THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED DAILY
*in alphabetical order
NATASHA ABRAMOVA
Operations & Special Projects Manager, Producer
LinkedIn
Natasha Abramova is an operations manager and special projects coordinator with 30 years of experience in interpreting, public relations, logistics, sales, and related activities. One of her proudest achievements was the instrumental role she played, in 2018, to help preserve a piece of Canadian art heritage. She brought the media’s attention to the potential sale outside the country of a treasured painting – La Tour Eiffel by Marc Chagall. She began a nationwide petition that successfully overturned the National Gallery of Canada’s decision to sell the painting.
In 2019, Natasha joined the Show One Productions team. She has been closely involved with the Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit, most notably as editor-in-chief of the stunning commemorative art book, which contains enlightening commentary and high-quality photographs.
FRANCESCA ACCINELLI
Interim Executive Director & CEO, Telefilm Canada
LinkedIn | Company Website
Francesca Accinelli joined Telefilm in 2006 as Deputy Director, English Market for the Canadian Television Fund (now known as the Canada Media Fund), and was subsequently appointed director of the unit in 2008. Prior to joining Telefilm, Accinelli worked as a cultural administrator and theatre producer before moving on to television production, where she worked on big-budget TV series and TV movies produced by Alliance Atlantis and other production companies.
TASHI BIELER
SVP Production at eOne,
IMDb| Company Website
As SVP Production at eOne, Tashi Bieler oversees the studio’s diverse and impressive slate of [scripted] television series and features shooting in Canada and abroad. Her credits include series such as: upcoming series The Recruit (Netflix) andThe Spencer Sisters (CTV); Moonshine (CBC); Burden of Truth (CBC/CW); global ratings success Private Eyes (Global/ION); fan favourite Designated Survivor (Netflix); international hit Ransom (CBS/Global); as well as the critically acclaimed Nurses (NBC/Global) and Mary Kills People (Lifetime/Global). Prior to joining eOne, Tashi made her mark producing and line- producing films and television. A well-respected veteran of the industry, Tashi has over 20 years of experience producing world-class content in Canada, the US and Europe.
FIRDAUS BILIMORIA
Director, Writer
LinkedIn| IMDB
Firdaus F. Bilimoria is an award-winning screenwriter-filmmaker and actor. Originally from Bombay, previously a New Yorker for many years and now Toronto-based, Firdaus has written and directed seven short films and has a portfolio of feature scripts and TV scripts/bibles. His short films have screened in film festivals internationally and won awards. His feature scripts have been short-listed for the 2015 Sundance Screenwriters Program, and advanced to Finalist/Semi-Finalist in many recognized screenwriting competitions including Bluecat Screenwriting Competition, ScreenCraft Horror, and FilmQuest FF. Firdaus is also a published author and poet.
BERNARD BOURRET
Professor, Sheridan College
LinkedIn
Bernard Bourret is a tax credit analyst at Ontario Creates and a professor at Sheridan College’s Creative Industries Management postgraduate program, where he teaches the financing and budgeting of creative works.
Earlier in his career, he served as a film and television production executive and producer and oversaw over 375 hours of films and television programming. His productions have received numerous awards and nominations, including the Crystal Heart Award from the Heartland Film Festival, an international Gold Apple Award, an Award of Excellence from the Children Broadcast Institute, a Prix ADATE and four Gemini/Gemeaux Award nominations.
RUDY BUTTIGNOL
President, NXT Broadcast Strategy + Brand
LinkedIn | IMDb
C.M. is an independent broadcast executive, and a moderator of documentary financing forums in Asia and Europe. From 2007 to 2022, he served as President and CEO of British Columbia’s public broadcaster, Knowledge Network, and concurrently as President of BBC Kids (2011-19). In 1993, Buttignol was recruited as public broadcaster TV Ontario’s first Commissioning Editor, eventually serving as Creative Head of Network Programming until 2006. His award-winning commissions include documentary series Emergency Room; Search & Rescue North Shore; British Columbia; An Untold History; Emmy/Grammy-winner Yo-Yo Ma: Inspired by Bach; and Afghanistan, The Wounded Land. Feature documentaries include Manufactured Landscapes and Oscar-nominated Writing with Fire. From 1975 to 1993, Buttignol worked as an independent writer, director and producer of history and arts documentaries and children’s series. He was born in Pordenone, Italy, and graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at Toronto’s York University, and Harvard and Stanford executive programs. He is the winner of nine Canadian Academy Awards, an honorary Doctor of Letters, and Member of the Order of Canada.
OLGA NABATOVA
Virtual reality Artist, Cream Productions Inc
LinkedIn |Personal Website | Other Website
Olga Nabatova is an award-winning virtual reality artist. In 2016, she was hired by GOOGLE to present Tiltbrush at the Youtube Pulse conference in Toronto. She works with VR and AR art applications such as Tilt Brush, Blocks, Gravity sketch, Tvori, Artivive, ARize using HTCvive and Oculus. In 2018, she was listed as one of the top 50 augmented and virtual reality influencers by BrivoVR.com. She has been a guest on national TV channels such as CBC, Space Channel and Vestink TV, but she also helped create a successful children’s community theatre, Stage in Streetsville. He wears many hats, including set design, installations, costume design, photography, and video.
DEANNA CADETTE
Advisor, Warner Bros. Discovery
LinkedIn | Company Website
Deanna Cadette is a Canadian media entertainment executive, dedicated to leading workforce development and industry transformation through strategic partnerships, evidence-based initiatives, and a focus on outcomes. Currently with Warner Bros. Discovery, Deanna serves as talent and industry advisor for WBD Access Canada which designs career pathways for creators, craftspersons and technicians from historically underrepresented communities.Prior industry roles incl: director of the former Writers Guild of Canada (WGC)/ Bell Media Diverse Screenwriters Program; cultural policy analyst with the WGC, project lead with CBC’s Engagement and Inclusion unit, and camera assistant with the Cinematographers Guild (IATSE 677).
STEPHEN CAMPANELLI
Director and Cameraman
IMDB| Personal Website
Stephen Campanelli has been a Director and a cameraman for over 30 years now, and has directed award-winning films for the last seven years, including “Indian Horse” and “Drinkwater”. He started as Clint Eastwood’s cameraman for 28 years and continues to be Clint’s right hand man for hopefully many more years.
BOB CANIGLIA
Director of Sales Operations, Blackmagic Design
LinkedIn | Company Website
He began working in the film and television industry in 1985 as a part-time camera operator and editor on industrial videos. Bob finished school at night while working full time as a commercial producer/director at a local CBS affiliate. Eventually, Bob found himself in L.A. as an editor for The Disney Channel and 525 Post Production, later working on music videos for Prince, Madonna and Michael Jackson. Bob also helped Gore Verbinski with his director demo reel, telling him that he would be a feature film director someday. Leveraging his real-world industry experience, Bob made the transition to working with a variety of production and post production manufacturers, including Panasonic, Quantel, Snell, DaVinci Systems and Blackmagic Design.
DAVID CARDWELL
Senior Director, Head of 3D & Immersive Labs at Adobe, Entrepreneur
LinkedIn
David Cardwell is the 2014 recipient of The Academy’s prestigious Technical Achievement Award, honouring pioneers who have contributed in significant and lasting ways to motion pictures. Dave has been carving a path as a VFX artist and innovator for close to twenty years. He was a Co-Founder/Creator of Mudbox, later acquired by Autodesk, where he developed digital sculpture and texture painting tools used at some of the world’s leading visual effects & games companies today. He was a founder of BrioXR web-based 3D/AR/NERF authoring platform acquired in 2022 by Adobe.
SEAN CISTERNA
Director
Italian-Canadia multi-award-winning director Jerry Ciccoritti has so far had to find room for ten Gemini Awards, two Canadian Comedy Awards, six awards from the Director’s Guild of Canada, and a Genie nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay in a Feature Film. Ciccoritti was one of the founders of Buddies in Bad Times theatre in 1978 and of the Rhubarb Theatre Festival in 1979. Some of his most renowned works are the movie “Boy Meets Girls”, “John A.: Birth of a Country”, “Blood”, and “Lives of the Saints”. He has also recently directed 14 different episodes of “Schitt’s Creek”, he also directed the features “Turkey Drop” (2019), “Lie Exposed” (2020), “Two for the Win” (2021), and “Angel Falls Christmas” (2021).
DAVID CORMICAN
President, Co-Founder at Don Carmody Television
LinkedIn | IMDb
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David Cormican is an Emmy®-nominated producer. He is Co-Founder and President of Don Carmody Television (DCTV) and Washington Square Entertainment, a co-founder of NFT marketplace and blockchain-based studio Mogul Productions, and a member of the prestigious Producers Guild of America (p.g.a.) and the Writers Guild of Canada (WGC).
DCTV projects include the International Emmy®-nominated mini-series Tokyo Trial for Netflix and NHK, the Rogers-Netflix original series Between, the Emmy®-nominated The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe for Lifetime and ShadowHunters for Freeform.
Tulipani, Love, Honour & A Bicycle, the Dutch-Italian-Canadian co-production and film festival darling from two-time Academy Award® winning director, Mike van Diem, recently premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival.
DOM CUTRUPI
Director, Lumberwitch Films
LinkedIn | Personal Website | Company Website
Dom Cutrupi was born in Italy and raised there. After completing his Film Production studies, he worked in theatre and television in Rome for five years until relocating to Vancouver, Canada in 2010. In 2017, he released his first narrative work, Lithium Dreams, a Virtual Reality Sci-Fi Short Film. His short documentary The Power of Wastewater won the Independent Shorts Award for Best Short Documentary in Los Angeles in 2018. Edible People, his miniseries pilot, was chosen for contention at the Global Film Festival Award in Los Angeles in 2019. Yokomeshi, his debut live-action short film, was completed in 2020. Residents of Arcadia is his feature film debut.
J. MILES DALE
Producer
IMDb | Company Website
J. Miles Dale is a Canadian producer and director best known for producing the critically acclaimed film, The Shape of Water, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2018. Prior to that, Dale was the executive producer and principal director on the popular FX Network series The Strain, co-created by Guillermo del Toro, for all four of its seasons. He had also partnered with del Toro to produce the horror hit Mama, starring two-time Academy Award nominee Jessica Chastain. Dale’s other credits include the critically acclaimed remark of Carrie which starred academy award winner Julianne Moore; box-office smash The Vow, starring Oscar nominee Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum; and Universal Pictures; sci-fi horror prequel The Thing. He also produced the cult classic Scott Pilgrim vs the World and Hollywoodland, which received a Golden Globe nomination for Ben Affleck’s performance. Dale’s television credits include the Gemini Award-nominated Robocop: The Series, Emmy nominated Friday the 13th: The Series, and the critically acclaimed TV movie All-American Girl: The Mary Kay Letourneau Story. Since his Oscar win, Dale has worked on several projects including, the film Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, the series Sex/Life, and the movie Antlers by Scott Cooper. He has continued working alongside del Toro in his Academy-Award-nominated Nightmare Alley starring two-time Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett and Bradley Cooper, and the upcoming Netflix series Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. He’s also the executive producer of the new Disney Animation: Immersive Experience that will showcase for the first time ever the best of the classical Disney movies in a 360-immersive environment.
CRISTIANO DE FLORENTIIS
Co-Founder and Artistic Director, ICFF
LinkedIn | Company Website
Cristiano de Florentiis is the Founder and Artistic Director of the ICFF. The film festival inaugurated in 2012 spans across 9 Canadian cities and has become one of the most influential showcases for contemporary cinema in North America. Along with his passion for cinema, de Florentiis has always cultivated his love for television and journalism. Since 1997 he has been working for the Italian state television RAI, providing weekly news coverage from Canada for different programs.
DAVID DEXTER
Director, SIRT- Screen Industries Research and Training Centre at Sheridan College
LinkedIn | Company Website
As Director of SIRT, David Dexter, is responsible for creating a leading innovation player and a SmartStage for the film, television, interactive and gaming industry in Canada. Dexter has advanced the centre’s Virtual and Augmented Reality innovation capabilities, as well as developed Canada’s first Intelligent Digital Human Cluster. With over twenty-five years of experience, Dexter has worked at multiple innovative and cutting-edge companies in the mobile (Nokia), technology (IBM) and music industries.
TAISA DEKKER
Manager, Industry Initiatives & Outreach, Actra
LinkedIn | Company Website
Taisa Dekker is passionate about the screen-based industry and the promotion of Canadian artists and creators. She got her start in production, where she worked on commercials and short form content. Ms. Dekker’s 16-year ACTRA career began at the Alberta branch, where she was the Commercial Business Representative, and provided support for the Saskatchewan and Manitoba branches. Since relocating to Toronto, she has held positions at ACTRA Performers’ Rights Society and in multiple departments at ACTRA Toronto. In her current role as Manager: Industry Initiatives and Outreach for ACTRA Toronto, Ms. Dekker promotes the ACTRA Advantage and connects with film, digital, video game, audiobook, and commercial producers about the benefits of working with union performers. Taisa is the representative for ACTRA Toronto on the Ontario Green Screen Advisory Committee.
MEISSA DI MARCO
Melissa DiMarco is a Canadian-Italian celebrity with a long list of credits as an award-winning actor and producer. Melissa is the creator and star of the television scripted comedy series “Out There with Melissa DiMarco”. With over 250 episodes, as the show’s producer and star, she has performed alongside big names from George Clooney to Lady Gaga. Melissa starred in the Emmy-winning drama, “Degrassi: The Next Generation”, as well as CBC’s “Riverdale”. Film credits include acclaimed performances as Pete Rose’s wife, Carol, opposite Tom Sizemore (Heat) in “Hustle: The Pete Rose Story” under the direction of the legendary Peter Bogdanovich (The Last Picture Show) and a lead role in “No Alibi”, starring opposite Eric Roberts (The Dark Knight). Melissa is proud of her Italian heritage, which she features in her Out There TV series. The new season is coming up!
ALICE DUTRUT
Executive
LinkedIn
Alice Dutrut is a Content Specialist at Paramount+ Canada. As a key part of the Canadian content team, Alice works on content strategy, acquisitions and programming.
SVETLANA DVORETSKY
Co-Founder and Producer at Lighthouse Immersive Inc
LinkedIn
Svetlana Dvoretsky is the founder of Show One Productions. She is celebrating her tenth anniversary of bringing music, dance and theatre to Canada. She has spent the past decade bringing some of the finest artists from her homeland Russia to the stages of her adopted country. Dvoretsky usually brings in 10 or 12 presentations each season, mainly to Montreal and Toronto, with non-Russian artists such as actor John Malkovich and the Maria Pages Flamenco Dance Company increasingly augmenting her Russian offerings. To celebrate her 10th anniversary she is bringing the famous Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky to Koerner Hall, the Vakhtangov State Academic Theatre in Eugene Onegin (with English subtitles) to the Toronto Centre for the Arts and, by way of personal celebration, the Moscow Virtuosi with Vladimir Spivakov to Roy Thomson Hall.
FRANK FALCONE
President & Executive Creative Director, Guru Studio
LinkedIn | Company Website
Frank Falcone has been bringing film and television projects to life as an animator, director and executive producer for over 25 years. Under his creative vision, Guru Studio has become a leader in character-driven storytelling and high-quality animated entertainment for kids and families around the world. Guru’s roster of hit shows include: True and the Rainbow Kingdom, Justin Time, Abby Hatcher, Ever After High and the global preschool smash-hit PAW Patrol. Frank also served as an Executive Producer on the Academy Award nominated film, The Breadwinner, where, under his watchful eye, Guru’s team contributed visual development which brought the rich ‘story world’ sequences to life.
TAMMY FRICK
Chief Executive Officer, Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television
LinkedIn | Company Website
Tammy Frick is the Chief Executive Officer of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. With almost three decades of experience in the Canadian film industry, Tammy is dedicated to fostering and developing creative works and opportunities for talent both in front of and behind the camera. Prior to her role with the Academy, Tammy held a successful 27-year tenure as Executive Director of the Cinéfest Sudbury International Film festival. Tammy has served on the board of directors of several organizations, including as a founding member of Music and Film in Motion (MFM). Aside from the leadership and insights she offered to the development of MFM, in 2014 she orchestrated its transition to Cultural Industries Ontario North (CION), which seeks to promote and foster the ongoing expansion of the media arts sector in Northern Ontario, and took on a secondary role as CION’s Associate Executive Director, in addition to her responsibilities with Cinefest. Always looking forward with an innovative approach, Tammy was also the driving force behind the development and introduction of 2007’s Laugh Out Loud (LOL) Sudbury Comedy Festival, which carried out a first of its kind, live simulcast of an onstage performance by Jason Alexander in over 60 Cineplex theaters throughout Canada.
PETER GENTILE
Director, Producer, Writer
IMDb
He has worked as a producer and a director, creating many award-winning productions crossing multiple genres such as; documentary, drama, and performing arts. As a producer Gentile has won awards for his documentaries You Are Here: A Come From Away Story and Hurt, as well as his series of shorts, Shadow Pleasures. During the 2010 Gemini Awards he also received two award nominations for his films Nureyev and Clubland. A few more notable works of his are; Terranova, AmazinGross, The Outsider, and Noelle’s Journey, all of which he both directed and produced.
GIACOMO GIANNIOTTI
Actor
IMDb
Giacomo Gianniotti was born in Rome, Italy. He immigrated with his family at a young age and grew up in Toronto Canada. Giacomo splits his time in the year between Toronto, Rome, and LA, working in stage, film, and television. He is a bilingual actor working both in English and Italian. He graduated from Humber College’s Theatre Program and has also completed an actor’s residency at Norman Jewison’s Canadian Film Centre, in Toronto. He is an actor, producer and director, looking for noteworthy stories about the curiosities of our existence. Giacomo is highly respected around the world for his remarkable work as Dr. Andrew DeLuca in the medical drama TV series titled “Grey’s Anatomy”.
ANDREA GIUSTI
Producer, Abrolhos Filmes
LinkedIn | IMDb | Company Website
HWith a Post-graduation degree in Executive Production and Business Television Management, Andrea Giusti has over 17 years of professional experience working in unscripted and scripted content as an executive producer for the Brazilian film and television industry, working alongside the most important players in the industry, such as Netflix, HBO, Discovery, YTO Original, FOX, Globo, among others.
PAUL GOLINI
Producer/ Chairman, ICFF
LinkedIn | Company Website
He is the Chairman of ICFF and he is well versed in the film industry. He has spent several years investing and producing films, and has also has had a significant career in real estate as the co-founder and Executive Vice President of Empire Communities. The multi-talented Paul Golini has also been the executive producer of a few major productions; Meadowland (2015), directed by Reed Morano, starring Olivia Wilde and Luke Wilson; Acquainted (2018), directed by Natty Zavitz, starring Giacomo Gianniotti, and Laysla De Olivera; and The Cuban (2019), directed by Sergio Navaretta, starring Louis Gosset Jr., and Ana Golja.
PAOLO GRANATA
Associate Professor in Book and Media Studies at St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto
LinkedIn
Paolo Granata is an Associate Professor in Book and Media Studies at St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto.
As an educator, an innovator, and a cross-disciplinary media scholar, his advocacy efforts are focused on digital equity and digital sustainability, to explore the potential that information and communication technologies hold for enacting positive social change.
He is the founding director of the Media Ethics Lab at the University of Toronto and a member of the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society. Since 2018, he is a board member of the Executive Committee at the Canadian Commission for UNESCO.
CAMILLE GUEYMARD
Deputy Director, Business Affairs and Coproduction, Telefilm Canada
Company Website
Camille has over 25 years of experience in the entertainment industry, as international sales director for a Montreal-based film company, seeking sponsorships for a large scale Comedy festival, or administrating programs and co-production at Telefilm Canada, in both Vancouver and Montreal. She studied film and media in Canada, the US and Japan.
KEVIN HAHN
Producer
LinkedIn | IMDb
MARKD Productions was founded in 2021 by Matt, Alex, Rob, Kevin & Diego after they met at Toronto Film School. In a matter of a few weeks, they recognized each others’ talents and shortly thereafter started MARKD Productions. Their energy and passions ignited, and ideas began to flow. In 2022, they started to take their work to the outside world. Their success is built on the foundation: projects must have a good story that can entertain, empower and educate an audience.
Their mission: to create masterful video productions for audiences to enjoy.
EDWARD HANRAHAN
Director of Virtual Production at William F. Whites International
LinkedIn | IMDb
Edward Hanrahan, Director of Virtual Production at William F. Whites International. Most recently served as Global Virtual Production Manager and Technical Director at Scanline VFX, where he designed virtual production workflows that integrated with traditional visual effects. He also worked at Pixomondo as Virtual Production Designer, working on series such as Star Trek: Discovery. His VFX work also includes The Shape of Water and The Mandalorian.
GRACE HAWKINS
Associate Business Representative at ACTRA Toronto
LinkedIn | Company Website
Grace Hawkins has dedicated her career to working for and with Canadian artists. She joined ACTRA Toronto as Associate Business Representative in January 2022. ACTRA Toronto is the largest branch of ACTRA (Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists), the union representing film, radio, television, and new media artists. Grace will start the new year with a new position as Business Representative in the Film, Television & Digital Media department.
MARK HOLDOM
Producer
LinkedIn | IMDB
Mark Holdom, Producer and Head of Sales for Trimuse, graduated from University of Waikato, New Zealand, in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science in Physics, Math and German. He has worked for around the world in film production and financing, film sales, acquisitions, and strategic consultation and attended major festivals and markets worldwide, including Cannes, Toronto, Sundance, Berlin, Venice, MIPCOM, Filmart, AFM. His projects include “Zombie Town”, “Curse of Buckout Road”, “Ratchet & Clank”, “Vallanzasca”, “Hate2o” and “Blue Hill Avenue”. He was VP of Investments at UBS Paine Webber. Mark has film and television projects currently in development at Trimuse and is currently in discussions to be Promoter for a concert tour of Canada for Max Pezzali. His diverse background extends to production for music and ballet, as well as serving as a music/touring manager for major musical acts, including Frank Zappa, Metallica, Alanis Morissette and Modern English.
JASON HUNTER
Production Lead, SI
LinkedIn | Company Website
As the Production Lead, Jason Hunter is the cinematography specialist at SIRT. His interest in film production began at a young age, watching diverse movie genres with his father. He was compelled to express his own stories through narrative storytelling and virtual production that would transport audiences into different worlds. Jason graduated from McMaster University with a double major in Theatre and Film as well as Multimedia and later obtained his Advanced Film and Television Certificate from Sheridan College. His extensive visual effects, motion capture, and 360 video production knowledge support applied research to local SMEs in adopting virtual and augmented reality technologies
NICK IANNELLI
Senior Vice President, Take 5 Productions
LinkedIn | IMDb | Company Website
With over thirty years experience, Nick Iannelli is a respected executive of the Toronto & international screen-based industries, and the Senior Vice President of Take 5 Productions, where he heads up all the post production and visual effects departments. Prior to joining Take 5 Productions, Iannelli was Senior VP at Deluxe Toronto, where he was responsible for the team which delivered Guillermo del Toro’s Academy Award-winning film Shape of Water and Pans Labyrinth, every SAW film installment from SAW 2 onwards, and Paul W.S. Anderson’s Resident Evil films.
SPENCER IDENOUYE
Virtual Production Lead, Screen Industries Research and Training Centre (SIRT)
LinkedIn | Company Website
Spencer Idenouye is the Virtual Production Lead at SIRT. As part of a collaborative team, Spencer is creating an integrated virtual production studio for training, applied research and commercial services. He provides leadership and expertise in applied research and technical research for the movie, television and gaming industries, and is focused on the application of VR technologies. Spencer’s education is extensive: A Masters in 3D animation, a BFA in Media Arts & Digital Technologies and two post-graduate diplomas in Directing and Editing in Advanced Television and Film and Computer Animation Digital Visual Effects. His expertise includes directing, editing, VFX artistry, cinematography, digital content production and motion capture.
BEN JONAH
Producer, Director of Photography, Editor, Star Tribe Media
LinkedIn
Ben has twenty years of working experience in broadcasting and production in Toronto. He is currently working behind the scenes cutting edge digital content that will help reshape the way media is consumed.
ASA KAZERANI
Coordinator on Entertainment One’s TV production team
LinkedIn | Company Website
Asa Kazerani is a Coordinator on Entertainment One’s TV production team, supporting all Canadian scripted series. The recent shows she’s worked on include the upcoming The Spencer Sisters (eOne x CTV) and Moonshine (eOne x CBC).
RICHARD KLAGSBRUN
Writer, Co-Producer
LinkedIn
Richard Klagsbrun has been credited by its founder as the inspiration, in a manner of speaking, for the creation of the innovative motion picture company Participant Media. As one of the original group of executives at Participant, Richard was involved in the development of its first slate of films, which garnered a remarkable 11 Academy Award nominations in categories such as Best Picture and two for Best Screenplay. Richard conceived the organization’s unique social action marketing model, which was used with tremendous success for its films, among which was An Inconvenient Truth, which became one of the most successful documentary films in history and was the catalyst for a huge social movement. Richard is on the Advisory Board of George Brown College’s Screenwriting and Narrative Design Program and has just recently completed writing a revolutionary new, original stage musical.
STEPHEN KOZAK
Creative Research Lead, VFX Supervisor
LinkedIn | Company Website
Virtual Reality character animation pipeline Dynamic Digital Humans. World Record collaborator for the creation of the first digital human to be given citizenship. Panelist for webinars and seminars focusing on character development, and procedural animation pipelines. 20+ years of production and post-experience in film, broadcast, and interactive advertising and entertainment Animated Short distributed by Universal Studios and shown at 11 International film festivals including LA, Tokyo, Vancouver, Ireland 5+ years of R&D and teaching experience at University and College levels, program development in animation at Sheridan.
CHRISTOPHER LANE
Entrepreneur
LinkedIn
Christopher Lane is the Creative Director of VR Storytelling Studio, Relative Motion. Since 2017, he has built expertise in narrative VR. In his creative work/research, he explores fusion of theatre practices & VR/XR spaces/technology. His XR consulting work includes: Stratford Festival of Canada, Ballinran Entertainment, Chichester Festival Theatre, the Royal Opera House, Screen Industries Northern Ireland, Stockholm University of the Arts, Humber College. He was part of Royal Shakespeare Company/Magic Leap wider fellowship cohort, 2019/2020. He has 30+ years in theatre as an actor, director and producer. His directing includes classical & contemporary theatre, new writing, musicals, opera. Staff Director at the ROH, 2014-2018. He also has 25+ years experience in theatre-education/actor-training: Trinity Laban, Royal Central School of Speech & Drama, Arts Educational & 9 years as head of movement/classical acting coach at RADA/Cambridge School of Visual and Performing Arts (London UK). Presently , he is Digital Storytelling Consultant at Theatre Aquarius.
TEMBI LOCKE
Author, From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily and Finding Home
LinkedIn | IMDb
Tembi Locke is the New York Times bestselling author of her memoir From Scratch, and an actor, producer, and screenwriter with a passion for connecting with an audience both on the page and on the screen. From Scratch is a Reese’s Book Club pick, an Audie Awards Best Audiobook Finalist, and a Goodreads Best Books Finalist. Along with Reese Witherspoon and Hello Sunshine, Tembi serves as an executive producer and co-writer for the Netflix limited series inspired by her book. Tembi thrives at the intersection of storytelling and advocacy. She credits her advocacy work to beginning with her parents, who always encouraged her to do her part in nurturing a more just and humane world. Tembi speaks on healing after loss, reclaiming your personal narrative, everyday resilience, creativity and the deep belonging found through human connection. Her work includes giving a TEDx talk, keynotes around the country, and being an ambassador to organizations doing the vital work of changing our systems and society for the better. She is also a prolific actor, who cut her teeth with iconic comedies like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Friends before going on to star in over sixty television shows including The Magicians, Bones, NCIS, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend the global hit Never Have I Ever.
SEAN MANTON
The Territory Manager for Canada, Blackmagic Design
LinkedIn | Company Website
Sean began working at the Walt Disney Studios after college. A few years later, he landed a job at Panavision and would hold several positions there over the following eight years. At the end of 2000, Sean resigned from Panavision to pursue freelance camerawork. After several years of freelance work on both coasts, including ongoing work with NFL Films, Sean eventually returned to the shop in 2007 to serve as Rental Manager at The Camera House. One year later, Sean was tapped to become the Manager of The Digital Film Company which was one of the first truly data-centric post-production facilities. In 2015 he was hired by Blackmagic Design to act as the Territory Manager for Canada which is a job he enjoys to this day.
MATT MCPHERSON
Strategist and Operation Manager
LinkedIn| Company Website
Matt is a strategist and operations manager with a track record of building companies, teams and tools. He has extensive experience working as both an entrepreneur and an ‘intra’preneur having developed a deep understanding of a wide range of business and technology issues. He is COO at Quantum Capture, a global leader in building high-fidelity virtual humans powered by artificial intelligence.
LUCIE MEYNIAL
Coproduction Analyst, Telefilm Canada
Company Website
After graduating with a Master’s in Film and Television Studies in 2008 from La Sorbonne University, Lucie Meynial became the Program Manager for the Consulate General of France in Jerusalem. She went on to work for the SanadLAb, Abu Dhabi Film Festival’s co-production market. In 2012, Meynial joined the Doha Film Institute (DFI) in Qatar and in 2015, was promoted to the DFI Co-financing division. Meynial has been part of the projects selection committee for the DFI Grants Programme, the Qatari Film Fund and served on the jury of DFI Co-financing creative committee. Some titles she has worked on include Oscar nominated films ‘Theeb’ and ‘Mustang’. In 2016, Meynial relocated to Toronto and is now the Business Affairs Coordinator – English Market at Telefilm Canada.
MARINELLA MONTANARI
Co-Founder and Project Manager, Jobel North America
LinkedIn | Company Website
Marinella Montanari has been working for Gruppo Jobel, a creative company in the area of production, organization and distribution of shows and events, for over twenty years. Montanari has managed several audio-visual projects and in 2020 has become the Project Manager at Jobel North America with headquarters in Montreal, Quebec.
ASIL MOUSSA
Writer, Actor, Filmmaker
LinkedIn | IMDB
Asil Moussa is a writer, actor, and filmmaker. She graduated with a Bachelors in English Literature, Creative Writing and Digital Journalism, and received a Certificate of Film Studies. Asil has worked on numerous films, including THE TIGER HUNTER and THE QUICK AND DIRTY. Asil’s debut short film, THE CARD, screened at festivals worldwide, was broadcasted on CBC’s show, Absolutely Canadian, and was praised as a semi-finalist for CBC’s competition show, Short Film Face Off. Asil won the Windsor Endowment for the Arts Emerging Artists Grant, which said that she “tackles big issues with simplistic, impactful storytelling” and her film inspires reflections on “diversity, perception, and human interaction.” Asil wrote multiple episodes on the upcoming animated series, TIME HOPPERS. She also co-wrote the feature film script, LOST IN THE PINES, which was selected for MPAC’s screenwriting workshop with Wayfarer Entertainment, as well as the 2022 Muslim List on The Black List.
BOBBY MORESCO
Director, Lamborghini: The Man Behind the Legend
IMDb
Academy Award winning writer, director and producer Bobby Moresco started out as an actor in New York City, where he was raised in the Hell’s Kitchen district of Manhattan, three blocks and a world away from Broadway. Throughout the ’90s, Moresco focused much of his time on creating, writing and producing for television. Notable projects included Millenium, which earned him a Genesis Award, and EZ Streets. In 1998, he co-created and executive produced the critically acclaimed series Falcone, and was nominated for two Emmy Awards. In 2007, Moresco returned to television with The Black Donnelly’s, co-creating and executive producing the series for NBC starring Jonathan Tucker and Olivia Wilde. On the big screen, Moresco co-wrote and produced the breakout film of 2004, CRASH. The drama directed by Paul Haggis and starring an ensemble cast including Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Sandra Bullock, Brendan Fraser, Ryan Phillipe, Thandie Newton and Ludacris, was released by Lions Gate Films on May 6, 2004. In 2005, at the 78th Academy Awards®, Moresco and Haggis were awarded an Oscar for co-writing the film. Moresco’s other features include, Million Dollar Baby (2005 Academy Award Winner for Best Picture), which he co-produced and developed with Paul Haggis; and 10Th & Wolf, his directorial debut starring James Marsden, Giovanni Ribisi. Streets” (1997).
MICHAEL MOSCA
Director, CEO at Equinoxe Films
IMDb
After joining France Film in 1995, Michael helped to develop and build the Equinoxe brand. In 2009, Michael purchased Equinoxe Films from France Film and has played a pivotal role in the strategic management and profitability of the company’s various divisions. Under his leadership, the company acquires, produces and distributes film and television properties in Canada and around the world.
Michael is also responsible for establishing the company’s production arm, which kicked off in 2005, with a multi-award winning feature film , “Un Dimanche à Kigali” (A Sunday in Kigali). Mr. Mosca’s career in the film business spans over 30 years, in both distribution and exhibition. Prior to joining Equinoxe, Mr. Mosca worked in the area of exhibition for 15 years, eight of them as director of operations for Quebec at Cineplex Odeon Corporation, one of Canada’s largest exhibition chains. He is President of the Motion Pictures Pioneers Association of Quebec and is also a Member of the Board of Cine Québec and The National Institute of Image and Sound, Québec (INIS).
MUNARA MUHETAER
Coordinator on Entertainment One’s TV production team
LinkedIn | Company Website
Munara Muhetaer is a Coordinator on Entertainment One’s TV production team, supporting all Canadian scripted series. The recent shows she’s worked on include the upcoming The Spencer Sisters (eOne x CTV) and Moonshine (eOne x CBC).
FRANCESCA NATALE
Art Director
LinkedIn | Website
Francesca is an Italian Art Director and Illustrator living in Vancouver, Canada.
Since the start of her career she has specialized in designing characters and their stories while developing the look of various types of animated projects.
Francesca is the Character Art Director and the Character Designer of The Angry Birds Movie and its sequel .Clients include LAIKA, Passion Pictures London, Dreamworks feature, Walt Disney TV, SONY PICTURES ANIMATION, Mackinnon and Saunders, Dwarf Studio Japan, Netflix, Nexus and Illumination Entertainment/Universal.
MATTHEW K. NAYMAN
Director, Virtual Production Specialist
LinkedIn | IMDb
Matthew K. Nayman is a Canadian film maker, visual effects artist and virtual production specialist from Toronto, Canada. After graduating York University’s Film Production program, Matthew directed several award-winning short films and provided visual effects services on many lower-budget web series and short films. Since then, Matthew has acted as VFX supervisor on feature films like “Violation” (Dir M.S. Fewer & D. Mancinelli), and “Control” (Dir J. Mark) , where his holistic view of how VFX work fits into the filmmaking process helped these films – despite their heavy VFX needs and limited budgets – become commercial successes. As co-founder and in-house Director of Virtual Production at Immersion Room, Matthew is continuing to explore the magic of film – both the power of the stories they tell, and the behind-the-scenes tech that brings them to life – and striving to make virtual production more approachable to all.
ANNA NEWALLO
Program Consultant, Film &TV, Industry Development at Ontario Creates
LinkedIn
Anna Newallo has three decades of experience in the Film and Television industry. As a Program Consultant at Ontario Creates, her portfolio contains a wide range of programs and initiatives including the Film Fund (Production and Development), Marketing and Distribution Initiative and Industry Development Program. As a producer, her award-winning independent films have played major international festivals, and as a writer, her short stories have appeared in numerous publications. Prior to joining Ontario Creates, she worked on projects for The Disney Channel, CTV, Discovery Channel, CBC, TMN (now Crave), CityTV and BRAVO!
ASHLEY PIERREPONT
VP, Commercial, Pinewood Group Limited
LinkedIn | Website
Ashley Pierrepont is currently the VP Commercial at Pinewood Group – Toronto. Before stepping into her role at Pinewood, she worked as an Executive Assistant before transitioning to a Facilities Coordinator at Revival Film Studios and worked for The Peak Group of Companies in the roles of Project Coordinator.
MARIELLE POUPELIN
Specialist, International Business Development, Telefilm Canada
Company Website
In 2004, Marielle joined Telefilm Canada as a financial analyst on the team responsible for selecting feature film projects eligible for funding. In 2010, Ms. Poupelin was appointed Deputy Director, Co-production. For 6 years, she managed the team in charge of evaluating film and television co-production projects, and worked closely with the Office of Film & Video Policies and Programs at the Department of Canadian Heritage. In 2016, Ms. Poupelin assumed the interim management of the international promotion sector and was appointed as director in 2018. Today, Ms. Poupelin is an international business development specialist and since 2019, she is the Canadian representative for Eurimages.
MOIRA ROMANO
Executive Producer, ETV Film Inc
LinkedIn
ETV Film Inc is a boutique Canadian production company located at Pinewood Toronto Studios. ETV Film Inc has multimedia production capabilities including; production of original web content, website and web product design, short feature and mini documentary, commercial content and executive production of feature films and television. The company is currently focusing on multimedia or ‘convergent’ productions, capsule television dramas, and independent film production.
SARI RUDA
Producer
LinkedIn
Sari Ruda is the Director of Creative Entertainment Industries at the Canadian Council on Africa. Her expertise is in business development, marketing, production & education across Film, Television, Videogames-Animation, and Music. She is a Film Producer at Corsair Entertainment Corp created with Bill Marshall, her late husband and founder of TIFF. They also founded Vortex Videogame Conference and Competition, and Niagara Integrated Film Festival. Her international media clients have included Rizzoli International and Mediaset (Italy), Les Jours de France and Fashion TV (France), Zee TV (India), ABS-CBN (Philippines), TV Globo (Brazil). Currently, she has a drama series in development of a Canadian author’s anthology of novels.
STEFANIA SCARFO
Head of Content Strategy, Paramount+
LinkedIn | Company Website
REQUEST MEETING HERE
Stefania Scarfo is the Head of Content Strategy for Paramount+, Canada’s newest streaming service. As lead of the content team, she oversees the programming strategy. Scarfo is tasked with making strategic content acquisitions and commissioning decisions in alignment with the streaming services strategy to ensure Paramount+ offers a mountain of entertainment for Canadian audiences.
JIM SHERRY
Founder and CEO of Sherry Media Group Inc. and Consultant for Netflix
LinkedIn
Mr. Sherry is an entertainment executive, entrepreneur, and philanthropist operating within the Canadian Media Industry. Mr. Sherry is credited with developing leading entry and expansion strategies in Canada for many successful organizations including Netflix, Lionsgate Films, Miramax Films and Alliance Atlantis Communications. In 2020, Mr. Sherry’s media investment company Sherry Media Group (“SMG”) redirected its investment focus towards social activism and launched The Impact Series, a multimedia platform focused on content that addresses social issues under this initiative. SMG has since launched a companion podcast series similarly ambitioned called Driving Change. To date, The Impact Series has reached audiences in over 100 countries worldwide and lists the Academy Award-Nominated ‘Writing With Fire’ and the critically acclaimed ‘The Territory’ as titles under this brand.
RYAN SINGH
Producer, Director
LinkedIn | IMDB
Ryan Singh is a multi-talented Guyanese-Canadian filmmaker. His critically acclaimed short, Mom, premiered at the Reelworld Film Festival in 2013. Ryan’s acting credits include The Expanse (Syfy, Amazon Prime Video), Designated Survivor (ABC, Netflix), Kim’s Convenience (CBC, Netflix), and Alexander Payne’s feature film Downsizing. His recent documentary, Memento: A South African Artventure, and sci-fi short, H.E.N.R.I., have played at more than 40 festivals across 6 continents. Ryan previously worked on the critically acclaimed Deborah Ellis’ adapted novel, The Breadwinner, a Golden Globe and Oscar-nominated animated film directed by Nora Twomey and executive produced by Angelina Jolie. He has secured the option to Deborah Ellis’ new book, The Greats. Ryan is currently directing and producing Ray of Hope, a story about the Tamil-Canadian community’s journey from trauma as they make Canada home.
ALAN SMITHSON
Co-FounderCo-Founder, MetaVRse
LinkedIn | Company Website
Alan makes tools for professional creators including; MetaVRse, a creation platform for the future of human communication, collaboration, commerce and culture, featured in Forbes. TheMall, a 100m sf virtual retail and entertainment destination built on the MetaVRse Engine, featured in VentureBeat. Your Director AI, Automatic Face Tracking Video Switcher. Alan is also a board advisor to HSTAR, a new space transportation company.
Named one of the most prominent Digital Futurists to watch out for in 2022, Alan is a proud Father, Business Leader, TEDx Speaker, and Podcast Host. He co-invented the World’s first touchscreen DJ system, Emulator—featured on Dragons’ Den, G4TV, and WIRED and won DJ Mag’s Innovative Product of the Year in 2011.
TONY TARANTINI
Professor of the Faculty of Animation, Arts & Design, Sheridan College
Company Website
Tony Tarantini has been teaching at Sheridan College since the year 2000 and is currently the third year Layout and Art Direction teacher, Student Advisor, and Mentor to four production teams. Tarantini is a veteran of the animation industry with more than 20 years of creative and management experience. He has contributed to features and animated TV series such as Magi-Nation, Redwall, Timothy , Ewoks, Beetlejuice, American Tail, Dog City, Rupert, Tales From The Cryptkeeper, Eek the Cat, Neverending Story, Blazing Dragons, Sam and Max, Ace Ventura, Pippi Longstocking, Care Bears , Little Bear, Babar, George shrinks, The Magic School Bus, Franklin, as well as the award winning short film, Tomboy.
LUCA TARANTINI
Creative Director, AOK
LinkedIn| Personal Website | Company Website
Luca Tarantini is a filmmaker specializing in highly-original animation, hybrid filmmaking, cinematography and documentaries. His process often blends experimental technologies, customized hardware and unorthodox workflows with highly crafted storytelling and a particular taste for the “never-been-done”. His works have been described as futuristic and timeless and have won national and international awards. Today, Luca is the founder and creative director of the production company AOK. Their work includes animations, documentaries, music videos and games, which have won several awards.
STEVEN THIBAULT
COO, BRON Studios
LinkedIn | IMDb | Company Website
Steven Thibault, the COO of BRON Media Corp., is a partner in the company he’s helped steer since 2012. He oversees all corporate operations, and production finance, and is key member of the management group. Thibault has helped grow BRON into an industry leader and has established preferred relationships with production unions and guilds across the globe. He is part of every financial closing for the company, including its corporate facilities with Comerica, its more than 40 single picture production/financing deals, and its slate co-financing ventures with Warner Brothers and MGM. Prior to BRON, he was an auditor with Ernst & Young working extensively with private and public studio clients in Canada and around the world. He currently serves as a board member of the Canadian Media Producer’s Association. Thibault also serves on several policy and advisory committees in the industry.
SARA TIMLICK
Director of Sales Distribution & Development, Elevation Pictures
LinkedIn | Company Website
Sarah Timlick has been in the film business for over a decade. She is currently the head of sales, Director of Distribution & Development for Elevation Pictures. Elevation is one of the largest independent distribution companies in Canada, with titles such as The Imitation Game the 2014 TIFF People’s Choice Award and Academy Award for Best Screenplay, ROOM the 2015 TIFF People’s Choice Award and Academy Award for Best Actress, Moonlight 2017 Academy Award Best Picture and most recently this summer, Paw Patrol: The Movie now the highest grossing Cancon film of 2021.
DAVID USHER
Founder Reimagine.AI
LinkedIn | Company Website
David Usher is an artist, best-selling author and entrepreneur. As a musician, he has sold more than 1.4 million albums, toured all over the world, and has had #1 singles singing in English, French, and Thai. When David is not making music, he is equally passionate about his other life, as a Geek. David is the founder Reimagine AI an artificial intelligence creative studio that builds virtual beings and virtual being technology. He is also the co-creator (with Dr. Damon Matthews) of the Climate Clock, tracking global warming in real-time. David has a degree in political science from Simon Fraser University and his book on creativity and innovation, Let the Elephants Run • Unlock Your Creativity and Change Everything, is out now. Also who should I introduce him to as he is working with an Italian company and like to talk more about that and potential expanding that engagement
NATASHA SEMONE VASSELL
Producer
LinkedIn | IMDB
Natasha Semone Vassell is a notable member of the Canadian Media Association (CMPA), Writers Guild of Canada (WGC), Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television & Radio Artists (ACTRA) Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television (ACCT) and Women in Film and Television (WIFT) in Toronto Canada. Natasha has received confirmed development financing from Telefilm Canada, Ontario Creates, Eurimages, and the Indigenous Screen Office for her slate of international co-productions. She currently is in development with CBC for a Television series. She was the lead co-producer of a film titled TOMB which was showcased at the Cannes International Film Festival 2017 and Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival 2016. The film is one of the first Caribbean science fiction films to be showcased at the Cannes Film Festival in 2017. Canadian-born, a native resident of Toronto, Natasha has lived in Italy and Germany for over the past 10 years. She can also speak conversational Italian and French.
NOEMI WEIS
Film Director-Producer, Filmblanc Inc.
LinkedIn | Company Website
Noemi Weis is an award winning Writer, Director and Producer that has spent over 20-years telling stories on the big and small screens, from her worldwide advertising projects to her award winning documentaries. As a humanitarian and an advocate leader Noemí journeys where stories take her to bring voice to the world’s most vulnerable. Her films have been seen in more than 100 countries receiving numerous awards but most important, making in a difference in communities around the world. She received a passionate message of support from Mm. Sophie Gregoire Trudeau for her film MILK and has been honoured with an invitation to meet Pope Francis at the Vatican in recognition of the impact her films have created in global communities. Additionally, Noemi has been recognized as one of the top 10 most influential Hispanic-Canadians, award given by Toronto Mayor John Tory.
ROBERTO ZORFINI
Director, Totally Unnecessary Productions Inc
LinkedIn | Company Website
Roberto Zorfini is an Italian filmmaker, based in Montréal. Thanks to his very good sense of initiative, his dynamism and his efficiency, he gathered more than 20 years of experience in video projects and he worked for about 10 years in the Italian Broadcast Television RAI. In 2013 his short movie “Imperfetto Equilibrio” won a Special Nomination at the Italian Contemporary Film Festival (TIFF – Toronto). In Canada, he realized video commercials for different kinds of companies and he worked as Creative Director for Panoramitalia. After being an author for RAI World, he won the following awards in 2014 at the 48 Hour Film Project in Ottawa with the short movie “Alice”: Best Directing, Best Writing, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Musical Score, Best Sound Design, Best Special Effects, Best Use of Genre, Best Use of Character, Best Use of Prop and Best Use of Line of Dialogue
– GRAHAM ABBEY
Entrepreneur
Graham Abbey has been a lead and director at the Stratford Festival for the past 22 seasons. His adaptation of Shakespeare’s history cycle entitled Breath of Kings made it’s debut at Stratford in which Graham served as Associate Director and Creator while playing the title role of Henry IV in the two part adaptation. On the film and television front, Graham spent three seasons starring on the CBC series The Border as Detective Gray Jackson. Graham is the founder and Artistic Director of the Groundling Theatre Company based in Toronto. Groundling’s inaugural production of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale received 5 Dora nominations including Outstanding Direction, and won the Dora for Outstanding Production of the Year in Toronto. He is also the Co-Creative Director of Groundlings digital P.I.T Lab (Performance and Immersive Technology). He holds an Honours Degree in Politics from Queen’s University where he was a Rhodes scholarship candidate.
– DANIEL ABBOUD
Filmmaker
Daniel Abboud is educated in the field of Landscape Architecture. He has spent 20+ years as a camera person in the Canadian film industry. In the last 15 years, Daniel has worked as a camera operator, specializing in steadicam operation. Most recently, Daniel has completed a program on Virtual Production from Sheridan College, specializing in Motion and Performance Capture. Currently, inbetween freelance camera operating jobs, Daniel is engaged in researching and expanding his knowledge and experience in the field of Virtual Production.
LinkedIn
– JESSICA ADAMS
Producer, Adani Pictures
Jessica Adams’ global footprint and vision imparted in the work she produces comes innately from having spent her life around the world. Born in Luxemburg, she is a UK, French and Canadian citizen; and currently resides in Toronto. Jessica has presided over both domestic productions and complicated international co-productions. Her films have premiered at TIFF, Tribeca Film Festival, Shanghai International Film Festival, had representation by Memento, UTA, and Elevation; sold to Showtime and Hulu; and starred talent such as Richard Dreyfuss and Felicity Huffman. She has been nominated as one of 5 Canadian Producers to Watch at Cannes 2018; one of the top 25 producers in the 2018 Netflix-BANFF Diversity of Voices cohort; and one of 5 Established Producers for the competitive CMPA IndieScreen Awards at TIFF 2019. Her Producing credits include feature films The Space Between, Astronaut, Tammy’s Always Dying, Ariel, And Something You Said Last Night.
Website
– ASHLI AGATE
Producer
An emerging producer, a keen learner, and a student of life. Ashli will be attending college in January to pursue her degree in film at George Brown College and is currently working on a Short Film as The Lead Producer with a collective of other filmmakers that call themselves The Collective.
LinkedIn
– ZEFRED ANSALDO
Director, Redhead Motion Pictures
Zefred is an award winning Canadian French director and cinematographer currently working and living in Toronto. After several short films, music videos and commercials, and between steadicam and cinematography gigs, he is now developing his debut feature film, Abducted, and a TV series : La Fin du Monde. He writes for L’Écran Fantastique and L’Express de Toronto.
LinkedIn
– ILHAM ARAGRAG
Executive Producer, Universe Pictures
As a business strategist, Miss Aragrag has over 15 years of progressive and diverse experience within various capacities such as finance, business development, business strategy, leadership, product management, and innovation.
As a creative professional, Miss Aragrag has leveraged her vast business experience to work in collaboration with Universe Pictures in the capacity of Executive Producer to develop a slate of compelling feature films including “EFC”, a female-based mixed martial arts feature film currently in post-production, and Idein currently in pre-production.
IMDb | Company website
– MARIE ANGE BARBANCOURT
Producer, ZMA/odflix,
Marie Ange Barbancourt is a producer, director, scriptwriter, and actress as well as the CEO of ZMA/odflix. She has been involved in theatre and communications, and is a columnist for Radio Canada’s “Au jour le Jour”. She has been the host of many programs such as TVO’s “Latitude Sud”, Fax for Musique Plus, Bon matin Radio-Canada, RDI, as well as the Special Genies Academy Awards. To her credit, Barbancourt has several televised projects including Raid Pierre Harvey, Mosaic Series of 13 on the Architecture, Never again (FF) KoKoschka documentary FF, and is the co-producer for “La Danza Nera” by Mauro John Capece (40 Awards) and of “Il Teorema Della Felicità” by Luca Fortino (6 awards). She is the executive producer for the upcoming co-production “Runner” shooting in Italy, in March 2023. She is also the producer of Kortex, scheduled to film by the end of 2023 in Italy. Other projects include: Signals from Heaven, Secretum Omega, The Code.
LinkedIn | Company website
– NANCY BEIMAN
Author and Illustrator
Nancy Beiman is an internationally known animator, author, and educator. She was in the inaugural class of the California Institute of the Arts’ Character Animation Program in 1975 and worked as an animator, director, storyboard artist, and character designer at Walt Disney Features and Television, Warner Brothers, , and many other companies. She is the author of two textbooks: PREPARE TO BOARD: Creating Story and Characters for Animated Features and Shorts (2007, third edition CRC Press 2017) and ANIMATED PERFORMANCE: Bringing Imaginary Animal, Human and Fantasy Characters to Life (second edition/second printing Fairchild Books, 2021). Her newest book, HOW I FINALLY GOT TO LIVE A CAT’S LIFE: A Cartoon Diary 2020-2021,(Little Red Hen) is a humorous look at life under lockdown- with cats. Nancy received her MFA in 2007 at RIT and retired from teaching in Sheridan’s BA Animation program in 2022. Her new column “Animated Characters’ appears on the Animation World Network site.
LinkedIn | IMDb
– VRONSKY BELIZAIRE
Producer, ZMA/odflix
Vronsky Bélizaire is an artist-entrepreneur who has worked with renowned artists in film, music and performance to create compelling art. With his team, he is developing Odflix for ZMA, the next phase for “On Demand” film distribution that will give creators and their business partners more opportunities to reach an even broader audience to provide a great possibility for the distribution of projects not accessible in theatres. The last three productions he worked on include: “Kokoschka oeuvre-vie (doc FF )” by Michel Rodde, “La danza Nera” by Mauro John Capece, “Il Teorema della Felicità” by Luca Fortino (Coming soon). Bélizaire is currently working on several different feature film projects and series with ZMA/odflix.
Company website
– JOSEPH BARBIERI
Advertising/Marketing Leader
Joseph currently leads a boutique content and marketing consultancy serving global brands, agencies and media companies. Partnering with clients to capitalize on business transformation, drive growth, fuel innovation and create meaningful experiences.
Most recently Joseph held a senior executive role leading North American Growth and Partnerships with S4 Capital / Media.Monks helping disrupt and transform the traditional agency services model, shaping innovative digital-first marketing and content solutions and across Content, Data, Media, Technology and Virtual / Immersive Reality for global brands. Joseph is a strategic and entrepreneurial marketing and communications executive and an industry leader in the art of connecting brands to consumers.
LinkedIn | Company website
– SARA BARUFFALDI
Costume Designer
Sara Baruffaldi is an Italian/British costume designer with more than 20 years of experience in the Theatre and Film industry. She started her career at the Opera and Ballet at La Scala Theatre in Milan.She then worked in opera, ballet, music videos, theater, film and youth theater in Italy, France, England and now in Canada.
She designed costumes for dozens of theater productions, including Sweeney
Todd, Les Miserables, Macbeth, Hecuba, A midsummer night’s dream, Mnemonic, Dissocia, Animal Farm and worked with emerging Italian video makers and British film producers. In Canada, she worked on several film productions including, Riley Dane Media, CME City Productions, and New Bridge Film.
IMDb | LinkedIn
– ROBYN BIGUE
Showrunner / Producer / Writer, Sir Harry Films Inc,
Robyn Bigué is an award-winning, Toronto-based showrunner, producer, and writer, She has produced hundreds of hours of scripted, factual, documentary, and lifestyle programming, and has led production teams in almost every corner of the Globe. Along the way, she has interviewed many of the top intellects of our time. In the flourishing Canadian factual world, 2022 marks Bigué’s 8th consecutive year as a Senior Producer for the top-rated “Amazing Race Canada”, a show for which she has earned five Canadian Screen Awards.
LinkedIn | Company Website
– JAZE BORDEAUX
Producer, Universe Pictures
Jaze Bordeaux is often known as a film Producer and Director. Jaze founded Universe Pictures in 2015 with the mission of producing high quality motion pictures that can illuminate the human experience using motion pictures to bring his passion for storytelling to fruition. Jaze most recently Produced and Directed the feature film “EFC” a female mixed martial arts film in the Drama Sport movie genre. The movie is often referred to as Rocky meets the Wolf of Wallstreet. On the horizon for Jaze are several feature films currently in development titled “IDEIN” a film that revolves around original thought theory, and “MONOPOLI” a feature film about a secret society of financiers who wage war on each other for control of the world monetary system.
LinkedIn | IMDb | Company Website
– OLGA BRESSAN
Producer, Centro Communication
Have been involved in several film festivals working also with TIFF Toronto International Film Festival
LinkedIn
– KALI BUDZINSKI
Producer, Sales
Kali brings over 10 years of production experience from Sports Entertainment, Broadcast Media and Feature Film to the Rocket team. Well versed in the creative side of content creation, Kali plays a key role in the development of effective workflow solutions, while managing the project process from concept to delivery.
Company Website
– PAUL CADIEUX
Producer, Filmoption International
Paul Cadieux is one of Canada’s leading and most active producers. He has won a Genie Award for Best Motion Picture for the Oscar-nominated Les Triplettes de Belleville and an Emmy Award for Best Documentary film for Advocate. He is also known for his award-winning documentaries, such as Shimon Dotan’s The Settlers (Sundance) and Left Behind America (PBS/Frontline), as well as Gaza (Sundance). Paul was involved in major Canadian and international projects ranging from children’s animation series, thrillers, romantic comedies, reality programming, international co-productions, feature documentaries and series. Through Megafun Productions and Filmoption International, Paul is able to provide the missing elements to advance international productions。
LinkedIn | IMDb | Company Website
– KEN CANCELLARA
Executive Producer
Kenneth Cancellara is a member of the ICFF Board of Directors and its Executive Committee. Cancellara is also an Executive Producer known for his work on the Italian-Canadian film, From the Vine, adapted from his novel, Finding Marco.
IMDb
– JONATHAN CARNEY
WExecutive, Star Tribe Media Inc.
Founder of Star Tribe Media (STM), a futurist entertainment, social movement, and ESG platform in partnership with the Indigenous community that is currently in stealth mode. In partnership with one of the world’s leading virtual and augmented reality studios, STM is building a galactically-inspired social impact entertainment franchise to inspire hope and empathy far and wide, leading a planetary movement towards a more equitable and sustainable future.
LinkedIn
– KELLY CARNEY
Writer/Producer/Director, Steeltown Chick Productions
Kelly is a Writer/Producer/Director and proprietor of Steeltown Chick Productions. She wrote, produced and directed the documentary Iron Mike: The Mike Keenan Story, which aired on Rogers Sportsnet in Canada and the NHL Network in the US. Kelly also co-directed/produced the documentary Scott Cannata’s The Run To Live, the story of a young marathon runner who ran across Canada to raise hope, awareness, and money in support of cancer research.
Kelly has also produced (PM/Producer) feature films, and worked with such incredible talent as Mira Sorvino, Paul Sorvino, Daryl Hannah, Michael Madsen, James Caan and the late Margot Kidder.
LinkedIn | Company Website
– SHELAGH CARTER
Filmmaker
Shelagh Carter trained at the Canadian Film Centre (Director) and is a Lifetime Member of The Actors Studio (Actress/Director). Shelagh has created work for both theatre and film. Her short films and features have won prestigious international nominations and awards. Of note: Best Manitoba Director 2018 by the DGC for her Indie Feature, Before Anything You Say, and her third feature, Into Invisible Light winning the Directors’ Choice Independent Spirit Award at the Sedona International Film Festival 2020. She is considered an actor’s director.
Filmography: The Darkling Plain (short, 1999), Rifting/Blue (short, 2005), Night Travellers (short, 2007), One Night (short, 2009), Resolve (short, 2009), Canoe (short, 2010), Passionflower (feature, 2011), Is It My Turn (short, 2013), Before Anything You Say (feature, 2016), Into Invisible Light (feature, 2018), Love, Repeat (feature, 2020), Missing and Alone (TV feature, 2021).
– ANDREW CHIU
Filmmaker
Andrew Chiu is an award-winning filmmaker with projects in development with Telefilm. Awarded a Bronze prize from CREATIVE POOL for his short for the Canadian Red Cross, Andrew has also been nominated by SHOTS (UK), SHORTY AWARDS, WEBBYS, and COMMUNICATION ARTS. His Durex work went viral, getting 1+ million views in 5 days & was featured in FAST COMPANY, GQ, and awarded Editor’s Choice by LittleBlackBook. “Romantic Rouse”, a short directed & produced by Andrew screened internationally and won the Audience Award for Best Short Comedy at the 25th WOODS HOLE FILM FESTIVAL. Andrew was chosen for talent labs at Reykjavik, BIFAN (South Korea), Reel World E20, & Netflix Forum RIDM in Montreal. His short film “Breath Anew” is distributed on SVOD by CP On Demand. Andrew’s feature “The Scars That Bind” was chosen for the First Features Program at the Reel Asian Film Festival. He produced Elvis Deane’s THE THOUGHT OF YOU which premiered at Blood In The Snow Festival.
– SARI COLT
Producer
Producer of short films and in pre-production for a feature . Sari produced several films such as Duplicitous Minds, The Escape Games, The Martini Shot, and Tomer the Wrestler. She is based in Toronto and in Los Angeles. She is looking for opportunities to co-produce with companies in Europe and elsewhere.
IMDb
– WES DAY
Multimedia Artist, Star Tribe Media
Personal Website | Other Website
Wes Day is an Ojibwe multimedia artist from the Serpent River First Nation. He teams up with various artists and organizations to tell their stories. In collaboration with one of the world’s leading virtual and augmented reality studios, STM is building a galaxy-wide social impact entertainment franchise to inspire hope and empathy far and wide towards a more equitable and sustainable future.
– DIANA DI MAURO
Director/Writer
Diana Di Mauro is a director, writer, musician and actress specialized in opera and theatre as well as film and television. She is interested in developing her feature Radio Musial into a live action or animated production, and is looking to meet with other professionals to hear about potential collaboration or future opportunities.
LinkedIn
– CARMELO C. DODARO
Filmmaker, IATSE Cinematographer’s Guild Local 667
I’m an Italian filmmaker. Involved in the film industry since the 70s. A producer, writer, director and cinematographer. A member of The Cinematographers Guild, IATSE local 667. Over the years I have worked on several film, television, and commercial productions. I have been a member of the media worked with City TV on their City pulse promos, Toronto one as an ENG videographer. The last feature film for Theatrical Release was “Punctured Hope” I was the Director of Photography on the project. I filmed it on 35mm film and it was the official selection at the World Film Festival in Montreal in 2010. I am currently in final stage of development on a feature film “Warrior Games” which is act one of “Sport of kings Trilogy”. With Italian Co-Producer interest. In Post on one investigative journalistic Documentary with the working title “Gangs of Toronto”. I’m also in post packaging a 1 hour music series for television with the working title “Toronto Music Scene Unseen”.
Company Website
– CRISTINA DOLENZ
Producer/Finance
I’m interested in investing in documentary and movie production both in Canada and in Italy. Interested to meet for co-production.
– PETER DONATO
Producer, Sir Harry Films
A marketing and events professional for 35 years now with a Feature Film in development around a true story in our family from world war 2. Peter Donato and his wife Robyn Bigue are now co-producing this Film with a possible co-production partner in Italy. The script has now passed the fourth stage and two rounds of Telefilm Funding have been secured.
LinkedIn | Company Website
– ISRAEL EKANEM
Producer, Ubuntu Media
Israel Ekanem is an award-winning storyteller. At a young age, his grandmother introduced him to the art of storytelling, and it quickly became his passion. His IMDb page lists over 20 writing and directing credits, including the award-winning, Drown the Lovers, Kill Your Masters and Dearg. Israel believes that a story properly told can change the world, one person at a time.
LinkedIn | Company Website
– PLATO FOUNTIDAKIS
Executive
Plato Fountidakis is the co-founder and managing partner of Fast Motion Studios, an independent motion capture and creative content studio provider that services an international group of clients. Plato is also recognized as an independent producer involved in creating high quality, low budget films and series formatted content under his Naomi Media banner.
LinkedIn
– FRANKIE GADDO
Screenwriter
Frankie is a screenwriter and filmmaker who has written numerous feature length spec screenplays, mostly comedies. Recently he shot his first feature film titled “Orangutan”. It’s been selected for numerous film festivals and can be streamed on Amazon, Tubi, and Plex. His short “Oliver’s Bowl” had its world premiere at TIFF Bell Lightbox in June 2016 for ICFF. Frankie is also a DSLR camera hobbyist, vegan, has an extensive background in production and lighting and grip, and has two diplomas: marketing, screenwriting.
LinkedIn | Website
– MAXIMILIEN GHALIOUNGUI
Producer, Executive
Maximilien Ghalioungui is the President & CEO of Maxiom Productions Ltd., currently in the process of producing “LAKE RUN”, a screenplay adapted by Oscar-winning screenwriter, director and producer, Bobby Moresco (Crash, Million Dollar Baby, Bent, Lamborghini: The Man Behind the Legend), based on the award-winning young adult mystery novel Mistaken Identity by multi-award-winning author Norah McClintock (Genre: Murder Mystery Suspense Thriller, for Young Adults and Adults).
– VANIA GIUSTO
Actress
Vania is an actress with dual Canadian and Italian citizenship, her roots hail from the Veneto region of Italy. She acts in English and Italian. Career highlights include working alongside Harvey Keitel and Richard Gere. Most recently she acted as “Maureen” in “The Boys”, where she has been almost vapourised by Antony Starr’s “Homelander”. Vania is a member of ACTRA with over 70 credits in film, television, commercials, and theater. She has recently worked on two feature films that are now in post-production. Giusto is actively looking for an Italian Co-Producer for her light-hearted Italo-Canadian episodic lifestyle series, which is currently in development.
IMDb | LiknedIn
– GAIL HAUPERT
Director | Film, Television, & Digital Media at ACTRA Toronto
Forward thinking union leader with 15+ years of expertise bringing non-confrontational, fair and strategic perspective on the interpretation and administration of Collective Bargaining Agreements and Labour Relations disputes. Proficient in summarizing complex agreement language into one page documents, driving the development and execution of best-in-class training programs on positive workplace practices and administration in the management-labour relations areas to improve consistency, reduce costs, and improve labour relations. Recognized for being resourceful and goal oriented with proven accomplishments of effectuating positive organizational change, increasing employee engagement, productivity and retention
LinkedIn
– GRACE HAWKINS
Associate Business Representative at ACTRA Toronto
Grace Hawkins has dedicated her career to working for and with Canadian artists. She joined ACTRA Toronto as Associate Business Representative in January 2022. ACTRA Toronto is the largest branch of ACTRA (Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists), the union representing film, radio, television, and new media artists. Grace will start the new year with a new position as Business Representative in the Film, Television & Digital Media department.
LinkedIn | Company Website
– HEATHER HOLDITCH
Business Representative in Film, Television & Digital Media at ACTRA Toronto
I am an ACTRA Toronto Business Representative in the Film, Television, and New Media Department. I have worked at ACTRA for 7 years on hundreds of productions including TV, feature filming, web series, animation, and video games.
LinkedIn
– KEVIN HUHN
Marked Productions
At 57 years old, Kevin Huhn made a life altering decision to return to school in 2021. After chasing his boyhood dream for 37 years (making it to pro hockey) and working in the corporate world, he made the change to let out his creativity using the big screen, by registering in Film Production at TFS.
Prior to school, he produced and hosted a TV show, radio show and 2 podcasts. His commitment to film production at TFS has seen him produce 3 shorts films: Teen Across Canada, Hope for Christmas and Can’t Sleep.
LinkedIn | IMDb | Website
– ISABELLE LAGAULT
Co-Founder
Isabelle Legault is the co-founder of “Aime ton cinema”, a platform dedicated to the promotion of local films. She studied filmmaking at Université de Montréal and started her career in video games. In 2015, she decided to go back to her true love, cinema. She joined the Filmoption International team and never looked back. She now uses her knowledge of both worlds to help films find their audience.
LinkedIn | IMDb
– RON LEACH
Casting Director, Ron Leach Enterprises
Ron Leach is a renowned Casting Director, winning the IAOTP Award for Best Casting Director for 2018; and award-winning writer and director. He is highly sought-after drama coach teaching his audition and on-camera methods in Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, St. John’s and Oaxaca, Mexico. Ron recently retires as Chairman of the Board of the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion; is the past President of the Board of the Canadian International Animation Festival; and past Chairman of the Board and founder of the Talent Representatives Association of Canada. He has served on the juries of The International Emmy Awards; The Canadian Film Awards; The Gemini Awards; The Genie Awards; The Smart Phone Film Festival; Oaxaca International Film Festival; The Durham International FIlm Festival. He is a member of the Producer’s Roundtable Organization; The Casting Directors Society of Canada.
Website
– OLIVIER LEROUX
Producer, Lithium Dreams Productions
Olivier Leroux is a producer, cinematographer, and instructor. Born in Quebec, Olivier spent most of his twenties living and working in China, Hong Kong and Japan before moving to Vancouver in 2012. He has led many international immersive video projects including a VR experience for the show Vikings.
His work has been seen at Sundance, Cannes, Tribeca and countless other film festivals. In 2020, he produced his first feature film called Residents of Arcadia, along with a dome installation titled Sanctuary, the immersive forest.
LinkedIn | Website
– LENNY LOMBARDI
Executive, CHIN Radio/TV
Lenny Lombardi is one of ICFF board members. He is also President and CEO of CHIN RADIO/TV, a multicultural broadcasting entity, which operates four radio stations in Ontario (three in Toronto and one in Ottawa) and is broadcast in over 50 languages weekly. CHIN also produces 14 hours of multicultural tv programming per week broadcast on Rogers OMNI 1 and Citytv.
Company Website
– NINA MOSCONE MARRESE
filmmaker
Nina Moscone Marrese is a Writer and Producer known for her work in Valley of the Gun (2020), The Junction (2013) and Bien (2011). She is currently working on one new feature project as a producer and screenwriter.
IMDb
– SHEHREZADE MIAN
Producer
In 2019, her feature film Concrete Valley was selected for Telefilm Canada’s Talent to Watch program and is slated for its world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. Her films have also been awarded funding by the Canada, Ontario, and Toronto Arts Council and have screened at festivals across the globe. In 2021, Mian was selected for the TIFF-Netflix Talent Accelerator Fellowship, as well as the European Audio-Visual Entrepreneurs (EAVE) On Demand Access Program for producers presented by the National Screen Institute and Canada Media Fund. In addition, Mian was also selected for the Women In Film and Television Connect mentorship program with the SVP of VICE Media in 2020. As a well-connected member of the Pakistani film and television industry, Mian frequently acts as an international liaison between Canadian productions shooting in Pakistan and vice-versa.
Company Website
– TONY MORRONE
Cinematographer, Editor
Tony Morrone worked as a cameraman and picture editor since 1983. He filmed in over 25 different countries such as Morocco, Tunisia, and Egypt where he filmed “The Pyramids”. One of his works has been filmed in Hong Kong for five weeks. During his career he had the chance to interview many world leaders such asFidel Castro in Cuba and Omar Gaddafi in Libya. Morrone has been awarded several times in his working history; he won many awards for documentaries such as “The Changing Face of Iceland”.
IMDb
– KEVIN MONTE DE RAMOS
Screenwriter/Producer
A semi-retired executive management consultant, now producing short-form digital content creation. I am published author, columnist, and podcaster. Now taking lived experiences and turning those into a scripts for broadcast television.
LinkedIn
– ANDREW MUNGER
Filmmaker, Ultramagnetic Productions Ltd.
An Emmy and CSA filmmaker with 30 years experience producing content for Canadian and international brands, film festivals and theatrical. Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson & The Band, the Emmy nominated All Governments Lie, Toxic Beauty (CBC Gem’s most streamed documentary) and many other productions. Current projects include Buffy Sainte Marie: Carry It on a feature documentary with Bell Media and the National Film Board, and Wild Pacific Rescue, a natural history series for Blue Ant/Love Nature/Sky TV, and The Con: Churchill & Roosevelt’s Secret American War – Arte/ZDF, Beyond Rights, Super Channel Canada, & Say It Loud: How A Black Music Mecca Grew in the Frozen North (TVOntario, Knowledge Network, Canada Media Fund, Rogers Documentary Fund.
Company Website
– CRISTIAN ANGELO NIGRO
Director, CAN CREATURE Productions Inc.
Cristian is a film production graduate from York University. Along with running an indie production company (CAN CREATURE Productions), he has worked in post-production and onset roles for various production companies such as Take 5 Productions one of Canada’s leading producers of award-winning television dramas (i.e., “Vikings” and “The Handmaid’s Tale”) and Amazon Studios. With a passion for storytelling, he continues to hone his craft as an aspiring film director in the industry.
LinkedIn | Company Website
– NATASHA NUHANOVIC
Writer&Director, Dreampockets Productions Inc.
Natasha Nuhanovic is both a writer and director. She was born on April 3, 1984, in Zagreb, Croatia and resides in Montreal, Canada. With her father’s side rooted in Bosnia, her mother is in Croatia and Serbia, she spans many of the former Yugoslavia regions. In addition, at age nine (1993), she moved to Germany, and at age fourteen (1998) to Canada. Since, she has lived in several different places. Close the Door (2022) is her first feature-length movie. She has also published two books: a poetry collection titled Stray Dog Embassy (2010) and a novel The Boy’s Marble (2022).
IMDb | Website | Company Website
– RAJ PANIKKAR
Producer, Fifth Ground Entertainment
Raj Panikkar is an award-winning Toronto based producer, who also operates and functions as an independent writer, filmmaker and creative consultant for film, television and digital media. With his outfit Fifth Ground Entertainment, his productions have included the doc series Reelside (Crave); the half-hour comedy series Rent-A-Goalie (Showcase); and the music doc series The Rawside Of… (IFC). As well, Raj is producing live-action series for kids. Science adventure series Leo’s FishHeads launched in 2020 on TVOkids, and spin-off Leo’s Pollinators is currently on air. The new series Secrets of the Forest is in production for TVOkids, while Space School is in development. Every season of every television series he has produced has won or been nominated for industry awards, and he was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for Best Direction for an episode of Reelside he directed. Currently Raj is writing a pilot for the horror drama Dark Hall with funding from the Canada Media Fund.
LinkedIn | Company Website
– SANDRA NAPOLI PETRELLA
Production Coordinator and Set Designer, DaVinci Cinema Production
Starting out as an Interior Design Consultant with over 20 years of experience, Sandra has combined her extensive knowledge of construction, architecture & interior design with the film industry as a set designer.
After owning and managing her own business she decided to join the DaVinci Cinema team earning the title as Production Coordinator/ Set Designer. Her organizational skills & managing the production process has added additional value to the team.
LinkedIn | Company Website
– JOHN PETRELLA
Creative Director, DaVinci Cinema Productions
Creative Director, DOP with over 20 years of experience in the film industry. An award-winning cinematographer with international feature film and documentary film experience.
John’s outstanding work as a Director of Photography has revealed a daring sense of composition, an eye for capturing the perfect camera angle and an unrelenting zeal for pushing the boundaries of convention. His images speak of ability, passion, and dedication to the poetry and artistry of motion pictures.
LinkedIn | Company Website
– EVA QUATTRINI
Producer
Italian living in Canada since 2007. I have a Masters degree from the Munk School of Global Affairs at UofT. I have been working in the industry for the past 6 years in Production and I am shifting towards Producer roles.
LinkedIn
– ANDREA RAMOLO
Songwriter, Recording Artist, Educator, Dancer, Blogger
Andrea Ramolo is an accomplished Canadian songwriter and touring/recording artist, dancer, educator, film creator/producer, and cultural enthusiast. She is a multiple Canadian Folk Music Award nominee and has been touring internationally for over 15 years. She records in English and Italian. She also runs a cultural blog on Instagram called The Vintage Italian where she explores her cultural roots through cuisine, music, dancing, history, art, and travel. Most recently, Andrea travelled to the Salento region of Italy where she produced her first full-length Canada Council for the Arts-funded documentary about the healing music and dance of southern Italy and specifically the pizzica. She also recorded a new international Italian collaboration album with Valentino world music band Kalàscima.
LinkedIn | Website
– NICOLETTA RANIERI
Founder & Principal Lawyer at Ranieri Law
“I am the Founder & Principal Lawyer at Ranieri Law Professional Corporation (“”Ranieri Law””). Duly licensed in Ontario and New York. My practice areas include business, entertainment & media, and intellectual property law (copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets). I represent clients at all levels and in a wide variety of industries ranging from start-ups and entrepreneurs to multinational corporations. Some of these industries include music, film/tv, fashion, jewelry, publishing, advertising and marketing. My practice focuses on transactional work and encompasses all aspects of client counselling, management, due diligence, document preparation, compliance, licensing and enforcement.”
LinkedIn
– RYAN REANEY
Producer, Fear and Desire Productions
Ryan was selected as an Emerging 20 filmmaker by the ReelWorld FF, to the Whistler FF’s Producers Lab, the Reykjavík Intl. FF’s Talent Lab and winner of the Real Asian FF pitch competition for the film Searching for Wonder that he later produced. He produced and premiered the Portals to Hell, starring Roddy Piper at TIFF and in 2018 released two feature films; Birdland and Blood Honey. Ryan associate produced the international co-productions Born to Be Blue and Stockholm both starring Ethan Hawke. In 2022 Ryan released The Immaculate Room starring Kate Bosworth & Emile Hirsch and completed production on Queen of Bones starring Julia Butters, Jacob Trembley and Martin Freeman.
LinkedIn | IMDb | Website
– VINCE SANNUTO
Writer and Director
Vince is a writer/director from Toronto. He wrote and directed the feature film Quarter Life Crisis. He also directed a short for a feature in development called Highway 401. Vince is currently looking to do a co pro with Italy in regards to his current project; The Zhivago Affair. It’s about how the CIA violated italian publisher’s Giacamo Feltrinelli’s copyright in order to print and distribute banned Russian edition copies of Dr Zhivago to Russian tourists at the Brussels World Fair with the aim of snuggling the book into the Soviet Union and destabilizing the Communist regime.
IMDb
– TAMARA SCHERBAK
Writer and Director
Tamara Scherbak has written and directed a wide-variety of projects such as “Dedushka” winner of Best Director at the Montreal Festivals Film Festival for women filmmakers, “Only Sky & Water” which screened in competition at the Hot Docs Film Festival and “Lost Postcards” which played at the Vertical Film Festival in the MACRO Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome. Her most recent short fiction film, “Is Your Teen a Homosexual?” has traveled to over 30 film festivals around the world including Les Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma and at the International Short Film Festival of Kyiv. Tamara has also directed work for the National Film Board of Canada, and Vice Québec. In particular, the 4-part Vice digital series “For The Better” garnered several million views online. She is an alumna of multiple prestigious talent labs such as TIFF’s Filmmaker’s Lab, the Berlinale Short Form station, the Netflix-Banff Diversity of Voices Initiative and the Harold Greenberg Fund Shorts-to-Features program.
LinkedIn
– KENNEDY SEED
Filmmaker/Entrepreneur, BC Studios
Kennedy is a full-time filmmaker and entrepreneur. His focus is on production (Producing, directing, and Editing) with over 11 years of experience in the film industry in Africa and North America. He is the owner and ED of two businesses, BC Studios rental house and Seedvisuals Inc production company. Kennedy has played various production roles in feature films, TV shows, commercials, music videos and documentaries. His motivation is setting goals and achieving them no matter the odds. He believes in God, family, and hard work. Keenedy does his best in keeping a prevailing attitude in everything he does.
LinkedIn | IMDb | Company Website
– MIKE SORAGNESE
Director and Producer, Render Docs
Mike Soragnese is an experienced Director, and Producer who has worked with Fortune 500 brands to promote and educate through Video, Digital Media, and Experiences; while also balancing his passion for Film, Television, and giving back to his community. Currently active in his passion for documentary film making, Soragnese consistently strives to make positive and lasting impacts through his works. As a direct result of this, he has recently launched the new division Render Docs. Mike continues to increase the work he does in the consumer content market, and is currently Directing and Producing numerous projects for HOPSCOTCH Kids TV, a brand new youth focused content channel creating television series and pilots that are designed to educate and promote a healthy lifestyle among children.
LinkedIn | Company Website
– MIKE SORRENTI
Producer
With a combined 16 years of interactive experience, prior to starting Game Pill, Mike was a Brand Manager for Paramount Pictures and Warner Brothers, and is no stranger to entertainment. Mike is a prolific producer and CEO, has created well over 100 game titles across various platforms since 2008. These titles have ranged from mini-casual games to large-scope digital media projects for clients such as Nickelodeon, Marvel, National Geographic, Disney, Discovery Channel, and others. With a hobby for toy design, he recently earned his certificate in Toy Invention under the direction of the lead Spin Master Toy Designer.
LinkedIn | Company Website
– SHAEL STOLBERG
Creator
Shael Stolberg published three International Film Festival Guide’s (IFFG) and created the wall mounted Film Festival Circuit Planner that was distributed at different North American festivals and was sponsored by Entertainment Weekly among others. He has moderated panels, given seminars and been a guest lecturer about independent film all over North America. Shael has also taught a graduate course at Georgian College called Video, Trends & Issues and one at Ryerson University called Distribution & Exhibition. Shael is proud to be working with filmmakers focusing on co-productions, marketing, festivals, distribution and exhibition. At present, some of the projects he is excited about include: the release of THE MARTINI SHOT (release date 2023) with Matthew Modine, Fiona Glascott, Stuart Townsend & John Cleese, getting the new documentary CLOSE THE DOOR is a Canadian-Bosnian-Italian Production not a Canadian-Serbian-Italian production.
Company Website
– PASQUALE MARCO VELTRI
Director
Pasquale Marco Veltri is an award-winning Canadian writer, filmmaker, and photographer. His feature film, Drowning, is available on Apple TV, Google Play & Amazon Prime. Veltri won the Chris Award for Best Narrative Film at the Columbus International Film and Video Festival for Words to Remember. Measuring Tape Girl was screened at the Cannes Film Festival and the Montreal World Film Festival. His other works include creating comic books such as Painting My Life, Dimensional, and the upcoming Erica Prime
LinkedIn | IMDb | Website
– PERRY VULGARIS
Creator
A creative and innovative leader with extensive experience in screen based, XR, digital and emerging media. Inspired collaborating with creative teams, leading in the development, production and delivery of compelling product/ projects.
LinkedIn
– SAVINE WONG
Lead at Telefilm Canada
Savine Wong is the Regional Lead, National Promotion for the Ontario and Atlantic Region at Telefilm Canada, a federal cultural agency dedicated to the development and promotion of the Canadian audiovisual industry. Based in Toronto, she is responsible for providing financial support to different types of promotional activities held in Canada that showcase Canadian content and talent, including film festivals. Prior to working at Telefilm, she worked in multiple capacities in the Canadian and Asian film and television industry, including holding executive roles at film festivals, film/TV financing and consulting services to filmmakers on festival and financing strategy.
– DONALD ZIRALDO
Producer / Entrepreneur
“Vintner in Canada Ziraldo Icewine and Italy Ziraldo Prosecco. Interested in doing a wine series , interviewing celebrity wine makers, chefs celebs endorsing wines. Co-founder of Inniskillin Wines, Order of Canada recipient. Winner of Premio Masi , Folio d’oro Award , Canadian Italian National Award, Ottawa, 2003, Top 25 Canadian CEOs of the Century, National Post Business Magazine, 1999. Honourary Citizenship (Friuli Venzia Julia), Italy”
Company Website
