Spring 2004
The Hanging World
by Kirsten Carthew
A suicidal teenager takes to the land* to escape social rejection, but
encounters natural threats that compel her to focus on survival.
Kirsten Carthew is a recent graduate of the film major program at Simon Fraser University. She has made four short films that have won awards and screened in Canada and the United States. This is her second feature length script.
Exclusion Zone
by Keith Loh
A patrol of Canadian peacekeepers in a Balkan country become involved in a potentially explosive situation when they stumble onto a village that has been attacked by militia.
Born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Keith Loh is a writer, designer and filmmaker based in Vancouver, B.C. Canada who has worked in computer games, special effects for film, print, web and in streaming media for a variety of companies and clients.
Nick Jr
by Trina McLure
Nick Jr. lives in a lonely world. He is an only child in a mixed race family who attends an unfriendly Jr. High and regularly comes home to a fatherless house. However, his world changes drastically when Nick discovers he is the son of Santa Claus and the heir of the Gift. After his father's near brush with death, Nick is forced on a journey to discover the confidence needed to bring Christmas to the world with only two weeks training. Will he succeed?
Trina holds Bachelor degrees in both Psychology and Fine Arts. Since completing UBC's Acting program four years ago, Trina has been working as an actor in Vancouver on stage, in film and TV. Some of her most rewarding experiences, however, have stemmed from her own writing pursuits. Her love of the Spirit of Christmas has manifested itself in the screenplay "Nick Jr."
Laundromat Philosopher
by Lucie Pagé
Laundromat Philosopher is a comedy about an idealist who needs to get in touch with reality.
Lucie is a screenwriter working in Toronto. A graduate of the Canadian Film Centre, she has written two literary adaptations for the screen: Arousal, an adaptation of Barbara Gowdy's short story, 93 Million Miles Away and Champs de Boue, an adaptation of Stefan Psenak's play of the same name for CBC. Most recently, Lucie has been working on Degrassi: The Next Generation as a story editor and story consultant.
Lucie recently turned to directing. Her first short film My Original Sin co-written with partner Bill Campbell was awarded the ZeD-NSI Drama Prize and will air on CBC in 2004.
Psyched
by Deborah Peraya
Psyched is a modern day, magical romantic comedy. When her superstitions get in the way of love, a chain of events involving magic potions, Prince Charmings and the truth about happily-ever-after is set in motion. In an ironic twist, Sophie finds she’s cast her own Prince into an enchanted slumber. But will she be able to
face her demons regarding love and death and bestow the kiss of life?
After earning an M.A. in Film Theory, Deb was awarded a NSI Drama Prize (2000) for her short script Mr. Reubens Goes To Mars. She’s written for such shows as The Immortal, Silverwing, Guinevere Jones and Robson Arms, as well as for the gaming industry and various websites. Deborah is also currently a writer on one of the teams in the NSI Features First program.
Drumheller or Dangerous Times
by Gordon Pengilly
The discovery of a human skull in an abondoned gold mine takes us back to an 80-year old mystery involving a mining engineer, a retired hooker and a runaway couple in the badlands of Alberta.
Gordon earned an MFA in Playwriting from the University of Alberta. A seven-time winner of Alberta playwriting competitions and a three-time winner of national contests, Gordon was still in university when Hard Hats and Stolen Hearts (co-written with Theatre Network) was produced off-off-Broadway. Drumheller or Dangerous Times won the WGC Jim Burst Prize for Screenwriting and the Alberta Television and Film Institute Award.