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CatalogueAlert Music was founded in 1984 by Toronto’s W. Tom Berry and Montreal’s Marc Durand with a mission to create a unique record label that would bring together English and French Canada.
The following Research Collections are available at Media Commons. For information regarding finding aids and collections access, please contact Rachel Beattie, Assistant Media Archivist, during regular business hours.
Alert Music was founded in 1984 by Toronto’s W. Tom Berry and Montreal’s Marc Durand with a mission to create a unique record label that would bring together English and French Canada.
Collection description is not available at this time. Please contact the archivist
Collection description is not available at this time. Please contact the archivist
Associated Producers has created several award-winning full-length documentaries over the past thirty years, investigating issues both foreign and domestic.
Founded by a group of Queen's University Film Studies graduates in the 1970s, Atlantis Films grew into an internationally recognized film production house.
Laszlo Barna and Laura Alper began making industrial films in the 1970s, primarily for unions, then expanded into television and dramatic programming over the next 30 years.
From roots as a Toronto power pop band in the 1970s, Blue Rodeo emerged as a major player in Canadian music beginning in the mid-1980s, landing successfully on both the pop and country charts.
Born in Toronto in 1951, Leonard Solomon Blum flirted with the popular music scene before turning to writing, first for the stage before moving into a solid career as an award-winning screenplay writer.
Collection description is not available at this time. Please contact the archivist.
Born in Ireland, Val Clery began working for the CBC's London bureau shortly after World War II, moving to Canada in the 1960's where his CBC career continued along with an extensive writing portfolio.
Collection description is not available at this time. Please contact the archivist
Formed in 1985, Cowboy Junkies have recorded many albums, won numerous awards and their music has appeared in more than two dozen films.
Jeffrey Crelinsten is a science writer and historian with over 25 years experience popularizing science for non-specialist audiences.
Delaney & Friends was incorporated by Christopher Delaney in Vancouver in 1984. Later working with his brother John, the company produced several well-known animated programs, including the internationally successful "Christopher the Christmas Tree".
Collection description is not available at this time. Please contact the archivist
Collection description is not available at this time. Please contact the archivist
Three seasons, 42 episodes, were broadcast from 1987 - 1989.
From the TV pilot film "X-Rated" emerged the 11-episode series "Liberty Street" between 1993 and 1995.
Epitome Pictures produced 47 1-hour episodes for broadcast 1997 - 2000.
Running from 1979 - 1984, "The Kids of Degrassi Street" included 4 short films and 22 half-hour episodes.
Rising through the ranks of the film industry, Arnie Gelbart formed Montreal based Galafilm in the early 1990s. Since then, the company has produced feature films, feature-length documentaries and various television programs and series.
Greg Gormick is a Toronto based researcher, writer, interviewer, broadcaster, columnist and policy analyst. He was also a close friend of the late critic and broadcaster Clyde Gilmour. When Gilmour died in 1997, Gormick acquired his collection.
Collection description is not available at this time. Please contact the archivist
Toronto-based poet Susan Helwig has also served as a programmer and host for the community radio literary arts/issues program "In Other Words".
Following a short stint in advertising in the 1950s, Gordon Hinch joined the CBC where he created numerous dramas and special programs. He later partnered to form Gemstone Productions, producers for both stage and television.
Michael Hirsh met fellow filmmaker Patrick Loubert at York University. Their partnership evolved into Nelvana, which became one of the world leaders in children's animated television.
From artist profiles to figure skating and the Juno Awards, Insight Productions has become one of Canada's premier independent production companies.
Founded in 1975, International Rocketship Ltd. has produced many director-driven animated shorts, along with animated sequences for television commercials and other works.
Syd Kessler and Jody Colero operated a number of commercial studios from the 1970s to 2000, becoming a dominant force in Canadian advertising during that period.
Collection description is not available at this time. Please contact the archivist
Toronto native Susan King's photographic work has appeared in many prominent Canadian publications and has been displayed at domestic and international galleries.
Born in Hungary in 1949, Robert (Janos) Lantos arrived in Canada in 1963. From humble, albeit "creative" beginnings, Lantos became one of the most dominant names in Canadian film.
Founding Lionsgate in 1997, Frank Giustra parlayed his lifelong affection for film into creation of a dominant film production and distribution company.
Born in 1929 in London, England, Michael Maclear came to Canada in 1954 where he went onto a lengthy career as a broadcast journalist, celebrated foreign correspondent and television producer.
Ron Mann began making films in his teens and was making feature length productions by his early 20s. His career includes notable documentaries "Twist", "Dream Tower" and "Comic Book Confidential".
Copel ‘Cubby’ Marcus was born in Montreal, beginning an extensive career in advertising in 1954. In addition to his work with prominent agencies, Marcus runs his own company, The Moving Hand.
John McGreevy arrived in Canada as a teenager and began in the mailroom at the CBC. He moved quickly into production, before creating his independent production company in the mid 1970s.
Collection description is not available at this time.
As the founding Director of the NFB Still Photography division and through her organization of various photo exhibitions, Lorraine Monk has been a strong promoter of Canadian photography.
A diverse career that included a close professional and personal relationship with Marshall McLuhan, Barrington Nevitt was a professional engineer, communications theorist and even a budding science-fiction writer.
Collection description is not available.
NOW Magazine was founded in 1981 by Michael Hollett and Alice Klein and has been a key publication in Toronto's culture scene since, also providing a voice for a variety of traditionally marginalized groups over the years.
Political Scientist and academic Frank Peers also worked for the preservation of the CBC and other aspects of Canadian culture as a key contributor to the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting (FCB).
Created by two CBC veterans, W. Patterson Ferns and Richard Nielsen, Primedia Productions became a significant player in Canadian television, pioneering the concept of international co-productions.
Formed in Toronto through a partnership with Partners’ Film Company, Radke Film Group has produced well over 20-thousand commercials in the past two decades.
John Reeves photography has appeared in many prominent Canadian publications and exhibitions. As well, he has worked as a radio and television broadcaster, primarily through a number of CBC programs.
From opera to television comedies, Jan Rubes spent more than half-a-century before the Canadian public.
Best known for long-running The Red Green show, S & S Productions was founded in 1980 by comedy team Steve and Morag Smith.
Collection description is not available Please contact the archivist
Founded by Canadian Film Centre alumnus Christina Jennings, Shaftesbury has maintained a commitment to Canadian literature, adapting works by Margaret Atwood, Mordecai Richler and others.
Paul Siren was a trade union leader and organizer and in later years was heavily involved in Actra and other artistic organizations.
Gordon Sparling was a pioneering director, producer, screenwriter and editor who made about 200 films over 40 years in both the commercial film industry and the NFB.
Fritz Spiess is best known for his work as a cinematographer and/or director on more than 3-thousand television commercials for more than 300 clients.
Dr. Sam Stedman is a UofT Drama Centre graduate and has worked at the Mississauga campus while maintaining an active role in the local theatre community, and a special relationship with DNA Theatre.
Jay Switzer's career in television began as a switchboard operator at Toronto's newly-launched City-TV in Toronto in the 1970s, rising through the ranks of City/CHUM Television before his departure in 2007.
Calgary-based bookseller Cameron Treleaven acquired some Cowboy Junkies material at auction in the late 1990s.
Internationally known Canadian rock band Triumph formed in Toronto in 1975 following a chance meeting between musicians Rik Emmett, Mike Levine and Gil Moore.
True North Records, founded by Bernie Finkelstein, is Canada’s longest-running independent record label.
Writer, producer, host, and actor Patrick Watson has played a pivotal role in the development of Canadian television, rising to position of Chairman of the CBC in 1989.
Hungarian-born Robert Zend began a varied career at the CBC in 1958. Film librarian, film editor, writer and radio producer were among his positions, while he also published many works of poetry and prose.
Collection description is not currently available. Please contact the archivist