A POEM FOR THE PLANET
MAKERS
NOVA AMI
Writer/Director/Producer/Location Sound
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Nova Ami creates socially relevant, thought-provoking films that inspire, educate, and empower. Her work has screened at international festivals including Hot Docs and IDFA, and has been broadcast on BBC, CBC, CTV, Super Channel, Vision TV, and SBS Australia. She directed the documentaries Say I Do (CTV, Vision TV), Secrets (CBC’s The Passionate Eye), and Peacing it Together (Red Storm Productions), and was a producer on Occupy Love (Super Channel, Free Speech TV) and Army of One (BBC, CBC, SBS Australia). She was host, director, and writer on the technology and innovation television series The Leading Edge (Knowledge Network), and was host and segment producer of GVTV, a series about urban issues in Vancouver. She has a master’s degree in Media Studies from the New School, NYC.
VELCROW RIPPER
Writer/Director/Producer/Sound Design/Camera
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Velcrow Ripper creates powerful, cinematic feature documentaries that deal with the central issues of our times. His epic “Fierce Light Trilogy” began with Scared Sacred, winner of the 2005 Genie Award for best feature documentary, continued with 2008’s award-winning Fierce Light: When Spirit Meets Action, and concluded with Occupy Love (2013). His first feature-length documentary, Bones of the Forest (1995, co-directed with Heather Frise) won nine awards, including Best of the Festival at Hot Docs and the 1996 Genie for best feature doc. He is well known for his award-winning sound design of such films as The Corporation (Best Sound, Leo Awards) and A Place Called Chiapas (Best Sound, Hot Docs, Leo Awards).Metamorphosis is his sixth feature film. www.velcrowripper.com
LAUREN GRANT
Producer
Lauren Grant is the owner of Toronto-based Clique Pictures, a vibrant film and television production company that focuses on working with female creative talent in front and behind the camera. Clique Pictures recently completed the feature documentary Metamorphosis which is launching theatrically in May 2018, the short documentary One Leg In, One Leg Out for CBC Digital, and the Canadian Screen award winning short Take a Walk on the Wildside. Clique Pictures is in post-production on Riot Girls with director Jovanka Vuckovic and writer Katherine Collins (Lost in Space) starring Madison Iseman (Jumanji) and Paloma Kwiatkowski (Bates Motel).
Previous productions include the feature film Wet Bum starring Julia Sarah Stone, which premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, Picture Day, which won the Borsos Award for Best Film and Best Performance at the Whistler Film Festival for lead actress Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black), and the documentary Traceable, which screened theatrically around the world as part of Fashion Revolution Day events honouring the 1127 victims of the Rana Plaza Factory collapse in Bangladesh.
The Hollywood Reporter named Lauren one of 15 Talents to Watch in their Next Gen Canada 2014 edition. Lauren is an alumna of Trans Atlantic Partners, Bell Media Executive Producer Accelerator Lab, TIFF Studio, Producers Lab at TIFF, Rotterdam Lab, and Berlinale Talent Campus.
DAVID CHRISTENSEN
Producer & Executive Producer (NFB)
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David Christensen is a Producer and Executive Producer at the National Film Board of Canada’s North West Studio, one of the NFB’s six English language studios. Some of his recent films include If I Was God, recently Oscar-shortlisted for Best Animation Short, the NFB co-produced feature documentary Hadwin’s Judgement, which premiered at the 2015 Hot Docs Film Festival, and the feature film The Forbidden Room, directed by Guy Maddin & Evan Johnson and winner of the best Canadian Feature by the Toronto Film Critics Association.
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Other works that David has produced include the acclaimed documentary Everything Will Be, a devastating co-production about Indian Residential Schools entitled We Were Children, the Oscar-nominated animated short film Wild Life, and Bear 71, an online interactive web documentary that was named FWA Site of the Year. He is also very involved in emerging filmmaking and digital programmes for Nunavut filmmakers.
BONNIE THOMPSON
Producer (NFB)
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With over 65 producer credits, Bonnie Thompson is a veteran National Film Board of Canada producer, working with Canadian media makers and producers on a slate of documentary, interactive, and animation productions. Thompson’s productions have been screened nationally and internationally on television screens, on the web and in festivals, winning many nominations and awards.
Recent production highlights include the feature documentary, Angry Inuk which won the 2016 Hot Docs Audience Award; the Oscar and CSA nominated short animated film Wild Life; and the acclaimed Webby and FWA award winning website Bear 71.
JOHN BAIN
Executive Producer
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JOHN BAIN started up Canadian film distribution company Search Engine Films in 2014. Search Engine concentrates are the indie film space. Recent films include “Jean of the Joneses”, “Morris From America”, “Equals”, “Standing Tall” and “Alone in Berlin”. Prior to Search Engine he was Senior Vice President, Acquisitions and SVP, Distribution at Maple Pictures. He held a wide range of jobs in Distribution, culminating in SVP, Distribution, at Lionsgate Films before it spun off the Canadian operations into Maple. Some of his acquisitions at Lionsgate/Maple included “Drive”, “Winter’s Bone”, “Hurt Locker”, “Hunger”, “Biutiful”, “The Pianist”.
EUGENE WEIS
Editor
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Eugene Weis has been working as a documentary feature film editor with top directors and industry professionals in the Canadian film business for over 10 years. His keen sense for storytelling has allowed him to craft films tackling important social issues, which have gone on to accrue numerous awards and accolades.
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Eugene sits on the Board of Directors for the prestigious AluCine Latin Film and Media Arts Festival, is a voting member of the Canadian Academy of Motion Pictures as well as a member of the Canadian Cinema Editors (C.C.E). He studied film production at Ryerson University and won the graduating award for Best Writer with his thesis film Higher Power.
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His most recent works include:
Metamorphosis, Magic Pills, The Forbidden Shore, Milk, The Poet of Havana, Who The F**K Is Arthur Fogel. Eugene garnered a nomination for Best Picture Editor by the Canadian Academy of Motion Pictures (2015).
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Select titles from his filmography include: Positive Women: Exposing Injustice with Producer and Director Alison Duke, a film uncovering the facts about the criminalization of HIV positive women living in Canada; Desert Riders with Director Vic Sarin, an exploration of the controversial issue of child trafficking in the UAE; Teaching the Life of Music with Director David New, a film that examines music education as a form of outreach with children living in poverty; Let's Talk About It, which gave Weis the opportunity to work alongside Academy Award nominated director Deepa Mehta; The Forgotten Woman, which won the Best Documentary Award at the Hollywood Film Festival in 2008.
GRANT BALDWIN
Cinematographer
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Grant is a Leo award-winning director, cinematographer, editor and music composer based in Vancouver, Canada. He has a varied background working with documentaries, sports films and narratives. His work can be seen and heard on Knowledge Network, F/X, TNT, CBC, National Film Board and ESPN. His first documentary The Clean Bin Projectwon 10 festival awards and has screened around the world. His film Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story premiered at Hot Docs, garnered him the award for emerging Canadian filmmaker of the year, and went on to hit #2 on the US itunes documentary charts. Most recently, Grant has been filming with BBC's Planet Earth team. His latest film is This Mountain Life.
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https://twitter.com/vancouverfilmer
JAMES MARK STEWART
Composer
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James Mark Stewart has been one of Canada’s pre-eminent music composers and sound designers for the past 15 years. His ability to combine both his highly specialised skills is unique, in that he creates soundscapes and composes music that work intrinsically together to enhance the production values and storytelling qualities of every project he has contributed to over the years.
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His originality and daring approach have made him very sought out for those looking for something off the beaten track, innovative and engaging, encompassing every style imaginable.
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His SOCAN Award in recognition for his highly original score for the feature drama “Riverbank”, is an acknowledgement and confirmation of his originality, which he has brought to the fore in everything he has created for traditional formats (Motion Picture Cinema and Television) and to new media (Web and Apps).
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The variety of clients and projects he has been involved with are incredibly diverse, and he has brought a bold and very cinematic approach to every aspect of his craft.
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