THE INDUSTRY CONFERENCE

 

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Engaging the professional community of Canadian filmmakers, producers and broadcasters. Our goal is to provide stimulating, up-to-date information and access to the world of environmental films and funding. Professional modules include the Master Class, networking opportunities, the Green Pitch competition and DocBOX Toolkit sessions filled with an outstanding line up of VIP guests.

Live at the Centre for Social Innovation, 192 Spadina Ave, Toronto on Friday, October 24th, 2025

 

The Green Pitch 2025
Register to Attend the FREE 2025 Industry Conference

COFFEE @ 9:30am

Doors open at 9:30am, join us for coffee and a light snack ahead of the first panel event!

 

THE FUNDING PANEL @ 10:00am

This session focuses on some of the key relationships necessary to get your film funded, produced & sold. Funding agency reps discuss the latest trends in financing, co-productions, distribution and the future of branded content.

2025 panelists include:

Marina Hanna Moderator
Mark Shapland Independent Production Fund (IPF)
Melissa Amer Telefilm Canada
Peter Kingstone Toronto Arts Council
Monique Van Remortel CBC Senior Director of Business & Rights for Unscripted Programming

 

THE EDITING PANEL @ 11:30am

In this session award-winning editors talk about collaborating creatively with independent filmmakers and the role of editing in shaping narrative, pacing and emotional impact.

Moderator: Sherien Barsoum, NFB Production

Roland Schlimme Editor & Sound Designer, terrible.ca
Caitlin Durlak Filmmaker, Editor
Jordan Kawai Editor & Sound Designer

 

THE MASTER CLASS @ 1pm

Each year, Planet in Focus hosts a Master Class with established filmmakers and PIF alumnus. The 2025 workshop will be hosted by Commissioning Editor, Lesley Birchard for The Nature of Things on CBC Television with guest filmmakers Geordie Trifa, Caitlin Starowicz and John Choi.

Moderator: Lesley Johnson, Senior Programmer – Planet in Focus

THE DISTRIBUTION PANEL @ 2:30pm

The changing landscape of distribution can pose a challenge for filmmakers post-pandemic. Join us as we ask Canadian distributors the tough questions including navigating hybrid festivals, new international strategies and more.

Moderator:

2025 panelists include:

Sholeh Alemi Fabbri Good Measure Productions Impact Producer
Greg Rubidge Syndicado Co-founder / Distributor
Greg Duggen CBC Doc Digital Producer

 

THE GREEN PITCH @ 4pm

A highlight of Industry Day is the Green Pitch. Six selected filmmakers pitch their film idea to a panel of industry judges and in front of the conference audience. The winner receives a prize valued at over $19,000 in services & cash to put toward the production of their project provided by Ontario film production suppliers. See the 2024 Green Pitch winner here.  Applications for the 2025 Green Pitch are due by October 15, 2025

 

Apply to the Green Pitch

 

2025 Green Pitch Prize Sponsors:William F. White, Dynamix Solutions, Pie in the Sky Studios, The Source Shop, Trinity Square Video, FilmFestivals.com, Keslow Camera, CineSend, Kiss The Sun Music. The Green Pitch 2025 Jury:

Claudia Sicondolfo Assistant Professor, Arts and Media Management, University of Toronto
Lauren Howes Managing Director, DOC Institute
Aeyliya Husain Producer / Director

INDUSTRY SPECIAL GUESTS

Claudia S

Claudia Sicondolfo

Claudia Sicondolfo lives and works as a guest in Tkaronto, Treaty 13. She is Assistant Professor in Arts and Media Management in the Department of Arts, Media, Culture, at University of Toronto, Scarborough. Her research sits at the intersections of cultural policy, film festivals, screen publics, anti-colonial research methodologies, Read More

and labour in the creative industries. She has published extensively in academic journals and in various book anthologies. She is co-PI of the SSHRC-funded Archives in Action: Canadian Audio-Visual Archive Policy Plan which aims to propose a national action plan for more sustainable policy to facilitate the maintenance, care, and sustainability of community and artist run media archives across
GrahamDuggan_headshot

Graham Duggan

Graham is a producer, writer and science enthusiast with CBC Docs in Toronto, working on content and the promotion of documentaries for The Nature of Things, The Passionate Eye, CBC Short Docs and feature-length docs. He is heavily involved in the CBC Docs YouTube strategy and social media approach.

Greg Rubidge

Greg Rubidge

Greg founded Syndicado in 2009 after living and working in the US for 2 years in tech and media consulting. Prior to that he worked at Corus Entertainment launching new services for on demand platforms across multiple channels. From humble beginnings the company has grown with the VOD wave and have become an all rights Read More

distributor primarily in North America and weighted in factual entertainment.

Prior to working in the entertainment industry he had roles in tech and banking but eventually left both to enter the evolving world of film & tv distribution.

Lesley Birchard

Lesley Birchard

Lesley Birchard champions captivating science and nature stories for CBC’s flagship science program The Nature of Things. She pioneered the groundbreaking CBC Short Docs, commissioning over 200 documentaries for CBC Gem and YouTube, and is a passionate advocate for filmmakers from equity-deserving communities. Lesley’s previous portfolio at CBC included overseeing select feature docs and hit unscripted series like Still Standing. Before CBC, she was a Production Executive at Food Network Canada and she honed her storytelling skills as a freelance director, producer, and story editor. She holds an M.A. in Creative Media Education from Bournemouth University.

MarkShapland_Headshot

Mark Shapland

Mark completed his Bachelors of Arts in Film Studies at Carleton University. With a passion of studying film theory and a desire to share the film-going experience with others, he went on to complete a graduate degree in Television & Film – Business at Centennial College. Upon graduation Mark interned in the distribution department at a production company, then started his career working for two national funding organizations, the Bell Fund and the Independent Production Fund. Since 2018, Mark has evaluated over 500 series applications, manages the Industry Development program that supports media organizations and events across Canada and leads all climate and sustainability Read More

initiatives at the IPF. Currently, Mark is the Program Manager and Climate Lens Facilitator at the Independent Production Fund (IPF).
Monique Van Remortel

Monique Van Remortel

As the Senior Director of Business & Rights for CBC Unscripted Programming, Monique Van Remortel oversees the business deals for the development and production of CBC and the Documentary Channel’s commissioned documentaries as well as CBC’s commissioned Factual programming. Monique’s team works closely with independent producers to help navigate the complexities of the Canadian Media Fund, tax credits and other third party funds to ensure a project’s budget, financing structure, and rights package make sense for the broadcaster in a rapidly changing media landscape. CBC is committed to sustainability and implemented its environmental policy Read More

Greening Our Story in June, 2021. CBC offers the largest free English language sustainable professional development training to Canadian creators and producers via Seeds of Change. Monique is a member of CBC's Environmental Influencer employee group, and was part of the team that introduced sustainable production to the CBC. Prior to joining the CBC in 2004, Monique was in a boutique entertainment and intellectual property law practice where she represented writers, artists, photographers, producers, and talent. Monique has been working in the arts and entertainment/media industry for over 25 years.
PETER-KINGSTONE-650x812

Peter Kingstone

Peter Kingstone is a Toronto-based visual artist and curator, working primarily in video and photography. As an independent artist, Peter’s installation pieces have been shown across Canada and internationally, and he was awarded the Untitled Artist Award in 2005 for his installation The Strange Case of peter K. (1974-2004). Peter holds a degree in Philosophy/Cultural Studies from Trent University in Peterborough and a Masters of Fine Art focusing on video and new media from York University in Toronto. Peter has presented at many conferences on the ideas around storytelling and social engagement.

Roland Schlimme _editor

Roland Schlimme

Roland Schlimme’s editing work spans more than 25 years and includes 20 feature documentary projects. He continues to focus on unscripted, non-fiction film with a sensibility that is reflected in the films of Peter Mettler, Jennifer Baichwal, Philip Barker, Laura Taler, Cliff Caines, and others.

His work has premiered at Venice, IDFA, Nyon, Montréal, eight times at Hot Docs, and ten times at TIFF. The landmarks of his editing work include Gambling, Gods, and LSD (Genie, Best Documentary 2002) as co-editor with Peter Mettler, Let It Come Down (International Emmy, Read More

Outstanding Documentary 1999) as associate editor under David Wharnsby, Manufactured Landscapes (Genie, Best Documentary 2006), and Anthropocene: The Human Epoch (Canadian Screen Award, Best Feature Documentary 2019)

While he works primarily in his studio in Toronto, editing has taken him to Switzerland, Montreal, Victoria, New York, and Buenos Aires. Additionally, his credits include music composition, sound design, animation, special effects, and production. Roland continues to consult and teach; this work includes an undergraduate creative editing course he inaugurated at Toronto Metropolitan University and a workshop he presented for the DOC Institute Masters’ Series in Toronto.

Roland’s approach to editing emphasizes process: one which addresses the competing priorities of film editing through sensitivity to material, creative innovation, informed and intuitive practice, and a knowledge of technology.

Sholeh Fabbri credit Helen Tansey

Sholeh Alemi Fabbri

Sholeh Alemi Fabbri is an award-winning producer and impact strategist who leads social impact campaigns for films with the power to drive change. Through her company Good Measure Productions, she is currently leading campaigns for Plastic People: The Hidden Crisis of Microplastics, Tough Old Broads, Hot Docs’ Citizen Minutes, and more. In 2025, she presented a case study on impact work for Plastic People at the Hot Docs Film Festival. She recently produced Meteor (TIFF ‘23), an award-winning animated short doc by Atefeh Khademolreza, and is currently developing the feature Eclipse with Khademolreza and Samuel Read More

Kiehoon Lee. A 2025 Cannes ImpACT Lab participant and alum of Berlinale’s Producers Without Borders at the Co-Production Market and Banff’s Spark Accelerator, Sholeh brings two decades of storytelling experience—including as former Executive Producer of ET Canada—to her mission of purpose-driven media. She also serves on the board of Artists for Peace and Justice, and is a member of the Global Impact Producers Alliance (GIPA), Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA), and Women in Film and Television – Toronto (WIFT).
L.Howes_

Lauren Howes

Lauren Howes (non-binary) is the Managing Director of the Doc Institute – the Ontario Chapter of the Documentary Organization of Canada, leading the country with national Industry Development and Training Initiatives. Howes has more than 20 years of Executive management experience in the screen-based sector including distribution and festival management.

Caitlin Durlak

Caitlin Durlak

Caitlin is an award-winning filmmaker with a diverse body of non-fiction editing work that spans feature films, TV series, and both mid-length and short films. Known for her commitment to character-driven narratives, Caitlin crafts stories that invite audiences to connect on a deeper level, sparking thoughtful conversations about the complexities of life. Caitlin’s latest Read More

editorial work of feature filmYour Tomorrow, premiered at Hot Docs Film Festival and was shortlisted for the Toronto Film Critics best documentary film prize. She has two other feature films under her belt as well as one in post production. She has worked for broadcasters such as CBC, History Channel, TVO, Al Jazeera and Zoomer Media.
Producer_director Aeyliya Husain

Aeyliya Husain

Aeyliya Husain is an award-winning filmmaker. Her films have screened at numerous festivals including San Francisco Docfest; Glasgow Short Film Festival and São Paulo Film Festival and have been broadcast on CBC, BBC, Arte, The Documentary Channel, SBS Australia, amongst others. Her latest documentary, An Unfinished Journey, that follows four Afghan Read More

former MPs who fled their country for a new life in Canada, for CBC, Arte/France and ERT/Greece.
MC - Geordie Trifa

Geordie Trifa

Geordie Trifa is an award-winning director of Chinese and Romanian heritage. He is currently directing the Pacific episode of the documentary series Wild Canadian Waters for the Nature of Things. His recent credits include the Cities episode of the documentary series Shared Planet on the Nature of Things and the short documentary Scenes in a Coq au Vin, which garnered the Best Short Documentary award at the Ceres Food Film Festival in New York, featuring celebrity chef Charles X Michel. His other notable Read More

directing projects include the CBC films Pandemic Elementary and Black Rock, the drama Call Me AWOL and the feature documentary A Life Unbound.
JKawai

Jordan Kawai

Jordan Kawai is a documentary film editor based in Toronto. He has edited for both short form and feature documentary film. In 2023, While The Green Grass Grows was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at both Visions du Réel film festival and the Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM), in which Jordan edited this three-hour feature alongside filmmaker, Peter Metter. His feature works, Bangla Surf Girls (2021), An Unfinished Journey (2024), and Betrayal (2025), have shown at various film festival including the Hot Docs Canadian International Read More

Documentary Festival. His latest work, While The Green Grass Grows: A Diary in Seven Parts, a seven hour audio-visual diary, premiered at TIFF 2025, in which Jordan co-edited with Peter Metter, as well as sound designing.
He has edited on short documentaries such as Elena (2021, winner of Best Documentary Short at the BlackStar Film Festival), collaborating with director, Michèle Stephenson and The National Film Board of Canada’s animated short film, Boat People (2023). While Jordan focuses on story and picture editing, he also works in sound design. In 2022, Jordan worked as music editor on Academy Award nominated film, To Kill a Tiger.
His work seeks to collaboratively explore narratives of the human condition, points of view and identity, while celebrating visual storytelling and sensorial experiences. Jordan holds an MFA in Documentary Media Studies from Toronto Metropolitan University and was a participant in the Talent Lab and Mentorship program at the Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM). His current personal film work explores family lore and narratives of Japanese Canadian Internment.
MC - John Seongho Choi

John Seongho Choi

JOHN SEONGHO CHOI is an award-winning Canadian Korean filmmaker with over 25 years of experience as a filmmaker. His work has been featured on major platforms such as Netflix Originals, Prime, YouTube Originals, CBC, NHK Japan, SBS Australia, and more. Throughout his career, John has worked on a wide range of projects, from independent films to Hollywood studio productions, commercials, and music videos. He is passionate about filmmaking and brings a unique, authentic, and meaningful perspective to every project. Read More


John’s directorial accomplishments were recognized with the 2024 Canadian Screen Award for Best Direction – Documentary Series for “DARK SIDE OF COMEDY.” His other recent projects include the A&E series “THE ELEVEN,” CBC Docs POV “SPACEMAN,” and feature documentaries “LOST & FOUND,” “K-POP EVOLUTION,” and the Netflix Original series “THE RAINCOAT KILLER.” 
MC - Caitlin Starowicz

Caitlin Starowicz

Caitlin Starowicz is a producer and director who works in fiction and documentary. Her documentary credits for The Nature of Things include Destination Mars, Mommy Wildest, She Walks With Apes with Jane Goodall and narrated by Sandra Oh, REBELLION with David Attenborough and Greta Thunberg, Apocalypse: Plan B narrated internationally by Jane Fonda, and the upcoming The Mosquitoes Are Winning! A four-time Canadian Screen Award nominee, Caitlin’s work explores science, environment, and social justice through a cinematic lens.

INDUSTRY AND GREEN PITCH SPONSORS

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