Praxis Centre for Screenwriters

We are mourning the death of our friend Amnon Buchbinder on November 30 after an eight-year illness. Ami was a filmmaker, story editor, festival programmer and beloved screenwriting professor at York University. He was a wonderful resource for Praxis, serving as an advisor numerous times, teaching workshops for us in Vancouver and Bombay, and recommending us to many emerging screenwriters. His book, The Way of the Screenwriter, was an inspiration to many writers, focusing on the deep meaning of film narrative and its importance for our understanding of ourselves and the world. While he was ill he continued to teach and work on his own projects, including a massive interactive documentary, Biology of Story, an exploration of the power of story in our lives. He will be missed. .

Amir Kahnamouee wins Jim Burt Screenwriting Prize Amir Kahnamouee has shared the WGC's Jim Burt Screenwriting Prize (with Pat Holden) for his feature film script Harbour House. Harbour House (under the title Port of Call) was developed in the 2018 Whistler Film Festival/Praxis Screenwriters Lab with advisor Dennis Foon. The screenplay also won the Daryl Duke Screenwriting Prize in 2018. The $5,000 prize ($3,000 cash plus $2,000 for story editing) is for an original, unproduced screenplay by a Canadian writer. It's named after Jim Burt, long-time head of drama development at CBC TV, who died in 1999. Jim Burt was a great supporter of emerging writers, and acted as an advisor at Praxis several times during our early years.