Script Writing Graduates Continue to Impress: Adam Till

This spring, Writing for Film and Television Diploma graduates continue to impress.

After their successful stint as writers on the Family Channel hit, The Next Step, 2013 grads Brad Vermunt and Malek Pacha have now moved to another Family Channel writing room, this one for a series entitled The Music Room. Brad and Malek will be Story Coordinators on this project, which is being produced by Temple Street Productions (Orphan Black, Being Erica).

Phil Nicklisch, class of 2014, was recently hired as Assistant Communications Director at the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Phil was heavily involved with the 2015 Canadian Screen Awards, which took place last month.

2014 graduate Juan Garcia has been named to the Board Of Directors of the Cartagena Film Festival. Juan will be acting as an International Envoy, one of his short-term goals being to bring Writing for Film and Television Diploma Instructors to next year’s festival to run Writing Workshops.

And 2014 grad Spencer Sinclair will be shooting his short film Guess Who’s Not Coming To Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner in the coming months, having attached Home Alone 5 star Christian Martyn as lead. Martyn has worked alongside stars including Brendan Fraser and Rob Lowe, and Spencer plans to use several Toronto Film School graduates as crew for the shoot.

Writing for Film and Television instructors, as always, remain busy. Jordan Walker has now completed Phase Two of the elite NSI Totally Television Program with his original, currently untitled television series. Jordan has also attached producer Andrew Barnsley (Spun Out, Schitt’s Creek) to the project as a mentor/producer.

I also continue to work with Andrew Barnsley and his production company (Project 10 – Perfect Storm, 4 Days In April) on my original sitcom Meds. Meds just received a second round of development funding from Shaw/Global, and we are currently in search of an American partner for broadcast.

And finally the first round of adaptations of Writing for Film and Television  student scripts into Video Games was a huge success (details here). TheVideo Game Diploma students did an amazing job adapting Dominic Licorish’s Last Year and Peter Shamun’s Mark Of The Moon into first person shooter games, with Acting for Film, Television and the Theatre Diploma students providing incredible voice work. This collaboration between the three programs will continue in coming terms with adaptations of Alex Stacey’s Pug Puncher and Lyse McLean-Thielsen’s Jackson & Ryley (working title).

We also look forward to more production of Writing for Film and Television  scripts in the coming months, as theWriting for Film and Television  students pitch their short films to the 4th Term Film Production Students and 5th Term Acting for Film, Television and the Theatre Diploma students in week two of this term.

Adam Till is the Coordinator of the Writing for Film and Television Diploma Program at Toronto Film School.