HELPING ADVANCE DIVERSITY IN GENRE

Blood in the Snow Film Festival was founded to push the boundaries of Canadian genre cinema, spending the past decade championing independent films in this space. Committed to diversity, the festival showcases stories from a wide range of cultures and identities, including Indigenous, French-language, and disability-led narratives. Our mission is to amplify underrepresented voices within an already underserved genre, with carefully curated programming that prioritizes quality, representation, and meaningful audience connection.

While progress has been made, Canadian genre cinema still lacks meaningful representation. In response, we launched the Blood in the Snow Horror Development Lab, now in its 6th year, as part of the 2026 Deadly Exposure Industry Conference. The program supports BIPOC, 2SLGBTQIA+, women, and other underrepresented creators, offering resources, critical feedback and industry connections to help bring their projects from script to screen and strengthen diverse voices in genre.

2026 HORROR DEVELOPMENT LAB SUBMISSIONS

The BITS Horror Development Lab is a development program focused on facilitating business and production opportunities for genre (horror, sci-fi, action, thriller) scripted projects and short films by traditionally underrepresented BIPOC, women, and 2SLGBTQIA+ Canadian filmmakers and content creators. The Horror Lab will support 12 short-form film concepts or web series in development with the intention of moving these concepts into a feature film or a web series project.

This program is less aimed at mentorship and more about access to business development. Accepted participants will meet with top industry professionals during the Blood in the Snow Film Festival from November 16 to 21, 2026. Horror Lab participants will have scheduled workshops with established industry professionals focusing on developing their projects. All participants will also have access to the Deadly Exposure Industry Conference during the festival.

• Filmmakers will receive advice and feedback on their short-to-feature pitches from established directors, producers, and broadcasters.
• Industry leads will challenge the participants to push their vision through to the very end by identifying and navigating through any development obstacles and changes.
• A curated itinerary including a focus on marketing and distribution, scheduled market meetings with attending industry advisors and leads, and short film screenings and pitch feedback.
• Participants will leave with advice on how to revise their package and move forward with it.
• Participants will leave with important film business insights and connections.
• Industry/peer networking opportunities.
• Participants will receive a free Screening & Industry Pass to attend the 2026 Blood in the Snow Film Festival + Deadly Exposure.

• Black
• Indigenous, Métis or Inuit
• Person of Colour
• 2SLGBTQIA+* (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Two-Spirit, Intersex, Asexual, and other identities that fall outside cisgender and heterosexual paradigms.)
• Women*
• Disabled (visible and invisible)*

* For all applicants, priority acceptance will be given to projects with BIPOC representation in front and behind the camera.

If you applied to the 2025 Horror Lab and did not make the program, you can apply again. Please do not apply again if you were accepted last year. You are, however, able to apply for the 2027 program.

• Must be a Canadian citizen.
• Must plan to shoot their film project primarily in Canada.
• Must have completed at least one polished, completed short film (3 to 30 minutes in length).
• Must feel that they are ready to make a feature film or web/TV series.
• This is a HORROR development lab, so the film needs to be some type of "genre" project that is horror, sci-fi, action or thriller.

All applications this year will be submitted through Film Freeway and must include the following:

• At least one previous completed short film that is either its own project or a short done as proof of concept (under 30 minutes).
• A three-page pitch book/proposal (in PDF) uploaded to Film Freeway describing the project.
• A budget summary using this template.

Yes, you can purchase a Deluxe Pass that will give you access to watch the micro lab panels (Nov 16 & 17) and watch the lab pitches (Nov 16). You can also attend all of the Deadly Exposure conference (Nov 19–21) and the entire festival line-up in the evenings November 16 to 21, 2026 at the Isabel Bader Theatre. This is strictly limited to only 25 people and is open to any filmmaker to purchase.

• The attendee can be the Producer/Director and/or primary writer of the project and must have the full rights to the proposed project.
• All rights remain with the filmmaker, and BITS has no proprietary interest in any of the projects.
• Although the mentor lab will be conducted in English, Francophone, Indigenous language, and other language projects are welcome and encouraged.
• Applicants must commit to attending the program in person from November 16 to 18, 2026, in Toronto, Canada. Deadly Exposure dates of November 19 to 21, 2026 are optional but encouraged.
• Applicants must be Canadian citizens and reside in Canada.
• Up to two people per project will be allowed to attend the program. The first person can attend free, but there will be a $100 fee if a second person attends.
• You do not need to be an alumnus of the Blood in the Snow Film Festival to be part of the program.
• You can apply for both the festival and the lab with the same application on Film Freeway. There is an option when you apply for the lab to also be considered for the festival.
• We strongly suggest that you upload a second version of your film on Film Freeway if it's already there, so that the file for your pitch isn't visible for your other festival submissions you may be doing.

KEY DATES