Doc Lab Montréal 2023

Now known as Doc Lab Montréal, this initiative of Forum RIDM (formerly the Talent Lab) renews its commitment to furthering the inventive projects we hold dear. Over the years, the event has reinvented itself to consolidate its position as an essential opportunity for professional and creative development. This year's main novelties are the inclusion of international guest projects, and for feature-length projects, the participation is open to producers, as well as a pitching activity within the program of Forum RIDM, presented by Netflix.

Mentored by local and international industry professionals, Doc Lab Montreal is an opportunity for Canadians and international emerging filmmakers and producers with a short, medium-length or feature-length films to hone their creative documentary projects, artistic practices and production strategies. During the first three days, selected participants will take part in a closed circuit of workshops and mentorships. Following the mentoring, participants will benefit from activities organized during the last three days of Forum RIDM: master classes, discussions around documentary creation and production, and networking activities designed to enrich and complement Doc Lab Montréal’s content.

Participating projects will also be eligible for prizes offered by the ONF, NFB, CineGround, SLA Location, MainFilm, among others.

**This call for projects is open to Canadian applications. Selection of international participants occurs outside of this call.

Important dates

Call for projects: July 18th to August 21st, 2023
Participant’s selection : September 2023

Doc Lab Montréal will take place in person from November 17-22, 2023.

Participation fees

If selected, a fee of $125 (+taxes) per person will apply to cover all activities.

Selected participants will receive a RIDM + Forum accreditation, which gives access to festival films and Forum RIDM’s professional activities (One-on-one not included)

F.A.Q.

Canadian citizenship or permanent residency required
Not open to CEGEP students
Project can be submitted in English or French
Selected participants must be available for the entire duration of Doc Lab Montréal, from November 17-22, 2023
Sessions will be in English and French, depending on the speakers and participants
40% of Doc Lab Montréal will be dedicated to participants' projects, and the remaining 60% to master classes, lectures and round tables from Forum RIDM’S program

CALL FOR PROJECTS SHORT AND MEDIUM-LENGTH FILM

Overview:

3 days of closed-circuit group work sessions supervised by mentors
3 days of meetings, round tables, master classes and discussions with local and international professionals

The call is open to:

Creative documentary projects in development or in early production, up to 59 minutes
Filmmakers who have already made at least one short film
The call for short and medium-length is open to filmmakers only

Registration

By completing the application form for short/medium-length projects by August 21 at 12:00 p.m. (Montreal time).

CALL FOR PROJECTS FEATURE-LENGTH FILM

Overview:

3 days of closed-circuit group work sessions supervised by mentors
3 days of meetings, round tables, master classes and discussions with local and international professionals
A pitch activity within Forum RIDM’s programming, in front of an audience composed of seasoned professionals from national and international markets.

The call is open to:

Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada
Creative documentary projects in development or in the early stages of production, with a minimum running time of 60 min
Emerging filmmakers who have previously made a minimum of one short film and a maximum of two feature-length films
The call is open to both filmmakers alone or filmmaker+producer duos
Participants who have been at previous Talent Lab editions with a short or medium-length film are eligible as long as they submit a feature-lenght project for this edition

Registration

By completing the application form for feature-length projects by August 21 at 12:00 p.m. (Montreal time).

SUPPORT FOR 2023 DOC LAB MONTRÉAL

ONF Support
The Documentary Studio of the NFB's French program is helping the next generation of filmmakers in 2023 with an amount of $5000 in the form of a contract in the development phase for the selected project.

NFB Support
The NFB's English program supports the development of an English-language project by a Canadian-based filmmaker, for a value of $5,000.

CINEGROUND Support
This year, CineGround is once again committed to offering a $5,000 bursary in the form of post-production services to a Canadian or Quebec project.

MAINFILM Support

Mainfilm is committed to offering a 2,000$ grant in the form of film production equipment rental services, a one-year membership to their service and 500$ in cash, to a project based in Québec.

SLA LOCATION Support

SLA location is committed to offering a 2,500$ grant in equipment rental services to a Canadian project.

For any questions, please contact forum@ridm.ca