TIFF Announces Appointment of Five New Board Members

With the completion last week of the 41st Toronto International Film Festival®, TIFF announces the appointment of five new members to its Board of Directors: Jennifer Baichwal, Geoff Beattie, Frank Kollmar, Leslie Noble, and Jeffrey Remedios.

"The vast experience and perspectives of Jennifer, Geoff, Frank, and Leslie will be a huge asset to us - they are a great addition to our already very strong team," said Jennifer Tory, new Chair of the Board of Directors, TIFF. "They have all held top roles in various organizations, and their unique experiences combined with their passion for film and the arts will help TIFF achieve its goal of BECOMING a global centre for film culture."

With these new appointments comes the retirement of four Board members. After serving their full tenure on the Board, Deepa Mehta, Warren Spitz, Connie Sugiyama, and Lisa de Wilde, the former Board Chair, are stepping down.

"Over the course of the past nine years, Deepa, Warren, and Connie have made a permanent and significant impact on how TIFF has grown as a global force, shared stories with audiences, and impacted communities," said Piers Handling, Director and CEO, TIFF. "We would like to thank our departing Chair, Lisa de Wilde, for her 20-year commitment to TIFF, providing support and leadership at every stage to help us transform the way people see the world, through film. Lisa will be missed and we are forever impacted as an organization due to her passion and commitment to TIFF."

ABOUT OUR NEW BOARD MEMBERS:

Jennifer Baichwal is a documentary filmmaker whose work has earned prizes at the Canadian Screen Awards, the Genies, the Geminis, the Toronto International Film Festival, the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, the Toronto Film Critics Association Awards, and from the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Her films Let It Come Down: The Life of Paul Bowles (1998), The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams' Appalachia (2002), Manufactured Landscapes (2006), and Watermark (2013) all premiered at TIFF.

Geoff Beattie is CEO of Generation Capital, a privately owned investment management company. He received a law degree from the University of Western Ontario and served as a partner in the Toronto law firm Torys LLP before joining The Woodbridge Company Limited, where he served as CEO. Geoff serves as a member of the board of directors of Royal Bank of Canada, General Electric, Maple Leaf Foods Inc., and is Chairman of Relay Ventures and The Prosperity Institute at Rotman Business School at the University of Toronto. He also chairs the capital campaign at the University of Western Ontario.

Frank Kollmar is President and CEO of L'Oréal Canada, where he heads one of the L'Oréal Group's Top 10 subsidiaries amongst the 130 countries where the company operates. L'Oréal Canada is the Canadian leader in the beauty industry and as such Frank's mandate is to ensure the continued growth of the overall business and develop the equity and unique experiences of L'Oréal Canada's 35 brands. Key priorities include accelerating the company's digital transformation and ensuring the development of its internal talents. Finally, he spearheads the Canadian development of Sharing beauty with all, L'Oréal's ambitious CSR program, whose goal is continued positive impact on society and the environment.

Leslie Noble is one of Canada's leading strategic public affairs professionals. A founder of StrategyCorp, she applies her experience to assist private-sector companies seeking to maximize the benefits of their involvement in the public policy process or position themselves for success with key stakeholders. Leslie believes strongly that corporate reputation and the factors that impact it should be a key consideration of any business strategy.

Jeffrey Remedios is President and CEO of the country's leading music company, Universal Music Canada (UMC), which has strong market positions in recorded music, music publishing, and merchandising. Jeffrey serves on the boards of CARAS (the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences), Music Canada, and Arts & Crafts, the award-winning independent music label he co-founded in 2003. In 2009, Rolling Stone magazine cited Jeffrey as a key insider shaping the future of the music business. He has received the Trailblazer award at the 2010 ReelWorld Film Festival, and was presented with the Canadian Independent Music Association's inaugural Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2015.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Jennifer Tory, Chair
William Marshall, Founder & Chair Emeritus

Board Members
Jennifer Baichwal, Geoff Beattie, Helen Burstyn, Barry Campbell, Betty-Ann Heggie, Ellis Jacob, Frank Kollmar, Sabi Marwah, Chetan Mathur, Shabin Mohamed, Leslie Noble, Wade Oosterman, Geetu Pathak, Rod Phillips, Wayne Purboo, Jeffrey Remedios, Francis Shen, Mark Wellings

Slawko Klymkiw, Ex-Officio

Former Board Chairs (in order of service)
Martin P. Connell (Founding Chair), Colin D. Watson, Jonathan H. Slan, Allan Gregg, Sidney M. Oland, Brendan Calder, Allen Karp, Paul Atkinson

Dusty Cohl, Co-Founder
Henk Van der Kolk, Co-Founder

About TIFF TIFF is a charitable cultural organization whose mission is to transform the way people see the world, through film. An international leader in film culture, TIFF projects include the annual Toronto International Film Festival in September; TIFF Bell Lightbox, which features five cinemas, major exhibitions, and learning and entertainment facilities; and innovative national distribution program Film Circuit. The organization generates an annual economic impact of $189 million CAD. TIFF Bell Lightbox is generously supported by contributors including Founding Sponsor Bell, the Province of Ontario, the Government of Canada, the City of Toronto, the Reitman family (Ivan Reitman, Agi Mandel and Susan Michaels), The Daniels Corporation, and RBC. For more information, visit tiff.net.

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