CCR People

Richard Hardacre has been elected as national president of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA). He was president of ACTRA Toronto for two terms and was on ACTRA’s national council for 10 years. The ongoing national president is Thor Bishopric. The National Bank of Canada has appointed Robert Morrice as its new senior manager of the TV and motion picture group for Ontario and Western Canada. Morrice has served on the boards of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association, Hot Docs, and the Toronto Worlwide Short Film Festival as well as being a member of Canada’s Sectoral Advisory Group on International Trade. He joins a group that includes Sonia Morris, senior account manager of the TV and motion picture group, Clare Cockell, account manager, and Anne Schneerer and Charlene Paling. Giulia Filippelli has been hired as senior advisor of the Toronto International Film Festival’s OMDC Sales Office. As well, Angie Driscoll and Myrocia Watamaniuk become the two new programmers for Canadian shorts films. Filippelli will oversee the activities of the sales office, including hospitality and relations with the international industry. Previously, she was the senior international sales executive based in Italy with RAI Trade and with its predecessor SACIS in Moscow. Driscoll has programmed Canadian films for the Hamilton Film Festival, the Indio Series and the McGill Film and Video Festival, and has been the coordinator of the Toronto Documentary Forum at Hot Docs International Documentary Festival for the past two years. Watamaniuk has programmed and managed various festivals, including the Canadian Film Centre’s Worldwide Short Film Festival, the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, and Reelworld Film Festival.John Piercy has been hired as the new president of Mountain Cablevision. The former investment partner will replace Les Boris and he will be responsible for the overall operation of the company. Boris has the position of CEO and will continue to provide strategic guidance to the company. Phyllis Yaffee has been named as CEO of Alliance Atlantis Communications following changes to the company’s operating management structure. Current CEO and chair Michael MacMillan will become executive chair. In a statement, MacMillan said that by becoming executive chair, he can dedicate the appropriate time and resources to long-term planning and growth strategies. A briefing note by Desjardins Securities that was issued when the announcement was made said that MacMillan’s decision will renew speculation that the company would eventually be put up for sale. The securities company agreed a sale is a possibility. As CEO, Yaffee will be responsible for leading the company in achieving its financial and operating goals. She was previously COO. Christine Shipton has been named as senior director of dramatic programming at CanWest MediaWorks. She will be responsible for developing and overseeing the production of original drama and comedies across CanWest MediaWorks’ television networks. She joins the broadcaster from Blueprint Entertainment (CCR, May 6/04). She has also worked in senior positions for W Network, Landscape Entertainment Canada, Alliance Atlantis Television and CBC Television. Jacques Papin takes on the position of VP of Montreal francophone radio stations as part of a new management team formed by Corus Quebec to deal with the integration of its current radio stations with the former Radiomédia stations that it acquired from Astral Media (CCR Update, May 31/05). Papin has been a member of the Corus Quebec team for five years. He worked for Radiomutuel from 1982 to 2000, including as Radiomédia VP and general manger of CKAC from 1998 to 2000. CKAC is one of the stations that Corus Quebec is acquiring. Yves Guérard has been named as the new general manager of Montreal AM stations CKAC and Info690. The 25-year radio veteran joined Corus Quebec in 2004 as a special consultant. He worked as radio VP at Cogeco from 1994 to 1996, and at Radiomutuel from 1976 to 1993. Brian Kenemy has been appointed as the new VP of Montreal English-language stations Q92 and 940News. The appointments were effective May 30. Don Mumford has been promoted to the position of station manager at CHUM Ltd.’s The New RO (soon to be rebranded as A-Channel) in Ottawa. He will be responsible for leading the management team and the day-to-day operations, growth and strategic planning of the station. Prior to his promotion, Mumford was program and promotion manager for The New PL (London), The New NX (Wingham) and The New VI (Windsor).The promotion is effective June 6. Suzanne Sauvage has been named president of the Canadian operations of Cossette Communication Group Inc. Based in Toronto, she will take on the management of the organization’s Toronto and Montreal offices in addition to acting as chief liaison between Cossette’s other Canadian offices in Quebec City, Vancouver, Halifax and Ottawa. Sauvage was promoted from the position of president of Cossette Montreal, which she held since 2002. Claudine Renauld has joined the CRTC as director general of communications to replace Denis Carmel. Carmel will work with her during a transition period. CRTC commissioner Andrée Wylie is retiring from the commission at the end of the summer. She is being replaced by Michel Arpin (CCR, May 30/05). Peter Viner replaces Richard Camilleri as president of CanWest MediaWorks. Viner has worked for CanWest for 25 years, including as CEO of TEN Television Network in Australia, which he rescued from the brink of bankruptcy. Walter Levitt has been appointed as senior VP of marketing at CanWest MediaWorks. He will be responsible for driving all marketing functions for all the company’s broadcast properties, including brand strategy, public relations, on air-promotions and advertising. He joins CanWest MediaWorks from Alliance Atlantis Communications where he held a variety of senior positions over the past eight years. As well, Kenton Boston has been named as new senior executive producer of Global National and news specials. He will be responsible for the overall operations of Global National. Ben Chin has also been hired as senior correspondent for Global National.

CCR People

Broadcast | June 8, 2005

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