Doug Taylor

Doug Taylor is a Montreal resident working in film and television. After graduating from Concordia University’s Specialization in Film Production, he turned his attention to screenwriting. His work in the 1980’s spanned a number of intriguing projects, including David Wellington’s debut feature film, THE CARPENTER. 

Doug later pursued a career in marketing and internet publishing for nearly a decade before returning to his first love: writing for film. In recent years he has been involved in the writing of several high-profile television projects including: “The Atwood Stories” (W Network), “Naked Josh” (Showcase), and is now co- creator on the hour-long series “Playthings” with Kate Schlemmer (in development for TMN/Movie Central), and he is working as a Creative Consultant on “Less Than Kind” for HBO Canada.

His recent feature film work includes the $60 million adventure epic IN THE NAME OF THE KING starring Jason Statham, Ray Liotta, and Burt Reynolds, THEY WAIT, starring Jamie King, and SPLICE with director Vincenzo Natali, starring Adrien Brodey and Sarah Polley. Doug’s work frequently infuses drama with a sly, satirical undertones, often resulting in dark comedy.

Karen Walton

Best known as the writer of the original cult horror film, GINGER SNAPS (2000) Karen Walton has developed original and adapted film projects in almost every genre with top producers in Canada, the UK and the American studio system for almost twenty years. Her television credits include the critically-acclaimed true-story television movies, THE MANY TRIALS OF ONE JANE DOE, and HEART - THE MARILYN BELL STORY. She was also an Executive Story Editor on Season Two of Showtime’s QUEER AS FOLK USA, CTV’s THE CITY and freelanced episodes of CTV’s THE ELEVENTH HOUR, and CBC’s STRAIGHT UP. She is currently a Writer- Supervising Producer on FLASHPOINT (Season IV), has an original series optioned to the producers of DURHAM COUNTY, and is an Executive Producer on the successful web series for Tweens, RUBY SKYE P.I. A graduate of The Canadian Film Centreʼs Film Writers, & Short Film Labs, her trophy collection includes a a Gemini for Best Writing in a Movie or Miniseries, the Canadian Comedy Award for Pretty Funny Screenplay, a special citation from the Toronto International Film Festival for the GINGER SNAPS screenplay, the CTV Banff International Television Festival fellowship Alumni Award, the Sondra Kelly Memorial Award and the Writers Guild of Canada’s prestigious Writers Block Award for out-standing service to the Canadian screenwriting community at large. An active member of the Writers Guild of America - West, Canada & Quebec’s SARTEC, Karen is the founder & current editor of the online writers’ community, ink canada - Canadian screenwriters & their sketchy friends."

Andrew Gurney

Andrew Gurney is the Staff Picture Editor for marblemedia, Production Coordinator for KCFF and a Queen's University alumnus. Over the last 5 years he has worked on a variety of television series including the animated prime time show "The Dating Guy" and the Teletoon hit, "Skatoony."  Upcoming projects including "Splatalot," a painfully hilarious game of "King of the Castle," and seasons 2 and 3 of "Skatoony."

Jason Anderson

Director of Programming for KCFF, Jason Anderson also writes about film regularly for The Eye Weekly, the Toronto Star, Cinema Scope magazine and Artforum.com. He also teaches at Innis College at the University of Toronto and is the author of the novel "Showbiz."

Julie Soebekti

Julie spent her formative years at Rhombus Media toiling in distribution and then falling into post production.  She hasn’t gotten out since.  After a brief sabbatical in a comic shop, a call from marblemedia brought Julie back into the world of television.  Julie has been at marblemedia since their early dining room days and has helped shape the post production department.  Julie has been the post production supervisor on many of marblemedia’s series including "This is Daniel Cook," "The Adrenaline Project," and "Skatoony."  Julie also takes care of the interns and welcomes those with bright ideas, a strong work ethic, and the ability to balance eight cups of coffee in one hand.

Marilyn McAuley

Marilyn has been involved in the animation industry for over 15 years - producing, writing, story editing and voice directing. She has produced a wide variety of projects for preschool to prime time audiences, including "The Dating Guy."  She has managed projects from low budget single studio series to big budget international co-productions with multiple production and broadcast partners.  She started the animation division for a live action studio, which entailed staffing, equipping and establishing production procedures as well as producing the first 26 episode series, "Anne of Green Gables."  She has earned credits as a writer for projects such as Richard Scarry’s "Busytown Mysteries" and "My Dad the Rock Star" and for voice director on "Skatoony." Marilyn has won awards including a Gemini for Best Animated series for "Skyland", Pulcinella Award for Best Series of the Year for Young Adults and Adults for "Braceface" and was nominated for a Gemini for Best Children’s or Youth Fiction Program for "Jacob Two Two."

Aaron Poole

A graduate of George Brown Theatre School and with training in the Strasberg and Meisner techniques, Aaron sizzled in his defining performance as Johnny, a cracked-out street hustler, in Ed Gass-Donnelly’s THIS BEAUTIFUL CITY. Following its premiere at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, Aaron’s performance met rave reviews. His daring portrayal of the recovering addict, garnered him a Genie nomination for Best Actor, a category he shared with Canadian icon Paul Gross and the legendary Christopher Plummer.

Poole won the Best Actor ACTRA Award that same year for the role. Since THIS BEAUTIFUL CITY, Aaron has played a recurring role on TMN’s “Z.O.S.: Zone of Separation” and was featured in Atom Egoyan’s ADORATION.  The next year he also traveled with Egoyan to Armenia to begin shooting an ongoing film collaboration with the filmmaker.

After coming home from another exotic location in Lebanon where he was filming the 2011 Sundance Audience Choice award-winning feature, CIRCUMSTANCE, Poole teamed up with Ed Gass-Donnelly and producer Lee Kim once again for SMALL TOWN MURDER SONGS, a crime drama also starring Peter Stormare, Martha Plimpton, and Jill Hennessy.

Currently, Aaron can be seen in HBO Canada’s “Living in Your Car”; “Cra$h and Burn”; upcoming episodes of CTV’s “Flashpoint”; CBC’s “Republic of Doyle”; and as a series regular in Shaw Media’s new series “King”.

Elan Mastai

Note: Due to unforeseen circumstances, Elan will not be able to join us. Jason Anderson will replace him at the Screenwriting Workshop.

Elan Mastai is a screenwriter. He is currently collaborating with Oscar and Emmy winner Alan Ball (AMERICAN BEAUTY, SIX FEET UNDER) on HOW ABOUT NEVER for Paramount, with Ball slated to direct. Other current script projects include GET OVER IT for Paramount and THIS AMERICAN LIFE, FIRST KISS for Warner Brothers and De Line Pictures (I LOVE YOU, MAN), and THE F WORD for Fox-Searchlight and MR.MUDD (Juno). His produced features include MVP2, ALONE IN THE DARK, and SK8 LIFE, which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. He is represented in the US by the Gersh Agency and in Canada by Great North Artists.

Ingrid Veninger

MODRA is Ingrid Veninger’s debut feature as sole producer/writer/director. Born in Bratislava and raised in Canada, she formed pUNK Films Inc. in 2003 with a “nothing is impossible” manifesto. An award-winning creative producer, Ingrid has made numerous films. including: GAMBLING, GODS AND LSD, (Genie Award for Best Documentary, 2002), THE LIMB SALESMAN (TIFF 2004), ONLY (TIFF 2008) and NURSE.FIGHTER.BOY (TIFF 2008), nominated for 10 Genie Awards in 2010 including Best Motion Picture. Upcoming, Ingrid is co-producing Peter Mettler's END OF TIME with the NFB, and developing a new indie-epic entitled MAGENTA. www.punkfilms.ca

Jonathan Sobol

Jonathan Sobol has been a full-time screenwriter for the past several years. Selected as one of Canada’s “Ten to Watch” by Playback magazine in 2006. Jonathan sold the first feature screenplay he wrote (CITIZEN DUANE, 2007, dist. Maple Pictures) which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival and has played around the world. Jonathan has optioned five other original scripts, adapted a novel into a feature screenplay (FARLEY MOWAT'S OWLS IN THE FAMILY), and has done a wide variety of story work in both the Canadian and American market.

While kept busy with writing, Jonathan has also moved into directing – helming a short project produced in conjunction with the C.B.C. that debuted at the Atlantic Film Festival last year. Additionally, Jonathan has written a graphic novel based on his screenplay A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO ENDINGS with an anticipated release date of 2010. Most recently, Jonathan has completed his feature directorial debut based on his screenplay A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO ENDINGS which has debuted as a Gala presentation at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. The film is currently playing at festivals around the world and will be released domestically and internationally this year.

Nadia Litz

Nadia Litz is an award-winning actress having starred in over 20 films. After her debut at the Cannes film festival in Jeremy Podeswa’s award winning film THE FIVE SENSES Maclean’s magazine voted her “One to Watch” for the millennium. In 2007 she won the Vancouver’s film critics award for her role in Reg Harkema’s MONKEY WARFARE. After graduating with a film theory degree at York University in 2008, she was accepted into the prestigious Berlinale Talent Campus 2009, where she studied under Tilda Swinton and Janusz Kaminski. Months after her return she was accepted as a Director–In-Residence at Norman Jewison’s prestigious Canadian Film Center. Her directorial debut HOW TO RID YOUR LOVER OF A NEGATIVE EMOTION CAUSED BE YOU!  made it’s world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2010. She is writing currently her first feature.

Alex Jansen

Alex Jansen is owner and operator of Pop Sandbox, a multimedia production and publishing company with a central focus on graphic novels and film.

Pop Sandbox' inaugural release was the ground-breaking 300-page journalistic comic book, "KENK," which had its highly publicized premiere during Hot Docs and the Toronto Comic Arts Festival in May 2010. It was the first graphic novel ever excerpted nationally by the Globe & Mail and the first graphic novel to be featured on the cover of Now Magazine, Canada's biggest weekly newspaper. "KENK" was recently named a Best Book of 2010 by Quill & Quire, Canada's top literary magazine, and was a special presentation at the International Documentary Festival of Amsterdam. It is currently being developed into a fully animated film.

Pop Sandbox' second release is "The Next Day," both a traditional print graphic novel and a robust interactive animated web documentary being co-produced with the National Film Board of Canada, and they have two further projects slated for 2011 release. Prior to launching Pop Sandbox, Jansen spent four years managing home entertainment with Mongrel Media, Canada's premiere independent and foreign film distribution company.

In addition to his extensive distribution background, Jansen was Co-Producer of the feature film WALK BACKWARDS, which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2001. Jansen is also Founder of the Kingston Canadian Film Festival, which he started while a Film student at Queen's University.

Julian T. Pinder

Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Julian T. Pinder went on to studied film and politics at Queen’s University. He then apprenticed under Nick de Pencier and Jennifer Baichwal (TRUE MEANING OF PICTURES, MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES) before assisting director Helen Shaver ("Law and Order," "The Unit," "Medium"), followed by a number of years producing television with Sarrazin Couture Entertainment in Toronto.

Aside from being immersed in film from an early age, Julian is rough traveler with an interest in the seedier and more volatile parts of the world. He brings a knowledge of filmmaking, a proclivity for story, and a keen sense of the ‘other side’ to his films. Julian teamed up with Six Island Productions (KHALED, HOCKEY NOMAD), the NFB, TVO, and Canwest-Hot Docs to direct his debut feature documentary, LAND. Premiering to sold out audiences at HotDocs, LAND received rave reviews across the board and is currently playing film festivals as well as a successful theatrical run throughout Canada, the United States and Europe.

Julian and producer Paul Scherzer have teamed up again on another feature documentary about the invasion of the gas extraction industry in northern Canada, TROUBLE IN THE PEACE, which is currently in production.

Ryan Redford

Originally from British Columbia, Ryan Redford graduated from York University's film program in Toronto and completed an apprenticeship in directing through the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. His short films have screened at over 50 festivals, with two of those shorts premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival, in 2003 and 2005, respectively. In 2010, his first feature, OLIVER SHERMAN (starring Garret Dillahunt, Molly Parker and Donal Logue), also premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. The CBC called it "The Best Canadian Film" of the festival; The Toronto Star noted “Redford  shows  remarkable  maturity  and  restraint  for  a  first-­‐time   filmmaker,  letting  his  superb  cast  shine”; Exclaim! Magazine wrote “it shows a new talent in the Canadian filmmaking scene, being one of the more assured debuts to come from English-speaking Canada in quite some time”; and Twitchfilm described it as "independent filmmaking that punches weigh above its weight. . . . a highlight of the TIFF 2010 menu." The film won Best Canadian Feature at the Festival du Nouveau Cinema in Montreal and the National Film Board Award for Best First Feature at Cinéfest.

Ed Gass-Donnelly

Bio coming soon.

Nicola Luksic

Radio producer Nicola Luksic finds her home at "The Current" on CBC Radio One. She created and produced a 10-part radio series with David Suzuki last summer called "The Bottom Line." She also co-created and produced "And Sometimes Y" - an award-winning CBC Radio show on language that broadcast 2006 to 2008. Her radio documentary work has taken her to the former Yugoslavia (Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia), Chiapas, Zambia and South Africa. She is presently senior producer on "Ideas and Tapestry."

Richard Goddard

Richard Goddard is one of the founding producers of Q on CBC Radio ONE. Over the past 4 years, he has…I…I just can’t do it this way. Kingstonians, I pitch, write and book guests like Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, The National, and Ornette Coleman. I know that last name might not mean much to you, but hell, tell me another job where you can dial up a hero or two and plug them into Canadian brains from sea to shining sea? Next week, I’m co-producing a show in New York City and the week after that it’s the Juno Awards here in Toronto. Ten years ago I had a career in the advertising industry that didn’t inspire me in the least. Find something you love and do that. Note: sacrifices may be necessary. See you at the “Break In” event on Friday.

Rayne Zukerman

Rayne Zukerman, a lawyer by training, founded Zazie Films Inc. with Dominic Desjardins in 2008. Zazie Films develops television and feature film projects primarily in French. Rayne recently produced the independent feature film LE DIVAN DU MONDE (EVERYBODY’S COUCH), a road movie about two francophones hitchhiking across the country, which is currently doing the festival circuit around the world. Rayne has gained extensive production experience by working at Entertainment One and Barna Alper Productions. She has been mentored by some of Canada’s top producers. She completed the Canadian Film Centre, and co-produced the 2010 short dramatic film CHAMPAGNE.

S. Wyeth Clarkson

S. Wyeth Clarkson's background in film editing spawned his fascination with the "language of cinema." Having worked with some of Canada's foremost feature film and documentary directors he set out to make his first feature film, DEADEND.COM (2000), something that would synergize fact and fiction to such an extent that one would no longer be distinguishable from the other. This pursuit of new ways of telling stories continues online where DEADEND subplots and character arcs are further unveiled in a reality e-comic book.

His feature THE MOUNTIE is debuting at KCFF.