Our Team

REEL CANADA is a team of creative, witty, hard-working movie lovers from coast to coast. Get to know our team (and our favourite Canadian movies).

Founders

Favorite Canadian Film

JACK BLUM

Executive Director

Too many to list!

SHARON CORDER

Artistic Director

Too many to list!

Favorite Canadian Film

ARIEL ABREGO GAITAN

Bilingual Reel Opportunities Coordinator

Mommy

EDA ATAERGIN

Senior Development and Festivals Coordinator

Edge of the Knife (SG̲aawaay Ḵ’uuna)

JOSHUA BERTRAM

Educational Resources Manager

The Sweet Hereafter

LAURA CHAIGNON

Manager of French & International Programming

Mommy

SARAH FELLOWS

Reel Opportunities Coordinator

Rhymes for Young Ghouls

KATARINA GLIGORIJEVIC

Consultant, Special Projects

Crime Wave

DIRIYE HASSAN

Outreach Manager

Antigone

JENNA HIJAZI

Director of Operations & Festivals

C.R.A.Z.Y.

KERRY KUPECZ

Communications Manager 

The Silent Partner

ALICE LOCKWOOD

Deputy Manager, National Canadian Film Day

Beans

AUSTIN MACDONALD

Assistant Technical Director

Le Confessional

CAIT MACMULLIN

Lead Social Media & Digital Content Strategist

Antigone

TAYLOR MARTINS

Communications Coordinator

Blackberry

MARK MEEKS

Technical Director

Videodrome

MICHAEL MUDRACK

Administrative Coordinator

Ru

CHARLENE NGUYEN

Festivals Coordinator

Stay the Night

REBECCA POIER

Communications Manager

C.R.A.Z.Y.

DIANNE SCHWALM

Partnership Development

The Grand Seduction

ARIEL SMITH (NĒHIYAW)

Indigenous Film Programme Manager

Rocks at Whiskey Trench

CHANTAL SPEIRS (ANISHINAABE)

Manager, Graphics & Visual Identity

Jésus de Montréal

ERIC TISCH

Manager, Programming & National Canadian Film Day

Double Happiness

NIRUJAA VASANTHARAJAH

Junior Graphic Designer

Water

ANDREA NIRMALA WIDJAJANTO

Senior Coordinator, National Canadian Film Day

Incendies

BEN WHYTE

Festivals & Special Events Lead

Ginger Snaps

ALISON ZEMELL

Administrative and Programming Director

The Sweet Hereafter

VIDEO PRODUCTION

MXL Media

PROGRAMMING CONSULTANT, QUEBEC

Martin Bilodeau

NATIONAL HONOURARY PATRON

The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson

INDIGENOUS EDUCATION CONSULTANT

Ronnie Dean Harris (Stō:lo/St’át’imc/Nlaka’pamux)

PROGRAMMER EMERITUS

Marc Glassman

WEB RESOURCE CONSULTANT

Chris Lane

MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS CONSULTANT

Cara McCutcheon

WEBSITE DESIGN

Denman Digital

TRANSLATOR

Melissa Zeroual

FOUNDING PATRON

David Miller, 63rd Mayor of Toronto

DIGITAL STRATEGY CONSULTANT

Andrew Escobar

Ravi Srinivasan (1985-2023) We acknowledge with sadness and gratitude the profound contribution Ravi made to REEL CANADA and National Canadian Film Day while working with us for nearly 12 years until his passing, as well as his impact on Canadian cinema as a whole.

REEL CANADA’s Board of Directors and Advisory Committees are made up of dedicated individuals in the film and media industry and related disciplines. We want to give a heartfelt thank you to each and every one of these amazing supporters!

LIZ SHORTEN

Board Chair

Liz Shorten has been working to build capacity in the film, television and digital media sectors for the past 25 years. In her role as Chief Operating Officer (COO) at the CMPA, Liz leads staff and oversees organizational operations across the association’s offices in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver, and works to implement the CMPA’s corporate strategic plan. Liz previously held senior positions at the Ontario Film Development Corporation (Ontario Creates), British Columbia Film (Creative BC), and CBC Television.
Active in many organizations, Liz is currently Chair of the Board of Directors of REEL CANADA and Secretary/Treasurer of the Pacific Screenwriting Program. Liz was a founding Board member of the Crazy8’s Film Society, Co-founder of Women in View and Founding Chair of Story Money Impact. She was recently named one of BC’s top 500 Business Leaders by Business in Vancouver, “Woman of the Year” by Women in Film and Television Vancouver and “Industry Champion” by the Whistler Film Festival in recognition of her leadership role in the film and television industry.


REG BRONSKILL

Board Treasurer

Reg Bronskill began his career in theatre design and performance. His design work was showcased in plays, musicals, and operas across North America. As Chairman and CEO of The Bronskill Group, Inc and majority owner of three separate operating companies, he enjoyed a successful and dynamic career in the North American sports and entertainment business markets, producing live events, international sports spectaculars, digital animation, interactive media, and experimental marketing programs. In 2017, Reg made the decision to sell his interests in all operating companies, BaAM Productions, Inc, INVIVO Communications, Inc, and Spongelab Interactive, and he now enjoys a tranquil life in retirement. Recognized for his strategic visioning, product development and marketing expertise, while working, his company’s clients included major sports organizations such as Major League Baseball, National Hockey League, National Football League, Boston Red Sox, Seattle Mariners, Kansas City Royals, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, as well as global corporations such as Abbott Laboratories, AstraZeneca, Novartis, Biogen Idec, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Centocor, Janssen Therapeutics, Kimberly-Clark, Medtronic, Pfizer, McGraw-Hill and SMART Technology.


ATOM EGOYAN, C.C.

Atom Egoyan has produced a significant body of work in film, television, and theatre. He has won 60 awards and been nominated for 75 others, and has screened his films at festivals around the world. He was the recipient of the Grand Prix and International Critics’ Awards from the Cannes Film Festival and has been nominated for two Academy Awards. He has also received the Governor General’s Award in Performing Arts and is a Companion of the Order of Canada. His films have been presented in major retrospectives around the world and a number of books have been written about his work. Egoyan’s installations have been exhibited at museums and galleries in Canada and abroad, including the Venice Biennale.


COLM FEORE, O.C.

One of Canada’s most celebrated actors and an international success story, Colm Feore has created a host of indelible characterizations on film, television and stage, in both French and English. With a resume too lengthy to replicate in detail, Colm is well-remembered in Canada for his Gemini-winning performance in the mini-series Trudeau, and his Genie-nominated turn as the legendary pianist in Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould. At the Stratford Festival, he’s played virtually all of Shakespeare’s leading men, including Richard III, Iago, Romeo, Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear. International screen credits most recently include Borgias, House of Cards, For All Mankind, and The Umbrella Academy. Feore is an Officer of the Order of Canada and a Governor General’s Performing Arts Lifetime Achievement Award laureate.


JASON RYLE (Anishinaabe)

Jason Ryle is a producer, programmer, curator, story editor, and arts consultant based in Toronto. He is Anishinaabe from Lake St. Martin, Manitoba. Jason was the Executive Director of imagineNATIVE from July 2010 to June 2020. In this capacity, Jason oversaw all operational and artistic activities of the annual imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, including the organization’s year-round initiatives, international partnerships, and special projects. He is currently working as a freelancer, with a focus in Indigenous media arts.


MINA SHUM

Mina Shum has written and directed award-winning films that have premiered at Sundance, Toronto, and Berlin. Her feature Double Happiness won Best Canadian Feature at TIFF, Best First Feature at Berlin, and an audience award at Torino. Her films include Drive, She Said; Long Life, Happiness & Prosperity; Ninth Floor (TIFF Top Ten), and Meditation Park, which won TIFF Film Circuit’s People’s Choice Award and CAAMFest’s Audience Award.


VERONICA TENNANT, C.C.

Veronica Tennant, as Prima Ballerina danced with such luminaries as Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov. Forming Veronica Tennant Productions in 1999, her filmography ranges from arts-performance — to drama — to documentary, winning several awards. Shadow Pleasures, which she conceived and directed, was written by Michael Ondaatje (seven Golden Sheaf Awards, Yorkton Film Festival incl. Norman Jewison Award Best Directing, Best Production, and Best of the Festival). Two of Veronica’s ‘shorts’ have screened in Cineplex theatres nationally: The Cinammon Peeler, pairing with Robert Altman’s The Company, and Something’s Coming – ‘Live’ International Simulcasts. Her Vida Y Danza, Cuba! was invited to the Havana Film Festival – the Canadian broadcast garnering Gemini nominations for Best Directing and Best Performing Arts Production. Inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2001, Veronica in turn created CWOF film tributes on Cirque du Soleil, Diana Krall, Roberta Bondar, Sarah Polley, and Mordecai Richler. Most recently, she produced Christopher Plummer: A Memoir, which screened at Hot Docs 2018 and was streamed in 2019. Honours include: The Governor General’s Performing Arts Award, and, in 2004, promotion to the highest rank, as a Companion of the Order of Canada.


CURTIS BARLOW, Chair Emeritus

Curtis Barlow began his professional career in the arts in 1977 as executive director of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres (PACT). In 1986, he was appointed cultural counsellor to the United Kingdom at the Canadian High Commission in London, and director of the Canada House Cultural Centre. From 1990-1996, he served as Canadian cultural counsellor to the United States, and from 1996 to 2001, was executive director and CEO of the Confederation Centre of the Arts. From 2001 to 2003, he served as director of the Arts and Cultural Industries Promotion Division at the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in Ottawa. Curtis Barlow was appointed deputy secretary (Policy, Program and Protocol) to the Governor General of Canada in March 2003. He became CEO of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship in 2007 and in 2011 completed a two-year term as executive director of the Fort York Foundation. Since 2007, Barlow has served on the boards of directors of the Toronto Arts Council and Toronto Arts Foundation.


Charles Officer (1975 – 2023) We gratefully acknowledge the profound contribution Charles made to REEL CANADA as a longstanding member of our Board of Directors, and to Canadian cinema as a passionate and gifted storyteller.

Our Advisory Committee

Hussain Amarshi

Denys Arcand, C.C.

Carl Bessai

Sonia Bonspille-Boileau (Mohawk) 

Gary Burns

Érik Canuel

Stéphane Cardin

Tantoo Cardinal (Cree/Métis)

David Cronenberg, C.C.

Philippe Falardeau

Niv Fichman

Émile Gaudreault

Danis Goulet (Cree/Métis)

Paul Gross, O.C.

Piers Handling

David Hardy

Ronnie Dean Harris (Stō:lo/St’át’imc/
N’laka’pamux)

Norman Jewison, C.C.

Peter Keleghan

David Kines

Robert Lantos

Bruce McDonald

Don McKellar, C.M.

Deepa Mehta, O.C.

Charlotte Mickie

Alanis Obomsawin, C.C. (Abenaki)

Marguerite Pigott

Jennifer Podemski (Anishinaabe)

Michel Poulette

Peter Raymont

Irfhan Rawji

Dr. Duke Redbird (Anishinaabe)

Denise Robert

Patricia Rozema

Tara Spencer-Nairn

Amanda Strong (Michif)

Clement Virgo

Karen Walton

Janelle Wookey (Métis)

Reel Opportunities Advisory Committee

Tyson Caron, On Screen Manitoba

Laura Churchill, NF Film Commission

Chris Dunn, Ontario Creates

Katannya Lee, Creative BC

Joy Loewen, National Screen Institute

Christine Maestracci, Bureau du cinéma et de la télévision du Québec (BCTQ)

Monty Montgomerie, IATSE Canada

Erin O’Connor, City of Calgary, Calgary Film Centre

Lisa Purdy, Creative BC

Biju Pappachan, POV