By Adam Till

It may be summer, but that doesn’t mean things are slowing down for our tremendously talented alumni of the Writing for Film and Television Diploma program at Toronto Film School. Vanessa Carpino (2016)  has moved from her on-set role at Sinking Ship Entertainment to a position in Sales & Distribution at Disney. Among other duties, Carpino is involved with organizing Canada-wide screenings for upcoming features.  Despite her busy schedule, Carpino continues to develop her half-hour series Unpopular, about 3 high school frenemies who become roommates in their late 20’s after failed attempts at launching into adulthood.

On the heels of his contest wins at Wildsound and Film & Script Showcase (LA), Vince Masson (2013) has just finished shooting a privately funded short entitled Spurlock.  The film is a satire/parody that examines Morgan Spurlock’s life post Supersize Me – as a struggling filmmaker being stalked by a clown who not-so-vaguely resembles Ronald McDonald.

And 2017 graduates are off to the races quickly after convocation.  Best Screenwriter Award Winner Shane Burns has been commissioned by producer Kirk Middleton to develop an hour-long dramatic series entitled Nuke ‘Em Boyz.  Nuke ‘Em Boyz examines the lives of SFX workers in the film industry, and Burns will be charged with rewriting the current pilot script.

Burns and fellow 2017 graduate Amy Wincott have also been commissioned by Producer/Film Production Instructor Sonia Kappaya to write a feature film script.  The film is to be an adaptation of a short film script written by Film Production graduate David Omwange, entitled Second Skin.  The pair is also working on adapting an original sitcom created by Wincott into a web series.  Co-Dependent is about a pair of twenty-somethings in the early dating stages who move in together prematurely for financial survival.  Burns and Wincott will be co-producing the web version, and are currently pursuing various funding avenues.

And to make sure he stays busy, Burns is also currently in production on a podcast with fellow 2017 graduates John Barber and Dylan Fleury.  Kick Punch Stomp will cover professional wrestling and combat sports, and will be accompanied by a web site with news and editorials.

Adam Till is the Coordinator of the Writing For Film & Television Diploma at Toronto Film School as well as a producer and writer, known for Billable Hours (2006), Perfect Sisters (2014) and Too Late to Say Goodbye (2009).