Co-President

Hilary studied political science and film studies at Dalhousie University, and went on to work in short film distribution at Ouat Media in Toronto. From Ouat she moved onto the Canadian Film Centre, working first in development and later in administration and distribution.
 
In 2015 she accepted a position at Meridian Artists, where she worked for three years in talent management. Hilary co-founded Game Theory Films in 2018, acting as the Director of Acquisitions and Distribution. In 2021 she was selected for Berlinale Talents. She is an active member of WIFT and the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. 

Distribution Manager

Richelle Charkot has worked in various facets of the film industry; including production, programming, journalism and public relations. They were the Programming Director of The Royal Cinema, where their experience with film exhibition led to an interest in distribution. They completed their Canadian Media Producers Association mentorship with the producers of the Canadian Screen Award winning film Wildhood, and studied screenwriting at the Toronto Film School where they graduated with distinction.
 
Richelle has provided script coverage for Sundance Labs, Raven Banner Entertainment, Rebel Road Films and Younger Daughter Films, and loves working with writers on story development.

Graphics and  Video Editing

Jessamine studied at Ryerson University's Film Production program. Her production experience began as a Producer and Production Coordinator, working on film and commercial sets. Her portfolio of work includes national commercials for clients like Five Star Canada and RBC, as well for independent films from the Canadian Film Centre, and This Wild Season, which was an official selection at ImagineNative Film Festival 2017. She was also an Intern at Night-is-Y, a production company under Canadian director D.W. Waterson.
 
Jessamine is also an independent music video director, having recently received the Charlotte Day Wilson and Fantavious Fritz Work Film Grant.

Senior Market Strategist

Tim Smythe-Bishop is a distribution executive with over 30 years experience in the movie business. Tim began his career at Cineplex Canada in finance, before shifting his focus to distribution, bringing his talents to Polygram Films, Universal Films Canada and Sony Pictures Releasing Canada, where he managed a sales team with over 100 million in revenues.  
 
After twelve years with Sony he began a new division at Entertainment One, focused on implementing new strategies for the release of feature films in Canada. Most recently Tim has provided invaluable support in managing the release of Canadian and International films in Canada.

Co-President

William Woods is a writer / director / producer who is currently in post-production on his directorial debut THE EMBERS AND THE STARS, a sci-fi family thriller starring Constance Wu, Mark O’Brien and William Fichtner. He also is a writer and producer on THE KING TIDE which premiered in the Platform section of TIFF in 2023 and is a writer and producer on VIOLENCE which is also in post-production.
 
As a producer, William has made over ten feature films in the last decade, including the thriller MEAN DREAMS (2016), starring Bill Paxton, which premiered in the Directors Fortnight at Cannes; CASTLE IN THE GROUND starring Alex Wolff, Imogen Poots and Neve Campbell; SPINSTER starring Chelsea Peretti; HAMMER starring Will Patton and Mark O’Brien and THE KID DETECTIVE starring Adam Brody and Sophie Nélisse, which sold to Sony for worldwide distribution.
 
Woods graduated from York University with his Masters in environmental ethics after completing his honours degree in philosophy. He is a graduate of the Canadian Film Center Producer’s Lab, The Rotterdam Producers Lab and Trans Atlantic Partners co-production incubator.