Islanders hit the Banff World Media Festival stage

The creators of the P.E.I. web series, Lovely Witches Club are in Alberta to speak on a panel at the 2017 Banff World Media Festival.

Co-creators Patti Larsen and Renee Laprise were thrilled when Telefilm Canada invited them to attend.

"Both of us were a little shocked and very honoured, and of course we said yes," said Larsen.

She explained that Telefilmfunded their trip to Banff in partnership with Innovation P.E.I. Larsen and Laprise are speaking on a panel on Tuesday,Discovering New Voices.It will be moderated by Francesca Accinelli, the director of national promotions and communications for Telefilm Canada.

"It's a huge honour," said Larsen, the show's writer.

"It's so incredible to actually think that two awesome girls who wrote a series about witches from P.E.I. get the chance to talk to a huge selection of producers from all around the world at an event like this one."

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'A really huge deal'

For Larsen, it took a while for the magnitude of the invitation to sink in: "When I initially heard about it, I thought, 'Oh that's really fun. Awesome. Free trip to Banff!' But it's actually a really huge deal."

The festival attracts media executives from around the world.

"We're rubbing shoulders with executives from Disney and Discovery and Lifetime, and so it's pretty amazing."

Larsen was also excited about meetingand shakinghands with the Minister of Canadian Heritage Mlanie Joly,

'Immensely grateful'

"It's just fantastic I'm meeting producers and actors and all sorts of people from all around the world. And it's very encouraging and very exciting and it's just an incredible opportunity. We're immensely grateful for it."

One of the reasons why Larsen and Lapriseare at the festival is to figure out what's next for Lovely Witches Club. Larsen explained, "We'd love to do either season two, or find a co-producer that can help us take the series into a full TV series."

All seven episodes of theLovely Witches Clubweb series are now online. It'sabout a young filmmaker who's hired to make a documentary involving witches of Prince Edward Island.

The Banff Media Festival runs until Wednesday, June14.

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