Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) teams up with the Toronto Film School

The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), one of the top networks in the world, has teamed up with the Toronto Film School and its students are reaping the benefits in the classroom.

Adam Till, Toronto Film School's Coordinator of the Writing for Film and Television Diploma program said the partnership provides students the ability to have a behind the scenes look at what they do.  The school's students get access to all of OWNs programs as well as all interim materials like pilot scripts they are working on and other materials such as DVD’s, scripts, and various cuts of pilots television programs.  This material goes to support learning in the classroom.

The real world experience a student gets from seeing a television show develop from a script through to various stages of cuts through to the final product is invaluable.  According to Till, it helps students to see that a meaningful career in film and television is not an impossible dream.

In Canada, OWN was approved as an educational network and it sought out collaborations with accredited educational Institutions like the Toronto Film School.  As an educational television broadcast service, each show OWN airs must have an accredited educational institution using that program as part of their course material.

The Toronto Film School has also accredited the Tyler Perry show "The Haves and the Have Nots", a one-hour drama series. The school has also accredited the entire OWN Theatre of more than 100 classic films that inspire, entertain and engage the audience and foster discussion and aspiration.

“With the movies that we show, we feel the Toronto Film School is the best partner we can have for that type of content,” said Amy Sutton, Director of Network Content, Women and Family, Corus Entertainment.