Ian Brown

Feature Writer, The Globe and Mail

Ian Brown is an acclaimed roving feature writer for the Globe and Mail. He is equally well-known for his work on CBC radio, where he was the moderator of Talking Books for more than a decade, and also hosted Sunday Morning and Later the Same Day. He presents both The View From Here and Human Edge, TVOntario's pre-eminent television documentary shows. He is the author of FreeWheeling – which won the National Business Book Award – and Man Overboard, and most recently edited the anthology What I Meant to Say: The Private Lives of Men. His most recent book, The Boy in the Moon, about his disabled son, Walker, was published in September, 2009, and has occupied slots on the best-seller list ever since. In his spare time, Brown paints, reads and skis in the back-country. He lives in Toronto with his wife and two children.

Christian Potenza

Actor

Christian Potenza moved to the big city with a pair of ripped jeans, skateboard, a second hand bass guitar, and hopes of making a name for himself in the Entertainment Industry. He was then plucked early from theatre school and started his voyage into the Land of TV. His first role was a rookie cop on a soap opera. To follow were roles such as crooks, criminals, and strung out surfers. Then someone thought that it would be a good idea to put this talented and versatile actor in commercial…BOOM! Now this guy was everywhere, and soon earned the title of "THAT GUY". After earning many awards and "BUCKETS" full of cash from the advertising industry, he decided to try something different. Cartoons and voice work seemed like the next logical step. Christian now voices characters on many of North America's most popular shows. Christian is the voice of CHRIS McLEAN from TOTAL DRAMA, TREVOR TROUBLEMYER on SIDEKICK, and the loveable JUDE LIZOWSKI from 6TEEN. He has also opened THE CHRISTIAN POTENZA ACADEMY OF AWESOME VOICE ACTING, where people come from all over to learn the art and craft of VOICE ACTING. He has also started up his own production company with many projects, ranging from animation, web series, YouTube videos, to feature films. GET TOONED! BE TOONED! and STAY TOONED!

Justin Hines

Singer, Songwriter

With three studio albums under his belt as well as another currently in the works, Justin Hines is no stranger to the entertainment industry. He has appeared on countless radio and talk shows as well as several documentaries, focusing on both his successes as an artist with Larsen's Syndrome and being a philanthropist. His most recent achievement is taking part in the Say What You Will Campaign, which supports charitable organizations and schools in South Africa. Justin's fourth studio release Days To Recall will be released world-wide on August 16, 2011.

Patricia Ellingson

Creative Head, Children's Media Content & Programming
TVO

Patricia Ellingson has been the Creative Head of Children's Programming for TVO since October 1998. Children's programming is the cornerstone of TVO's commitment to educational broadcasting. It encompasses over 70 hours of TVO's weekly scheduling, about 90 hours per year of in-house TV production and the number one educational website for kids in Canada, tvokids.com. TVO is a publicly funded media organization based in Toronto, Canada.

Patricia has a particular passion for presenting programming that makes a difference in the lives of kids and parents. She has been instrumental in building the trusted tvokids educational brand, overseeing multi-platform productions developed for every kind of young learner and covering virtually all areas of the Ontario JK-5 curriculum. The tvokids internally produced series includes Gisèle's Big Backyard, The Space, Reading Rangers, Super Citizens and Tumbletown Tales, to name just a few. Patricia was responsible for the convergence of TVO children's television and new media teams and rebuilding the tvokids.com website, which has become one of the most popular kids' online destinations and one that continues to push the envelope on multiple platforms.

Pat has worked with some of Canada's most notable producers who share her commitment to innovative kids content that has substance and "makes you think". Her international co-productions have included Rob the Robot, Dino Dan, The Mysteries of Alfred Hedgehog, Wild Kratts, Miss BG, George Shrinks, Timothy Goes to School, Swap TV, Think Big, Heads Up, Taste Buds, This is Daniel Cook and Peep and the Big Wide World.

Karen Shopsowitz

Independent filmmaker

Karen Shopsowitz is an award winning film-maker, whose work has been screened nationally and internationally. Her most recent credit is One Summer at Camp Winston, a one hour doc about a camp for children with complex neurological disorders, produced in association with documentary, which premiered in September 2010 and has been shown at several festivals in Canada and the United States. Other credits include My Father's Camera, (produced by the NFB, and winner of a Peabody Award), Canada's War in Colour, A Place to Save Your Life (about the Jewish refugee community of Shanghai), and My Grandparents Had a Hotel. As a director, editor, writer and occasional cameraperson, Karen has worked on dozens of productions, ranging from stand-alone documentaries to documentary series, music videos and fiction.

Nikki Payne

Comedian and Actress

Nikki hails from Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia. She is well known for her lisp and sports a cleft lip, and holds nothing back when it comes to giving major lip to audiences. Not only is her stand-up exceptionally entertaining, but she delivers it with more flair and pizzazz than almost anyone else in comedy today. Nikki Payne has appeared in Last Comic Standing, and was a main character on Video On Trial, Buzz, and the NFB documentary, The Next Big Thing. She has also appeared in the Canadian sketch comedy show 'Comedy Inc.' (TV series). Keep an eye out for Nikki in the upcoming Showcase series Single White Spenny.

ROB STEFANIUK

Director

Rob Stefaniuk made his directorial debut with the hilarious short film Waiting for the Man (official selection Sundance 2005). Rob Stefaniuk wrote, directed, and starred in Phil the Alien, his feature directorial debut. Phil debuted at the Toronto International Film festival 2004 where it received the "Spirit of Film Honor". Rob also won Best First Feature at the Cineast Sudbury Film Festival, and Best Independent Film at the Sarasota Film Festival. Rob was named the winner of the "Don Haig Encouragement Fund" for promising new filmmaker.

He directed an episode of Brad Peyton's new stop motion animation show What it's Like Being Alone for the CBC 2008.

His latest movie Suck that premiered at TIFF 2009 is a vampire rock and roll comedy. Suck was the winner of the Cadillac People's choice award at Whistler Film Fest, the Audience award at Calgary Underground Film Festival, Outstanding Achievement in Filmaking award at Newport Beech Film Festival, and won the Silver at Fantasia Film Fest. Stefaniuk wrote, directed and stars in the screenplay along side Iggy Pop, Malcolm McDowell, Alice Cooper, Moby, Dave Foley, Alex Lifeson, and Henry Rollins. He also composed seven of the eleven original songs in the film.

Taryn Green

Filmmaker and last year's filmpossible 2010 Winner!

Taryn Green earned first prize in filmpossible 2010 for her video, The Triangle Girl Retold. Taryn's winning video is a touching retelling of a story she wrote at age six, in which the triangle represents her disability, Cerebral Palsy.  She longs to be like everyone else, but in the end, she becomes more confident and proud and embraces her disability, or "inner triangle". She is very excited to be returning to the contest as a judge in 2011!

Taryn holds a B.A. in English Literature and a M.A. in Humanities from Laurentian University. It was in her fourth-year at Laurentian that she was introduced to filmmaking and her student project won first prize at Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival. Taryn was involved in a province-wide art initiative through the YWCA entitled, Envisioning New Meanings of Disability and Difference; this project gave a voice to women with disabilities and physical differences through the use of photography and digital storytelling. In 2008, she decided to go back to school for a graduate diploma in post-production from Humber College in Toronto, specializing in documentary film editing.

Taryn has since returned home to Sudbury and is working at CTV Northern Ontario. In her spare time, Taryn volunteers as a board member of the YWCA in Sudbury. She has a passion for travel and has been to such destinations as Europe, Australia and New Zealand. In 2008, Taryn was named one of Sudbury's Top 40 Under Forty.