WFG SPRING 2026 MFM POST/PRODUCTION FUND RECIPIENTS
We are excited to announce the following recipients as part of the first 2026 cycle of the MFM Post/Production Fund:
Maxine Bruce was awarded $2,000 in cash for “Stolen Breath”.
Maxine Bruce is proud to have grown up as a member of the Winnipeg film community, where she began her career as a young actor. Since then, she’s gained diverse industry experience, including marketing for the Government of Canada’s #SacredMMIWG campaign, casting a feature film with actors speaking over 40 different languages, and project managing the launch of Talon Production Services. Currently, Maxine serves as Head of Development at Live From Winnipeg, as a creator, producer, director, and writer across both scripted and unscripted content. Maxine aims to continue creating content that will touch audiences like the warm prairie sun.
Ryan Steel was awarded $2,000 in WFG Services for “Meat”.
Ryan Steel is a filmmaker from Winnipeg. His first feature film Meat has been called “too ambitious for it’s budget level”.
Nnadozie Ekeocha was awarded $1,000 in cash for “Quota”.
Nnadozie Ekeocha is a Nigerian-Canadian filmmaker who works across documentary and narrative forms. His filmography includes the Nigerian-set short films Sa’adatu and Our Man from Wall Street, both selected for the 2026 Toronto Nollywood International Film Festival, and the Manitoba-set short drama Quota, currently in post-production. His documentary work includes Afro-diasporic Art in Manitoba, which screened at and received a nomination for Best Short Documentary at the 2024 African International Film Festival, as well as Whatever Happened to Intergenerational Wealth?, produced through the Being Black in Canada mentorship program.
Nnadozie also served as the Festival Coordinator and Lead programmer for the African Movie Festival in Manitoba (AM-FM), where he developed the annual Filmmakers Masterclass created to mentor emerging Black creatives in Manitoba.
Taryn Edgeworth was awarded $2,000 in cash for “House 416”.
Taryn Edgeworth is a writer and director based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. As a storyteller, Taryn has always been drawn to film as a means of connecting people and articulating internal worlds. She is inspired by introspective stories about the female experience, existentialism, self-discovery, and connecting with one another. Taryn is also interested in exploring themes of identity and relationships through a genre-bending lens. After falling in love with writing, acting, and directing as a teenager, Taryn took to the industry with a passion to learn and share her vision. She started training and working in our local industry at a young age, then completed her Bachelor of Arts at the University of Manitoba in Film and Theatre in 2024. Since graduating, Taryn has worked both on set and in a production office, while developing her own directorial works. Last year her short film Between the Seams completed a national/international festival run. Most recently Taryn participated in the National Screen Institute’s Manitoba Director’s Lab. Her next short, House 416, is a thrilling female-driven story that explores identity, inner-conflict, and liberation through the action genre.
Murray Toews was awarded $1,000 in cash and $2,000 in WFG Services for “PizzaSpace 2282”.
Murray Toews is a Winnipeg-based artist, animator, and filmmaker whose work spans drawing, film, audio art, and digital and hand-drawn animation. His films have screened at the Gimli International Film Festival, NSI’s Online Short Film Festival, and AGSM’s WestmAnimation Festival. His animated short 10 Years Before Happiness won the 2018 Windy Award for Best Short Animation/Experimental. Recent projects include The Strangeness Index and Earth Mutant Presents, a live multimedia event series. He is currently developing PizzaSpace 2282, a retro-futurist science-fiction film that blends live action, practical effects, and satire to explore contemporary life through an imagined future world, with support from the Winnipeg Film Group.
——————————————————————————————————————–
Several submissions were received for this cycle of the award, and were juried by a peer assessment committee comprised of filmmakers Angeline Javier and Jordan Johnsen.
THE WINNIPEG FILM GROUP ACKNOWLEDGES MANITOBA FILM & MUSIC FOR GRACIOUSLY FURNISHING THE CASH COMPONENT OF THE AWARDS.
