MPPIA Short Film Award Pitch at the 18th annual Whistler Film Festival

The Motion Picture Production Industry Association of British Columbia (MPPIA), Creative BC and the Whistler FilmFestival are pleased to present the 12th edition of the MPPIA Short Film Award Pitch at the 18th annual Whistler Film Festival:

Saturday, December 1, 11 am – 1 pm, Maury Young Arts Centre.

An annual highlight on the Whistler Film Festival calendar, the 12th cycle of the MPPIA Short Film pitch will again be distinguished by five promising BC directors competing for the valuable Award. Based on a comprehensive adjudication process administered by Creative BC, the five finalists and their projects are:

Sunny Mohajer, Ataraxia

Alayna Silverberg, B-Side

Hayley Gray, Alligator

Jay Cardinal Villeneuve, Gods & Devils

Andy Alvaraz, Almost

The successful candidate receives a $10,000 cash award from MPPIA, a $5,000 cash award from Creative BC, plus in-kind production services up to $100,000 for a short film project to be completed within one year after receiving the Award. The completed project will premiere at the 2019 Whistler Film Festival.

Dont miss the Whistler Film Festival world premiere screening of last years MPPIA Short Film Award pitch winner Veronika Kurzs 20 Minutes to Life on Dec. 1 at 1:30pm at Maury Young Arts Centre.

The MPPIA Short Film Award provides one filmmaker with an opportunity to further develop his/her directing career by realizing a unique creative vision. The Award was founded to recognize and celebrate the contribution of film and television to the Province of British Columbia.

The Motion Picture Production Industry Association of BC (MPPIA) is a member-based, non-profit society established in April 2002 to grow, diversify and promote a competitive and sustainable motion picture production industry in British Columbia.

Creative BC is a non-profit society established by the provincial government in 2013. Their mandate is to provide the programs, services and expertise needed to expand and diversify British Columbias creative industries, stimulate investment and employment in the creative sector and promote BCs creative content and production capabilities both at home and in the global marketplace.

The Whistler Film Festival Society (WFFS) is a cultural charitable organization dedicated to furthering the art of film by providing programs that focus on the discovery, development and promotion of new talent culminating with a must attend festival for artists, the industry and audiences in Whistler. WFFS produces one of Canadas leading film festivals and plays a leadership role in offering professional and project development programs for filmmakers. The 2018 Whistler Film Festival runs November 28th to December 2nd.

The MPPIA Short Film Award is made possible by the above organizations as well as the generous support and contributions of the British Columbia motion picture production community.

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For more information contact and media interview requests:

Leslie Wootton, MPPIA Communications

Motion Picture Production Industry Association of BC lesliew@mppia.com , 604.837.5829

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Erika Kumar, MPPIA Short Film Award Program Manager

Creative BCekumar@creativebc.com 604.736.7997

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Lindsay Nahmiache, Publicity

Whistler Film Festivallindsay@jivecommunications.ca 604.889.7996