The Blood in the Snow Film Festival, a unique and imaginative showcase of contemporary Canadian horror, has entered a new phase in its mission to showcase unique contemporary voices and independent Canadian artists with the announcement of its new Horror Development Lab. Seeking to spur the production of projects by previously underrepresented filmmakers, the program will select 12-15 filmmakers to have their projects coached by industry leaders from November 18th-23rd, 2021.
The Horror Development Lab will occur in Toronto during the 2021 festival over six days in conjunction with their Deadly Exposure Industry Conference. Due to COVID-19, it will be decided later in the year if it will be done in person or done on-line.
All applicants must be a Canadian citizen and identify as a woman, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Metis or Inuit, Person of Colour) and/or LGBTQ2IA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Two-Spirit, Intersex, Asexual, and other identities that fall outside of cisgender and heterosexual paradigms) and/or people with disabilities. Projects must have BIPOC representation in front and behind the camera in their project proposals.
The Development Lab’s core team comprises of Development Coordinator/Programmer Carolyn Mauricette and Festival Director/Founder Kelly Michael Stewart, Development Advisors Mariam Bastani and Alison Lang, plus a diverse team of jury members.
“With recent statistics showing how undervalued projects from Black and underrepresented groups still are, it’s our goal to create a space to put filmmakers who may not have a chance to create their vision in front of the people who can make things happen.” says Mauricette. “We plan to change the perspective of the industry bit by bit.” Stewart adds, “The Development Lab will help facilitate access to industry leaders, giving way to opportunities for underrepresented groups to produce horror and sci-fi content with their own unique perspectives and voices. With this input, they will hopefully have the chance to reach Canadian audiences with a finished feature film project.”
It is free to apply for The BITS Development Lab and applications are open from April 15 to August 15, 2021. Details are available at www.deadlyexposure.ca and www.bloodinthesnow.ca. The 2021 Blood in the Snow Film Festival will take place on Super Channel Oct 29th to 31st and in person from November 18th to 23rd, 2021 at the Royal Cinema in Toronto. BITS 2021 is presented in partnership with Super Channel and with support from Telefilm Canada.
