CFC Norman Jewison Film Program: Writers' Lab

Eligibility and project requirements

Applicants must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada. A LONE WRITER APPLIES DIRECTLY: no producer, company or attachment is required, and the sample screenplay must in fact be solo-authored, so co-written material does not qualify as the primary submission. CFC looks for writers with professional writing experience and a growing body of onscreen work, a desire to collaborate across the script-to-screen process, an interest in the changing marketplace, and a narrative feature script actively in development; pilot scripts may sit on the slate but not as the primary project. NOTE ON RESIDENCY: attendance is in-person and full-time on the Toronto campus, but pre-existing Toronto residency is NOT an eligibility rule. CFC expressly contemplates relocation, offering a one-time relocation bursary to those moving from outside Ontario. The published expectation is only that the programme is full-time and a priority for you.

Formats

Feature, TV Pilot

Eligibility

Canada only

Open to

Canada

Deadlines & fees

Dates and fees checked against the official site 9 Aug 2026. That is longer ago than we aim for; confirm on the official site before entering.

Prepare your entry

Prizes

No cash prize. The value is the residency itself: tuition of 15,000 Canadian dollars covered in full by scholarship for every incoming resident, five and a half months of full-time development, and a professionally produced proof of concept that CFC pays for. READ THE BURSARY POSITION CAREFULLY, BECAUSE CFC DESCRIBES IT THREE DIFFERENT WAYS. The tuition and fees block says monthly bursaries and a relocation bursary are also provided, which reads as automatic. The 2026 notice on the same page says additional bursaries are available on a case-by-case basis for those who need extra financial support, which reads as discretionary and need-tested. The eligibility document says you will be able to apply for bursary support of up to 750 dollars per month, which reads as a capped application. A selected writer may therefore receive nothing in monthly bursary, and the 2026 wording frames this as a deliberate shift away from blanket support. A one-time relocation bursary of 1,500 Canadian dollars is published for those moving to Toronto from outside Ontario. These are bursaries rather than wages, and no employment relationship is published. RIGHTS: narrow and clearly stated. Writers retain all original intellectual property in projects brought into the programme and CFC takes no ownership of underlying IP, but CFC owns the completed produced exercises, short films and showcases, because the insurance, agreements and ongoing liabilities sit with CFC. Your screenplay stays yours; the film made of it at CFC's expense does not. No option, first refusal or exclusivity is published, and nothing published gives Netflix any claim over participant work despite its lead sponsorship.

Judging

Selectors are not published for the Writers' Lab; the programme page lists alumni rather than jurors. Feedback is explicitly not offered: due to the high volume of applicants, CFC no longer provides it. Applications require contact details for two advocates.

Frequently asked questions