KIEFER SUTHERLAND | CHAIR

Kiefer Sutherland currently stars in the critically acclaimed Fox drama, 24, for which he has won a Golden Globe Award, an Emmy Award and two SAG Awards for Best Actor in a Drama Series. The show has also won an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for “Best Drama”. The eighth season of 24 is returning to FOX this year. The show has also enjoyed tremendous success overseas, making it one of the top shows airing internationally. 24: Redemption, a made for television movie was nominated for five Emmy awards, including one for Sutherland for Best Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries.

Sutherland recently starred in Dreamworks Animation’s Monsters Vs. Aliens. He voices the character ‘WR Monger,’ the prison warden of the ‘monsters.’ Other voices in the cast include Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Laurie, Seth Rogen, Will Arnett and Stephen Colbert. The 3D film opened worldwide on March 27, 2009.

Additionally, Sutherland was recently seen starring in New Regency’s thriller Mirrors as a troubled ex-cop who must save his family from an unspeakable evil that is using mirrors as a gateway into their home. The film, which co-stars Amy Smart and Paula Patton and was directed by Alexandre Aja, was released on August 15, 2008.

In 2006, Sutherland starred in The Sentinel with Michael Douglas and Kim Basinger. Sutherland portrayed Agent Breckenridge, a secret service agent who finds himself caught in the middle of a plot to assassinate the president. The film was directed by Clark Johnson and was released in April 2006.

In 2004, Sutherland starred in the independent film, The River Queen opposite Samantha Morton. The film was shot in New Zealand and was directed by Vincent Ward.

In 2003, Sutherland starred in the Warner Bros. fim Taking Lives, opposite Angelina Jolie and Ethan Hawke. Sutherland also provided the narration in another Warner Bros. film, Nascar: The Imax Experience. The year before, Sutherland starred in the Fox film, Phonebooth, directed by Joel Schumacher.

Sutherland also starred in the limited release of the World War II drama To End All Wars.  The screenplay was based on the best-selling book, Through the Valley of the Kwai which is an account of life as a POW in a Southeast Asian prison camp.  The film also starred Robert Carlyle, Ciaran McMenarrin and Mark Strong and successfully screened at both the Toronto and Telluride Film Festivals in 2002.

In 1998, Sutherland was seen starring in Showtime’s critically-acclaimed original picture, A Soldier's Sweetheart with Skeet Ulrich and Georgina Cates.

In 1997, Sutherland co-starred with William Hurt and Rufus Sewell in the Newline production, Dark City.  Directed by Alex Proyas, Dark City was a special presentation at the Cannes Film Festival.  Sutherland also added his second directorial credit and starred in Truth Or Consequences for Triumph Films alongside Kevin Pollak, Mykelti Williamson, Rod Steiger and Martin Sheen.

In the 1996 the Paramount thriller, Eye For An Eye, directed by John Schlesinger, Sutherland portrayed an unremorseful, brutal murderer opposite Sally Field and Ed Harris.  Later that summer, he co-starred with Samuel L. Jackson, Sandra Bullock and Matthew McConaughey in the screen adaptation of John Grisham's novel, A Time To Kill. 

In 1993, Sutherland starred in Touchstone Pictures' The Three Musketeers, based on the classic tale by Alexandre Dumas.  The same year, he made his directorial debut in the critically acclaimed Showtime film Last Light, in which he starred opposite Forest Whitaker. 

Sutherland's first major role was in the Canadian drama, The Bay Boy, which earned Sutherland and director Daniel Petrie, Genie award nominations for best actor and best director, respectively.  Following his success in The Bay Boy, Sutherland eventually moved to Los Angeles and landed television appearances in The Mission, an episode of Amazing Stories and in the telefilm Trapped in Silence with Marsha Mason.
 
In 1992, Sutherland starred opposite Ray Liotta and Forest Whitaker in Orion Pictures' Article 99, and in Castlerock's military drama A Few Good Men, also starring Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise.  Later, in 1994, he starred with Jeff Bridges and Nancy Travis in the American version of The Vanishing for 20th Century Fox.

Sutherland's other film credits include Flatliners, Chicago Joe And The Showgirl, 1969, Flashback, Young Guns, Young Guns 2, Bright Lights, Big City, The Lost Boys, Promised Land, At Close Range, and Stand By Me.

Sutherland resides in Los Angeles.

KATHRYN EMSLIE | DIRECTOR OF CFC FILM & CFC TV

Kathryn has been working in the Canadian film and TV industry for 23 years. Mentored first by acclaimed independent producer Peter O’Brian (My American Cousin, On Magic Christmas), she then moved out to BC to work with the international award winning filmmaker Phillip Borsos (The Greg Fox, Bethune) before returning to Toronto in 1992 to join the CFC’s team.

As the Director of the Film & TV Programs, she provides strategic direction and leadership to the CFC's film and television departments, programs and productions. She is also responsible for fostering creative and strategic alliances with alumni, and national and international partners.

Kathryn is responsible for initiating, designing and heading up the Cineplex Entertainment & Short Dramatic Film programs, the CBC Prime Time and TV Pilot Programs, international programs such the Go West Lab presented with the Whistler Film Festival, partnership with Tribeca Film Festival’s All Access Program, and the soon to be launched Actors’ Conservatory, UK/Canada Co-Production Series Incubator and NBC Universal Content Creator Program. 

She has participated on many festival juries, strategic committees and industry advisories and was presented with the 2004 WIFT-T Mentorship Crystal Award in recognition of her commitment to training and the significant role she plays within the industry. 

LARISSA GIROUX | MANAGER, ACTORS CONSERVATORY

After receiving a B.A. in Communication Studies from Concordia University, Larissa Giroux began working with Perry Zimel at Toronto talent agency Oscars Abrams Zimel where she became immersed in the business aspects of talent management. From there she moved into Casting alongside industry veterans Robin D. Cook then Jon Comerford working on projects ranging from feature films (Seven Times Lucky, Harvard Man) to cable features and network television series such as Monk. These experiences brought her closer again to working with actors within film & tv and exposed her to the relationship between the creative needs of our industry and the practicalities of on-screen performing

Larissa left her work in casting to expand her creative and business expertise and attended the Canadian Film Centre’s 2003 Producers’ Lab, with a strong desire to create films that would showcase Canada’s exceptional talent. Her producing credits include the award winning CFC short film White Out, Co Producer of Su Rynard’s feature, Kardia, winner of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Feature Film Prize at the Hamptons International Film Festival; Congratulations Daisy Graham directed by Cassandra Nicolaou; and Jeffrey St. Jules’ Genie nominated short The Tragic Story of Nling, which screened at the Toronto International, Sundance, Aspen and American Film Institute’s Film Festivals.

As a producer, Larissa has attended the Berlinale Talent Campus, the Sundance Institute’s Independent Producers Conference, Festival de Cannes Producers Network as well as the Mannheim Co-Production Meetings - furthering her knowledge of the international feature markets and fostering global business relationships Larissa saw firsthand the international opportunities and challenges facing Canadian creative talent and content.

Through her company Intrepid Film Arts she is developing Bang Bang Baby with director Jeffrey St. Jules and adapting Anjali Banerjee’s acclaimed novel Maya Running, and she is currently in post-production on director Risa Bramon Garcia’s feature The Love Child, starring Rossif Sutherland, Rebecca Romijn and Donald Sutherland with producer Paul Barkin

Larissa is a firm believer in the CFC’s ability to inspire talent and position them for success on the world’s stage and looks forward to combining her passion for supporting talent with her strong management and producing skills in support of this exciting new program.

KRISTINE KAZIAS | COORDINATOR, FILM PROGRAMS

Kristine graduated from the Toronto Film School in 2004 with a diploma in Entertainment Business Management. During her time at TFS, Kristine worked with industry leaders learning all aspects of the Film, Television and Music industries, and completed an internship with The Reel World Film Festival.

After finishing school Kristine took on a temp position for an up-and-coming indie record label, which, as it turns out, was in fact a set up for a hidden camera/reality based television show entitled The Office Temps. Luckily the producers were so impressed with her work ethic that they gave her an actual job and she became the Production Secretary and Office Manager for Lone Eagle Entertainment, an Independent Television Production Company.  While at Lone Eagle she worked on the production of The Office Temps for Global Television , You Bet Your Ass for CTV’s The Comedy Network and Inside the Box for Canwest’s TVtropolis

Kristine is an avid card maker/scrapbooker and began her own scrapbook creation company called The Purple Bloom. She is also a certified makeup artist.
 
Kristine is responsible for overseeing and facilitating the day to day activities of the Film Program and the Short Dramatic Film Program.

ISABEL GOMEZ-MORIANA | EXECUTIVE IN CHARGE OF PRODUCTION AND POST

Isabel is responsible for overseeing the development, production and post production on the CFC’s short films & TV productions and exercises, while providing mentorship and support to the residents and building on the CFC’s strong industry relationships.

Isabel compliments her skills as a producer and production executive with years of experience both on and off camera. Her acting career began with a BFA in Drama in Education from Concordia University and an MFA in Acting from York University and, after numerous roles in theatre, film & television, culminated in a position as co-writer and co-host on WTN's Gemini-nominated lifestyle series, My Messy Bedroom. Isabel's extensive production experience includes work on projects for CBS, Fox, Sci-Fi, Disney, ABC and Lifetime, as well as years working for talent and literary manager Perry Zimel.  

Since graduating from the CFC’s Producers’ Lab in 2005, Isabel has produced the NBC/Universal short films Spooned and Face Machine, as well as the BravoFACT! shorts I Made A Girlfriend and The Perfect Match. She has consulted on numerous film productions, was a producer mentor for MTV's 48 Fest during the XVI International AIDS Conference and moderated several industry panels during the 2008/09 Worldwide Short Film Festivals. Isabel sits on the workshop committee of Green Screen Toronto.