THE PEOPLE

Loretta Sarah Todd
director | producer

Girl. Cree. Metis. White. Writes (been to Sundance Writer's Lab). Directs (lots of films, many festivals). Thinks (essays that are full of tersely cogent remarks or flamboyantly theoretical analysis). Produces (until you've actually dealt directly with many financing entities, you've not really experienced the labyrinth). Challenges herself and others (why do it like everyone else?). Makes things happen (without too much fuss and with way too much Cree humility). And yes, she has many awards and accolades.

Known for lyrical, expressionistic imagery combined (and this is important) with strong storytelling skills and talents, Todd tells truths that are haunting, funny and real. What makes Ms. Todd an exceptional filmmaker is her imagination and that she is fearless. Some say she knows how to see into the hearts and minds of the subjects of her films, and the actors and their characters.

Most recently she created, developed, produced and was the creative producer on a children's series that combines, animation, storytelling, music videos, games, adventures - all in the service of learning the Cree language. Tansi! Nehiyawetan is in its 2nd season with the Aboriginal People's Television Network (APTN), which recently green-light a 3rd season.

Selected Festivals include: Toronto International Film Festival, American Indian Film Festival, Sundance Festival, Yamagata Documentary Festival, the Museum of Modern Art, Hot Docs, Vancouver Film Festival, Chicago Film Festival, etc. Other significant honours for her work include Rockefeller Fellowship and participation at the Sundance Scriptwriter's Lab, as well as numerous awards.

In demand as a writer and lecturer on arts and media, Ms. Todd has spoken at such institutions as the Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of the American Indian, the World Cultures Department of UCLA . Her essays appear in many publications from MIT Press to UBC Press.

Tom Rowe
executive producer

Tom Rowe is a principal in the successful company in Vancouver. In 1989 he founded Pacific Motion Pictures with Matthew O'Connor. Over the next 10 years they produced 80 Movies for Television and several features, including Canada's best selling video title, 'Magic In The Water'. The company received a George Foster Peabody Award for Excellence In Television for 'The Baby Dance'. In 1997 Tom received an Emmy nomination for Best Mini-Series for producing Truman Capote's 'In Cold Blood'.

Reunion has produced everything from 'Masters of Horror' to 'Flash Gordon' to 'Dreamkeeper' (Hallmark/ABC) to 'Tinman' with the Sci-Fi channel, and is currently producing the mini-series 'Alice' with RHI and Studio 8.

Eden Robinson
author

“I was born on the same day as Edgar Allan Poe and Dolly Parton: January 19. I am absolutely certain that this affects my writing in some way.”

Robinson grew up with her older brother and younger sister (CBC-TV anchor Carla Robinson) in Haisla territory in Kitamaat Village, surrounded by the forests and mountains of the central coast of British Columbia. They were children of a mixed marriage–her Haisla father met her Heiltsuk mother during a stop in Bella Bella in his fishing days. Kitamaat, a Tsimshian word meaning “people of the falling snow,” (and not to be confused with nearby Kitimat town), is home to seven hundred members of the Haisla nation, with another eight hundred or so living off-reserve.

After earning her B.A., Eden Robinson moved to Vancouver to look for work that would allow her to spend time writing. A late-night writer, she ended up taking “a lot of McJobs” –janitor, mail clerk, napkin ironer. She decided to enter the masters program at the University of British Columbia after having a short story published in its literary magazine PRISM international. Traplines was the young woman's first book, a collection of dark and brutal stories that feature a deadpan, gritty humour.

Eden holed herself up in her Vancouver apartment to write Monkey Beach. Eden had to work hard at the structuring of her first novel. The result is compelling and complex; The Washington Post called it “artfully constructed,” the National Post deemed it “intricately patterned.” Critics in the US, the UK and Canada were unanimous in their appreciation of the book.

Eden Robinson has become one of Canada’s first female Native writers to gain international attention, making her an important role model. Monkey Beach evinces a love of her culture – Robinson maintains that if you don’t grow up on Oolichan grease, you’re not going to learn to love it, never mind make it; and if you grow up on supermarket vegetables, you’re not going to learn when and where to find salmonberry shoots.

Johnny Darrell
writer

Johnny is currently Series Director for the new action-packed Cartoon Network series 'Battle Force 5', produced by Nerd Corps Entertainment. Prior to this he was directing episodes of the Cartoon Network / YTV series 'League of Super Evil' and 'Storm Hawks' in which he won a Leo Award for Best Direction on the episode 'Stratosphere'.

Going back in time, Johnny had been instrumental in bringing some of Mainframe Entertainment's (now Rainmaker Animation) top projects to life. He co-wrote and directed the animated feature “Tony Hawk in Boom Boom Sabotage” (which won for 'Best Production - Feature Length' and 'Best Original Musical Score' categories in the 1st Annual Canadian Awards for the Electronic and Animated Arts in 2006). He wrote, edited and directed the 2006 MTV Movie Awards' opening and the animated category sequences as well as co-wrote, co-edited, and co-directed the 2003 MTV Movie Awards’ opening and animated category sequences with Andrew Duncan. As lead animation director, Johnny’s credits include 'Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild', and 'Spider-Man: The Animated Series' (for which he had a big role in its creative development and in the design of its opening title sequence).

Recently, was production designer and editor for a killer promotional piece for the documentary 'Bloodied and Unbowed: The Early Vancouver Punk Scene' and has just completed writing a live-action feature adaptation screenplay of 'Monkey Beach' by Eden Robinson (nominated for the Governor General's Literary Awards).

Andrew Duncan
writer

Andrew began directing music videos in the early 90's for local independent Vancouver artists, such as; Sex With Nixon, DDT, Noise Therapy and Nickelback.

Andrew joined Mainframe Entertainment in 1996, as Supervising Editor, with the mandate of streamlining production methods and developing the role of the AVID editor within Mainframe's CGI production pipeline. He began directing at Mainframe in 1997, starting on the landmark CGI series REBOOT and has since directed nine 20-minute episodes at Mainframe, on animated series such as Shadow Raiders, Weird-Ohs, Hot Wheels and Action Man.

In 2000, Andrew took a hiatus from directing with the goal of developing his writing skills and concentrating on personal projects. During this time Andrew also worked for the Vancouver Film School's 3D animation program as the Final Project Supervisor and an Industry Mentor for the 3D Scholarship program.

In 2002, Andrew returned to Mainframe to develop and co-directed (with Johnny Darrell) the animated opening sequence for the 2003 MTV Movie Awards, as well as the thirteen nomination sequences used throughout the broadcast. In 2004, Andrew assumed the role of Series Director for Mattel's massive four and half hour project, HOT WHEELS - ACCELERACERS. On this project Andrew also worked as story editor, motion capture director, animation director, voice performer and motion capture performer.

Andrew is currently working at Propaganda Games as the Animation Director on an upcoming title. He lives in Vancouver with his wife Melanie and son Carter.