Advisory Board

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Content Advisory Board

Jason Badal

Head of Canada, Disney+
Walt Disney Company (Canada) Ltd.

Jason Badal is Head of Canada for Disney+, the global streaming service owned by The Walt Disney Company. He also serves as a Board Director of the MLSE Foundation. Prior to this role he was the global head of multinational merchants within Shopify, bringing mass adoption of ecommerce to the largest and...more

Tracey Deer

Writer, Director and Showrunner

Tracey Deer is a Mohawk writer, director, and showrunner whose two decades of experience spans documentary, television, and film.

Her award-winning documentaries with Indigenous-owned Rezolution Pictures kicked off a collaboration that led to acclaimed dramedy Mohawk Girls, which ran for five seasons on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. As...more

Speaking at: Banff Advisory Board

Sarah Etherden

Vice President, Global Communications, Blue Ant Media
Blue Ant Media

Sarah Etherden is a TV communications executive with 15+ years of experience serving broadcasters, producers and distributors with media relations, trade marketing, executive profile development and corporate communications. As Vice-President, Global Communications at Blue Ant Media, she oversees the strategy and management of Blue Ant Media's external and internal communications...more

Speaking at: Banff Advisory Board

Magda Grace

Head of Prime Video Canada, Australia and New Zealand
Amazon Canada

As Head of Prime Video Canada, Magda Grace is responsible for the company's development and expansion efforts into Canada. She previously held positions at Starz and ICM Partners. Magda has a Master of Laws from UCLA School of Law and a Juris Doctor degree from McGill Law.

Speaking at: Banff Advisory Board

Nina Hahn

President
ViacomCBS

Nina Hahn is Senior Vice President of International Production & Development for the Global Kids and Family Group at ViacomCBS.

Based in London, Hahn oversees international content development and co-production partnerships for all ViacomCBS kids' content outside of the United States. Hahn coordinates and drives the development process, spearheads new production...more

Speaking at: Banff Advisory Board

Tilane Jones

President
ARRAY

Tilane Jones is the President of ARRAY, the multi-platform arts and social impact collective dedicated to narrative change founded by filmmaker Ava DuVernay in 2011. Jones leads ARRAY Alliance, the non-profit group, as well as programming and production hub ARRAY Creative Campus. She continues to oversee ARRAY Releasing, the company’s...more

Speaking at: Banff Advisory Board

Erin Junkin

Partner and Co-Head, Scripted Television
WME

The only female department head of television at any of the major talent agencies, Erin Junkin has been with the company for 19 years. She started her career as an intern at Endeavor and continued through the WME merger.

Junkin represents a variety of writers, directors, actors and producers including Nicole...more

Speaking at: Media Leaders 2022: future forward

Mauricio Mota

Founder and Co-President
Wise Entertainment

Recently awarded with an Innovation and Inclusion Award by the Digital Diversity Network, Mauricio Mota is the founder and co-president of Wise Entertainment. He served as executive producer of East Los High, an award-winning drama series that earned 6 Emmy nominations during its run on Hulu for its realistic portrayal...more

Speaking at: Pitching a hit in 2022,The Future of Indies,Meet a Decision Maker,Distributor Deep-Dive: international financing and content trends (Diversity of Voices Programme)

Karla Pita Loor

EVP, Enterprise Inclusion & Social Responsibility
Banijay Americas

As Executive Vice President, Enterprise Inclusion & Social Responsibility, Karla Pita Loor leads a multi-tiered strategy to increase access, awareness, and authentic representation for historically excluded groups across Banijay-owned studios Endemol Shine North America, Bunim/Murray Productions, Truly Original, 51 Minds Entertainment, Authentic Entertainment, Stephen David Entertainment, Mexico City-based Endemol Shine...more

Speaking at: Media Leaders 2022: future forward

Shabnam Rezaei

Co-Founder
Big Bad Boo Studios

Shabnam founded Big Bad Boo Studios to produce and distribute quality family programming. Shabnam has produced and directed Hulu Original Series The Bravest Knight, winner of 2020 GLAAD Award. She has also created and directed original shows such as 16 Hudson (Amazon Prime/TVOKids), mini-series Lili & Lola (Oznoz/ICI TV), and...more

Speaking at: Chatroom: Producer Life,Pitching a hit in 2022,Banff Advisory Board

Reemah Sakaan

CEO
BritBox

Reemah Sakaan is the CEO of BritBox International, responsible for the overall strategy and operations of BritBox globally. Prior to this, she served as Chief Creative Officer for BritBox Global and ITV’s SVOD Group Director, launching BritBox in the UK. A seasoned marketing and media executive with a passion for...more

Speaking at: Banff Advisory Board

Saskia Schuster

Head of Scripted
Fulwell73

Saskia Schuster is Head of Scripted at Fulwell 73. She joined the company in early 2020 to develop and produce drama and comedy. As well, Saskia runs Comedy 50:50 which is an initiative she set up to address gender imbalance in the industry.

Before joining Fulwell 73, Saskia was Head of...more

Speaking at: Banff Advisory Board

Jennifer Shin

Director of Development, Comedy
CBC

Jennifer Shin joined CBC as Director of Development, Comedy. A film and television producer with over 15 years of experience in the industry including such acclaimed films as Rebecca Addelman's Paper Year and Patricia Rozema's Mouthpiece, Jennifer joins us from the Peabody Award-winning production company Banger Films, where she served as Head...more

Speaking at: Pitch Doctors: CBC, Warner Bros. International Television Production, Bell Media,Speed Meetings with Buyers,Spotlight on CBC,Indigenous Screen Summit Pitch Forum #3: Scripted Comedy Series

Esther Springer

Creative Director, Film & Television
Creators Inc

Esther has a wealth of production and development experience in scripted television under her belt. Starting her career in film editing, she moved into television, working at Carlton/ITV Studios on a range of high profile dramas including series, limited series and adaptions; and then at BBC Drama and BBC Studios...more

Speaking at: The Future of Indies

Howard Swartz

EVP Development
Discovery Channel

Howard Swartz is Senior Vice President Docs and Specials, Factual Networks & Streaming, Discovery. In his current role, Swartz is responsible for developing and executing production strategies for documentaries, specials and event programming for both Discovery Channel and discovery+.

During his current tenure at Discovery, Swartz has overseen 80+ hours of

...more

Speaking at: Programming trend report,Banff Advisory Board,What’s hot in docs: trends you need to know,Meet a Decision Maker

Kathryn Tyus-Adair

SVP Original Programming
Starz

Kathryn Tyus-Adair is Senior Vice President of Original Programming at Starz where she has recently championed, developed and overseen production of series: BMF, Blindspotting, Run the World, The Serpent Queen, Step Up and VIDA. She has also developed and served as a production executive on Outlander, POWER and The Spanish Princess.

Before...more

Jennifer Vaux

VP, Content Acquisition & Programming
Roku

Jennifer Vaux oversees content strategy, acquisition, programming and scheduling for the ad-supported component of Roku’s owned and operated channel, The Roku Channel. She is responsible for sourcing and executing innovative programming acquisition deals across a range of content and business models. She works to license content for The Roku Channel...more

Speaking at: Banff Advisory Board,The FAST/AVOD market is exploding - what’s in it for you?,Meet a Decision Maker

It’s a lively festival and clearly people enjoy coming here year after year after year.
– LeVar Burton, Producer, Actor

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