Telus often reminds its customers of its slogan, "We give where we live."

And the Vancouver-based telecommunications giant demonstrated that when 14 local filmmakers were on a list of prize winners in a Telus-funded program.

STORYHIVE is distributing 30 production grants in B.C. and Alberta based on a community-voting system. The winners will get $10,000 each to produce a short video, which will be shown on Telus's Optik TV on Demand and online.

The 14 Vancouver winners are:

• Ryan Mah, cofounder of Black Rhino Creative, for Fearless, which is about blind swimmer Amber Thomas's struggle with brain cancer.

• Lauren Bercovitch for Big Lew, which is about her father, an Italian refugee who introduced Canada to the personal computer.

• Jamie Alain for Collider, which is a sci-fi love story about a female scientist who's lost her partner.

• Steve Schwartz for Graft, which deals with clones, grief, and loss.

• Ryan Curtis for Homeowners, which is about a woman in a haunted home.

• Former Bard on the Beach apprentice director Amanda Lockitch for Singer Sisters, which features two sisters aiming for fame in the film industry.

• Former CTV TV show host Matthew Johnson for The Dishwasher. It's about an alliance between a prostitute and a kitchen worker.

• Vancouver Film School grad David I Strasser for The Third Bandit, which is about runaway teens. 

• Wayne Hoescherl, a professional photographer, for The Man and the Dog, which is a comedy about automation.

• Jesse Pickett for Umbrageous. It's about four children who own dangerous new technology.

• Jem Garrard, a four time Leo Award winner, for Unit Bryan, which focuses on a retail manager interacting with a "humanoid" worker.

• Tabatha Golat for United Guys Network, which relies on a husband and wife to explore "the unwritten macho guy code".

• Erron Carruth, whose films have been shown in Cannes, for Alpha. It's about an engineer who creates a humanoid robot child.

• Carlo Solanoy for Last Night, which brings children's discussions in dreams to life.

There was one other B.C. winner, Vancouver Island filmmaker Andrew Jones, for Finding Fairies.

The other 15 directors who will receive $10,000 grants live in Alberta.

After the films are shown, community members will vote for the two top awards, which will be announced in March.