First Weekend Club was invited to attend the 10th annual DGC Awards Gala which took place at Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York Hotel on Saturday night. The star-studded evening was hosted by CBC’s Jian Gomeshi who kept everyone engaged and the event moving at an upbeat pace.  

The DGC Awards have always had a reputation for being a welcoming and down-to-earth affair, celebrating some of Canada’s brightest talent in television and cinema. This year was no exception.  Some great nominees were on the feature film roster including Vincenzo Natali’s Splice, Michael McGowan’s Score: A Hockey Musical, Bill Phillips’s Gunless and Jonathan Sobol’s A Beginners Guide to Endings. In the end, Richard J. Lewis’s Barney’s Version swept up both of the feature film awards. In the documentary category Sturla Gunnarsson's feature film, Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie, was awarded the prestigious Allan King Award for Excellence in Documentary.

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First Weekend Club was invited to attend the Telefilm’s second annual Golden Box Office Award event last week which honoured the highest grossing English-language Canadian film Splice.

Writer Doug Taylor (Naked Josh) and director Vincenzo Natali (Cube) were awarded $40,000 in cash prizes for their work on the film which grossed $2.1 million in Canada and $26.9 million world-wide. First Weekend Club’s attendance was recognized as an integral force in creating awareness for Canadian theatrical releases.

Last year’s award was presented  to the writer and director of Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day which grossed $2.9 million in Canada. The awards ceremony was held in a garage in Halifax. This year the event was held in a small genetics lab at Mount Sinai Hospital drawing on the subject matter and tone of Splice. It was definitely memorable and a great way to showcase a real Canadian success story.

Natali extended many  thanks to Telefilm, saying that the film could not have been made without their continued support.

“Making movies is much like making a monster, you don’t know what terror you’ve wrought until it has escaped from the lab. The fact that Splice was a box office success in its native country is another testament to Telefilm’s foresight and their faith in Canadian filmmakers to produce popular entertainment. Without their support this strange but beautiful creature could never have come to life.”

For more information visit Telefilm’s website.

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First Weekend Club's Affiliate Partner Press+1 is looking for hot new film writing talent! They are offering a chance to hone your skills with access to free screenings, a chance at being published and great exposure to the Canadian film industry.

If you're based in Toronto or Vancouver  check out more info here: http://www.firstweekendclub.ca/press1.html

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The Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival is coming up November 9-15 with an incredible line up including almost 30 Canadian films in the official selection. We're pleased to present a special discount for First Weekend Club members, available for a very limited time.

Until November 8th, enter promo code MKTGC2010 and save 25% on regular ticket prices when you buy online.  To buy tickets visit www.reelasian.com

Just when you thought Raindance did it all, now they're presenting a new 4-day documentary course. The course is being spearheaded by Saša Petricic, an award winning videographer with  CBC's The National, whose most recent coverage of the rescue of the Chilean miners was used by news broadcasters worldwide.

The series gives a chance to use broadcast quality equipment with an emphasis of low budget, dynamic visual storytelling. It's a perfect way to get your feet wet in the documentary form and learn from someone with over 24 years of experience in the field.

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