TORONTO – The Canada Media Fund (CMF) has added two new members to its board of directors following its annual meeting of members held earlier this week in Montreal.
Lori DeGraw and Michael Schmalz succeed outgoing directors Cheryl Barker and Glenn Wong. They join current BoD chair Alain Cousineau and directors Alison Clayton, Guy Fournier, David McLennan, and Rob Scarth.
DeGraw is executive director of the Ontario Land Trust Alliance, and brings 25 years’ experience in the audiovisual industry plus extensive corporate governance experience to the role. She held the role of VP media operations at Blue Ant Media for 10 years, and over the course of nearly 15 years before that, held various roles at the production level, including executive producer and senior series producer.
Schmalz is president of Digital Extremes, a top development studio in the interactive entertainment industry. He has over 10 years of experience in the digital media industry, focusing his attention on innovation in the gaming sector, and practiced as a civil engineer prior to that.
The CMF board of directors is fully independent from management, its funders and any beneficiaries. Directors are appointed by two member organizations, the Canadian Coalition for Cultural Expression (CCCE), representing Canada’s cable, satellite and IPTV distributors, and the Government of Canada, through the Department of Canadian Heritage. More information on the CMF BoD and the corporation’s governance policies is available here.
“Dr. Schmalz and Ms. DeGraw will be strong additions to the Canada Media Fund Board of Directors”, said Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly, in the announcement. “They distinguished themselves during the rigorous, open, merit-based selection process, thanks to their skill and expertise in the audiovisual and digital sectors. I have no doubt that these highly qualified appointees will help the Canada Media Fund further its objective to promote the development of Canadian productions that tell our stories and showcase our great talent.”
CMF fosters, develops, finances and promotes the production of Canadian content and applications for all audiovisual media platforms.
