• Hayet Benkara – Industry Consultant, Toronto International Film Festival

  

  No stranger to the film festival circuit, and international markets, Hayet Benkara has years of expertise in the film industry in North America, Europe and the Middle East. Hayet spent six years as the Manager of the Sales Office at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival. Landmark festivals such as Cannes, Berlin, International Film Festival Rotterdam (CineMart), Dubai, Abu Dhabi Film festival and recently New Horizon (Poland) and the Doha Tribeca Film Festival (Qatar) benefit from her expertise as a match-maker and a Film Industry Advisor. She is regularly invited at festivals and markets to share her insights and tips on festival and marketing strategies, sales and distribution, and DIY. In 2007 she was appointed Director of Programming and Industry Series at ReelWorld Film Festival in Toronto. Since 2009 her company Prodigy 360 services and advises international filmmakers and producers at different stages of their projects.

• Ryan Kampe – President, Visit Films

  

  Ryan is the President of Visit Films. Prior to founding Visit Films with Sylvain Tron, he spent a number of years in International Distribution at Focus Features. With Visit Films, he has been responsible for the worldwide sales of a number of important American independent and international films that have premiered in festivals such as Cannes, Sundance, Berlin, and Toronto from filmmakers as diverse as Harmonie Korine, Werner Herzog, The Duplass Brothers, Ali Samadi Ahadi, Joe Swanberg and David Robert Mitchell.

  In 2010, he was on the road for 4 1/2 months and pitched buyers on 4 continents. He has sat on numerous panels and roundtables around the world and is on the IFP Film Week advisory board. Ryan graduated from Macalester College in St. Paul, MN.

• Derrick Martini – Writer/Director, Hick

  

  At twenty three years old, Derick Martini made his feature film debut as the producer, co-writer and  co-star of the multiple award-winning film Smiling Fish And Goat On Fire. 
  Lymelife, an original script, marked Derick's feature film directorial debut in a personal story, which he co-wrote with his brother Steven Martini. Produced by Martin Scorsese, it earned Derick a Gotham Award nomination as “Breakthrough Director”, won the International Critic’s Award at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival and was theatrically released worldwide in 2009.
  Hick is Derick’s second produced feature film as co-writer/director.  Adapted from the novel of the same name, it stars Blake Lively, Chloe Grace-Moretz, Alec Baldwin, Eddie Redmayne, Rory Culkin and Juliette Lewis. His other feature film writing credits include the soon to be released bio-pic  Bolden!, the life story of the mythical jazz legend Buddy Bolden; the thriller Selling Time, which is in development at 20th Century Fox; and his original crime drama The Day Trader, which is in development at Imagine Entertainment/Universal Pictures.

• Milan Popelka – Chief Operating Officer, FilmNation

  

  Milan Popelka is the Chief Operating Officer at FilmNation Entertainment, a leading independent entertainment company focused on the sales representation of international film & television rights as well as the internal development, production, and financing of feature films. Popelka’s responsibilities include overseeing all day-to-day operations and finance for the company. 
  In its short history, FilmNation has secured an industry-leading slate of diverse, high profile titles, both for international sales representation (including Best Picture Academy Award® Winner The King’s Speech; Relativity Media’s untitled Snow White project starring Julia Roberts; and Terrence Malick’s untitled love story starring Ben Affleck and Rachel McAdams) as well as for production (including Mud starringMatthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon; The Raven starring John Cusack; and an untitled horror / thriller being produced by genre maven Oren Peli (Paranormal Activity)).
  Prior to joining FilmNation, Popelka oversaw creative/finance at Samuels Media (Michael Clayton), worked in the Independent Finance Group at Creative Artists Agency (CAA), and served as an analyst in the entertainment practice of McKinsey & Company. 

• Jane Schoettle – International Programmer, Toronto International Film Festival

  

  Jane Schoettle is an International Programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival, responsible for programming films from Australia, New Zealand and Israel, as well as American independent cinema. Having joined TIFF in 2002, her keen eye for discovering new talent was confirmed when films she programmed won the Cadillac People’s Choice Award three years running — Hotel Rwanda in 2004, Tsotsi in 2005 and Bella in 2006.

  Schoettle is the founder and former Director of the Sprockets Toronto International Film Festival for Children, recognized as one of the top five children’s festivals in the world. She has worked as a script consultant for private clients and participated in numerous film residency programmes, most recently for the South Australian Film Corporation at the Adelaide Film Festival and for Screen Australia held in Sydney. She has served on numerous international festival juries including events in Scandinavia, Europe, South America and South Asia, and often appears on-camera or in-print as a film expert. She has spoken extensively on the subject of ‘Festival Strategies for Independent Films’, most recently in Auckland, Sydney, Melbourne, SXSW 2010 and 2011, as well as the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.

• MODERATOR: Peter Belsito – Co-Founder, FilmFinders

  

  Peter Belsito grew up in New York City and graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and from the Masters film program at UCLA. After graduating from UCLA he worked professionally as a cinematographer, produced feature films and feature documentaries and wrote screenplays.  He assisted Sydney Levine in founding Film Finders in 1988 as a blue chip film acquisitions tracking, consulting and publishing firm. He came on board full time in 1995 as a partner, Head of Sales and Marketing and as Executive Vice President. Peter travels extensively throughout the year to film festivals and markets worldwide. In July 2006 Film Finders merged with Withoutabox to develop new digital services for filmmakers, festivals and international sales and distribution.  After Film Finders/Withoutabox were sold to IMDb/Amazon.com, Belsito joined them and amicably left IMDb in April 2009 to pursue activities as an independent. Today he is a guest blogger on SydneysBuzz, which covers the international independent film business on indieWIRE.

From Stitch to Screen: Contemporary Canadian Costume Design
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From the wild and ostentatious to the understated and subdued; from period-drama to sci-fi – costume design is a craft that covers every fabric worn on-screen. Celebrated Canadian costume designers gather to discuss their trade, their role in bringing a story to life and the challenges facing their business and industry. Produced in association with The Canadian Alliance of Film and Television Costume Arts and Design (CAFTCAD) and Otherworldly: The Art of Canadian Costume Design, an exhibition in the Canadian Film Gallery at TIFF Bell Lightbox.

• Alex Kavanagh – Costume Designer, Splice, Saw 3D: The Final Chapter

  

  Alex Kavanagh designs costumes for film and television and enjoys a creative challenge utilizing her training at the Dalhousie University Costume Studies program. Her recent credits include the romantic drama The Vow starring Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum, the dance film Cobu 3D starring Derek Hough and BoA, and Alex also re-teamed with director Vincenzo Natali on Splice following their 2003 collaboration on Natali’s feature Nothing.
  Alex designed Saw 3D, the latest installment of the popular horror thriller series, and has designed the costumes for its predecessors, beginning with Saw II.  She also designed the costumes for the ambitious musical Repo! The Genetic Opera and the Canadian Kids in the Hall comedy miniseries Death Comes to Town. Alex’s other design credits include Land of the Dead, Diary of the Dead and Survival of the Dead for director George A. Romero, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, Gingersnaps III: The Beginning, Ginger Snaps II: Unleashed, and the independent comedy Young People F*cking, directed by Martin Gero.

• Heather Neale – Costume Designer, Goon, Keyhole

  

  Heather Neale is a Costume Designer based out of Winnipeg, Manitoba.  She graduated with a Clothing and Textiles Degree from the University of Manitoba and in 1999 began her film career designing independent features and working in various other positions within the costume department. In 2009, Heather designed Guy Maddin’s Night Mayor, a short film created as a tribute for the National Film Board of Canada’s 70th Anniversary.  She also designed Guy Maddin’s Keyhole,and the various series of Hauntings.  Heather’s most recent projects include Goon and the television series Todd & the Book of Pure Evil Season 2.

• Delphine White – Costume Designer, Videodrome, Tideland

  

  Genie, Gemini and Emmy nominated designer Delphine White creates for film, television and theatre. She transformed an academic degree in Political Science into the practical world of costume design through professional training at George Brown College and then working in the film industry. Early in her career she worked with David Cronenberg on Scanners and Videodrome and discovered the wide-ranging yet subtle recognition of horror in the ordinary. With Paul Hunter in Bulletproof Monk she brought a comic book to life through pure imagination and found freedom in both the concept and the realization of unseen characters. In Terry Gillaim’s Tideland Delphine worked with Mario D’Avignon to Co-Design with a director who could conceptualize his ideas on paper in such detail that the costume designer becomes a voice in the chorus of an entire production. With Barry Levinson, Delphine worked with writer to create the look for the political satire Man of the Year. Most recently, she worked with Jim Sheridan in the film Dream House.

• MODERATOR: Sydney Levine – Founder, Sydneysbuzz.com & Co-Founder, FilmFinders

  

  Sydney invented the unique acquisitions database FilmFinders in 1988 to service distributors, international sales agents and festivals programmers looking to acquire features. Before developing this database she was Vice President of Acquisitions for Republic Pictures. Sydney was the first woman in international distribution and served at Twentieth Century Fox in Amsterdam. In July 2006 FilmFinders merged with Withoutabox to develop new digital services for filmmakers, festivals and international sales and distribution. In January 2008 IMDb acquired the company. After integrating FilmFinders into IMDbPro, Sydney left in May 2009, to pursue other interests in the business including creating online education courses and setting up The Literacy Project for middle school Latino children at El Centro del Barrio in Los Angeles.

The Film Funders
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Following the success of last year’s “Finding Film Funding” session, leading industry funders gather to shed new light on funding opportunities for Canadian filmmakers. This session will also discuss how funding bodies are responding to the evolution and emergence of transmedia and new media film projects. National and provincial funding representatives will give insight on the funding options available and provide advice for writing the best possible application to secure your film’s bottom-line.

• Dan Lyon – Regional Feature Film Executive:  Ontario & Nunavut Regions, Telefilm Canada

  

  Prior to joining Telefilm, Dan worked primarily as a distributor and executive producer. Originally an entertainment lawyer, Dan joined Astral Bellevue Pathe Inc. in 1985 and ultimately became Executive Vice-President, Distribution for Astral and its successor companies Coscient, Motion and TVA. He subsequently formed his own company Dandelion Entertainment Ventures Inc.  As a distributor, Dan was awarded the Golden Reel for The Art of War and was the first independent buyer in the world (at the screenplay stage) for Roman Polanski’s The Pianist which went on to win the Palme D’Or and three Academy Awards. Credits as executive producer include Ginger Snaps, Red Green’s Duct Tape Forever, Twist, and Everything’s Gone Green. Additional awards include a Peabodyfor The Interrogation of Michael Crowe. The first project he championed upon joining Telefilm in the fall of 2005 was Away From Her, which received two Academy Award nominations in January 2008 (“Best Adapted Screenplay” and “Best Actress”).

• Ann MacKenzie – President & CEO, Film Nova Scotia

  

  Ann joined the Film Nova Scotia team in 1997. Since then, Ann has aggressively promoted Nova Scotia’s talented film community and beautiful locations internationally. Under her leadership the Corporation has partnered with the film community on projects of a financial or training nature resulting in annual production revenues in excess of $100 million and the creation of almost 3000 jobs for the past decade.
  Prior to joining Film Nova Scotia, she held senior management positions with both Price Waterhouse and KPMG. She began her career in public accounting in 1985. Her experience in a wide range of service areas has been a great addition to the Corporation’s resources. Ann’s past experience has been in the areas of financial analysis, strategic planning, valuations and litigation support work. Ann holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from St. Mary’s University, a Chartered Accounting Designation, and a Certified Public Accounting Designation. Ann received a Masters degree in Electronic Commerce majoring in law, from Dalhousie University May 2004.

• Kristine Murphy – Director of Industry Development, OMDC

  

  Kristine has been at the Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) since 2000 and is currently the Director of Industry Development, a position she has held since 2005. Kristine oversees both the Ontario Film Commission activities and direct financial support for Ontario creative industries under OMDC's mandate (film, television, interactive digital media, book & magazine publishing and music) through content and marketing grants and investments, export support and other strategic initiatives targeted at business development.
  Prior to the OMDC, since 1988 Kristine worked in the Provincial Ontario Ministry of Culture and the Ontario Heritage Foundation in a variety of progressively responsible positions involving film and television policy, music and commercial theatre policy, international trade policy, heritage research and cultural agency policy and relations.

• Robert Wong - Vice President, Tax Credits & Development, Film BC

  

  Robert joined British Columbia Film in 1998 and was originally tasked with developing the framework of the provincial film and television tax credit program.  In that time, the tax credits have grown into a $250 million per year program in a billion dollar industry and Robert has played an integral role in the evolution of British Columbia’s film and television tax policy, with the aim of continuing to build the success of the industry in BC. In addition to overseeing the administration and marketing of the tax credit program, he is responsible for British Columbia Film’s project, company and skills development initiatives.  He is an advisor to government on film, television and digital media issues and is a regular guest speaker in the local and international film community.

• MODERATOR: John Galway – President, Harold Greenberg Fund

  

  John Galway is an MBA graduate with twenty-years of experience in film and television.  His experience ranges from film festivals, to production and financing. Since joining The Fund in 2005, he has overseen the organization’s support of over 500 projects, including Away from Her, Barney’s Version and One Week. John has also worked on several industry boards, juries and advisory committees and recently co-founded the Toronto Irish Film Festival.

Activating Your Audience: Crowd-Funding and Innovative Distribution

Increasingly, filmmakers are taking finance and distribution into their own hands by building direct relationships with audiences that can support an on-going career, not just one film. Peter Broderick, President of Paradigm Consulting, is a leading advocate of this trend. He'll give a world-premiere address on crowd-funding and the revolution in distribution. He’ll be joined by filmmaker Gary Hustwit who has created a successful model for the DIY approach with his documentaries Helvetica, Objectified and his latest Urbanized.

• Gary Hustwit – Director/Writer/Producer, Urbanized

  

  Gary Hustwit is an independent filmmaker based in New York and London. Gary worked with LA punk label SST Records in the late-1980s, ran the independent book publishing house Incommunicado Press during the 1990s, was Vice President of the media website Salon.com in 2000, and started the indie DVD label Plexifilm in 2001. Gary has produced eight feature documentaries, including the award-winning I Am Trying To Break Your Heart about the band Wilco; Moog, about electronic music pioneer Robert Moog; and Oddsac, an experimental feature with the band Animal Collective.  In 2007 he made his directorial debut with Helvetica, a documentary about graphic design and typography. The film marked the beginning of a design film trilogy, with Objectified, about industrial design and product design following in 2009. Urbanized, about the design of cities, will have its world premiere at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.  A longtime advocate of self-distribution and directly engaging his audience, Gary will be self-releasing Urbanized with a global screening tour, theatrical runs, and DVD and digital releases.

• MODERATOR: Peter Broderick – President, Paradigm Consulting

  

  A leading distribution strategist, Peter consults with filmmakers and media companies to develop strategies to maximize distribution, audiences, and revenues. He was previously President of Next Wave Films, which helped launch the careers of Christopher Nolan and other exceptionally talented filmmakers. Peter became one of the most influential advocates of digital movie-making and is now focused on the revolution in film distribution. He has given keynotes and presentations in Amsterdam, Sydney, Toronto, Cannes, Berlin, and Sundance. With Scott Kirsner, Peter designed and presented Distribution U., a one-day crash course on the new rules of marketing and distribution. Peter is also a leading advocate of crowd funding and crowd sourcing. His seminal reports, “Welcome to the New World of Distribution” and “Declaration of Independence” are concise guides to the latest distribution strategies.

Contemporary Latin-American Cinema

With Buenos Aires in the spotlight for our City to City programme and an abundance of outstanding feature and documentary premieres, Latin-American cinema is enjoying a banner year at the Festival and around the world. Join Festival programmer, Diana Sanchez and celebrated filmmakers from this year’s selection as they discuss trends, themes and business models in the diverse and vibrant independent film industries of Central and South America.

• Karim Aïnouz – Director, The Silver Cliff

  

  Karim was born in Fortaleza, Brazil, he later moved to New York, obtaining a Master's in Studio Art and Cinema Studies at NYU. He has made several films including Viajo Porque Preciso Volto Porque Te Amo, a documentary about a geologist in remote Brazil. The film screened at the Venice Film Festival and won the Grand Coral - First Prize at the Havana Film Festival, and Best Film at the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival. O Abismo Prateado, his latest film, has been selected for the Contemporary World Cinema programme at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. His next film, Violeta e o Sorvete Solar, is in post-production; and Praia do Futuro, is in pre-production.

• Pablo Cruz – Producer, Miss Bala

  

  Pablo Cruz  studied film theory at the London College of Printing, and obtained a degree from the New York’s School of Visual Arts.  He has produced over ten films in five years, including: Gerardo Naranjo’s Drama/Mex and Voy A Explotar [I’m Gonna Explode]; Diego Luna’s directorial debut, documentary J.C. Chávez and Abel and Gael Garcia Bernal’s directorial debut, Déficit. Cruz most recently produced Gerardo Naranjo’s third film, Miss Bala.   
  Creating Canana Films in 2005 with partners Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna, Cruz has helped make inroads in Mexican cinema and distribution.  The same year the team also co-founded Documental Ambulente , a non-profit organization that produces a traveling documentary film festival in Mexico

• Pablo Giorgelli – Writer/Director, Las Acacias

  

  Pablo Giorgelli was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1967. Between 1991 and 1994 he studied Film Direction at the Universidad del Cine headed by Manuel Antín. As a director and scriptwriter he has worked on several documentaries and short films.
  As an editor, he has worked in Moebius (1995), directed by Gustavo Mosquera and Solo Por Hoy (2001) by Ariel Rotter. Las Acacias is his first feature; its script was awarded the Coral Prize for Best Unpublished Script at the 29th Havana Film Festival.
  Selected for Critics’ Week at Cannes this year, Las Acacias went on to win the prestigious Camera D’Or at Cannes 2011, as well as the Soutien ACID/CCAS and the Prix OFAJ de la (Toute) Jeune Critique awards.

• Cristián Jiménez – Writer/Director, Bonsái

  

  Cristián Jiménez  was born in Valdivia, Chile, in 1975. Before becoming a filmmaker, Cristián wrote short stories and studied sociology in Santiago, Heidelberg and London. As a child he dreamt of being a stand-up comedian. Bonsái  is his second feature film, selected for the Cinéfondation Residence 2010.

• MODERATOR: Diana Sanchez – Programmer, Toronto International Film Festival

  

  Diana Sanchez is an International Programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival, responsible for introducing audiences to the best in Latin American cinema.
  The year after she joined the Festival in 2002, she programmed the Festival’s spotlight on Brazil, Vida de Novo. Sanchez subsequently programmed two surveys of Argentine Cinema for TIFF Cinematheque, in 2004 and 2006. Also in 2006, she programmed a week of Cuban cinema at the Royal Ontario Museum. 
  Sanchez is currently a programme consultant for the International Film Festival Rotterdam, a senior programme consultant for the Miami International Film Festitval, and has been involved in a variety of other festivals and cinematic presentations. She also programs the Calgary Latin Wave with the PROA Foundation in Argentina, now in its second year. In 2007 Sanchez was on the Ecuadorian Ministry of Culture Film Fund jury and in 2008 was on the first Premiera Copia jury at the Havana Film Festival. She has also been a jury member for the script development fund at the Colombian Ministry of Culture.

The Screenwriters
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From words on a page to storytelling on the big screen, script is the backbone of any film. Franklin Leonard, creator of Blcklst.com, meets with screenwriters from around the globe for an engaging talk on process, influences, challenges and other issues relating to the craft.

• Oliver Hermanus – Writer/Director, Beauty

  

  Oliver Hermanus was born in Cape Town. He worked as a press photographer with a national news agency in South Africa before completing his master’s degree at the London Film School. His feature films are Shirley Adams and Beauty, both of which screened at the Festival.

• Julia Leigh – Writer/Director, Sleeping Beauty; Writer, The Hunter

  

  Julia Leigh comes to film having established herself as a leading contemporary novelist. Her first novel The Hunter (1999) was internationally shortlisted for many prizes and won a Betty Trask Award (UK), the Prix de L’Astrolabe Etonnants Voyageurs (France), and was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. She was named a Sydney Morning Herald Young Novelist of the Year (Australia) and “one of 21 writers for the 21st century” by The Observer (UK). The film based on the novel, directed by Daniel Nettheim, written by Alice Addison and starring Willem Dafoe, will premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. Her work is published in 7 languages. In 2008 the script for Sleeping Beauty landed on the Hollywood ‘Black List’ and she was named one of 25 New Faces of independent cinema by Filmmaker Magazine (US). She was born in Australia in 1970 and received a Bachelor of Arts majoring in philosophy and a Bachelor of Laws, both from the University of Sydney. In 2009 she received a PhD in English from the University of Adelaide. She is currently based in Sydney, having spent extensive periods in Paris and New York (where she was Adjunct Associate Professor at Barnard College, Columbia University).

• Will Reiser – Screenwriter, 50/50

  

  Writer/producer Will Reiser grew up in Terrytown, NY where he went on to study writing at West Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. His first job in television came in 2003 when he produced on the show Steve Harvey's: Big Time. Later, he was Associate Producer on the popular HBO series Da Ali G Show. Following Da Ali G Show, Will wrote and produced Best Week Ever, the Robert Wuhl HBO documentary Assume The Position and its follow up Assume The Position 201. Reiser also produced pilots for Comedy Central with comedians Lewis Black and Nick DiPaolo. In 2007, Reiser joined Superego Industries, developing both television and film projects. In September 2011, Summit Entertainment will release 50/50, Reiser's feature film debut. The genesis for the project came back in 2005 when Reiser was diagnosed with a serious form of cancer. The film will premiere at this year's Toronto International Film Festival.

• Jonathan Teplitzky – Writer/Director, Burning Man

  

  Jonathan Teplitzky is currently in the final stages of post-production on his latest feature film, Burning Man, which he has written and directed. Teplitzky studied film and television at Middlesex University in London. After spending more than a decade living and working overseas, he returned to Australia to write and direct his first feature film, Better Than Sex, starring David Wenham and Susie Porter.
  The film opened the 2000 Sydney International Film Festival and was selected for Telluride, Toronto, New York, and London festivals. Better Than Sex was nominated in eight categories at the 2000 AFI awards, including best film, and has sold to over fifty countries, premiering in the US in October 2001.
  Jonathan has directed more than 100 commercials and music videos. He has also worked as a Director of Photography and camera operator. As a stills photographer, his photographs have been included in several exhibitions in Sydney, London and New York.

• George Toles – Screenwriter, Keyhole

  

  George Toles is Distinguished Professor of Literature and Film and Chair of Film Studies at the University of Manitoba. He has been Guy Maddin's regular screenwriting collaborator for the past twenty five years. He co-authored the original screenplay for Guy's most recent feature, Keyhole (2011). George also wrote the original story and co-authored the screenplay for Canada's first stop-action animated feature, Edison and Leo, which won the Best Animated Feature award at Bangkock International Animation Festival. George is presently writing a book on the films of Paul Thomas Anderson.

• MODERATOR: Franklin Leonard – Creator, Blcklst.com and Vice-President, Overbrook Entertainment

  

  Overbrook Entertainment Vice President of Creative Affairs Franklin Leonard is the creator of the Black List and co-creator of Blcklst.com, a yearly publication highlighting Hollywood’s most popular unproduced screenplays and its ongoing home on the web.  Since 2010, he has been named one of Hollywood Reporter’s 30 Under 30, Black Enterprise magazine’s “40 Emerging Leaders for Our Future,” AOL Black Voices “30 Black Hollywood Game Changers” and Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business.”  

In Tune: The Right Music for Your Film
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Iconic moments in cinema marry images with music to create mood and stir emotion – but how to get the best soundtrack for your film? Which options are available for building an original score within your film’s budget? This session will explore the synergy between music and moving image while presenting new tools to source and license great music for your project.

• Jason Collett – Singer/Songwriter, Broken Social Scene

  

  Jason Collett has played the role of the wise, big-brother character in Broken Social Scene: the calm, cool, collected totem of stability in a band defined by drama and chaos. But at the core of Collett’s wisdom is the idea that, the older you get, the more you realize there’s still so much to learn. The result is a songwriter who continues to grow and challenge; his fifth full-length, Rat A Tat Tat was long listed for the Polaris Music Prize. Collett is a gifted and revered Canadian songwriter, with a knack for storytelling that sets him apart from many contemporaries. His music has been featured in numerous films including television and film projects including Take This Waltz (Sarah Polley), Management (Jennifer Aniston), NBC's Parenthood and ABC's No Ordinary Family.

• Michael Dowse – Director, Fubar I & II, Goon

  

  Michael was born into a poor Irish immigrant family and raised in Calgary, Alberta.  He started out in the editing suite then graduated up to short films and music videos, doing three videos for The New Pornographers.  In the year 2000 he made his first feature FUBAR, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, It’s All Gone Pete Tong was Michael’s second feature, going on to win the “City Award” at the 2004 Toronto International Film, “Best Film” at HBO’s Aspen Comedy Festival and “Best Film” at the Gen Art Film Festival in New York. His first foray into cable television, The Foundation, which he co-created, wrote and directed, premiered on Showcase in September 2009.  In 2010 the long awaited sequel FUBAR II opened Midnight Madness at TIFF and went on to be a huge success theatrically. Michael’s first American studio film, Take Me Home Tonight, starring Topher Grace and Anna Faris, for Imagine Entertainment and Relativity was released worldwide on March 4th, 2011. Goon is slated for release in February 2012. Michael resides in Montreal.

• Jared Gutstadt – Founder & CEO, Jingle Punks

  

  If you own a TV you have heard the music of Jingle Jared. With shows like NBC’s The Voice, Pawn Stars, American Pickers, The Kardashians and Real Housewives of Atlanta in his arsenal, Jared Gutstadt has turned his company Jingle Punks into the industry standard for the world of film, TV and advertising, music licensing and creative services. Jared co-founded Jingle Punks Music after spending a decade balancing a dual career as an editor by day and rock star by night. After years cutting and composing for many of the TV industry's top networks, it was apparent to Jared that the media had a ravenous appetite for dynamic music collections that would change and grow to reflect cultural trends. 
  Jingle Punks’ unique style of branding and marketing, has in a short time turned them into one of the most recognizable brands in the music licensing space. Their knack for music integration has landed his team of Jingle Punks special appearances on NBC’s Last Call with Carson Daly.

• Season Kent – Music Supervisor, Clear Songs

  

  With an excess of ten years of film music experience under her belt, Season Kent has overseen more than 20 films including the Academy Award ® winning feature film The Fighter and two official selections at the 2011 Toronto Film Festival – Machine Gun Preacher and Ten Year.  Kent most recently partnered with the music supervision company Clearsongs, Inc. where she is supervising and consulting on projects for HBO (which include Entourage, How To Make It In America, Treme and Luck), ABC (the upcoming series Revenge) and several film studios (including the upcoming film End of Watch and World War Z).  Before partnering with Clearsongs, Kent oversaw the day-to-day Music Supervision for Relativity Media as Executive in Charge of Music for all of Relativity Media and Rogue Pictures productions – films included Limitless, Dear John, MacGruber and Brothers.

• MODERATOR: Kieran Roy – General Manager, Arts & Crafts

  

  As General Manager of Arts & Crafts, Kieran plays a key role in the development of some of Canada's leading independent artists.  He serves as manager to Jason Collett, Zeus, and Dan Mangan, calling on a wealth of industry knowledge and business savvy to provide guidance in all aspects of the artists' careers.  He oversees sales and marketing for the label and plays a key role in new business development.  In addition, Kieran is responsible for music licensing, liaising with music supervisors, agencies and producers to actively pitch the company’s label and publishing assets for film, television and advertising placements.  Prior to joining A&C, Kieran spent six years at Sony BMG as an artist marketing manager.