Canadian filmmakers continue to evolve and challenge the status quo of genre filmmaking, expanding the conversation by cleverly blending different visual styles, aesthetics and tropes while paying homage to traditional genre elements - altogether, crafting a uniquely eerie-horrific-humorous-shocking mode of expression that leave audiences wanting more. This panel explores why and how such an approach to filmmaking works and what implications daring expectations have on the creative process.
NICK DENBOER is a video artist, animator, editor, director, music composer, and remixer from Toronto. His work is a special brand of comedy filled with visual effects and editing trickery. This past year, Nick co-directed and created The Chickening -- A short film / poultry infused remix of The Shining, which premiered at TIFF in September. Nick has spent the past few years writing, directing and producing comedy bits for CONAN on TBS where he helped shape the show with his cutting edge technical comedy style. Nick's unique work has found its way onto many TV shows and garnered much viral success on the web.
STEVEN MCCARTHY is an acclaimed actor, director, and musician. A graduate of The National theatre school of Canada’s prestigious acting programme, he returned to the school in 2010 as the sole candidate selected for a unique, one-year directing intensive. Since then productions such as Bliss, Malaria Lullaby, and Boblo, which combined elements of circus, dance, trapeze, and rock and roll, have earned him acclaim across the country. In film and television he has played a wide variety of leading roles for such directors as Guillermo del Toro, Ken Finkelman, Kate Melville and Robert Harmon in productions as diverse as The Strain, HBO Canada’s Good God, the indie hit Picture Day, and A&E’s The Crossing. The ElastoCitizens, McCarthy's epic ten-piece funk band, are cult favourites on the Toronto indie music scene. As one of the stars of The Steps, an ensemble comedy that premiered at the Toronto Film Festival 2015, McCarthy shares the screen with Christine Lahti, James Brolin, Emmanuelle Chriqui and Jason Ritter. O NEGATIVE, which he wrote, directed, performs in and produced, is his first film.
LAURA PERLMUTTER is an award winning film, television and digital media producer committed to creating innovative, original content. After attending the Canadian Film Centre’s Producers Lab program in 2011 Perlmutter co-founded First Love Films with Andrew Nicholas McCann Smith. Her work has shown internationally with distinction and awards. Perlmutter is alumnus of TIFF Studio, Berlinale Talents, and Trans Atlantic Partners. She has produced two feature films — Don't Get Killed in Alaska (2014) and A Trip to the Island (2014) — and recently launched the fantasy multiplatform series Riftworld Chronicles on CBC in Canada and ConTV in the US.
THE SOSKA SISTERS arare Canadian Twin Sister directors, writers, producers, and game show hosts of Hellevator, the Soska Sisters broke into the scene with their DIY indie sensation Dead Hooker In A Trunk. The Twins went on to follow up their break through indie gem with the accomplished and genre defining American Mary that placed horror icon Katharine Isabelle in the title role of Mary Mason, a medical student who gets drawn into the world of body modification and underground surgeries. Other films include See No Evil 2, Vendetta, and ABCs of Death 2. Always ones to push boundaries, the Twins are known for reversing gender roles in their films and are loudly outspoken about LGBTQ rights.
COLIN GEDDES is a programmer with the Toronto International Film Festival since 1998, Geddes’ additional programming efforts have included the Asian rep theatre Golden Classics Cinema, TIFF Cinematheque, FantAsia Toronto, ActionFest in Asheville, North Carolina, and he is currently the head curator at Shudder, a new horror cinema SVOD from AMC Networks. In 2004 he founded Ultra 8 Pictures, using his strong understanding of international festivals and genre cinema to help filmmakers and bring offbeat international films to Canada and the world. Together with his wife Katarina Gligorijević, Geddes programs The Royal, a restored art deco cinema in downtown Toronto.
