The Dream Cast

Devin is a design leader who specializes in product design, editorial storytelling and visual brand strategy. He is currently Creative Director, UX for Texas Instruments. During his tenure as Design Director for The Globe and Mail (2012 – 2019) he was recognized with awards for art direction, design and visual storytelling from renowned organizations such as The Advertising and Design Club of Canada, The Association of Graphic Designers of Canada, The Society for News Design, and Applied Arts magazine. In 2016 and 2019, The Globe and Mail was nominated for World’s Best Design by SND.

Over a 20-year career, Devin has led major projects, redesigns and marketing campaigns for Texas Instruments, The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Canada’s Walk of Fame, American Express, The Independent Film Channel and Alliance Atlantis Films. He is a certified UX designer (Akendi) and creative lead for The Trust Project. He’s an avid collector of post-war Canadian art.

Jeff has worked in Men’s Fashion retail for over 40 years. He has held the positions of manager; buyer; visual display designer; merchandiser; and sales associate. Concurrently, for 24 years, Jeff held the position of Art Director and Lead Designer at a special event design firm. In this role he designed and managed the production of décor props and costumes.

Jeff has a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the University of Guelph. He recently instructed Visual Presentation at Toronto Film School in the Interior Decorating program.

Currently with the Yorkville University, Jeff is instructing an online Fashion Sketching course; History of Furniture and Decoration; Introduction to Interior Decoration, and an in-class History of Design course in the Graphic Design program at Toronto Film School.

For more than 25 years, Jennifer Cairns has been recognized for outstanding quality and creativity in corporate branding and marketing. Jennifer was Creative Director and Director of Brand Development at Revera Inc, where she established an award-winning advertising and design team, launched a new national brand identity, and executed complex integrated marketing campaigns. Over the past decade, Jennifer has been freelancing and teaching art and design, most recently working with Allcard Ltd, Canada’s leader in gift card production for clients such as Canadian Tire, Roots, and Air Canada.

Jennifer is teaching the next generation of graphic designers at the Toronto Film School and Mohawk College, with emphasis on best practices, clear communication, innovative ideas, and creative exploration.

Through an ongoing career in different countries for more than 30 years, John has been honoured with hundreds of awards for creative excellence; he has held the titles of Art Director, Creative Director, Partner, owner and mentor.

His advertising career started in Los Angles, California at the prestigious Art Center College of Design, where he received a BFA. His schooling and talent lead to jobs in Los Angles, Chicago / New York and Toronto.

John has had the privilege of working on almost everything from A-Z, in marketing, promotion, packaging and putting it all together in advertising campaigns. Creating over 1200 TV commercials, movie Posters, titles and credits, hundreds of radio commercials and countless print pieces, from Annual reports, to posters, to complete advertising campaigns to designing startup magazines.

He has also had the good fortune of working with some of the best in the business both in the U.S., Canada and around the world.
As well as running an advertising/design agency, John teaches.

Kory is a graphic designer with over 20 years of experience. He is also a design educator being a part-time faculty member at both Centennial and Durham College since 2014. He has taught courses in both the Advertising and Graphic Design programs such as a Design and Production Fundamentals, A Design Theory, Design Tools (Adobe), Digital Illustration, Graphic Design for Digital Media, acted as the Creative Director for Campus Media Production, and instructed summer camps and workshops. Kory is still active in the industry and working as a designer in advertising agencies and most recently for cannabis licensed producers.

He also holds a graphic design diploma from Durham College and an Instructing Adults certificate from George Brown College.

Designer, writer, curator, teacher. Foremost graphic designer.

For the past 16 years Fritz has run the full gamut from agency junior designer to project lead for multi-agency, multi-national consortiums; art director for numerous corporations; design thinking, research & methodology projects; mentoring designers; teaching design; curate international design festivals all whilst maintaining his own design studio. He prides himself on carrying a conversation with a room full of >stuffy< Korean executives equally as well as talking shop with the printer foreman.

Fritz has worked on brands as diverse as LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics, KIA Motors, IBK (Industrial Bank of Korea), KEB (Korea Exchange Bank), KT (Korea Telecommunications) to lesser known brands in mechatronics & hydraulics (DY), hospitality (GLAD Hotel), retail (Noon Square), fashion (MVIO) etc. all to widen the definition and potential of design in everyday life.
Although he dislikes awards and accolades his work has been recognized by the TDC, Monthly Design, Korea Society of Typography and others. Also, he has sat on the advisory board for numerous design organizations, periodicals, design biennials and festivals.
Fritz also speaks publicly and contributes frequently to design publications around the world. He has delivered talks and workshops in Korea, Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong and most recently here in Toronto.

Lea Conte is an experienced Designer, Art Director and Post-Secondary Educator in Toronto. With over ten years of industry experience and over five years as an instructor, she is driven by her passion for design and love of teaching. Lea stems from a seasoned background of education and professional experience. She retains a BA in Cultural Anthropology, which has complimented her curiosity for teaching and understanding cultural dynamics.

Perusing her natural creative interests, Lea went on to study Fashion Arts and Graphic Design, where she then became a successful Art Director. Sensing the need to foster her academic and cultural mind, Lea found herself teaching in the post-secondary environment. Currently, Lea wholeheartedly believes she has combined her passion for cultural understanding and design problem solving into a successful and fulfilling career. Lea takes the utmost pride in providing a paramount learning experience for her students and keeping them up to date with contemporary design practices and principles.

Martyn Lee has always had an interest in art and design. As a visual merchandiser he’s been exposed to many design fields and has developed a huge appreciation for the creative process, and what it takes to bring an idea to aesthetic fruition.

Martyn enjoys working with his students and sharing his conceptual approach, inspiring them to see design through more critical and objective eyes and watching their creativity develop.

Michelle is a marketing strategist, project manager, and UX/UI designer with over 20 years of experience in web and print marketing and design, and a lifelong history as a dedicated problem solver and polymath.

She has worked and collaborated with several boutique agencies and brands in various capacities, including Nuclear Media, Big Feats Creative, Air Canada, Energy Technologies Canada, the El Mocambo, Yoga Mamas, and on a number of projects in the web 3.0 and NFT
community, arts organizations, and health and wellness organizations.

Michelle has a passion for education and entrepreneurship. She is the founder of a small opera company, a film company, a health and wellness company, and has worked in the Reiki, Yoga, and Meditation field for over 10 years. She is currently an instructor in Graphic Design and Interactive Media. She also works in film, television and theatre, as an actor, art director, cinematographer, and director. When not in class or in the office, you’ll find Michelle performing on stage, shooting or directing independent films, walking her dog, or planning her upcoming wedding to her best friend.

Careers: Visual Arts and Graphic/Multimedia Design.

Graphic Designer, Art Director in BBDO and Young & Rubicam Europe, participates in the Venice Biennale of Art and exhibitions in France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania. From 1998 in Toronto he freelances in web, print, video/multimedia. 2000÷2006: teaching Art Directing & Visual Communication + Web in OCAD, while freelancing in Paris, France and Toronto. From 2007 he teaches Theology + Art of Icon in St. Stephen’s University, US. Beginning in 2017 he teaches in Toronto Film School and Yorkville University. Author of ‘Concepts of Beauty’ course, Yorkville University. Multilingual: English, French, Romanian. Masters of Engineering, Visual Arts ( + BBDO, Young & Rubicam training in Visual Communication & Art Directing, post-diploma studies in OCAD ), Theology.

Pheinixx specializes in design, marketing, communications and brand development and has worked for clients around the globe. Here in Canada, she has taken on projects for Warner Bros. Music, Mastercard Stylicity, and Gusto TV.

Piyush Mann is a designer, artist and educator. His research focusses on decolonizing design through digitization and equitable management of ownership of indigenous Knowledge. He holds a Masters of Design degree from the University of Alberta with research that cultivates new design sensorial methodologies to extract tacit knowledge found in practice-led methods and indigenous knowledge.

He also has a Bachelor of Design degree from OCAD University (Ontario College of Art and Design).As a professional designer and creative director, he combines his background in visual-communication design with new media to develop solutions for political design, corporate design, communication design and interactive design.

An ideator, educator, and UX/UI designer with the proven ability to understand client needs and successfully meet goals. His life-long interest and background in storytelling, has provided him an acute empathy of users and what drives them.

With over a decade of industry experience, he has an in-depth understanding of all things digital and design. Randolph has worked on some of the biggest brands in the world including Google, AT&T, and Procter & Gamble.

Randolph also has a passion for design education and has been involved in several tech schools training new designers, as well as corporate training.

Ryan Taffe is an artist and designer from Toronto, Canada, focused on designing timeless, functional, and creative works. Educated in Graphic Design, Art History and Computer Science, he has paired a strong technical knowledge with a classic approach to design. Throughout his life, Ryan has always worked hard at balancing athletics and creativity. In his youth, he spent a lot of time on the soccer pitch playing for the Provincial & National youth programs, travelling and playing in Portugal. In addition to the teamwork and determination Ryan learned through these experiences, he was constantly analyzing and investigating to ensure that he was performing at his best.

Ryan was taught at an early age that self-reflection and constructive criticism are imperative for one to improve. He was fascinated from a young age with art and design, and with the progressive advancements in technology changing how design integrated with everyday life. In his spare time, he was developing skills on the computer and playing music constantly to better his skill set with constant practice and experimentation. As a teenager, Ryan became heavily connected to urban and skate culture. In his high school years, he honed his skills as an artist and web designer. He designed and programmed his secondary school’s website, as well as creating some of the school’s warning music; all this was done while juggling his training for soccer and being on student council. This ability to connect with trends and culture pushed Ryan to examine and understand why designs are successful and how they connect with different people.

Shilpa got her start in graphic design after graduating from LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore. With more than a decade of experience in illustration, art direction and graphic design, she still can’t get enough of the arts and dabbles occasionally in crafting and pottery.

Enhancing her skills, and leveling up to the highest standards helped Shilpa create meaningful work, over the years.

Having worked in Singapore, India, and Canada, she brings a unique design sense. Influenced by classic and eclectic design work, she’s up for any creative challenge – so as long as there’s a cup of coffee, brewing nearby.

Dan Sacco holds a M.F.A. in screenwriting from York University, and a Ph.D. in Communication and Culture from the joint program at York and Ryerson Universities. Alongside teaching screenwriting in the TFSO Video Production program, he has taught film history at George Brown College and sociology at Ryerson University.

He has also worked professionally in a number of industry contexts: as a film festival programmer, commercial set dresser, video editor, and script consultant. Dan is presently in post-production on his first feature film as writer/director, and is also currently writing a manuscript for Edinburgh University Press based on his doctoral research. His work has been published in several academic journals, and he is a member of the Global Horror Studies Research Network based at the University of Pittsburgh. He currently resides in Toronto.

Julian is a multi-disciplinary, multi-award winning CSA creator, performer, and writer-producer who splits his time between Toronto and Los Angeles.

Most recently, his TV series FOR THE RECORD for CBC Gem and Universal Music Canada had its international premiere at SXSW in March 2021. The series will be distributed by Mediawan in France, and the format has been sold to Mediawan and JTBC in Korea.

Selected credits include co-writer and star of the feature film New Year; co-creator and writer of the landmark digital series Whatever, Linda, now a one hour series developed at Bell Crave and EP’d by Orphan Black creator Graeme Manson; and the Canadian Screen Award nominated digital comedy Ming’s Dynasty for CBC Gem in Canada, Fuse TV and Ficto in the US.

Kisholay Ray is a filmmaker with experience in post-production, documentary filmmaking and commercial production, and with a solid experience in the industry he brings to the table a unique combination of technical expertise and creativity.

He has been credited for his Post Production supervision work in Hollywood hits like Avengers Endgame, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2, Rogue One, Dr. Strange, Spiderman Homecoming, Star Trek Beyond, Captain America Civil War and many more. Kisholay has also worked on episodic series like Game of Thrones, The Boys, The Mandalorian and others which is primarily available on Netflix and Amazon Prime.

A graduate of the American Film Institute’s MFA Conservatory Screenwriting in Los Angeles, Leah is a writer and director who loves telling funny, awkward and touching stories. Leah attended the AFI on full scholarship through the Organization of American States Graduate Fellowship from 2009 to 2011 and received the Stefano Award of Excellence in Screenwriting for her work.

Season One of The Communist’s Daughter, a comedic web series she created that is loosely based on her childhood growing up with a Commie dad at the height of the consumerist Reagan 80s, is currently streaming on CBC Gem. The series recently took home the top prize for the prestigious Web Series World Cup.

Leah Cameron has also story edited three seasons of the pop cultural series, WHERE COOL CAME FROM and has directed segments of the show. She has also written several narrative shorts (e.g. SUBWAY HARMONIES, NINULLA, THE LION SHADOWS), many of which have played international festivals (e.g. PALM SPRINGS, CAMERAIMAGE, CANNES SHORT FILM CORNER, EAST END FLIM FESTIVAL, etc.)

If Leah were forced to pick a favorite writing genre it would be dramatic comedy. (She is still in love with SIX FEET UNDER 15 years after the fact.)

Steve Blair is a Canadian Screen Award winning, Director’s Guild of Canada freelance Sound Editor. During his 15 year career in the audio post production industry he has worked on hundreds of productions including Another Life (Netflix), Code 8 (Crave/Netflix), and Cracked (CBC). With a strong background in music, Steve is passionate about curating, creating, designing, and talking about all things audio.

Steven is an award-winning producer, director and editor. As a graduate from the University of Toronto, Steven won Best First Feature at the U of T Film Festival in 2005, and earned a role as a documentary Features Producer at the National Hockey League in 2006. Touring the world and telling stories about the league’s marquee players and events, Steven amassed millions of views over a 10 year body of work, including the award-winning doc series “NHL Life” which earned seven w3 web awards, including Best Drama Series in 2015.
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After full-time successful stints at Major League Baseball and The Walt Disney Company, Steven established 383 Pictures, and directed and produced the Washington DC set documentary “The Cannons,” which had its World Premiere at the prestigious DOC NYC Film Festival in November 2021, touring North America and earning Canadian Screen Award recognition for its film festival success. Steven’s short scripted work has also played to regional fanfare, including the life-inspired “Cliffside,” which opened the Scarborough Film Festival in 2013 and the viral short film comedy “The Russian Hipster” in 2017. A keen eye for television development, Steven continues to produce and develop serial long-form documentary and scripted shows, including the much-hyped “The Six” which was developed with Entertainment One and CBC Network in 2018.

Vladimir completed BFA in Film and TV Directing at University of Arts, Belgrade, Serbia. His early short student film Dolphins Are Mammals (1997) won FIPRESCI special mention at Montreal World Film Festival 1997.
After that he worked as a documentary filmmaker and a film editor on many projects including Bitter Harvest (2001) by Goran Paskaljevic, a film that premiered competition program of Venice International Film Festival and TIFF.
After some years spent working as an Editor and Director for various TV productions, Vladimir completes his feature length film Devil’s Town (2009) which was premiered at Karlovy Vary IFF, Rotterdam IFF, Montreal WFF and wins Honorable mention at Palm Springs IFF and First Prize at Trieste Film Festival, FIPRESCI at Athens Panorama of European Film.
Absence Is Present (2015) is his master thesis docu-fiction film he made for his MFA in Film Production at York University. It won Manulife Best Student Film Award by Toronto Film Critics Association, as well as Master Thesis York Award.
Vladimir is an active documentary and film producer. He taught Film at University of New Brunswick, Wilfrid Laurier University, Lakehead University, York University and he currently teaches at Toronto Film School.

Colin Aussant is a Toronto-based screenwriter with a bent for comedy, dramady, thrillers and anything with a little edge and originality. As a graduate of the Canadian Film Centre’s Feature and TV Bootcamp programmes, Colin has a variety of projects in development including: The Invisibles, pre-production, feature, co-written with Andrew Currie (Quadrant Pictures) with Telefilm
development funding, actors Lucy Liu and Tim Blake Nelson attached; Holmes, one-hour drama series, co-creator/writer (Circle Blue entertainment); Acid Town, one-hour drama series, creator/writer (Counterfeit Pictures); Trash Pandas, half hour animated comedy series, creator/writer (Counterfeit Pictures). Former projects include Fishbat .45, creator/writer, half-hour animated comedy series
(Teletoon Network); Crude, half-hour comedy series, creator/writer (Showcase Network). Colin’s other achievements include winning a Praxis National Screenwriting Fellowship for his original feature screenplay Slapping Al Capone, and having a short film, Peep, produced by Universal Studios. He’s also a screenwriting instructor at Toronto Film School.

Check out Colin Aussant’s IMDb

Started working in television over twenty years ago. Graduated from York University, studying Film and Screenwriting. Produced, directed, and wrote several short films. The success of these led to directing TV commercials and music videos. Interned at eOne in TV production, TV Development, and International Film Distribution. Began mentoring newcomers to the industry and decided to earn a Bachelor of Education from Western University. Then returned to projects and became the manager of development for 9-Light Entertainment, working to put together a slate of films. Producer on the 9 Light Feature film Broken Mile, which premiered at the Whistler Film Festival and had a limited North American Theatrical run. Has since optioned several feature scripts and is currently developing a feature directorial debut while teaching for the Toronto Film School.

Check out Dave’s webpage

Jeffrey St. Jules is the first Canadian to have been selected for the Cannes Festival Residence where he developed his feature film debut, BANG BANG BABY starring Jane Levy (Don’t Breathe), Justin Chatwin (Shameless) and Peter Stormare (Fargo). Bang Bang Baby premiered at TIFF where it was awarded Best First Canadian Feature. It was also the winner of the top prize at the Santa Barbara Film Festival and the award for Outstanding Debut Feature Film at the Canadian Screen Awards.

He has been described as ‘Canada’s master of the surreal short form’ by The Globe and Mail and ‘One of the most brazenly original voices to come out of Canada in the past 10 years’ by TIFF. His much-lauded shorts include THE SADNESS OF JOHNSON JOE JANGLES, which played over 40 festivals worldwide, THE TRAGIC STORY OF NLING, which was selected for the Sundance Film Festival and named the best short film of 2007 by Film Threat, and LET THE DAYLIGHT INTO THE SWAMP, an experimental 3D documentary which was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award and won Best of the Festival at the Yorkton Film Festival.  All three films had their premiere at TIFF.   He has recently completed his second feature film as writer/director entitled CINEMA OF SLEEP which recently premiered at the Santa Barbara Film Festival.

Check out Jeffrey St. Jules’ IMDb

Michael Paszt is one of the most respected names in the arena of independent film. A Managing Partner in Raven Banner Entertainment, Michael has focused on building a brand that represents unique genre-driven films including THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE, GASPAR NOE’S CLIMAX, TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID and the Oscar-nominated, EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT. Michael has also Executive Produced over 30 feature films including PSYCHO GOREMAN, the Sundance Film Festival hit, TURBO KID and SHUDDER ORIGINAL, VHS94. Michael originally began his career as a director on music videos working with metal bands such as Sacrifice and Anvil. His feature documentary debut, NAIL IN THE COFFIN: THE FALL AND RISE OF VAMPIRO premiered at Austin, TX’s Fantastic Fest and was Nominated Best Sports Documentary by Film Threat’s AwardThis!

Check out Michael Paszt`s IMDb here

Michelle is a leading executive producer and creative development consultant. She was director of content at The Comedy Network, where she managed the creative elements for a variety of TV shows including Corner Gas, Dan for Mayor, and The Jon Dore Television Show. She then moved on to the CBC, working first as the executive in charge of production for scripted prime-time shows, and later as the senior director of comedy.

As senior director, Michelle led the team responsible for managing the creative development and production of CBC’s original comedic programming. She has contributed to the success of such popular shows as Kim’s Convenience, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, and the Emmy-award-winning series Schitt’s Creek.
Check out Michelle’s IMDb page for her extensive list of credits.

Nataline Rodrigues is known for Hudson & Rex (2019), Bad Blood (2017) and Nirvanna the Band the Show (2016).

Check out Nataline Rodrigues’ IMDb

Paul de Silva is a Gemini award-winning film and Television Producer/Director/Writer and Media and Arts and Culture Consultant. His career has spanned television broadcasting, independent film and television production, journalism, public education, and inter-cultural communications.

He is currently the Co-Director of the International Diaspora Film Festival based in Toronto, Canada and Executive Producer for A4 One Media Productions, a multi-platform production company. He was formerly Vice President of Programming for Vision TV /One, The Body Mind and Spirit Channel and previously Vision TV’s Director of Independent Production and an Executive in charge of production at CBC Drama for the award-winning series “Inside Stories”.

In the six years he was at Vision he was responsible for commissioning documentary, drama, and music programs both in Canada and internationally, focusing on multi-faith and multi-cultural issues, including the Gemini nominated comedy series Lord Have Mercy! and the Music/Documentary series “Soul Music”.
He was Project Director for Canada One TV, an application to the CRTC for an Independent Drama-focused TV/Internet channel.
He is a former Human Rights Officer with the Ontario Human Rights Commission, a journalist with CBC News, and a Communications officer with the United Nations Environment Programme based in Nairobi, Kenya.

He is currently a PhD candidate in the York Ryerson Joint Programme in Communications and Culture and undertaking research in the area of the economics and cultural policies affecting screen-based media in Canada.

Vladimir completed BFA in Film and TV Directing at University of Arts, Belgrade, Serbia. His early short student film Dolphins Are Mammals (1997) won FIPRESCI special mention at Montreal World Film Festival 1997.
After that he worked as a documentary filmmaker and a film editor on many projects including Bitter Harvest (2001) by Goran Paskaljevic, a film that premiered competition program of Venice International Film Festival and TIFF.
After some years spent working as an Editor and Director for various TV productions, Vladimir completes his feature length film Devil’s Town (2009) which was premiered at Karlovy Vary IFF, Rotterdam IFF, Montreal WFF and wins Honorable mention at Palm Springs IFF and First Prize at Trieste Film Festival, FIPRESCI at Athens Panorama of European Film.
Absence Is Present (2015) is his master thesis docu-fiction film he made for his MFA in Film Production at York University. It won Manulife Best Student Film Award by Toronto Film Critics Association, as well as Master Thesis York Award.
Vladimir is an active documentary and film producer. He taught Film at University of New Brunswick, Wilfrid Laurier University, Lakehead University, York University and he currently teaches at Toronto Film School.