mary Anne Waterhouse, writer/director Andrew Currie and writer Robert Chomiak

From Alberta: Combustion Inc.’s romantic comedy NEARLY WED: producer Bruce Harvey, director/producer Grant Harvey and writer Jason Filiatrault

From Ontario: Darius Films’ western comedy COLD BLOODED SNAKES: producer Nicholas Tabarrok and writer Stephen Kunc

From Ontario: El Duo Motion Pictures’ buddy comedy THE WILD SOCIETY: producers Robert Scarborough and Shawn Myrick, writer/director Matthew Atkinson and writer Brendan Gall

From Ontario: Project 10 Productions’ horror comedy THE HOUSE THEY SCREAMED IN: producer Andrew Barnsley, writer/director Vivieno Caldinelli and writer Bob Kerr.

From Quebec: Cirrus Communications Inc.’s romantic comedy ATLANTIC GOLD: producers Antonello Cozzolino and Josee Vallee and writer John Hazlett.

       

A CFC Film program presented in collaboration with Just For Laughs, the Telefilm Canada Features Comedy Lab seeks to advance the comedy genre in Canada and generate comedies that achieve commercial and critical success. The Comedy Lab is Canada’s first advanced professional program designed to develop and package original theatrical feature-length comedies for Canadian and international audiences.