Winner of the Toronto Arts Award for Media, Cole’s collaboration with partner Holly Dale has resulted in films such as; Dangerous Offender, Calling the Shots, Hookers on Davie, P4W: Prison for Women, Thin Line and Quiet on the Set; Filming Agnes of God. Cole and Dale continue to develop film projects through their company, Spectrum Films. Awards include; a Genie for P4W, a Gold Plaque in Chicago for Hookers, and the Lillian Gish Award for Calling the Shots. In 1988, the Canadian Film & Television honoured Cole and Dale with the Theatrical Producers Achievement Award In 1990, Cole completed Shaggie: Letters from Prison, a 12 minute independent short, and also part of the feature length Five Feminist Minutes. Shaggie won the prestigious Best Short Film Award at the 1990 Toronto Film Festival A three week long Production Workshop led by Cole at the Winnipeg Film Co-op resulted in eight participants completing two short films under her guidance entitled; When Worlds Collide and Death, The Impossible Escape. Cole has lead Advanced Writing Workshops and Advanced Documentary Workshops at Charles Street Video, Trinity Square Video and other artist run organizations. She presently teaches in Integrated Media at the Ontario College of Art & Design.

Cole Showed Four Panels - a mixed media piece in remembrance of her brother Barry, exhibited at A Space Gallery in the AIDS Gathering Show. Quarry Press published Calling The Shots: Profiles of Women Filmmakers, written with Holly Dale.

Cole’s long form writing includes Aggie; The Woman from Grey County, Party to a Crime, West End Girls, and My Lover’s Closet. In 1991, Cole wrote the script for Agnes Macphail Heritage Minute Series developed by Patrick Watson. Cole's script, Dangerous Offender, was produced by the CBC and earned seven Gemini Nominations, the Bronze Plaque Award for writing at the Columbus Film Festival and a Top Ten Award from the Writers Guild of Canada.

Janis Cole - Writer / Filmmaker

Member of...

• Writers Guild of Canada
• Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television
• Faculty, Ontario College of Art & Design

Publications

• 2005 - Sketch Magazine (OCAD), Writer
  • "President Sara Diamond Brings Her Vision to OCAD." Fall 2005
• 2004 to present - Montage Magazine (Directors' Guild of Canada), Writer
  • "The Feature Film Project." Fall 2005
  • "Matthew Davies: Designing for Character." Spring 2005
  • "Inspired Colour Palettes of Production Designer Sandra Kybartas." Fall 2004
  • "Susan Shipton: An Extraordinary Picture Editor Cuts Her Way to Cannes." Fall 2004
  • "Jane Tatersall: Post-Production Sound Supervisor with an Ear for Emotion." Fall 2004
• 2002 to present - POV Magazine, Contributing Editor and Writer
  • "The Harvest of Philip Hoffman." Summer 2005
  • "Angels in the Ashes: Velcrow Ripper’s ScaredSacred." Winter 2004-05
  • "Aileen Wuornos: Blurring the Lines Between Documentary Truth and Dramatic Fiction." Spring 2004
  • "Reality vs. Verité: You be the Judge." Fall 2004
  • "Feature Docs: The Funding Crunch," and "Funding Tunnel holds Glimmer of Light." Summer 2004
  • "From Frank’s Cock to Imitations of Life: Ten Years with Mike Hoolboom." Winter 2003-04
  • "John Walker: The Deeps of Doc Directing." Fall 2003
  • "Little Sister's vs. Big Brother: A Decade of Defense." Winter 2002-03
• 2000 to present - NOW Magazine, Writer / Film Reviewer
• 1993 - "Calling the Shots : Profiles of Women Filmmakers," published by Quarry Press in Canada

As Scriptwriter

• 2006 - FAIRY TALE OF LOVE, feature film, in development
• 2004 - BLISS, Season 2, Episode 6, "Office Management," Back Alley Producions
• 2003 - EXHIBIT A, Season 5, "Night of Rage."
• 2000 - THE SEDUCTION OF MARTIN KRUZE, television movie, for Tapestry Films
• 1999 - AMAZING GRACE, theatrical feature for Spectrum Films
• 1996 - DANGEROUS OFFENDER, feature television drama produced by the CBC. Nominated for seven Gemini Awards including best Movie and Best Script
• 1992 - MY LOVER’S CLOSET - theatrical feature for Spectrum Films
• 1991- AGNES MACPHAIL, HERITAGE MINUTE, produced by Patrick Watson
• 1990 - WEST END GIRLS, theatrical feature for Trinity Park Pictures
• 1989 - AGGIE; THE WOMAN FROM GREY COUNTY, for Spectrum Films
• 1986 - PARTY TO A CRIME, feature length teleplay for Ralph Thomas, CBC

As Script Consultant

• 2000/2001 - 50 feature film scripts through the Screenwriter Mentorship Programme, Toronto International Film Festival Group
• 2000 - THE UNGRATEFUL HEART, feature film in development
• 1999 - JANE DOE, docu-drama in development
• 1995 - BLOOD & DONUTS, feature film produced by Steve Hoban
• 1988 - DEAD MEAT, short dramatic film produced by Iian Patterson

As Instructor

• 1990 to present - Story & Concept Courses, Faculty of Art, Ontario College of Art & Design
• 2005 - Flemming School of the Arts, Writing Non-Fiction
• 2005 - York University, Dept. of Film and Video, Introduction to Film
• 2003 to 2005 - LIFT, Advanced Documentary Workshops
• 2000 - Rewrite Your Screenplay Workshops, Toronto International Film Festival Group, 3 sessions
• 1993 - Documentary Workshop, Charles Street Video, 3 days
• 1992 - Advanced Scriptwriting Workshop, Trinity Square Video, 3 days
• 1990 - Three week Documentary Production Workshop, Winnipeg Film Co-op. WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE and LIFE; THE IMPOSSIBLE ESCAPE were completed
• 1989 - Production Workshop, Atlanta Women in Film & Video, all aspects of filmmaking

As Filmmaker

• 2001 - GUY’S STORY, feature length experimental documentary on AIDS. In progress.
• 2000 - BOWIE: ONE IN A MILLION, short documentary about domestic violence. Premier, Toronto Festival 2000
• 1990 - SHAGGIE, short experimental film about a friend’s suicide, Five Feminist Minutes, Studio ‘D’, NFB. WINNER Best Short, Toronto Festival
• 1988 - CALLING THE SHOTS, feature documentary on prolific women in the film industry. Also 78 minute version. WINNER, Women in Film, Los Angeles. WINNER, American Film Festival. NOMINATED, 1989 Genie Award
• 1985 - QUIET ON THE SET, short documentary on the making of AGNES OF GOD for Norman Jewison Productions. Columbia Pictures, Also 7 minute version.
• 1984 - HOOKERS...ON DAVIE, feature documentary on street prostitution. WINNER, Gold Plaque, Chicago. WINNER, American Film festival. NOMINATED, 1985 Genie Award
• 1981 - P4W: PRISON FOR WOMEN, feature documentary inside Canada’s only federal female prison. Also, 56 minute version. WINNER 1982 Genie Award. WINNER, American Film Festival. WINNER, Grand Prize, Best Human Condition and Best Cinematography, Yorkton Film Festival
• 1978 - THIN LINE, short documentary inside a maximum security hospital for the criminally insane. FINALIST, American Film Festival
• 1976 - MINIMUM CHARGE NO COVER, short documentary on alternative lifestyles. WINNER, Ann Arbour Film Festival
• 1975 - CREAM SODA, short documentary in a private strip club

Selected Awards

• Gemini Nomination, Best Writer, Dangerous Offender, 1998
• Top Ten Award, Writers Guild of Canada, 1997
• Bronze Plaque, Columbus Film and Video festival, 1997
• Toronto Arts Award for Achievement in Media, 1994
• NFB Best Short Film Award for Shaggie, Toronto Festival, 1990
• Theatrical Film Producer Achievement Award, CFTA, 1988
• Genie Award, Best Theatrical Documentary, 1982