2004 Trade Forum Guests

Guests confirmed as of September 9. Please check back for regular updates.

JENNIFER ABBOTT is an award-winning director and editor of documentaries. She co-directed and edited The Corporation, the top grossing Canadian documentary of all time, which to date has won 20 international awards including the Audience Award for World Cinema at the Sundance Film Festival. She also produced, directed and edited A Cow at My Table (VIFF 1998), a feature documentary about meat, culture and animals, which won eight international awards. Her other past works include the experimental short and video installation about interracial relationships, Skinned. She is the editor and a contributing writer for the book Making Video "In": The Contested Ground of Alternative Video on the West Coast.

JOHN BAIN is Vice President, Theatrical Distribution, for Lions Gate Films. Bain directed the Canadian release for such films as Dogma, “O”, American Psycho, Gods and Monsters, Affliction, The Pianist, House of 1,000 Corpses and Cabin Fever. He started at Lions Gate (then C/FP) as director of marketing/communications in 1997. Prior to Lions Gate, Bain had a short stint at Sullivan Entertainment and before that in the publicity department at MGM. He took a circuitous, mostly academic route to the film industry.

GUY BENNETT is a Vancouver-based writer and director whose debut feature Punch screened at both the Toronto and Vancouver International Film Festivals in 2002. In addition to Punch, he has also directed the short films Nathan, Dirty Work and Beau, and is the author of the best-selling book Guy’s Guide to the Flipside. Bennett is the former director of the Praxis Centre for Screenwriters and was a long-time columnist with the Westender newspaper.

LYNN BOOTH has been a documentary filmmaker since 1994. She founded Make Believe Media Inc. in 1999. Her producer credits include biographies and social-cultural documentaries: Pretty Boys, Culture Jam, Mandrake, The Perfect Husband, I Want a Woman and The Whistleblower. Last year Booth produced and co-directed C.D. Hoy: Portraits from the Frontier and Bump and Grind. She is currently producing several new documentary projects including Secrets, Mavis Gallant’s Life in Story, Battle of Wills, The Lavender Prom, a factual entertainment series Charm School and a feature film Bitchin’ by James Dunnison.

BRANDON BOYCE wrote the screenplay for Wicker Park, released earlier this month by MGM. His adaptation of Stephen King’s Apt Pupil was released in 1998. His other screenplays include Aces, Green and Black, (from the novel Killing Floor), and Serpentine (for director William Friedkin). Most recently, he wrote the horror film Backwater, currently in pre-production for Dimension Films. He was born in Virginia and has lived in New Jersey and Kansas City, Missouri. He currently resides in Santa Monica.

SCOTT BRAZIL is currently the Executive Producer of The Shield. He has won two Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes and an NAACP Image Award for his work as a producer/director on the groundbreaking NBC hit Hill Street Blues. Other producing credits include co-executive producer of CBS’s LA Doctors and the pilot of ABC’s critically acclaimed series Gideon’s Crossing. In addition to multiple episodes of The Shield and Nip/Tuck, he has directed Lax for NBC, Clubhouse for CBS, Grey’s Anatomy for ABC, the pilot of Playmakers for ESPN, CSI: Miami, Party of Five, LA Doctors, Nash Bridges, JAG and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

DAVID BRISBIN has production designed numerous feature films including Drugstore Cowboy and My Own Private Idaho for Gus Van Sant, After Dark My Sweet for James Foley, and In the Cut for Jane Campion. Trained as an architect (BFA, Rice University) he interned under Robert Venturi. Brisbin also studied filmmaking (MFA, Cal Arts) under the late director Alexander Mackendrick. He subsequently worked as a television news reporter in Manila where he covered the fall of the Marcos regime. As director and producer, he is currently completing a feature-length documentary about Cambodian culture and history called Nice Hat!

TOM BURSTYN has spent more than 30 years shooting feature films and television movies. Embracing new technologies such as HD and discovering the depth and quality that can be achieved with a new medium, within a schedule, is a fascinating challenge for him. While Burstyn sees his work as a calling, he is also in the process of answering the call of nature by planting an olive grove on his small organic farm in New Zealand.

BENOÎT CHAREST is an award-winning guitarist/composer who has more than 20 years experience. Charest is best known for scoring The Triplets of Belleville, which garnered him an Academy Award nomination for Best Music/Original Song, Best Music Written for a Film at the César Awards in France and the LA Film Critics Award for best music score in 2004. His other scoring credits include: Dossier Justice, which was nominated for best documentary music at the 2002 Gemini Awards, Woaw 2, La Vie après l’amour, Opération Dantec and Ne dis rien.

CATHY CHILCO was VP/Executive Producer of international production at Sesame Workshop. Sesame Street has been seen in more than 140 countries since its inception in 1969. Her primary emphasis was on initiating new versions in countries such as Russia, South Africa, China, Egypt and an unprecedented co-production between Israelis and Palestinians, which was honoured with the prestigious Japan Prize. Current projects include Suzuki Speaks, a one-hour television special with David Suzuki, and Life and Times of Umberto Menghi. Chilco has produced and directed many award-winning specials and series, including, Pilot 1, Futurescan, Canadian Sesame Street and Venture, primarily with CBC.

TOM COX is a veteran film and television producer whose work spans 15 years and many different genres, encompassing feature films, dramatic series, television movies and documentaries. Cox’s recent credits include co-producing the feature Brokeback Mountain for Focus Features, Identity Theft and Dawn Anna for Lifetime, co-executive producing The Mountain, a dramatic pilot for Warner Bros., and Family Sins, a TV movie for Sony and CBS. He produced After the Harvest an award-winning television movie for CTV and Lifetime, 26 one-hour episodes of Tom Stone for CBC and five North of 60 movies for CBC. Along with partner Doug McLeod, Tom produced 90 one-hour episodes of the multiple Gemini Award–winning North of 60 series. In 1990 and 1991, Cox produced two seasons of the cable award-winning series The Ray Bradbury Theatre for USA Network.

BLAKE CORBET is President of Anagram Pictures and produced the company's first two features: the critically acclaimed Mile Zero, directed by Andrew Currie; and the smash hit comedy The Delicate Art of Parking, which he also co-wrote. Both films played at film festivals around the world and won numerous awards. Corbet has also recently secured development financing for six feature film projects including a TV movie for CTV based on the life of Canada's most famous First Nations politician, Elijah Harper. Corbet recently completed production on The Woodcutter, a feature film he co-produced with New York-based Intrinsic Value, starring Danny Glover, David Strathairn, Linda Hamilton and Ron Pearlman.

JENNIFER CRONE is a Commissioning Editor-Documentary at SBS Independent in Melbourne. Before joining SBS Independent Crone produced and directed documentary and factual programs for Australian and British television as an independent producer and within television companies and broadcasters. SBS gives documentary-makers the fantastic opportunity to reach a wide audience in prime time slots. SBS seeks original subjects and treatments that explore the new realities of life in the 21st Century and are entertaining, accessible and relevant to our audience.

ELLIOT DAVIS is a director of photography who has been involved in the film industry for more than 25 years. His most recent credits include: A Love Song for Bobby Long; Legally Blonde 2: Red White and Blond; Thirteen; White Oleander; 40 Days and 40 Nights, I am Sam; Out of Sight; and Lawn Dogs. Davis is currently working on Lords of Dogtown, the follow up to the hit documentary Dogtown and Z Boys.

JOSHUA DEIGHTON is Vice President, Production at Fox Searchlight. As a production executive he has overseen production on projects including Sexy Beast, Brown Sugar and One Hour Photo. Deighton has acquired and finished the hit indie comedies Super Troopers and Napoleon Dynamite. Upcoming films that he has worked on include David O. Russell’s I Heart Huckabee’s and Alexander Payne’s Sideways. Prior to his position at Fox Searchlight, Deighton was development assistant for New Regency Films and worked with Tony Bill at Barnstorm Films.

JOHN DIPPONG is Director of the Feature Film Business Unit at Telefilm Canada. In this capacity, he represents projects from his region at national comparative decision meetings and oversees regional feature film development and production investments in Western Canada. Dippong joined Telefilm Canada in 1997 after having been involved in feature film production, film festival organization and programming.

MICHAEL DOWSE has been making award-winning films for the last ten years. After graduating with his MBA from Yale business school, he started out as a director of short films, commercials and music videos as well as an editor on feature films. In 2000, he made his first feature Fubar, which premiered at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival and has been released all over the globe. He was nominated for a Genie for his editing work on Fubar. It’s All Gone Pete Tong is Michael’s second feature. As Dowse puts it, with his second film he really wanted to, “Rip cinema a new asshole.”

RIKKE ENNIS is a Film/TV Sales Executive at Trust Film Sales. Trust Film Sales handle worldwide distribution rights for Nordic and international feature films. Since being founded as an independent branch of the Danish production company Zentropa in 1997, Trust Film Sales has established a global network of international distributors and has become the sales agent for producers from around the world. They represent some 20 feature films annually. Trust films with major international success include The Idiots, Italian for Beginners, Lilya 4 Ever, Dancer in the Dark, Dogville, Minor Mishaps, It’s All About Love and Dear Wendy. Trust Film Sales also has a separate TV label with more commercial films.

MICHELLE GAHAGAN is a Principal with Equity Business Lawyers, a firm specializing in providing advice to business owners in both private and public company contexts. Prior to joining Equity, Gahagan served as executive vice-president, business and legal affairs, of Sextant Entertainment, a consolidated group of entertainment companies based in Vancouver. She was also formerly chief operating officer of North American Releasing, an integrated film production and distribution company with offices in Vancouver and Prague. A graduate of Queen’s University Law School, Gahagan has practiced corporate and entertainment law since 1986.

MICHAEL GHENT is the Western Development Manager for Global Television where he oversees development and production of movies, documentaries, series and news specials for Western Canada. Before his Global position Ghent was the festival director for Moving Images: Canadian Films on Tour. As well as being a guest lecturer in Entertainment Administration at the University of British Columbia, Ghent’s other accomplishments include numerous production manager and associate producer positions for the CBC and the Discovery Channel, development writer for various independent production companies and publicist for the NFB/ONF.

CHRIS HADDOCK is the President of Haddock Entertainment Inc. Haddock is a veteran writer/producer/director who has firmly established himself as a creative leader in Canada's film and television industry. He is perhaps best known for creating Da Vinci’s Inquest, the critically acclaimed series that has won more than 35 industry-related awards, including the Gemini for Best Dramatic Series. Haddock was also the writer and executive producer on the CTV television movie, The Life, scheduled to air in 2004. Haddock also wrote and executive produced The Handler which aired on CBS in the US, BBC in the UK, and GLOBAL in Canada. Haddock Entertainment Inc. is synonymous with the original work that reflects his Vancouver roots because Haddock’s greatest source of creativity and inspiration are the streets of the city where he grew up.

GRANT HARVEY has been directing film and television for more than 14 years. Most recently he directed and produced Ginger Snaps 3: The Beginning for Lions Gate Entertainment. Harvey was also the second unit director for the original Ginger Snaps and The Dark (currently in production). American Beer, Harvey's directing debut feature, is in worldwide distribution. He has also produced and directed over 200 commercial campaigns in Canada and the US. Harvey has also received numerous Canadian and international awards as a director, including 'Best Director' at the 2003 and 2004 AMPIA awards.

DAVID HAUKA has produced, directed, written, acted and production managed in order to support his filmmaking habit.

STEPHEN HEGYES is a producer and Co-founder of Vancouver and Victoria-based Brightlight Pictures, and has been involved in the feature film and television industry for more than 16 years. His most recent producing credits include Going the Distance, guest starring Avril Lavigne, Swollen Members and Gob; White Noise, a UK/Canadian co-production starring Michael Keaton and The Long Weekend starring Chris Klein and Brendan Fehr. Other credits include Double Happiness (Mina Shum), Last Wedding and Dirty (both by) Bruce Sweeney. Beyond producing and managing Brightlight Pictures, Hegyes is also the co-chair of the Canadian Film and Television Producers Association (CFTPA) Feature Film Committee board.

HANS-STEFAN HEYNE is Head of International Co-productions and Acquisitions at Studio Hamburg FA, one of the largest audio-visual centres in Europe that provides all facilities for any kind of media production. Studio Hamburg is the buyer of movies and co-productions for the television station Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) based in Germany. Prior to Studio Hamburg, Heyne was production manager of radio at NDR (which is part of the ARD Channel One Public Broadcasting television system in Germany), and was the production manager at Studio Hamburg.

FRANK HÜBNER is a world-renowned producer who has been involved in many international co-productions. During his tenure as CEO of ApolloMedia GmbH, his credits have included, The Musketeer, Feardotcom, Whale Rider, Sound of Thunder, Stander, Spartan, Imaginary Heroes and Tristan and Isolde. Since 1989, Hübner has been a member of the committee for the Foundation of the Filmstiftung and has worked for Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen GmbH as executive director since 1991. Hübner has also served as chair of the Association of TV, Film, and Video Industry in North-Rhine-Westphalia and was head of the department for foreign productions of Westdeutscher Rundfunk.

LIZ JARVIS has been working with Buffalo Gal pictures for the past five years as a producer and production executive. Her credits include: the feature film Seven Times Lucky, which premiered at the 2004 Sundance Festival and will be released in Canada in the fall by Odeon Films; award-winning short films The Big Pickle, Epiphany Rules, and The Women Upstairs; and documentaries for CBC Newsworld’s Roughcuts and WTN’s signature anthology series Through Her Eyes. She also has ten years experience as an assistant director on feature films with directors such as John Greyson, Guy Maddin and Léa Pool. She is currently producing a feature documentary for CBC’s Opening Night.

HARVEY KAHN is President of Front Street Productions and has been an independent film and television producer since 1985. He has produced such films as We Don’t Live Here Anymore, starring Mark Ruffalo, Laura Dern, Peter Krause and Naomi Watts, which is currently in release and was Warner Independent Pictures' first acquisition; Nobody’s Baby; The Proposal; and The Breakup, the later two of which were distributed in the U.S. by Miramax. In addition to his production credits, Kahn made his directing debut in 2003 with the thriller Water’s Edge, and is currently directing The Deal starring Christian Slater and Selma Blair. Other current projects include Transplant and Fatal Lessons: The Good Teacher.

CHRIS KENTIS is Writer/Director/Editor of Open Water, his second feature film. Open Water is a low-budget feature that has grossed more than more $14.5 million at the box office so far. Kentis’ wife, Laura Lau, a graduate of Columbia University, produced and co-shot Open Water. His first feature was Grind (1997) starring Billy Crudup, Adrienne Shelly and Amanda Peet, which Lau produced and co-wrote. Kentis and Lau live and work in New York City. He is an award-winning trailer and commercial film editor and a graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts film program.

ELIZABETH KLINCK has worked as a producer, researcher and clearance specialist on hundreds of award-winning documentary films in the Canadian, American and British independent film communities. Projects she has worked on have garnered Emmy, Gemini, Peabody and Academy Awards. Elizabeth is a graduate of Queens University (History and Political Studies). Starting in the fall of 2004 she will be instructing a course in documentary research and development at Ryerson University in Toronto.

ELLEN KURAS is a director of photography who has more than 35 international awards to her credit. Some of her credits include: Coffee and Cigarettes, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Personal Velocity, Analyze That, Blow, Summer of Sam, I Shot Andy Warhol and Postcards from America. Kuras, a two-time recipient of the Sundance Film Festival’s Best Cinematography Award, was first widely recognized for her black-and- white cinematography on Tom Kalin’s Swoon, which earned her Sundance’s Best Dramatic Cinematography Award in 1992 and a nomination for the IFP Independent Spirit Award. Her photography on the feature Angela won another Best Dramatic Cinematography prize at Sundance in 1995 – the first time a director of photography has won this award twice.

MARGO LANGFORD is President of Cineclix Distribution Inc., a company she founded in 2003 to bring festivals online to a global audience through digital download and DVD. Since 1996, she has been a legal advisor to internet start-ups and worked as an in-house counsel for Stream Intelligent Networks, IBM Canada, and iSTAR internet. Langford also has a marketing and corporate communications background and has served as promotion director for two broadcast companies. She was also a ministerial assistant and worked in trade and entertainment law. She spent four years in Europe advising multinational entertainment companies on rights protection, and initiated anti-piracy proceedings in more than 30 countries.

ARTHUR LAPPIN is Managing Director of Hell’s Kitchen, the Irish production company he established in 1992 with Jim Sheridan. Some of his collaborations with Sheridan include his work as line producer on My Left Foot and The Field and co-producer of In the Name of the Father. Lappin also produced Some Mother’s Son, The Boxer, Agnes Brown, Borstal Boy, On the Edge and In America. Lappin both produced and executive produced Bloody Sunday, Laws of Attraction and Omagh. In total Lappin has produced more than 14 feature films, two drama series and several documentaries as well as more than 20 stage productions.

STEVE LEVITAN is Executive Producer of the critically acclaimed Canadian television series Train 48. Levitan’s other credits include: Metropia, the TV series (Omni Television) Police Academy: The Series (Warner Bros. International Television), Goosebumps seasons 1-4 (Fox Television/YTV) and the kids show The Saddle Club (ABC Australia, YTV and Crawfords Australia). In 1993, Mr. Levitan joined with Paul Bronfman, president of The Comweb Group, to found Protocol Entertainment Inc., which became one of the member companies of Comweb. Protocol’s objective is to devote itself to excellence in the development, financing and production of series, movies, mini-series and feature films for the North American and international markets.

ROB MALLORY’s career in the home entertainment industry spans 21 years, with beginnings in the independent retail/wholesale sectors and later with Paramount Pictures and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment. Today Mallory is Director of Western Canada for Universal Studios Home Video, distributors of Universal, DreamWorks and Alliance Atlantis VHS and DVD product including Miramax, New Line, Artisan and Remstar. Rob resides in his hometown of Burnaby, BC

BRUCE MARCHFELDER is an award-winning writer and director from Vancouver, B.C.

GARY MARCUSE is currently Programming Executive for CBC Television in British Columbia. He works with the independent production community developing programs for the network. Previously he was the national president of the Documentary Organization of Canada. As an independent filmmaker he was the director and co-producer with Betsy Carson of Nuclear Dynamite, a Gemini-winning feature documentary for CBC’s The Nature of Things. Marcuse’s most recent project is ARTIKA: The Russian Dream that Failed which premiered at the Movie Eye/Kinoglaz Festival near Moscow in August and will be broadcast on The Nature of Things this fall.

HAMISH MCALPINE is the Owner of Metro Tartan Distribution and Tartan Video. He entered film distribution in 1982 with Alan Rudolph’s Choose Me and has since distributed more than 100 films in the UK including The Last Seduction, Jamon Jamon, Return of the Living Dead, Hard-Boiled, Man Bites Dog, The Idiots, In the Mood for Love, and À ma soeur. McAlpine founded Tartan Video, the leading UK art-house video label, in 1992. He has since started Tartan Films and current productions include: Savage Grace, The Hillside Strangler, Sixteen Years of Alcohol, Ted Bundy, In the Light of the Moon and Suspicious River.

ALBERT NERENBERG is the founder of the "international cult phenomenon" (CNN) Trailervision and the annual World Stupidity Awards. As a filmmaker Nerenberg has been the subject of retrospectives at the Just for Laughs Festival and the Cinémathèque Québecoise. His award-winning documentary Stupidity is the first film to deal directly with the subject of human stupidity and is currently in worldwide distribution. Nerenberg is developing a series for the Discovery Channel about the science of sexual attraction called Why Is It Sexy? He is also completing Escape to Canada, a feature documentary for the Documentary Channel about how Canada has suddenly become "cool."

SUSIN NIELSEN is the creator behind the highly touted half-hour dramatic comedy series Robson Arms that will air this fall on CTV. Nielsen has written for and story edited many series, including Madison, Nothing Too Good for a Cowboy, The Adventures of Shirley Holmes and the animated series What About Mimi? Nielsen also won a Gemini award for the pilot episode of Shirley Holmes and a Writers’ Guild Award for an episode of Madison. She started her career in television feeding cast and crew on the internationally acclaimed teen drama Degrassi Junior High. They hated her food, but saw a spark in a spec script she wrote. Nielsen went on to write 16 episodes.

DANNY NOWAK made his first film on Super-8 at the age of 13. From this point on he excelled behind the camera, shooting various projects around the world. In recent years he has served as director of photography on many TV movies and more than 20 feature films including Tristar’s The Big Hit, the remake of Neil Simon’s The Goodbye Girl, and Bruce McDonald’s Hard Core Logo and The Love Crimes Of Gillian Guess. A staunch defender of Canadian cinema, Nowak is devoted to the development of indigenous film art.

COLLEEN NYSTEDT is President/Founder of New City Films, one of Canada’s leading independent entertainment companies. New City has developed a web of related production companies in each of Canada’s provinces as well as in the UK, Ireland, France, Italy, Germany, Australia and New Zealand. A presence in Los Angeles provides an anchor for New City’s US sales and marketing objectives. By utilizing innovative film financing, New City combines the talent of the Canadian film sector and the power of the International Co-Production Treaty system together with a US distribution model. New City is the perfect partner for international co-productions in order to maximize Canadian financing and subsidies.

CHRISTOPH OTT is head of distribution/marketing at Kino Film Verleihservice (Germany). He is also the owner and founder of Ottfilm GmbH. His extensive international experience in the film industry includes: sales manager for FILMWELT and SENATOR distribution; vice president of distribution and production for BUENA VISTA INTL. Germany; and COO Senator Entertainment AG. Ott is also the owner of seven art-house movie theatres in Berlin and Munich.

JOHN PATTISON is the co-creator/writer/creative producer of Puppets Who Kill. He originally wrote produced and performed his one-man theatrical show Puppets Who Kill at Fringe Festivals throughout Canada, where it was an unqualified success. The Puppets Who Kill television series won the 2003 Bronze Rose at the Montreux Television Festival. It also received four Gemini Award nominations including best comedy writing for a series, which Pattison won.

BRAD PELMAN is Exec. VP, Sales and Distribution, for Lions Gate Films, where he is responsible for overseeing both the company’s Toronto office and its home video and television divisions. Pelman is also co-president and operational director of JV Media Inc., a joint venture between Lions Gate films and TVA Films that combines the product output of both companies under a cost-sharing arrangement. Recent projects from Lions Gate Films and TVA Films that JV Media has worked on include Eli Roth’s Cabin Fever (Lions Gate), Guy Maddins’s The Saddest Music in the World (TVA), James Foley’s Confidence (Lions Gate) and Billy Ray’s Shattered Glass (Lions Gate).

NARENDRA REDDY is Director of Development & Programming at NBC Entertainment in Los Angeles, California. He is currently responsible for developing original “low cost” scripted and unscripted programming for the PAX Television Network, in which NBC Universal has an investment interest. Previously he worked in international TV sales, television production, and primetime series and specials programming for NBC. In addition to completing an intensive three-year program in film directing and television production, Reddy holds graduate degrees in engineering and business.

JOHN C. RICHARDS won the Best Screenplay award at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival for Nurse Betty. His feature adaptations include Vivo, from Louis de Berniere’s novel Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord, Sahara, from Clive Cussler’s novel and Tishomingo Blues, based on the Elmore Leonard novel. Production begins on Tishomingo Blues in October, 2004, and on Vivo in 2005. Sahara wrapped in May and will be released in March, 2005. Richards will make his directing debut next year with his original piece, The Round, starring Don Cheadle.

JAN ROELFS has been working as a production designer and art director for more than 19 years. His credits include Alexander, S1m0ne, Bad Company, Flawless, The Astronaut’s Wife, Gattaca, The Juror, Little Women, and The Cook, the Thief His Wife and Her Lover. Roelfs has worked with award-winning directors such as Oliver Stone, Peter Greenaway, Andrew Niccol, Joel Schumacher, Gillian Armstrong and Brian Gibson.

LINDA SANDERSON is the Vice President Purchasing at Rogers Video and has been part of the home video industry since 1990. She has an MBA from Simon Fraser University and is a current board member for Junior Achievement British Columbia. Linda is a native of Vancouver and through her role in Rogers has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Vancouver Film Festival. During the past 14 years Linda has seen rapid growth in Roger's independent film customer base. She has a great perspective on which films perform well in the home video market and why.

KIRK SHAW is an award-winning television producer for Insight Film & Video Productions. With more than 25 years of business and production management experience, Mr. Shaw has emerged as one of Canada’s most prolific television and film producers, completing more than a dozen movies including, Wildfire 7, Killer Bees (PAX Network), the sci-fi thriller Maximum Surge (CHUM), National Lampoon’s Thanksgiving (Turner Broadcasting), Deep Evil and It Waits Below (Blockbuster), Monster Island (MTV), and Pursued (Artisan). Shaw currently has a $30 million production slate that will see him producing one movie per month.

MINA SHUM is a Vancouver based Director/Writer whose feature film credits include: Long Life, Happiness & Prosperity, Drive, She said and Double Happines. Her short film Me, Mom, and Mona, was honoured with a Special Jury Citation at Toronto in 1993. Her most recent television credits as a director include The Shields Stories, and the Showcase Original Series, Bliss.

ROBIN SMITH is General Manger of Distribution for Capri Releasing Inc. He has been involved in the film business for more than 14 years and has held positions at Seville Pictures as director of sales and marketing, Lions Gate Film Entertainment as director of marketing and distribution for their video and theatrical divisions, and Blackwatch Releasing as vice president of marketing and distribution. Smith has successfully executed the Canadian release of both international and domestic films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, All About My Mother, Russian Ark, Swimming Pool, You Can Count on Me, Life Is Beautiful, Falling Angels, The Sweet Hereafter and The Decline of the American Empire.

ESTA SPALDING is an award-winning screenwriter. Her feature film credits include: Falling Angels (Triptych Media), which won a Leo Award for the best screenplay, The Republic of Love and The Victim Who Cannot Be Named, (CBC-Thump Productions) currently in development. Spalding’s TV writing credits include: The Eleventh Hour, Da Vinci’s Inquest, which won a Leo Ward for best dramatic writing in a series, The Zack Files, and The Shield Stories. Spalding is also an award-winning poet and fiction writer.

MARC STEPHENSON began his career in the film and television industry while living in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He produced his first feature film, Heater, starring Gary Farmer and Stephen Ouimette, which showed at festivals around the world including Sundance and London. Stephenson worked as a line producer (USA Networks) and event promoter until his move to Vancouver in the summer of 2000. Soon after his arrival in Vancouver he began working as an investment analyst at Telefilm Canada where he dove head first into the independent film community. After completing his contract, Marc joined the On the Corner team to finance and complete the film in the spring of 2003. Stephenson is pursuing a variety of film and television projects including working on The New Ren And Stimpy Show and a feature film with director Reginald Harkema called Bad Buzz.

DAMON VIGNALE is a local writer, producer, and director whose credits include the award-winning festival hits Zacharia, and Little Brother of War, both featured in previous VIFF programs. He currently has several projects in various stages of production, including the documentary terra populus in post-production and the CHUM/City TV drama A Perfect Note set to shoot this fall. His next feature film is in development. Credits on the small screen include numerous television commercials and music videos.

MARY ANNE WATERHOUSE is an independent producer with more than 16 years of experience in both production and finance. Waterhouse is currently in post-production on the independently financed film Desolation Sound, starring Jennifer Beals, Ed Begley Jr. and Lothaire Bluteau. In 2002, she produced 100 Days in the Jungle, for which she was awarded a Gemini for best TV movie. Mary Anne’s production service credits are many and include the internationally financed indie feature Beautiful Joe, Stephen King’s 13-part Kingdom Hospital as well as the ABC movies Mr. St. Nick and Snow White. Waterhouse’s background in finance and accounting, combined with her many years of production experience, have provided her with an unusual perspective on the making of films in Canada.

CRAIG WEDREN is an important new name in the world of film composers whose credits include scores for The Secret Lives of Dentists, School of Rock, Roger Dodger – which was nominated for a Golden Satellite Award in the best score category – Laurel Canyon, High Art, Velvet Goldmine, First Love, Last Rites, the cult classic Wet Hot American Summer and the National Geographic documentary Boxeadores y Bailarinas. These scores have also provided Wedren the opportunity to create music with Jeff Buckley, Billy Corgan, Liz Phair and Robin Zander. In addition to writing and creating scores, Wedren also writes, performs and records with his new band Baby.

SARAH WEBSTER is a music supervisor with S.L.Feldman & Associates in Vancouver. In addition to overseeing all of the music needs for a wide range of projects from television documentaries to big budget feature films, Sarah also acts as an agent to over a dozen award winning score composers. Prior to beginning her career in music for film & television, Sarah ran business development for an independent record label group in New York City.

MATTHEW WEINER joined the critically acclaimed TV series The Sopranos after writing for various network television shows including The Naked Truth, Becker and Andy Richter Controls the Universe. Weiner attended Wesleyan University where he studied philosophy, literature and history. He has an MFA from the University of Southern California School of Cinema and Television, where he made a documentary about Hollywood’s paparazzi, It’s All True. Following film school, Weiner wrote and directed the independent feature What Do You Do All Day? financed with the winnings from his appearance on TV’s Jeopardy. While completing the film, Weiner also worked for A&E’s Biography.

JUSTINE WHYTE is Executive Director of The Feature Film Project (FFP) and is responsible for its financing, overall operations and overseeing all aspects of each production from script development and budgeting through to distribution and sales. She entered the film industry in 1988, working at Cinephile Limited, a distribution company specializing in new Canadian and foreign talent, working on theatrical releases, foreign sales, acquisitions and financial matters. Whyte’s involvement with the FFP began with its inception in 1992 and she has worked intimately on all 16 features to date, including Rude, Cube, The Uncles, Khaled, 19 Months, Show Me and Siblings.

DYLAN WILCOX manages Acquisitions for Miramax Films. He is based in LA and is responsible for tracking the United States and Canada for independent projects in production, completed independents, and pre-buy and co-production packages for both Miramax and Dimension Films. He also attends and covers film festivals, markets and screenings looking for theatrical, video, and television product. Wilcox helps oversee the Asia and Australian offices. He has assisted in the acquisitions of The I Inside, Hostage, Valentin, Hero and Infernal Affairs. Wilcox started working in the publicity department in Miramax's NY office and moved to LA, where he has been working in acquisitions since 2002.

SHAWN WILLIAMSON is a native of Vancouver. In 2001 he partnered with Stephen Hegyes to form Brightlight Pictures Inc. Recent producing credits include Bloodrayne starring Kristanna Loken, currently shooting in Romania, Edison starring Kevin Spacey, Morgan Freeman, LL Cool J and Justin Timberlake, Going the Distance starring Jason Priestley, Alone in the Dark starring Christian Slater, Tara Reid and Stephen Dorff, and Jiminy Glick in La La Wood starring Martin Short.

MARTIN WRAGG has been with MGM for more than nine years acting as Director of Sales in the UK and Ireland, Director of Sales in the US and currently Vice President and Managing Director in Canada. MGM now has 27% market share of the sub $15 catalogue market in Canada since regaining self-distribution from Warner Home Video in April 2003. MGM Home Entertainment is now a $1 billion operation, which includes video and DVD, consumer products and Video-on-Demand. MGM has been the innovator in catalogue DVD sales since regaining their distribution rights in Canada, and has been a major influence in catalogue DVD, becoming the largest and fastest growing sector of the Canadian DVD market.

ELIZABETH YAKE is President of True West Films based on Salt Spring Island BC with an office in Vancouver headed up by VP Henrik Meyer, former president of Studio Hamburg's feature film subsidiary Letterbox Filmproduktion. Most recently she was the Canadian producer of Michael Dowse's Fubar and the new film It’s All Gone Pete Tong a Canada/UK co-production which will have its world premiere at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival. True West Films 2005 slate includes the feature Iceman for Finnish director Mika Kaurismäki, Miguel Alexandre's Village of Widows TV movie for Studio Hamburg and SAT.1, both to be made as Canada/Germany co-productions and, the feature Tough City directed by Brian Nash for CHUM TV.