Winter might be the furthest thing from the minds of most Canadians, but Whistler doesn't think like the rest of the country.
Prior, the local ski and snowboard maker, already has boards on the brain, judging by its recent call out to artists for the second annual Topsheet Art Selection exhibition. While the company has long worked with local talent to create art to adorn its products Prior is teaming up with the Whistler Arts Council again this year to put together a top sheet art show where the public can vote for their favourite piece to become part of the 2014/2015 winter line. The winner will not only get to see their work on skis and snowboards, but they'll also get a custom built version with their art on it, along with other Prior gear.
Artists should submit their work in a 34 cm by 200 cm version or smaller (though no smaller than 10 cm by 59 cm) by Aug. 26 at 11 a.m. The exhibition will take place Sept. 23 through October at Scotia Creek Gallery.
Guidelines and application forms are available at priorsnow.com/exhibition.
Whistler Film Festival is looking for loads of talent
The Whistler Film Festival is seeking submissions for three different competitions, organizers announced this week.
The most pressing is the Motion Picture Production Industry Association of British Columbia's (MPPIA) Short Film Award, with a deadline of Aug. 30. Run in conjunction with British Columbia Film + Media and the Whistler Film Festival, the award gives one filmmaker a chance to further their career by developing a short film project. A shortlist will be unveiled and those finalists will pitch their ideas at the 2013 WFF. The winner will have their film premiere at the festival in 2014.
Back for a second year is the China Canada Gateway for Film Script Competition. Last year the WFF broke new ground by matching Canadian writer/producer teams with Chinese production studios to help kickstart new film projects. The competition continues this year with Canadian teams invited to submit their applications — suitable for both Chinese and international markets with up to a $5 million budget — and script synopses by Sept. 30 for consideration. WFF reps and industry players will shortlist the finalists. On Dec. 5, 12 finalists will pitch their scripts to producers.
Finally, new to the festival this year is the WFF Feature Project Lab, a four-day business and marketplace session that will teach up to six Canadian producers about bringing dramatic features from script to screen. It will be run with help from Telefilm from Dec. 3 to 6. The deadline for those applications is Sept. 30.
For guidelines and application forms for all of the competitions visit whistlerfilmfestival.com.
Vancouver author to hold local writing workshops
Zsuzsi Gartner was recently in Whistler sharing stories about her (mostly) technology-free year, but now the Giller prize-shortlisted author is returning to hold writing workshops from Aug. 20 to 27.
She will host four sessions for everyone from burgeoning writers to published vets and everyone in between to help them find new ways of telling both fiction and non-fiction stories. "What I'm committed to, no matter what the writer's level of experience, is introducing him or her to the seemingly endless possibilities for prose-writing in the 21st century," she says in a release.
She will also host one-on-one manuscript critiques from Aug. 15 to 30.
The workshops will take place at The Point Artist-Run Centre on Alta Lake. Earlybird registration at a 10 per cent discount is available until Aug. 12. To register visit www.thepointartists.com.
