Decision Makers - Lunenburg Doc Fest

The Decision Makers joining us at the 8th Annual Dock Market

Decision Makers are individuals working in international sales, marketing, distribution (both traditional and online), exhibition and programming, as well as funds and commissions.

During the Dock Market, Industry Decision Makers will participate in panels, round tables, workshops, 1-to-1 meetings, live pitches and/or various networking events.

Lunenburg Doc Fest is delighted to feature the following international Decision Makers at the launch 8th Annual Dock Market in 2023

Lesley Birchard

Executive In Charge of Production, CBC Docs

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As an Executive in Charge of Production for CBC Docs, Lesley Birchard has focused on creating CBC Docs content for a new, younger, more diverse audience. She built the CBC Short Docs strand, commissioning over 200 documentaries for CBC Gem and the CBC Docs Youtube channel. Standout projects include Academy Awards shortlisted Frame 394, Sundance winner Fast Horse, Canadian Screen Award winners Patty vs Patty, Take Me to Prom and Sing Me a Lullaby, and viral Youtube success Finding Fukue. Lesley helps to oversee CBC’s flagship science program The Nature of Things and has been a key part of the evolution of the series after the retirement of the iconic David Suzuki. She also oversees select feature documentaries including Unloved: Huronia’s Forgotten Children and Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind and digital series such as The Big Sex Talk. Lesley is passionate about highlighting the voices of filmmakers from equity deserving groups and recently completed her M.A. in Creative Media Education at Bournemouth University, focusing on the role Canadian broadcasters play in showcasing the stories of Indigenous filmmakers.

Liz Cowie

Producer for the Quebec and Atlantic Studio, National Film Board

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Born and raised in Halifax, N.S, Liz Cowie is a graduate of NSCAD University, where she completed her BFA in Media Arts, focusing on Film, Video, and Photography. Following her graduation, Liz moved to Toronto to pursue a career in photography, working as a photo assistant to numerous fashion photographers, as well as pursuing her own work, which has been featured in a variety of publications including Spin Magazine, Walrus Magazine, and Vice Magazine.

After a few years in Toronto, Liz relocated to New York where she worked with Vice Media for over 15yrs. Here she worked closely with Vice founders Suroosh Alvi and Shane Smith, along with Director Spike Jonze and DP Lance Bangs (Jackass, Portlandia), as well as great number of on-camera (and off-camera) talent and personalities.

Through out her time at Vice, Liz had overseen production on various television and digital documentary series, music videos, advertising campaigns, commercials, and larger, feature length projects. She also helped to create and produce digital spots and featured segments for the series VICEonHBO and the nightly HBO series, Vice News Tonight.

Prior to leaving Vice Media in 2022, to pursue some freelance projects, Liz held the position of Senior Manager of Development & Alternative Programming at Vice TV. During her time in this role, she developed and oversaw a variety of original series for the network such as The Devil You Know, Betraying the Badge, Devoured, and the Emmy-nominated series, Fringe Nation, which she and fellow Canadian reporter Ben Makuch together created and helped produce.

Most recently Liz has jointed the National Film Board’s Halifax office as the Producer for the Quebec and Atlantic Studio.

Sue Dando

Executive in Charge of Production, Nature of Things- CBC

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Sue Dando is head of The Nature of Things, CBC’s flagship documentary science and nature series. The strand is one of the most successful series in the world, recently celebrating its 60th season. Sue has produced, directed and written for Canadian television and radio, both public and private, for three decades. For ten years, she ran the in-house documentary production unit of CBC. Her work includes executive-producing many award-winning documentary series and international co-productions.

Rohan Fernando

Executive Producer of Quebec and Atlantic Studio, NFB

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Rohan joined the studio as a producer in 2018 and was named executive producer in September 2022. His most recent credits as NFB producer include the Labrador Doc Project, a new initiative for Inuit creators that gave audiences the 2021 shorts Nalujuk Night by Jennie Williams and Evan’s Drum by Ossie Michelin. He also served as series producer on Reimagining Nova Scotia (2019), which included Sandi Rankaduwa’s Ice Breakers, Jason Young’s Canadian Screen Award-nominated Gun Killers, and Rachel Bower’s I Am Skylar, winner of the Best Atlantic Short Documentary award at the FIN Atlantic International Film Festival. From Prince Edward Island, he has produced Susan Rodgers’ Then Sings My Soul (2021) as well as Millefiore Clarkes’ award-winning Love in Quarantine (2020) and The Song and the Sorrow (2018), about the troubled life of PEI music icon Gene MacLellan, which was named Best Atlantic Short Documentary at the FIN Atlantic International Film Festival and was Opening Film at the 2018 Rendezvous with Madness Film Festival.

Prior to joining the Quebec and Atlantic Studio, Rohan directed five films with the NFB, including Becoming Labrador (2018), co-directed with Tamara Segura and Justin Simms. Rohan began his filmmaking career as an award-winning writer and director on numerous feature dramatic and documentary films, most notably The Chocolate Farmer, Blood and Water, Trudeau’s Other Children and Cecil’s Journey.

Sylvia Hamilton

Independent Filmmaker

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Sylvia D. Hamilton is an award-winning filmmaker, author and artist known for the documentaries Black Mother Black Daughter, Portia White: Think on Me, and The Little Black School House. Tender, her newest poetry collection, won the 2023 Maxine Tynes Poetry Award.

Her honours include the 2019 Governor General’s History Award for Popular Media and the 2021 Luminary Award given by the Documentary Organization of Canada. She is an Inglis Professor Emeritus at the University of King’s College in Halifax.

Susy MacGillivray

Business Analyst, Canada Media Fund

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The Canadian Media Fund fosters, develops, finances and promotes the production of Canadian content and applications for all audiovisual media platforms. The CMF guides Canadian content towards a competitive global environment by fostering industry innovation, rewarding success, enabling a diversity of voices, and promoting access to content through public and private sector partnerships. The CMF receives financial contributions from the Government of Canada and Canada’s cable, satellite and IPTV distributors. Susy MacGillivray works at Telefilm’s Halifax office as a Business Analyst on the CMF Program Administration team. Telefilm administers the CMF programs on their behalf. Before joining Telefilm, Susy spent a dozen years working in the film and television industry in a variety of business and legal affairs management roles with a focus on dramatic television programming.

Megan MacLaurin

Grants Coordinator, Hot Docs

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Megan MacLaurin is the Grants Coordinator at Hot Docs, where she secures funding from the government, arts councils, and media agencies. At Hot Docs, she manages relationships with these funders, as well as other public sector partners and elected officials. With a background in media arts programming, Megan has curated programs for BIG on Bloor, Bunker 2, InterAccess, Vector Festival, and Xpace Cultural Centre. Her art writing has been featured in Canadian Art, Peripheral Review, and Movement Research Performance Journal. Megan is currently based in Kjipuktuk/Halifax.

Hajnal Molnár-Szakács

Director, Artist Accelerator, Sundance Institute

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Hajnal is a 15-year entertainment industry veteran who has built some of the most innovative programs in independent nonfiction. Her track record of managing multi-million dollar budgets, fundraising, developing partnerships and communication plans in support of independent storytellers around the world has made her a recognized champion for elevating underrepresented voices and stories.

Peter Raymont

Owner and Producer, White Pine Pictures

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Peter Raymont has produced and directed over 100 films and TV series during a 51-year career. Exploring the world of politics and the arts, Raymont’s films have been honoured with dozens of awards including 2 Emmys, 2 Oscar shortlists, 13 Geminis, Gold and Silver Hugos and The Sesterce d’Argent. His films include documentaries on Margaret Atwood, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Robbie Robertson, Roméo Dallaire, Glenn Gould, Tom Thomson and Lawren Harris. Raymont also executive produced the popular TV drama series The Border and Cracked.

Shane Smith

Documentary Consultant and Festival Strategist

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Shane Smith is a documentary consultant and festival strategist. From 2015- 2023 he was programming and artistic director at Hot Docs, North America’s largest Festival and Market for documentary film. Smith previously worked at the Toronto International Film Festival as the director of special projects, where he oversaw initiatives and events at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, including TIFF in the Park, Nuit Blanche, the digiPlaySpace traveling exhibition and Short Cuts programming for TIFF. Beforehand, he was the director of public programs at TIFF.

Prior to joining TIFF he worked as Executive Producer, In-Flight Entertainment at Spafax, overseeing all entertainment offerings on Air Canada. He was previously Director of Programming at Channel Zero Inc overseeing the digital cable operators programming of Silver Screen Classics and Movieola- the Short Film Channel. Other positions include Director of the CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival, Short Film Programmer for the Sundance Film Festival, Founder and Co-Director of OzFlix: Australian Film Weekend and Programmer for Inside Out LGBT Film Festival.

Stewart Young

Executive Producer, Arts and Cultural Programming, CBC Maritimes

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Stewart is based in Halifax and works with independent producers across Atlantic Canada to create original content for a range of regional and national programs including Land And Sea, Short Film Faceoff, Reel East Coast, and others. He commissions and acquires documentaries from this region for the Absolutely Canadian stream and for CBC GEM.

Tom Alexander

VP, Theatrical Releasing, Mongrel Media

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Tom Alexander is vice-president, theatrical releasing at Mongrel Media, where he oversees all theatrical marketing, sales and distribution.

Before joining Mongrel in 2001, he worked in various capacities with Alliance Atlantis Communications, Famous Players, and the Toronto International Film Festival Group, among other organizations.

Mongrel Media is an independent Canadian distributor, specializing in world cinema. Recent releases include Living, I Like Movies, Decision To Leave, Shortcomings and Passages.

Jesse Barkley

Development & Production Executive, Original Programming; Corus Entertainment

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In his role as Development Executive on the Original Programming team at Corus Entertainment, Jesse works collaboratively to help shape the unscripted slate, developing projects for Food Network Canada, HGTV Canada & HISTORY Canada. His credits as a Production Executive include Property Brothers: Forever Home, Scott’s Vacation House Rules, Scott’s Own Vacation House and the new paranormal series Repossessed for HISTORY Canada. He supports Corus’ integrated sales team as a Brand Partnership Lead across the unscripted slate and serves as Executive Producer for a series of short-form content interstitials that air on W Network, Showcase, HGTV & Food Network. Prior to joining the Original Programming team, Jesse was as a producer on Entertainment Tonight Canada, Fashion File, Steven & Chris, and Dragons’ Den.

Mathieu Béjot

Director of Strategy and Development, Sunny Side of the Doc

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Mathieu Béjot is the Director of Strategy and Development for Sunny Side of the Doc, the international documentary market held every June in France since 1990. He is the founder and CEO of Connoisseur Media, a consulting company focusing on international promotion, marketing and strategy and is also currently a Senior Advisor to BEAJ (the Broadcast Program Export Association of Japan).

From 2000 to 2018, he was the Executive Director of TV France International, the association of French TV program exporters. Prior to that, he worked as a cultural attaché in charge of creative industries at the French Embassy in Canada (1988-1993), Hong Kong (1994-1997) and Japan (1997-2000).

Marina Burić

Senior Producer Markets, IDFA (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)

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Marina Burić is a Senior Markets Producer at the International Film Festival Amsterdam. She used to run the industry section at ZagrebDox IFF, and in 2018 she co-founded GoCritic!, a training program for emerging film critics and journalists, organized by Cineuropa. Before moving to event production she worked as a distribution and exhibition manager and a cinema programmer for Restart, a Croatian education, production, and distribution company.

Nancy Chapelle

Executive Director, Bell Fund

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Appointed in 2015, Nancy is the Executive Director of the Bell Fund, a CRTC-approved private independent production fund. Since 1997, the Fund has received over $250 million in financial contributions from Bell TV to support the development and production of Canadian content across all platforms. Previously she held the position of Managing Director of Content & Programming for TVO, where she led the evolution of the public broadcaster’s content strategy from a single broadcast channel to a relevant and agile multi-platform media organization. Before that Nancy was President of Catalyst Entertainment, a Toronto-based production and distribution company she co-founded in 1990.

Naomie Décarie-Daigneault

Directrice artistique et codirectrice générale, TËNK

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Naomie Décarie-Daigneault holds a master’s degree in experimental media research and a bachelor’s degree in cinema from UQAM. Fascinated by all forms of cinemas of the real, she co-founded the broadcasting platform Tënk.ca, of which she has been co-director and artistic director since its inception. Committed to her community, Naomie sat for five years on the board of directors of Réalisatrices Équitables, campaigning for parity in filmmaking, and recently on the board of directors of the FIFEQ. At the same time, she develops a documentary practice that is preoccupied with the construction of identity – between determinism and freedom -, interiority, feminism and psychoanalysis.

Marc Gauthier

Executive Director; RIDM (Rencontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montréal)

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Hailing from New Brunswick, Marc Gauthier assumed the role of executive director for the Montreal International Documentary Festival and its professional market, Forum RIDM in 2021. Prior to this, he dedicated over 18 years to the Festival international du cinéma francophone en Acadie (FICFA) in Moncton, leading it for eight years. Beyond film, Marc was a pillar in the Acadian arts scene through his long-term role as chair of Moncton’s Aberdeen Cultural Centre and its Festival Acadie Rock. In recognition of his dedication to promoting Francophone cinema, he was honoured with a knighthood by the French Republic in 2019.

Marlene Edoyan

Artistic Co-director; RIDM (Rencontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montréal)

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Marlene Edoyan is the artistic co-director of the RIDM – Rencontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montréal, and programs for both the Festival and its industry Forum. With a background in film & media studies, Marlene has been working in the Canadian film industry as a filmmaker and producer for over 15 years. With a keen interest in exploring concepts related to human geography and the relationship between societies and spaces, Marlene founded Fauve Film in 2017, to produce author-driven creative documentaries. Her films explore socio-political issues by combining original point of view with strong cinematographic storytelling and have been screened in several international film festivals, such as IDFA, Millennium Docs Against Gravity, DOK.fest München and others.

Dora Fong

Production Executive, Original Programming, Corus Entertainment

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Dora Fong is an award-winning production executive, showrunner, and director, with hundreds of hours of programming credits. With over 20 years in the industry, her experience spans true crime to makeovers, real estate to renos, competition to travelogue. Having produced some of Canada’s brightest talents including Drew and Jonathan Scott (Property Brothers) and Kortney Wilson (Making It Home), her work at Corus is centered around championing producers and supporting new voices in the unscripted space.

Anahí Martínez Gamba

Forum RIDM Manager; RIDM (Rencontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montréal)

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With a background in management and a solid experience in cross-cultural settings, Anahí Martínez Gamba turned to cultural studies and completed her Master’s degree in Hispanic Studies in 2021, driven by an interest in documentary cinema and Latin American audiovisual production that focuses on collective memory and archives. She joined the RIDM team in May 2022, and as of 2023 she is Forum RIDM Manager where she coordinates the professional activities among the various players in the industry.

B Glick

GQue Films

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B Glick is just your typical cancer-surviving disabled non-binary gay agnostic Jewish film sales entrepreneur. Their company GQue Films focuses on films by, about and for under-represented demographics. This year they launched a first of its kind film sales/distribution initiative for films from self identified disabled filmmakers.

B has spoken about creative approaches to distribution, accessibility & inclusion at festivals/markets around the world such as Sundance, European Film Market, SXSW, Outfest, Hot Docs, Bogota Audiovisual Market, and Doc Edge NZ.

Helga Grigoryeva

Festival Manager, Antipode Sales International

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Graduated from the Moscow State University (2015) Faculty of Journalism. Since 2012 was collaborating as a journalist and producer with several TV channels. Was working as an assistant with Ilya Khrzhanovsky in the Phenomen Films film company (2018-2021). Organizer and producer at a lot of Russian independent and German film festivals – Artdocfest (2014-2022), MIDFF “Doker” (2017-2021), Berlin Critics’ week 2023, goEast 2023 and some others.

Currently based in Berlin and working as a head of festivals and special projects in Israeli-based World sales agent company Antipode Sales International.

Heather Haynes

Associate Director of Programming, Festival, Hot Docs

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HeatherHaynes has been with Hot Docs for close to 17 years. A former Senior International Programmer she now holds the position of Associate Director for Festival Programming. She serves on numerous film juries and work in progress labs for International festivals including Mexico, Central and South America and served, for several years, as a reader for Chicken & Egg’s (egg)celerator labs. She was an International Programmer for fiction and documentary at imagineNATIVE Film + Media Festival, guest programmer for AluCine and has co-written and produced three award-winning documentaries. In addition to her film work,Heatherwas creator of Culture Storm, co-founding collective member and producer of Indigenous Fashion Week Toronto, founder and artistic director of Toronto Free Gallery and Publisher of Fuse Magazine. She is currently in production on a feature film with director/artist Dana Claxton and Jeneen Frei Njootli to premiere in 2023.

Patrick Hurley

Head of Distribution and Business Affairs, Sandbox Films

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Patrick Hurley leads on distribution strategy at Sandbox Films, developing bespoke plans and campaigns for each production while working closely with the filmmakers and release partners worldwide to maximize each film’s impact and audience. Patrick has a decade of experience in connecting new documentaries with release partners and audiences via roles as Industry Director at Sheffield DocFest and Distribution Manager at Dogwoof, UK. At DocFest, Patrick oversaw five editions of the festival’s flagship pitching forum, the MeetMarket, linking new feature documentary projects with international financiers, distributors, sales agents and festival programmers alongside talent development initiatives for emerging filmmakers and producers. During five years at Dogwoof, Patrick focused on theatrical campaigns and non-theatrical distribution across a wide range of over 100 feature documentaries. Patrick holds a degree in Economics from the University of Sydney with Honours in Political Science. His dissertation titled ‘Making Ideas Matter’ studied the communications strategies of think tanks and research institutes. Prior to working in film, Patrick was a researcher and a teacher.

Florence Lamothe

Coordonnatrice générale, TËNK Canada

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Florence Lamothe is co-director and co-founder of Tënk Canada, a cooperative streaming service dedicated entirely to independent documentary films. After completing her studies in political science and communication, she traveled for years while developing her photography skills. In 2016, she was hired by Tënk France and worked in Lussas, France, as assistant for content acquisition. Convinced of the necessity to build a similar platform for documentaries in Canada, she developed and launched with Naomie Décarie-Daigneault the new and independent branch of Tënk in Quebec, in 2020. With Tënk, they aim the provide a tool for showcasing documentary films, to promote and defend documentary cinema, and to support the documentary community.

Laura Mackenzie

Film Commissioner and Executive Director, Screen Nova Scotia

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Laura Mackenzie currently serves as Film Commissioner and Executive Director of Screen Nova Scotia, a film commission, industry promotion and advocacy association.

Laura has a demonstrated history of activating growth for both independent film and television producers and non-profit screen industry organizations across Canada. During the decade leading up to her beginnings with Screen Nova Scotia she served as an industry market director and media consultant. During this time she held such positions as director of the Atlantic International Film Festival’s, FIN Partners, where she annually created the vision for and delivered all aspects of what is internationally known as one of the world’s preeminent international film and television co-production markets. Between 2015-2018 she served as the programming consultant for the Canadian Media Producers Association’s annual conference, Prime Time in Ottawa. Laura is in her fourth year serving on the Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council, whose mandate includes advising government on policies and making recommendations on programs to promote arts and culture.

Pauline Mazenod

Head of Film Acquisitions & Sales, Windrose

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Pauline Mazenod is the founder and CEO of Windrose, specialized in the international distribution of documentaries, animation series, fiction series and performances, as well as its Head of Film Acquisitions & Sales. She lives between Paris, France where Windrose has its head office and Fürth, Bavaria, Germany. Windrose has been distributing outstanding films for TV, VOD, airplane companies and educational institutions all over the world for almost 15 years. Its catalogue is composed of entertaining and inspiring films that aim to change the viewer’s life and help to make our world a better place. She is the General Secretary of the European Coordination of Audiovisual Distributors to promote independent international distributors as key artistic and financial partners of producers, commissioning editors and acquisition executives.

Lori McCurdy

Regional Feature Film Executive, Telefilm

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Lori is on Telefilm’s Project Financing team which is responsible for funding decisions on feature films and theatrical documentaries at all budget levels and through the value chain. Her mandate is to develop and support feature film talent (producers, writers and directors) in the Atlantic region, primarily through investment in an annual portfolio of projects with budgets less than $3.5 million but she is also here as the primary contact for all Atlantic feature film clients and to help them navigate Telefilm and its programs.

Bob Moore

Creative Producer, EyeSteelFilm

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Bob Moore is a creative producer at EyeSteelFilm in Montreal, where he has produced over 40 feature documentaries since 2008. Together with his talented partners and collaborators, he has been the recipient of over 100 international awards, including Emmys, Cinema Eyes, Golden Horses, Owls, Phoenixes, and a variety of other celebratory animal-themed prizes. Bob loves to share his arcane knowledge and experience with like-minded filmmakers from around the world, and is currently an advisor and mentor working with the Sundance Institute, IDFA, DMZ docs South Korea, QUMRA, Tokyo Docs, Hot Docs, and RIDM. He is a member of the Canadian Academy of Cinema and Television, and a documentary branch member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Matt Orenstein

Vice President of Acquisitions, Vortex Media

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Vortex Media is a boutique studio bringing together global distribution and production with a focus on film and television of all genres.

Matt Orenstein is Vice President of Acquisitions and Strategy at Vortex Media. Notable Vortex Media titles include Nitram, Peace By Chocolate and The End of Sex. Previously, Matt was the co-founder of the Canadian film distribution company ABMO Films, which released films including Academy Award-nominated First Reformed and Suspiria. Matt also worked at eOne as part of the US acquisitions group and is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario and the Newhouse School at Syracuse University with an MS in Media Management.

Ben Proudfoot

Founder and CEO, Breakwater Studios

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An Academy Award winning short-documentary director and entrepreneur, Ben Proudfoot is the creative force behind Breakwater Studios. The studio’s work has been recognized by the Academy Awards, The Emmys, The Peabody Awards, Critics Choice Documentary Awards, The James Beard Awards, the Sundance Film Festival, Telluride, and the Tribeca Film Festival among others. Proudfoot was named one of Forbes “30 Under 30” for his leadership and innovation in the brand-funded documentary space. He hails from Halifax, Nova Scotia, and is a University of Southern California graduate. Proudfoot is an accomplished sleight-of-hand magician and has performed at The Magic Castle in Los Angeles.

Orly Ravid

Founder, Co-Executive Director, The Film Collaborative

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Born in Israel, raised in Manhattan, and living in Los Angeles, Orly Ravid is the Founder and Co-Executive Director of The Film Collaborative (TFC), an entertainment attorney at MSK (Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP), and the Director of the Biederman Entertainment & Media Law Institute at Southwestern Law School. Orly has over 20 years of experience in independent film as an acquisitions and business affairs executive, and her experience encompasses all aspects of distribution, domestic and international sales/licensing, development, production, grassroots marketing, and festival programming. A regular panelist, educator, and blogger about digital distributing, splitting rights, and distribution in general at film festivals worldwide, Orly has also contributed to indieWIRE, Ted Hope’s blog “Truly Free Film,” TFC’s blog, and Sundance’s Artists Services for which she was an advisor. Orly co-authored the book series Selling Your Film Without Selling Your Soul and recently contributed to How Not to Sign a Film Contract and is a passionate advocate for filmmakers.

Robin Smith

CEO, Blue Ice Docs Inc.

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Robin Smith is currently the CEO of Blue Ice Docs Inc. – a distribution and equity funding company dedicated to funding, acquiring and distributing the best non-fiction work from around the world.

Robin brings a strong background of over 25 years of film, video and arts-related work to the marketplace having worked at a variety of distribution companies including The National Film Board of Canada, Alliance Films, Lions Gate Film Entertainment, Seville Pictures and Capri Releasing. Robin recently sold his company KinoSmith to levelFILM back in October 2021 where he acted as the Head Of Factual Content for two years. Robin also programmed the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema for its first 10 years of operation.

Notable releases managed and navigated by Robin include such hits as CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER, AWAY FROM HER, CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS, BLACKFISH, UP THE YANGTZE and KEDI.

Robin has also acted as Executive Producer on a variety of award-winning documentaries including the Oscar-nominated ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL (dir: Steve James), the Emmy-Award winning SOLITARY (dir: Kristi Jacobson), the Emmy-Award winning ADVOCATE (dir: Rachel Leah Jones, Philippe Bellaiche) and the commercial hit A GLITCH IN THE MATRIX (dir: Rodney Asher).

Jeffrey Winter

Co-executive director, The Film Collaborative

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Jeffrey oversees TFC’s Film Festival Distribution Program.

Jeffrey’s areas of specialty include niche distribution, niche marketing, and festival/non-theatrical/special events distribution. He is especially passionate for social justice and environmental docs, and for LGBTQ+ content.

Jeffrey has worked in the film business over twenty years, 11 of which he served as a panel programmer / programming consultant for the Sundance Film Festival’s Digital Center (now called New Frontiers).

Heidi Tao Yang

Director, Funds & Labs; Hot Docs

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Heidi Tao Yang is the Director, Funds & Labs at Hot Docs, overseeing a multi-million dollar portfolio that provides grants for international and Canadian documentary films. In that role, she works with filmmakers from around the world on their projects and manages Hot Docs’ investment in the filmmakers’ work and professional development. Heidi recently executive produced fifteen short sixteen Canadian and International short documentaries of two compilation documentaries in Spring 2023 about civic engagement, and climate sustainability that world premiered at Hot Docs. Heidi has over a decade’s experience in producing and developing fiction and nonfiction for film and TV. Heidi is an alumnus of the Producer’s Lab at the Canadian Film Centre. If there is a spare moment, she tries to fit in reading a book and taking a semi-strenuous hike.

The Dock Market

2023 Decision Makers

The Dock Market

The Decision Makers joining us at the 8th Annual Dock Market

Lunenburg Doc Fest is delighted to feature the following international Decision Makers at the launch 8th Annual Dock Market in 2023

Lesley Birchard

Executive In Charge of Production, CBC Docs

Liz Cowie

Producer for the Quebec and Atlantic Studio, National Film Board

Sue Dando

Executive in Charge of Production, Nature of Things- CBC

Rohan Fernando

Executive Producer of Quebec and Atlantic Studio, NFB

Sylvia Hamilton

Independent Filmmaker

Susy MacGillivray

Business Analyst, Canada Media Fund

Megan MacLaurin

Grants Coordinator, Hot Docs

Hajnal Molnár-Szakács

Director, Artist Accelerator, Sundance Institute

Peter Raymont

Owner and Producer, White Pine Pictures

Shane Smith

Documentary Consultant and Festival Strategist

Stewart Young

Executive Producer, Arts and Cultural Programming, CBC Maritimes

Tom Alexander

VP, Theatrical Releasing, Mongrel Media

Jesse Barkley

Development & Production Executive, Original Programming; Corus Entertainment

Mathieu Béjot

Director of Strategy and Development, Sunny Side of the Doc

Marina Burić

Senior Producer Markets, IDFA (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)

Nancy Chapelle

Executive Director, Bell Fund

Naomie Décarie-Daigneault

Directrice artistique et codirectrice générale, TËNK

Marc Gauthier

Executive Director; RIDM (Rencontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montréal)

Marlene Edoyan

Artistic Co-director; RIDM (Rencontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montréal)

Dora Fong

Production Executive, Original Programming, Corus Entertainment

Anahí Martínez Gamba

Forum RIDM Manager; RIDM (Rencontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montréal)

B Glick

GQue Films

Helga Grigoryeva

Festival Manager, Antipode Sales International

Heather Haynes

Associate Director of Programming, Festival, Hot Docs

Patrick Hurley

Head of Distribution and Business Affairs, Sandbox Films

Florence Lamothe

Coordonnatrice générale, TËNK Canada

Laura Mackenzie

Film Commissioner and Executive Director, Screen Nova Scotia

Pauline Mazenod

Head of Film Acquisitions & Sales, Windrose

Lori McCurdy

Regional Feature Film Executive, Telefilm

Bob Moore

Creative Producer, EyeSteelFilm

Matt Orenstein

Vice President of Acquisitions, Vortex Media

Ben Proudfoot

Founder and CEO, Breakwater Studios

Orly Ravid

Founder, Co-Executive Director, The Film Collaborative

Robin Smith

CEO, Blue Ice Docs Inc.

Jeffrey Winter

Co-executive director, The Film Collaborative

Heidi Tao Yang

Director, Funds & Labs; Hot Docs