2018 Speakers
Jamie Brown / Chief executive officer & executive producer, Frantic Films
As CEO & executive producer of Frantic Films, Jamie has been proud to see the company become one of Canada’s leading film and television producers, gaining recognition for its creative work and business success.
Jamie has produced award winning film and television projects that have sold to over 100 countries around the world. From feature films (Into Invisible Light, Faces In The Crowd, Lucid and more) to scripted dramas (Keep Your Head Up Kid: The Don Cherry Story, Todd and the Book of Pure Evil, Men With Brooms, etc.) to scripted comedies (Still Standing, Baroness Von Sketch and the Winnipeg Comedy Festival), quality is always the focus. Jamie has also created or co-created over a dozen series in various genres and won numerous Gemini, Canadian Screen Awards and Banff Rockie Awards, to name a few.
He began his career as a lawyer with the prominent Toronto law firm McMillan, where he focused on corporate finance and entertainment law. After turns at Sullivan Entertainment and Nelvana in business and legal affairs, he moved into a role as an executive producer in 1998 at Winnipeg’s Credo Entertainment.
Jamie was the first recipient of the Lions Gate Innovative Producer Award, named one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40, received the I.H. Asper Broadcast Entrepreneur of the Future Award, was nominated as the New Media Visionary at the Canadian New Media Awards and was the CMPA’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2008. Currently, Jamie is the Past-Chair of the Board of Canada’s national producers association the CMPA and was Chair of Canada’s National Screen Institute. Jamie also sits on the Manitoba Business Council, was an emeritus member of Manitoba Premier’s Economic Advisory Council.
As CEO & executive producer of Frantic Films, Jamie has been proud to see the company become one of Canada’s leading film and television producers, gaining recognition for its creative work and business success.
Jamie has produced award winning film and television projects that have sold to over 100 countries around the world. From feature films (Into Invisible Light, Faces In The Crowd, Lucid and more) to scripted dramas (Keep Your Head Up Kid: The Don Cherry Story, Todd and the Book of Pure Evil, Men With Brooms, etc.) to scripted comedies (Still Standing, Baroness Von Sketch and the Winnipeg Comedy Festival), quality is always the focus. Jamie has also created or co-created over a dozen series in various genres and won numerous Gemini, Canadian Screen Awards and Banff Rockie Awards, to name a few.
He began his career as a lawyer with the prominent Toronto law firm McMillan, where he focused on corporate finance and entertainment law. After turns at Sullivan Entertainment and Nelvana in business and legal affairs, he moved into a role as an executive producer in 1998 at Winnipeg’s Credo Entertainment.
Jamie was the first recipient of the Lions Gate Innovative Producer Award, named one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40, received the I.H. Asper Broadcast Entrepreneur of the Future Award, was nominated as the New Media Visionary at the Canadian New Media Awards and was the CMPA’s Entrepreneur of the Year in 2008. Currently, Jamie is the Past-Chair of the Board of Canada’s national producers association the CMPA and was Chair of Canada’s National Screen Institute. Jamie also sits on the Manitoba Business Council, was an emeritus member of Manitoba Premier’s Economic Advisory Council.
Sally Catto / General manager, programming CBC English Television
Sally Catto is the general manager, programming for CBC English Television. She oversees the strategic direction and programming of original & acquired scripted, digital original and unscripted programming for the network such as Schitt’s Creek, Workin’ Moms, Kim’s Convenience, Baroness Von Sketch Show, Anne, Alias Grace and The Great Canadian Baking Show.
In her role she has also overseen the re-branding of the documentary strategy and the revitalization of Arts programming.
Sally has a long history at the CBC from her earliest days in 2001 as an Executive in Charge of Production, Drama to her subsequent positions including Creative Head, Drama and Executive Director, Commissioned & Scripted Programming. During her tenure she has overseen such programming as Heartland, Murdoch Mysteries, Book of Negroes, Being Erica and Mr. D.
Sally has been recognized for her outstanding contribution to Canadian Programming, being named Playback’s 2015 Programmer of the Year, WIFT-T’s 2014 Crystal Award Winner for Creative Excellence and recently CBC was named Playback’s 2016 Media Company of the Year.
Sally started her career as a lawyer at Stikeman Elliott and Goodmans. She has also worked as a literary agent for film & television and at production companies including Accent Entertainment. She spent a year overseas at Australian broadcaster SBS working in scripted & business affairs.
Sally Catto is the general manager, programming for CBC English Television. She oversees the strategic direction and programming of original & acquired scripted, digital original and unscripted programming for the network such as Schitt’s Creek, Workin’ Moms, Kim’s Convenience, Baroness Von Sketch Show, Anne, Alias Grace and The Great Canadian Baking Show.
In her role she has also overseen the re-branding of the documentary strategy and the revitalization of Arts programming.
Sally has a long history at the CBC from her earliest days in 2001 as an Executive in Charge of Production, Drama to her subsequent positions including Creative Head, Drama and Executive Director, Commissioned & Scripted Programming. During her tenure she has overseen such programming as Heartland, Murdoch Mysteries, Book of Negroes, Being Erica and Mr. D.
Sally has been recognized for her outstanding contribution to Canadian Programming, being named Playback’s 2015 Programmer of the Year, WIFT-T’s 2014 Crystal Award Winner for Creative Excellence and recently CBC was named Playback’s 2016 Media Company of the Year.
Sally started her career as a lawyer at Stikeman Elliott and Goodmans. She has also worked as a literary agent for film & television and at production companies including Accent Entertainment. She spent a year overseas at Australian broadcaster SBS working in scripted & business affairs.
Christine Lubrano / Senior vice president, original programming IFC
As IFC’s Senior Vice President, Original Programming, Christine Lubrano is responsible for the development and production of IFC’s growing slate of scripted comedy series.
She has been integral to the success of the Emmy® Award-winning Portlandia, created by and starring Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, and produced by Lorne Michaels’ Broadway Video. She was also the lead creative force behind the critically acclaimed and Emmy® nominated Documentary Now!, created by Bill Hader, Seth Meyers and Fred Armisen, also produced by Broadway Video. Most recently, she oversaw new series Brockmire starring Hank Azaria and Stan Against Evil created by Dana Gould, both breakout hits which premiered to strong first seasons. In addition, she has brought the Baroness Von Sketch Show, an all-female satirical sketch comedy series, to IFC. The series was recently awarded with five Canadian Screen Awards, including Best Sketch Comedy and best Writing in a Variety or Sketch Comedy.
Lubrano oversaw Comedy Bang! Bang!, hosted by Scott Aukerman, and she was responsible for the Funny or Die production of The Spoils Before Dying, the second entry into the popular The Spoils of Babylon miniseries franchise, starring and executive produced by Will Ferrell. She also brought back the cult hit Todd Margaret, created, written by and starring David Cross. She continues to serve as the executive producer of the Film Independent Spirit Awards, which has aired on IFC for more than two decades and celebrates the achievements of independent filmmakers.
Throughout her IFC career, Lubrano acted as executive producer on the bitingly satiric news parody Onion News Network; the sketch comedy series The Birthday Boys, and Garfunkel and Oates, starring comedy-folk duo Riki Lindhome and Kate Miccuci; The Henry Rollins Show, where the former punk rocker turned spoken-word guru took on the talk show world in his own offbeat uncensored way;The IFC Media Project, a social minded investigative look at today’s media landscape; the sketch comedy series The Whitest Kids U’ Know; and the reality show about professional bearding, Whisker Wars. In 2012, she headed up the much-heralded return of R. Kelly to television in his hip hopera Trapped in the Closet—Part 3.
Previously, Lubrano managed the development and production of 13 of the network’s feature documentaries, including the Emmy® nominated documentary Monty Python: Almost the Truth (the Lawyer’s Cut) which was nominated for Outstanding Non-fiction Series and also earned Lubrano an Emmy® nomination for production; the Directors Guild Award-winning film At The Death House Door; and the South By Southwest Film Festival Audience Award winner Darkon. Ms. Lubrano also developed and led the production of IFC’s Indie Sex Trilogy.
Lubrano has maintained a longstanding commitment to revenue growth and ad supported initiatives, spearheading branded integrations for dozens of Fortune 500 companies including Kelloggs, Volkswagen, Pernod, T-Mobile, Lincoln Ford, Piaget, Capitol One, Acura, Geico and Subaru.
An IFC veteran, Lubrano has been with the company for two decades, previously serving as vice president, current productions and prior to that as vice president, development & production for non-fiction programming. She began her career at IFC as a production manager, responsible for all short form content and program packaging for network series, events and specials.
Before joining IFC, Lubrano was a production manager at Bravo TV.
A passionate television executive, she is active in a variety of industry organizations, including Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT), New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS).
Lubrano has a B.A. in Communications from Hofstra University.
As IFC’s Senior Vice President, Original Programming, Christine Lubrano is responsible for the development and production of IFC’s growing slate of scripted comedy series.
She has been integral to the success of the Emmy® Award-winning Portlandia, created by and starring Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, and produced by Lorne Michaels’ Broadway Video. She was also the lead creative force behind the critically acclaimed and Emmy® nominated Documentary Now!, created by Bill Hader, Seth Meyers and Fred Armisen, also produced by Broadway Video. Most recently, she oversaw new series Brockmire starring Hank Azaria and Stan Against Evil created by Dana Gould, both breakout hits which premiered to strong first seasons. In addition, she has brought the Baroness Von Sketch Show, an all-female satirical sketch comedy series, to IFC. The series was recently awarded with five Canadian Screen Awards, including Best Sketch Comedy and best Writing in a Variety or Sketch Comedy.
Lubrano oversaw Comedy Bang! Bang!, hosted by Scott Aukerman, and she was responsible for the Funny or Die production of The Spoils Before Dying, the second entry into the popular The Spoils of Babylon miniseries franchise, starring and executive produced by Will Ferrell. She also brought back the cult hit Todd Margaret, created, written by and starring David Cross. She continues to serve as the executive producer of the Film Independent Spirit Awards, which has aired on IFC for more than two decades and celebrates the achievements of independent filmmakers.
Throughout her IFC career, Lubrano acted as executive producer on the bitingly satiric news parody Onion News Network; the sketch comedy series The Birthday Boys, and Garfunkel and Oates, starring comedy-folk duo Riki Lindhome and Kate Miccuci; The Henry Rollins Show, where the former punk rocker turned spoken-word guru took on the talk show world in his own offbeat uncensored way;The IFC Media Project, a social minded investigative look at today’s media landscape; the sketch comedy series The Whitest Kids U’ Know; and the reality show about professional bearding, Whisker Wars. In 2012, she headed up the much-heralded return of R. Kelly to television in his hip hopera Trapped in the Closet—Part 3.
Previously, Lubrano managed the development and production of 13 of the network’s feature documentaries, including the Emmy® nominated documentary Monty Python: Almost the Truth (the Lawyer’s Cut) which was nominated for Outstanding Non-fiction Series and also earned Lubrano an Emmy® nomination for production; the Directors Guild Award-winning film At The Death House Door; and the South By Southwest Film Festival Audience Award winner Darkon. Ms. Lubrano also developed and led the production of IFC’s Indie Sex Trilogy.
Lubrano has maintained a longstanding commitment to revenue growth and ad supported initiatives, spearheading branded integrations for dozens of Fortune 500 companies including Kelloggs, Volkswagen, Pernod, T-Mobile, Lincoln Ford, Piaget, Capitol One, Acura, Geico and Subaru.
An IFC veteran, Lubrano has been with the company for two decades, previously serving as vice president, current productions and prior to that as vice president, development & production for non-fiction programming. She began her career at IFC as a production manager, responsible for all short form content and program packaging for network series, events and specials.
Before joining IFC, Lubrano was a production manager at Bravo TV.
A passionate television executive, she is active in a variety of industry organizations, including Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT), New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS).
Lubrano has a B.A. in Communications from Hofstra University.
FOUNDING PARTNERS
EVENT SPONSORS
EVENT COLLABORATOR
ASSOCIATION PARTNERS
