Date: March 20, 2025 (5:30 PM – 7:00 PM)
(Reception with refreshments until 7:30 PM)
Location: 3C00 3rd Floor Centennial Hall – UWinnipeg Campus
Registration Fee: FREE
Parking available at the Recplex Parkade, 305 Young St
Register Here: Business of Film
About the panel:
This industry session is designed to demystify the business elements of working in the film industry. The session will include a moderated discussion and questions and answers from the audience. The session will be open to U of W students, faculty members and members of the public. Following the program, the session will end with a mixer for networking opportunities.
During this session, long-serving UWinnipeg graduates and members of the film community will be engaged in a moderated conversation about the business elements of Manitoba’s film industry.
This session is designed to be forthright, transparent and to share in business intelligence with the attendees.
About the Panelists:
Rebecca Gibson (Co-Owner of Eagle Vision, Producer, Writer, Director, Series Creator, and Showrunner)
Following graduation from the New York Film Academy, a CFTPA International Internship took Rebecca Gibson to Los Angeles at the start of her film career. She discovered her passion for indie filmmaking and quickly worked her way from a volunteer production assistant/craft services gig on a Canadian Film Centre feature to production managing the feature film HEATER, which premiered at Sundance. She became one of Manitoba’s top casting directors for a short period before returning to her first love, acting. Acting credits include her ACTRA Award-winning role in THE PINKERTONS (Netflix), her Blizzard Award-winning role in the film that launched THE MURDOCH MYSTERIES, and the recent hit for Lifetime, THE WOMAN WITH THE RED LIPSTICK.
With her former production company, the woman-led collective Red Czarina Entertainment, Rebecca co-wrote and produced the award-winning feature film H&G. Through Red Czarina, Rebecca wrote, produced, and directed the documentary DAPHNE KOROL: THE DRAMA QUEEN OF WINNIPEG, a tribute to her first mentor. Mentorship has been fundamental to Rebecca’s career. She works with ACTRA, WIFT Toronto, WIDC, GEMS Vancouver, among several other organizations as a mentor. As a partner in Eagle Vision, Rebecca has furthered her devotion to mentorship, helping to give many emerging filmmakers, craftspeople, and technicians their first and ongoing opportunities.
Recent projects include the International Emmy Award-winning PBS/Crave/APTN doc BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE: CARRY IT ON (story editor, executive producer), three seasons of the factual series 7TH GEN (co-creator, executive producer, writer, director), the feature comedy DEANER ’89 (executive producer), the feature films DIASPORA (producer) and FINALITY OF DUSK, (story editor, producer), the Banff Rockie-nominated TRUE STORY PART ONE (story editor, executive producer), and TRUE STORY PART TWO (co-writer, executive producer), and Snapchat’s hit first Canadian original series, RECLAIM(ED), also nominated for a Banff Rockie (co-showrunner, executive producer, and a writer and director).
Rebecca founded Orange Daisy Project, a social action campaign in support of mental health for teen girls. The campaign provided mentorships, online resources, and a best-selling mental health workbook, which she co-wrote. Rebecca was honoured nationally as a CAMH Difference Maker and was ACTRA Manitoba’s 2018 Woman of the Year.
Trevor Hnatowich (Co-Owner at Enjoy Creative)
Trevor Hnatowich has a decade of experience in the film industry across various roles, from television to film, documentary to commercial video. In his current position as a Senior Producer and Co-Owner at Enjoy Creative, Trevor focuses on commercial work, where he loves meeting new clients, learning about their industries, and helping them find creative and powerful solutions with video.
Tom Soares (Instructor, Actor)
Tom Soares is a Winnipeg-based actor, voice, and dialect coach in film and theatre.
Selected coaching credits include The Long Walk (Lionsgate), Normal (Aperture Media Partners, Odenkirk Provissiero), The Porter (CBC & Bet+), Orphan; First Kill (eOne and Dark Castle Entertainment); Murder for Two, The Waitress, Little Women, The Recipe, among men (co-produced with Theatre Projects Manitoba), Trouble in Mind, The Rez Sisters, Jane Eyre (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre); Twelfth Night, The Winter’s Tale, Hamlet, Richard III (Shakespeare in the Ruins) and others. Some acting film credits include Spencer Sister (eOne & Buffalo Gal Pictures), Nobody (87 North Productions, Odenkirk Provissiero), The Porter (CBC & Bet+/Charles Officer), Love in the Alps, & Burden of Truth (ICF Films, Eagle Vision, Entertainment One).
Tom has an MFA in Acting with a Voice Specialization from York University and has been teaching introductory to advanced-level courses on voice and performance for the Department of Theatre and Film at The University of Winnipeg since 2011.
Privately, Tom teaches workshops on voice, dialects, and various performance skills and subjects; he also coaches public speaking skills in seminars and one-on-one.
Myron Tataryn (Director, Co-Owner of Thundersnow Pictures Inc.)
Myron Tataryn is a proud Manitoban filmmaker. At the age of 21, he got his start by volunteering as an office production assistant with a local production company. From there, he began performing a myriad of roles, mostly though as a personal assistant to countless directors, showrunners and producers alike, as his passion to create his own content grew.
After learning from so many talented and creative filmmakers, he’s now putting that knowledge and experience to use through Thundersnow Pictures Inc. formed in partnership with producer and film financier, Terry Dougas.
About the Moderator:
Emily Labby is the Training and Partnerships Manager at Film Training Manitoba and a graduate of the University of Winnipeg, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Film Studies. She has produced her own short films and contributed to various local independent projects and music videos. Emily has served as Production Coordinator for local production companies, FRANK Digital and Zoot Pictures, and she has recently worked in the same role on the feature film Hair of the Bear.
FTM is a non-for-profit charity and member of the Province of Manitoba’s Sector Council program funded through the Economic Development, Investment, Trade and Natural Resources. FTM builds a highly skilled and adaptable film industry workforce to support the activities of Manitoba production companies. FTM collaborates and partners with members of the film industry to identify training needs to support workforce development.