5 MONTH PROGRAM (APRIL - AUGUST 2025)

Producer Accelerator Program

Three part training program for production companies in Newfoundland and Labrador designed to achieve strategic and predictable business growth, especially in the international marketplace, through skill-development, practical hands-on training, exposure to industry intelligence, networking, and mentorship. There are no fees to participate in this program.

FINAL DEADLINE TO APPLY: APRIL 4 AT 11:59 PM ET

APPLY NOW

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

PictureNL , formally known as the Newfoundland and Labrador Film Development Corporation, is the lead agency for the province for investments in film and television productions through its equity, tax credit and development programs. Through its five programs, the NLFDC offers local producers and outside producers/productions the support needed to help the province’s production sector to flourish.

Stowe Story Labs has been asked by PictureNL to run a Producer Accelerator Program. The program will take the selected production company teams through workshops and customized mentoring with top practitioners in production, sales, finance, development, and coproduction, among other skill sets, over five months of work together. This is an online program with a two-day, in-person midpoint program during the summer.

Darrien Michele Gipson (right, Executive Director of SAGindie, Producer) in a one-on-one project development session at the 2024 Stowe Producers’ Lab.

PART I: Two-Day Workshop

Part I of the program is a two-day online workshop designed to touch on important elements and core concepts related to creative producing and international co-productions, and to both build market knowledge and frame vocabulary for the later customized, individual mentoring program.

ACTIVITIES

Establish a roadmap for the program
Instructional content on international finance, international sales, co-production, and pitching
Presentations and Q&As with established industry mentors

PART II: Ongoing Mentoring and ‘Mid-Point’ In-Person Sessions

In Part II, the participating production companies will receive individualized work plans customized to specific goals, and through the individualized mentoring program will work toward these goals with top industry practitioners focused on key elements of development, finance, production, and sales.

ACTIVITIES

One-on-one mentoring with subject matter experts specializing in market-oriented skills such as attachments, budgets, co-productions, festival strategy, finance, pitching, sales, and script development
Biweekly status meetings
Monthly Presentations
Halfway through the Program, participants and the Stowe team will meet in St. John’s for a two-day ‘Mid-Point’ Meeting to anchor concepts covered in the program and offer presentations, Q&A sessions, and structured peer-to-peer time to advance the Program’s goals.

Producers Tyler Young (left) and Emily Troedson (right) talk creative production at the 2024 Producers’ Lab in Stowe, Vermont.

PART III: Closing

Part III will be a one-day online group meeting that will serve as a springboard to on-going communication, collaboration, and support.

ACTIVITIES

Share thoughts on the program and insights from the process
Go through a curated next steps process and discuss how participants intend to move forward
In-Conversation Interview and Q&A with top industry leader

Program Outcome

Participants will leave the program prepared to participate in the international film and television industry, with strong understanding of international co-productions and approaches to building them, and will be ready to be competitive in the international marketplace, prepared to promote themselves to the world, and able to secure partnerships that will lead to inward investments.

APPLICATION PROCESS

The questions on the application ask about the company applying, the individual company member(s) (no more than two per company) who will participate in the program, the current slate of projects being developed, and the company's five year vision. Eligible participants will meet the following criteria:

Be a production company established in Newfoundland or Labrador
ave at least one producer credit on completed productions of the following nature:
- Television one-off production
- Television series production
- Feature film that received financing from a Federal and/or Provincial funding agency
- Participated in the Picture Start or Michelle Jackson Program
Participated in at least one international market or festival event
Must have multiple viable projects in development for international markets
If you are interested in the Producer Accelerator Program but are unsure about your eligibility, we encourage you to reach out. Please contact PictureNL's Industry Development Manager, Jennifer Dempsey at Jennifer@picturenl.ca.

Program Leader, David Pope

David Pope (left) interviews the late and iconic Irish Creative Producer James Flynn at Connemara Writers' Retreat

The PictureNL Producer Accelerator Program will be lead by David Pope. In addition to being co-founder of Stowe Story Labs and a creative producer, script consultant, and screenwriter working internationally, he is the longstanding advisor and moderator of the Rotterdam Lab at IFFRPro for international producers. David's ability to articulate process and required skills, facilitate conversation on important topics, and draw understanding from program participants is unparalleled and valuable. (Full bio below)

Applications Open

FINAL DEADLINE: APRIL 4 AT 11:59 PM ET

APPLY NOW

Meet the Stowe Program Team

David Pope (l) and David Rocchio (r) at 2024 Stowe Story Labs / Fís Éireann-Screen Ireland Connemara Writers’ Retreat, Renvyle, County Galway, Ireland

David Rocchio is an attorney, writer, and Emmy-nominated filmmaker. David conceived and co-produced with James Rogan THE GUN SHOP, an Emmy nominated one-hour documentary commissioned by the UK Channel 4’s Cutting Edge series, where it premiered prime time and was awarded top reviews. It then played worldwide. David’s award-winning short films have played internationally, including the Cannes Short Film Corner and Italy’s Capalbio International Short Film Festival (Best of Capalbio).

Learn More

David Pope is a creative producer, script consultant and screenwriter working internationally. Script consultation projects include TIGER STRIPES, winner Jury Prize Critics Week Cannes Film Festival 2023 and candidate for Best International Film Academy Award 2024, TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT, a candidate for Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award 2019 and TRUTH OR JUSTICE, a candidate for Best International Film Academy Award 2020. Other recent projects as script consultant include the feature films NATATORIUM, 2024, LAST SENTINEL, 2023, SPLENDID ISOLATION, 2022, MAGIC MOUNTAINS, 2021 and the drama series’ IMPERIAL SPY for Fremantle (AMERICAN GODS, DEUTSCHLAND 83). David was the Creative Producer on the feature film THE GOAT (2024).

He is the longstanding advisor and moderator of the Rotterdam Lab at IFFRPro for international producers.

Previous development and training clients include Creative Europe, BFI, Screen Scotland, New Horizons Studio+, Cannes Cinefondation, Creative England, Polish Film Institute, UK Film Council, BBC, BAFTA, Fremantle, National Theatre, British Council, Warp Films, Allfilm, KulturaTV, Cannes Film Festival, Film London, Lionhead Studios, Xingu Films, Irish Film Board, FAS Screen Training Ireland, and Estonian Film Institute amongst many others.

Learn More

Meet your mentors

We are honored to work with a stellar pool of mentors. The list of mentors is constantly expanding and shifting so please check back often. Further, because our mentors are top-tier working professionals in the industry, schedules and obligations can shift quickly. Given that, those slated for a particular program may change with little or no notice. We take this risk because we believe it valuable to participants to work with mentors who are tremendously busy with film and TV work given they are deeply active in the industry today.