2022 Speakers

Jason Badal is the GM of Canada for Disney+. Prior to this role he led the multinational merchant segment at Shopify, business affairs and development at Rogers Media and Sportsnet, and served as head of business and legal affairs at Score Media. He also practiced as a technology and corporate lawyer at McCarthy Tétrault LLP, taught at Ryerson University and Osgoode Hall Law School, and is an angel investor and advisor to a number of startups in the sports, technology and direct to consumer commerce industries. He currently serves on MLSE Foundation’s Board of Directors and is a former Director of the Canada Media Fund.

As the head of Fremantle’s Canadian office, Michela Di Mondo oversees the distribution of Fremantle’s programming, format sales and co-productions across Canada, participating in the company’s global content acquisition and brand integration strategy.  Michela helped to launch Fremantle’s Canadian office and has brokered key deals for both English and French language content including America’s Got Talent, American Idol, Family Feud, The Price Is Right, Let’s Make A Deal, Jamie Oliver, Project Runway, Wellington Paranormal, The Responder and Kingdom of Dreams. Michela has championed and helped to adapt local versions of hit Fremantle Formats like Family Feud for CBC and Canada’s Got Talent for CityTV. She is also an Executive Producer on the upcoming production Sullivan’s Crossing, which is the next adaption from the author of Virgin River.  

Prior to joining Fremantle in 2014, Michela served as executive director at Media Group International (MGI), where she oversaw sales for studios such as Sony Pictures, MGM and Fremantle. Before MGI, Michela worked for MGM in Canada. Michela oversaw over 10,000 titles including key franchises such as Rocky, James Bond, Spider-man, Seinfeld, and Breaking Bad.

David Eilenberg is the Vice President and Head of Roku Originals. He is leading the charge to establish Roku’s free ad-supported streaming service The Roku Channel as a destination for both scripted and unscripted original content. He is responsible for overall strategic vision, creative strategy, go-to-market execution, as well as long-term growth goals and target audiences, both domestically and in international territories for Roku Originals. His team is bringing highly anticipated titles including “WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story,” “To Paris For Love: A Reality Rom Com,” “Slip,” “Die Harter,” “Honest Renovations” and many more to millions of streamers to enjoy for free.

Before joining Roku, Eilenberg most recently served as chief creative officer at ITV America, responsible for the company’s creative strategy and growth opportunities across six production labels – ITV Entertainment, Leftfield Pictures, Sirens Media, Thinkfactory Media, High Noon Entertainment and Good Caper Content – and leveraging global formats for the U.S. market. Among the many series he has spearheaded are the multi-Emmy-winning Queer Eye (Netflix); Love Island (CBS and now Peacock in 2022); Hell’s Kitchen (Fox); The Chase (ABC); My Mom, Your Dad (HBO Max); and Rat in the Kitchen (TBS).

Prior to ITV, Eilenberg was senior vice president of unscripted development, late night and specials at Turner, overseeing such series as King of the Nerds and Cold Justice, as well as the late-night CONAN, starring Conan O’Brien. Before that he was head of development and current programming for Mark Burnett Productions where he helped develop and produce award-winning hits including The Voice, Shark Tank and Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? A prolific creator, writer and producer, Eilenberg was head writer on Weakest Link and a writer on Da Ali G Show. He also was co-director/producer of the critically acclaimed documentary On Common Ground, and co-created the series Dismissed.

Lisa Hamilton Daly is Executive Vice President, Programming for Crown Media Family Networks. Daly is based in the company’s Studio City offices and reports to President & CEO, Wonya Lucas.

Daly is charged with identifying, developing, and creating impactful, top-quality, brand-building content across the company’s three linear networks, Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, and Hallmark Drama, as well as its SVOD service, Hallmark Movies Now, and AVOD platform, Hallmark Movies & More. Additionally, she is responsible for building on Crown Media’s programming strategy and diversifying the voice and breadth of the company’s talent pool, both in front of and behind the camera. Also central to her oversight is bringing parent company Hallmark’s legacy and brand values to life in new ways and translating Hallmark IP into content that serves existing viewers and attracts new audiences across various platforms.

Prior to joining Crown Media, Daly served as Executive Vice President, Creative Affairs and Executive Producer at Bedrock Entertainment. In that capacity, she spearheaded all business and creative functions, including oversight of the company’s scripted development and production slate in partnership with ITV Studios America. Previously, she was Director of Original Series at Netflix, developing and producing such popular programs as Virgin River, Sweet Magnolias, and Firefly Lane, among others.

Additional industry experience includes a seven-year tenure at A+E Networks, where she was Vice President of Programming, as well as a position at DreamWorks Studios, where she acted as Vice President, Literary & Creative Affairs from 2003-2009.

Daly earned M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in English & American Literature & Language from Harvard University, in addition to a B.A. in English Literature from UCLA, where she graduated magna cum laude.

Brent recently joined the Amazon Studios team as Head of Scripted Series for Canada. He began his career with the CBC in Toronto before helping launch The Comedy Network, where he eventually oversaw programming, development and production. In 2008 Brent landed in New York as the SVP of Comedy & Animation for MTV. After six years and managing close to twenty series, he made the move to producing with his own shingle, Picture Arcade, and eventually joined Shout! Studios in Los Angeles as Head of Content Development. Now, with his return to Canada, Brent is looking forward to working with home grown talent to tell exceptional, world class stories from a Canadian perspective. He also enjoys hockey, wine and writing in the third person.

As the Director of Content, Crave, Tory leads the English-language content team responsible for programming Canada’s premium SVOD and Pay services Crave and STARZ with Bell Media.

In this role, Tory oversees English content strategy including but not limited to acquisitions, commissioning decisions, budget management, scheduling and SVOD merchandizing for Crave.

Tory has more than 20 years of media industry experience including content management, strategic programming and acquisitions.

Based in Toronto, Katrina Kowalski comes to Paramount+ with a mountain of experience! For the past two decades she has broadened the Television landscape in Canada, programming the best from around the world and at home. In her role as Senior Director, Content and Programming Strategy Katrina is responsible for all content decisions for Paramount+ in Canada, including original programming and acquisitions.

A chief programming authority and digital strategist, Katrina has led high performing teams through comprehensive, multi-million dollar content launches across linear and digital platforms. She has a passion for bringing the best to audiences, always adapting to the ever-evolving Canadian entertainment and media landscape.

As Chief Content Officer, Lewinson is responsible for content strategy and acquisitions for Tubi, a division of FOX Entertainment and a free streaming service with a growing library of Tubi Originals, 100+ local and live news channels, and 40,000+ titles from every major Hollywood studio. Lewinson heads up Tubi’s Los Angeles office where he oversees more than 400 content partners including Lionsgate, Paramount and MGM.

Tara was recently tapped as the first content executive for Netflix Canada. As Manager, Series Canada, Tara will develop and commission English and French-language scripted series, as well as maintain relationships with Canadian talent.

Tara previously served as an Executive Producer & VP of Development for Montreal-based production company Sphere Media Plus. She is an Executive Producer on the smash hit medical drama TRANSPLANT for CTV and NBC, which she developed from inception. TRANSPLANT is the most-watched scripted series on broadcast television in the US and debuted as number one in Canada.

Independently, Tara recently produced the sci-fi thriller feature film NIGHT RAIDERS by Danis Goulet, with Academy Award Winner Taika Waititi (THOR: RAGNAROK, JOJO RABBIT) as Executive Producer. Night Raiders is the first ever Indigenous co-production for Canada and New Zealand. The film was recently selected as a Gala Presentation for TIFF ’21 and won the DGC Discovery Award. It is being distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films in the US.

Previously, she was Director of Development for Amaze Film + Television, overseeing their scripted slate. While there, she worked on Seasons 1 and 2 of the family multi-cam THE STANLEY DYNAMIC for YTV. She also acted as Manager of the Film Programs at the Canadian Film Centre, overseeing the Directors’, Writers’, Producers’, and Editors’ Labs.

She currently volunteers with POV, NSI and is a member of WIFT’s Programming Committee. Tara attended the Executive Program for Media Leadership at the Rotman School of Management and has a BA in Communications from University of Winnipeg.

Since joining Netflix in 2018, she headed up the “Soap, Thriller and Romance” strategy team, championed the acquisition of dramedy EMILY IN PARIS and played an integral role in the development and production of a number of series including BEHIND HER EYES, PIECES OF HER and THE LINCOLN LAWYER.

Woodrow came to Netflix from Perfect Storm Entertainment where she built the series arm and served as the President of Television. With Perfect Storm, Woodrow developed and served as Executive Producer on long-running CBS dramas SCORPION and S.W.A.T. as well as the cult hit WARRIOR for HBO Max.

Prior to joining Perfect Storm, Woodrow served as Senior Vice President of Original Programming at FX Networks, where she ran the Current Department and played a key executive role in shepherding the network’s slate of critically acclaimed series including JUSTIFIED, DAMAGES, SONS OF ANARCHY and ARCHER.

Woodrow began her career in TV Movies at Viacom’s MTV. She relocated to Toronto from Los Angeles in fall of 2021 with her partner and dog and they are very happy in their new home.

Since joining Amazon Studios in 2017, CJ has spearheaded some of the first and highest performing unscripted originals in Amazon’s international territories, building from the ground up a slate of local original content across the Americas, Europe, and Asia Pacific. Many of CJ’s projects involve unprecedented partnerships with top celebrity talent, athletes, and sports franchises, as well as internally developed formats that have been quickly localized in multiple territories worldwide. As part of his current role as Head of Unscripted Development, Global Formats, CJ leads a team that oversees unscripted slates for newer territories such as Australia and Canada, and drives the expansion of Amazon’s hit original franchises around the world, such as All Or Nothing, LOL: Last One Laughing, Luxe Listings, and Wild and Free.

CJ’s former roles include Vice-President of Digital Programming at Talpa Media, and various development and executive roles at Endemol USA, Mark Burnett Productions, Warner Brothers Television, and E! Entertainment.