MONTREAL — Telefilm Canada is adding two new members to its executive leadership team, with the announcement that René Bourdages has been named senior director of cultural portfolio management, and Marie-Claude Lavigne has been named director of government and public affairs.
Bourdages (pictured on left) will join Telefilm Canada on December 2 and will be based in Montreal and Toronto. Lavigne (pictured on right) will join the organization on November 12 and will be based in Montreal and Ottawa.
Prior to joining Telefilm Canada, Bourdages served as the National Film Board’s director general of creation and innovation since 2016. In the course of his 30-year career, he has held highly strategic positions in major private and public media groups, including TVA/Quebecor, Astral Media and CBC/Radio-Canada. In 2012, Bourdages founded ELEVADO Media, a consulting firm advising fund managers and production companies about their investments in development, funding and strategic planning in the US and Canada.
In his newly created role of senior director of cultural portfolio management, Bourdages will oversee Telefilm Canada’s core activities, including project financing, business affairs and coproduction, and the Canada Media Fund program administration, to better meet clients’ needs and to align decision-making and priorities between Telefilm’s core teams, according to a news release issued Tuesday.
Lavigne comes to Telefilm Canada with 20 years of experience in strategy, public affairs and government relations. She has gained in-depth knowledge of the structures and players within government, having worked with both the federal and provincial levels. During her career, she has been vice-president of several public relations agencies, including Citoyen Optimum and Cohn & Wolfe, and has worked in various sectors, such as finance, economic development as well as the cultural milieu.
Telefilm Canada said in its release that its executive leadership team is now complete under a new structure. In addition to the two new members, the executive team also includes:
- Francesca Accinelli, director of promotion and communications, responsible for the organization’s communications and promotional initiatives worldwide
- E.J. Alon, director of the Talent Fund, responsible for the daily operations and long-term fundraising activities of Telefilm’s private-donor fund
- Patrick Bédard, director of finance and interim director of administration and corporate services, who oversees the organization’s Finance and Information, Performance and Risk sectors
- Stéphane Odesse, director of legal services and access to information, and corporate secretary
- Stella Riggi, director of human resources
