TVO announced the winner of its first-ever Doc Studio Contest, on Tuesday.

"The TVO voting public has spoken," TVO's commissioning editor, Jane Jankovic said in a press release. "From a short list of five talented and creative individuals, we are proud to announce that Coty Forth's Emmaline (Lighthouse) was selected as the winner.”

Forth introduces viewers to Emmaline Madigan, a widowed lighthouse-keeper who saw new technology take-over her job, and way of life.

The documentary is a love story – both between a woman and a man, and a woman and her place.

Forth, a 22-year-old student in Sheridan College’s media arts program, heard Madigan's story in his family's home of Parry Sound, close to the setting of the Madigan's, said Vladimir Kabelik, Forth's documentary production instructor

Kabelik saw the project from its infancy, through the nearly three month process beginning with a pitch, he said. "It's basically the same that we do in the industry on a smaller scale."

The Doc Studio Contest posed the challenge of revealing a vision of ‘Life in 5,’ said the contest press release. Filmmakers from across the country created five-minute, interview-based films that revealed a particular side of life.

The contest is just one facet of TVO's Doc Studio online community of filmmakers that launched last fall.

"There's so much interest in documentary filmmaking, the technology makes it possible for people to tell stories in that way," Jankovic told thedailyplanet.com.

"The goal of the [Doc Studio] site is to provide a place for people who are interesested in docs, to see how they're made," she said.

Site features blogs, videos

The site features blogs and videos that give an inside look at the varying processes of documentary creation, said Jankovic.

“All our finalists featured characters that helped open viewers to other worlds, which is exactly what we hoped for,” Jankovic said in the press release.

TVO received over 80 submissions, which were then narrowed down to five finalists by a panel of three judges, led by filmmaker Alan Zweig.

Zweig was named this year’s featured filmmaker – broadcasting his various works as well as a series of interviews revealing his working process.

This title also gave Zweig creative decisions over the parameters and mission of the Studio Doc Contest, said Jankovic.

As a part of his first-place-prize, Forth has one a mentoring session with Zweig, who’s documentary work has garnered a lot of attention at the Hot Docs Film Festival, as well as a Genie Award.

Doc Studio is an online community that celebrates both professional, and up and coming documentary filmmakers.

“TVO is proud to celebrate filmmakers like Coty, and all our contest entrants, who felt compelled to share their stories with Canadians. There's a lot of talent and heart out there," said Jankovic.

Click below to watch Coty Forth's winning documentary, Emmeline (Lighthouse).

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