Thursday March 26 - IGNITER DAY

1:30 PM - 3:30 PM

Workshop - Look Up & Laugh: Writing Bold Comedy that Demands Attention

Instructor: Michelle Daly

Description TBA

*Open exclusively to 2026 Comedy Igniter Participants and Festival Passholders on a first-come-first-served sign-up basis. Space is limited.

4:30 PM - 6:30 PM

CFF & Firecracker Department Present: THE 2026 COMEDY IGNITER SHOWCASE

A special presentation featuring the top-selected comedic shorts from The Comedy Igniter – a four-week film challenge created by Canadian Film Fest and Firecracker Department. 

Female and gender-divers filmmakers sign up, receive a creative prompt, and have just four weeks to write, shoot, and deliver an original short comedy. Each selected Igniter will screen their film live, followed by feedback and insight from a panel of comedy and filmmaking professionals. It’s bold, fast, funny – and a celebration of what can happen when creators bet on themselves. 

Host: 

Naomi Snieckus, Firecracker Department

Showcase Judges:

Robin Duke, Actress/Comedian, Saturday Night Live, SCTV

Linda Kash, Actor/Writer/Director, Best In Show, Waiting for Guffman

Nelu Handa, Writer/Actor/Producer, Baroness Von Sketch, Run the Burbs

Michelle Daly, TFS Screenwriting Program Director, Former CBC Senior Director of Comedy

Jessica Liadsky, Development Manager, Scripted Development, Lionsgate Canada

Susan Alexander, Senior Director, Creative, Shaftesbury