Talent To Watch

Team Eligibility

In order to apply through WIFT-AT, the writer and/or director of all eligible projects must be full WIFT-AT members and residents of the Atlantic Region for at least six months of the last calendar year. Telefilm requires that all applicants

• be Canadian citizens, within the definition of the Citizenship Act, or permanent residents within the definition of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act;
• be emerging talent, i.e., they must have previously produced, directed, and/or written at least a short film (30 minutes or less), web productions, television, commercials, music videos, or equivalent experience in the screen-based industry.

Please refer to the Telefilm Canada Guidelines for full eligibility requirements. Please read carefully. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure they meet all criteria before submitting to WIFT-AT.

To be eligible, a project must: 

a) be primarily produced in English, French, an Indigenous language or, for artistic imperatives, in another language. 

b) be intended to be fictional, or documentary audiovisual projects. 

c) be a feature length film of 75 minutes or more. 

d) with respect to Canadian content certification, upon completion be either: certified by the Canadian Audio-visual Certification Office (CAVCO) as a “Canadian film or video production” with a minimum of 8 out of 10 points under the provisions of the Income Tax Act (Canada); or recognized as a treaty coproduction by the Minister of Canadian Heritage (refer to Telefilm’s guidelines on Audiovisual Coproductions). 

e) have a total budget ranging between $150,000 and $500,000. 

f) conform to the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) Code of Ethics and to all other programming standards endorsed by the CAB or the CRTC, and not contain any element that is an offence under the Criminal Code, is libellous or in any other way unlawful.

Please fill out this application form.

All application requirements in the Telefilm Canada Guidelines are required for your submission. Please include the link for the presentation video.

Please note the April 30th deadline mentioned on Telefilm’s website is the deadline for recommended applicants to submit to Telefilm. Your deadline to apply to WIFT-AT is April 8th, 2024. Please submit required materials to treasurer@wift-at.com in one PDF.

Projects submitted to WIFT-AT will be evaluated by an independent peer jury of regional filmmakers and film professionals.

Jury members will be asked to consider the following criteria when making their decision:
Creative Potential—the quality, originality, and innovativeness of the creative content;
Participant Suitability—the track record of the creative team
Project Feasibility—the feasibility of the production and the production readiness of the project
Cultural Impact and Audience Reach Potential—the applicant’s promotional strategy to make the film available to its target audience.