CINEMATOGRAPHY

Danny started his career as a maverick young cinematographer based in Vancouver, British Columbia. After making a dozen of his own short films, he excelled behind the camera, shooting various projects around the world. In recent years, he has served as Director of Photography on many TV movies and over 20 feature films, including Tristar’s The Big Hit, Neil Simon’s The Goodbye Girl and Bruce McDonald’s Hard Core Logo. Awards for his work include a Gemini (Canada’s Emmy) and top prize from the Canadian Society of Cinematographers.

He is a full member of the Canadian Society of Cinematographers, a member of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, and a member of the International Photographers Union (IATSE 669). A patriot of Canadian Cinema, Danny is devoted to the development of the local and international film art.

MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY ORIENTATION

Mel Siteman is one of Vancouver’s top 1st Assistant Directors. With nearly 30 years of experience, she’s a veteran of the film industry with credits including Ninja Turtles, The New Addams Family, Air Bud, many other feature films, and over 150 commercials. A member of the Director’s Guild of Canada, she is also a director, producer, and teacher, certified by Actsafe to instruct the Motion Picture Industry Orientation courses. Mel serves on InFocus Film School Program Advisory Council and has been instrumental in developing the curriculum for the Film Production Program.

FILM PRODUCTION LEAD INSTRUCTOR
David Michán is an award-winning Mexican director with multiple feature film credits and more in production. He is an alumnus of the reknowned Centro de Capacitacion Cinematografica and has more than fifteen years of experience in the direction and production of films, commercials, music videos and advertising campaigns for both cinemas and television. He is also an accomplished visual effects artist with VFX and other post-production credits on a dozen films.

Prior to his feature film projects, he completed several short films, including Mexican Dream which was the winner of three international prizes in Brussels, Germany and Austin TX for best fiction short film, and also for having been selected in more than twenty-five international festivals and A True Story, winner of short-film competition Radioactivo 2003 (Radioactive 2003) as judged by recognized filmmakers such as Alejandro G. Inarritu, Alfonso Cuaron, Guillermo del Toro, Roger Avary, Alejandro Jodorowky, and more.

PRODUCING
Sean Embury has been creating innovative broadcast and interactive media for 20 years. As a producer he has been a key player in the creation of some of the Canada’s most acclaimed digital properties, including NFB/Interactive, CBC Radio 3, and CBC Television’s ZeD and Exposure. As a an agency creative director and strategist he has led interactive work over 100 high-profile clients including Nike, United Airlines, H20+, and the Chicago Stock Exchange.

Since 2010 his studio, Denman, has worked with a wide range of leading cultural and commercial brands to design award-winning digital tools and interactive experiences.

His work has been recognized with multiple Webby, FWA, Applied Arts, and Communications Arts Awards, a Canadian Online Publishing Award, a New York Festivals Grand Award, an Art Director’s Club Gold Medal, and a Canadian Screen Award.

DOCUMENTARY

Julia Ivanova has received many accolades for her compelling films, including the award for Best Canadian Feature for Family Portrait in Black and White at Hot Docs 2011. Her films include From Russia, for Love (2000); Fatherhood Dreams (2007); and Limit Is the Sky (2016), which won the Colin Low Best Canadian Documentary Award at DOXA 2017. Her documentaries have screened at Sundance, IDFA, and the Chicago and LA film festivals, among many others; she is currently working on the feature Pipeline in Paradise, about two opposite human forces in Canada that are connected by the Trans Mountain Pipeline.

Born and raised in Moscow, Ivanova immigrated to Vancouver in the 1990s; since then, she’s established herself as a balanced and empathetic cinematic voice, digging into the dilemmas perpetuated by the search for a place, love, family and meaning by those who have two homes and two identities. With a focus on capturing the complexities of human nature, Ivanova brings her signature non-judgmental style to the telling of unique Canadian stories.

She has made a number of intimate films on the topics of love, adoption, cultural differences and family, partnering with CBC, Global TV, Knowledge Network, PBS and Discovery. Ivanova has been actively involved in the documentary filmmaking community by organizing professional development workshops for DOC BC, co-chairing DOC BC, being on the Board of Hot Docs Festival and mentoring emerging filmmakers through “Giving Voice” DOC program. Being a director/editor/cinematographer and an avid fan of international documentaries, she believes in the emotional power of visual storytelling and poetic cinema.

EDITING

With over fifteen years of experience working on film and video productions, Jeremy Klassen has accumulated a diverse and practical knowledge of many intricate aspects of filmmaking. He has worked on productions ranging from corporate videos and commercials to documentaries, music videos, television series and narrative films. He’s edited several televised films including Hunted By My Ex, Secret Crush, Fatal Mistakes, Psycho Wedding Crasher, and The Murderer Upstairs, to name a few.

MUSIC VIDEOS
Michael Khazen, founder of High Deaf Productions, started his career in film ten years ago making music videos and short films. He has since gone on to produce award-winning feature and television content that’s been screened on multiple platforms the world over.  He has recently finished a slate of feature films being released in 2018-2019. All of which have received distribution; the metaphysical horror Welcome to the Circle, the edgy art house film The Age of Adulting, and the hard-hitting documentary Ken Foster. He also has one more hot off his post-production pipeline for planned release in 2020, the coming of age teenage comedy Last Night in Suburbia.  Michael has a keen eye for strong projects with great distribution potential. With over 30 producing credits under his belt, he has earned the reputation of being one of Western Canada’s most sought after independent producers.