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Clive Smith co-founded NELVANA LIMITED, the Toronto-based film company, which celebrates its thirty-eighth anniversary in 2009. He and his colleagues grew the company from a three-man animation shop to one of the world's leading entertainment companies, which is now a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Originally from England, he graduated from Ealing School of Art in London where he earned a degree in Design and Kinetic Art, and after dabbling in illustration, Street Art and Rock and Roll, began his film career in 1964 in a small West London studio animating on the Beatles and Lone Ranger TV Series. In 1967, he moved to Canada and worked for Al Guest and Vladimir Goetzleman as senior animator and designer on commercials and short films. Shortly thereafter, Smith met Michael Hirsh and Patrick Loubert, and together they founded NELVANA.
An acclaimed creative talent, Smith directed Steven Spielberg and Tim Burton’s animated TV series Family Dog. Some years earlier, producer-director George Lucas invited Smith to direct the first animated Star Wars special A Wookie’s Christmas, featuring C3P0 and R2D2.
The only animator among the founding partners of NELVANA, Smith’s many credits include co-producing and directing the animated feature film Rock & Rule, as well as numerous television specials and series including Cosmic Christmas, The Devil and Daniel Mouse, Intergalactic Thanksgiving, Babar, Tintin, Rupert and Beetlejuice. In 1997, Clive Smith directed the animated feature film Pippi Longstocking, a Canadian-Swedish-German co-production.
Mr. Smith’s directorial credits also include numerous television commercials including the City of Toronto’s award winning ad campaign promoting bicycle safety, Road Warrior and an animated OMNIMAX film for Expo 95.
Smith left NELVANA in the fall of 2001 and is developing several film and video projects under the banner, MUSTA COSTA FORTUNE, a newly formed company with his sweetheart for life, MELLENY MELODY.
Michael Cohl began his career over 30 years ago with his Concert Productions International and became a driving force in the Canadian Music Industry, putting Canada on the map as a viable country for concert tours of all sizes.
Beginning in 1989 with the Rolling Stones “Steel Wheels” tour, Michael developed the concept of “package” touring. Eliminating the middleman, Michael Cohl worked directly with the artist to strategize and route the tour, promote the dates, and ultimately ensure an exciting and profitable touring experience for both the artists and the fans. He then assisted in the development and exploitation of the lucrative aftermarket – books, films, DVD’s, television specials, and merchandising. It is a format that has proven successful, but not one easy to emulate.
As a result, since 1995, Michael received the Number One Promoter Of the Year award several times since by an array of trade publications and was inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame in 2002. In November 2004, Billboard Magazine awarded Cohl its first Legend of Live Award at the annual Backstage Pass industry conference.
Michael was instrumental in developing the “Live Nation – Artist Nation” concept while Chairman of Live Nation, signing Madonna, Jay-Z, U2 and Shakira to multiple rights deals.
Eli Cohl was born and raised in Toronto. Working his way up the ranks, he has been an integral team member for several high-profile tours including carpentry and roadie positions with the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, and U2. He has also held several positions as a camera man for Shakira and the Police. Most recently, Eli has spent the last two years working as the Special Projects Manager for S2BN Entertainment. Other notable projects include: production for Pete Seeger's 90th birthday and FuerzaBruta Miami. Eli has been an avid video game fan for over 25 years. He works and plays in Miami, Florida where he lives with his wife.
Gary Slaight was born in Edmonton, Alberta on February 15, 1951. He obtained a B.A. in English from the University of Western Ontario.
Gary began his career in 1973 as Media Estimator for McLaren Advertising. During the next two years, he held the position of Promotion Manager at both Quality Records and at WEA Records. From 1977 to 1982, he held several positions at a Toronto radio station, Q107, including Account Executive, Program Director and Vice-President and General Manager/Program Director.
Following this, Gary became President and Chief Executive Officer of Standard Radio Inc. in 1987 responsible for all of its radio stations, Integrated Media Sales and Source Source.
In 2000, Gary took the position of President and Chief Executive Officer of the largest privately-owned multi-media company, Standard Broadcasting Corporation Limited, which included, besides broadcasting, a retail marketing services company.
In October 2007, all the assets of Standard Radio Inc. were sold to Astral Media, but Standard Broadcasting continues to hold an equity interest in Milestone Radio Inc. (30%) and Haliburton Broadcasting Group Inc. (30%), and owns a minority equity interest in MapleMusic, Puretracks and Travelwire. In addition, it has a 25% equity interest in Sirius Canada, Inc.
Gary is actively involved in the industry and is a staunch supporter of Canadian music talent. Not only did he create the National Songwriting Contest, but he also created the Canadian Radio Music Awards. Gary was named Broadcast Executive of the Year in 1992, 1993, 1996 and 1998. In 2004, he received the Outstanding Community Service by an Individual Broadcaster award at the Canadian Association of Broadcasters. Gary was inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame in March 2005. He received the Canadian Association of Broadcasters 2007 Gold Ribbon Award for Broadcast Excellence.
He is currently a Director Emeritus of Sick Children's Hospital Foundation and is on the Board of Directors of the Toronto International Film Festival Group, MapleMusic and Astral Media.
Gary and his wife, Donna, have two daughters, Alison and Christina, and two dogs, Elvis and Tizzie. His hobbies include skiing, golf, squash, travelling and hanging with his family.
In a career spanning over three decades, Moses Znaimer has dramatically transformed television content, format and style. He is known to the international broadcasting community for his unique Participatory and Interactive Streetfront, Studioless Television Operating System™. As a producer, director, presenter, and especially as a creator of channels, he has revitalized the industry, bringing an original drive in television and allied communications arts into comfortable alignment with the practical demands of commerce.
Moses Znaimer is Co-founder and Chairman of Cannasat Therapeutics, a company researching the medicinal benefits of cannabis and developing novel cannabinoid pharmaceutical products. He is also President/Executive Producer of MZTV P&D, a boutique independent television production and distribution company. He is the owner of MZMedia, operating Classical 96.3FM and the Executive Producer and Presenter of the annual ideaCity Conference in Toronto.
Mr. Znaimer was born in Kulab, Tajikistan, and arrived in Montreal as a Displaced Person (DP) in 1948. He is the co-founder and former President and Executive Producer of Citytv (Toronto and Vancouver); MuchMusic; MusiquePlus; MuchMoreMusic; MusiMax; Bravo! - Canada's NewStyleArtsChannel; SPACE: The Imagination Station; CablePulse24; Star! - The Entertainment Information Station; FashionTelevision: The Channel; SexTV: The Channel; and the "NewNet" group of stations. He was also founding Chairman/Executive Producer of the ACCESS Media Group, comprising ACCESS: The Education Station; Canadian Learning Television: Television That Teaches; BookTelevision: The Channel; CourtTV Canada; The Learning Annex, Canada.
Moses' concepts such as, “Speakers Corner” and his “Streetfront/Studioless” television operating system, plus innovations in Televised Diversity, Videography and On-air “look and feel” have achieved widespread recognition and use throughout the broadcast world. Internationally, he licensed MuchaMusica, a Spanish language pop music joint venture seen in Argentina and other parts of South America; Jyrki in Finland; Citytv Bogotá in Colombia; and Citytv Barcelona in Catalunia, Spain.
His MZTV Museum of Television has amassed probably the largest collection of vintage TV sets in the world, encompassing 70 years of North American visual devices and associated popular culture.
Znaimer's many honours include several that recognize his leadership in the field of race relations and multi-cultural representation on-air and in the workforce. Moses has been presented with the Hakone Impact Award for pioneering and championing Interactivity and NewMedia, by Apple Computer; and the Canadian Association of Broadcasters' 1998 Gold Ribbon - Canadian private broadcasting's highest award to an individual. He was inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame in 2004, received the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for lifetime achievement in 2005 and was appointed to the Order of Ontario in 2006. His formal education was completed at McGill (Honours B.A.) and Harvard (M.A.) Universities. He holds Doctor of Letters degrees (Honoris Causa) from Athabasca, York, and Windsor Universities.
Dr. Ron Dembo is the Founder and CEO of Zerofootprint, an organization dedicated to a mass reduction in global environmental impact. Zerofootprint provides software and services to individuals, governments, universities, and corporations that measures and manages carbon footprint and engages employees and citizens worldwide in combating climate change. Zerofootprint came in first place and won Gold in the Climate Change category at the Canadian Environment Awards in 2008.
Prior to founding Zerofootprint, Dr. Dembo was the Founder, CEO, and President of Algorithmics Incorporated, growing it from a start-up to the largest enterprise risk-management software company in the world, with offices in fifteen countries and over 70% of the world’s top 100 banks as clients. Algorithmics was consistently voted as one of the top 50 best-managed companies in Canada.
Dr. Dembo has also had a distinguished ten-year academic career at Yale University, where he was cross-appointed between the Department of Computer Science and the School of Management. Dr. Dembo has published over sixty technical papers on finance and mathematical optimization, and holds a number of patents in computational finance. Dr. Dembo is the author of three books: Seeing Tomorrow: Rewriting the Rules of Risk, co-authored with Andrew Freedman, published in April 1998; Upside Downside: Simple Rules of Risk Management for the Smart Investor, co-authored with Daniel Stoffman, published in March 2006; and Everything You Wanted to Know About Offsetting But Were Afraid to Ask, co-authored with Clive Davidson, and released in May 2007.
In May 2007, Dr. Dembo was made a lifetime Fields Institute Fellow. This fellowship is awarded to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the Fields Institute, its programs, and to the Canadian mathematical community. In July 2007, Dr. Dembo was inducted as a charter member of the Risk Who’s Who. Dr. Dembo’s alma mater, the University of Waterloo, honoured Dr. Dembo with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007. He is also a member of the University of Waterloo’s Deans Advisory Council in the Faculty of Environment, and a member of the Board of Advisors to the President at the Ontario College of Art and Design University. Dr. Dembo is a special advisor to the Board of Directors at Mount Sinai Hospital, and is a member of the Board of Governors of University of Toronto’s NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council) program.
Bruce is a multi-disciplinary professional with a track record of innovation and financial success – particularly during periods of significant industry transformation. Having worked in high growth companies and consulted to many entrepreneurs experiencing significant growth he has learned the key elements of driving success and shareholder value. Bruce is an entrepreneurial executive who generates growth for both established and start-up organizations – applying the analytical and problem-solving skills and experience gained from a diverse background in a variety of industries.
Having previously been a CIO and CFO, he has hands on experience driving growth through operational excellence and effective allocation of financial and human resources. While playing the lead role in 2 investment funds, Bruce has worked closely with a number of entrepreneurs coaching and counselling them through challenging and successful times.
Bruce was formerly the CIO and then CIO/CFO of Universal Music Canada for nine years. He is currently the CFO of tiff, the Toronto International Film Festival.
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