TORONTO – The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television (the Canadian Academy) announced yesterday it is launching an eight-month Executive Residency Program, which will match working professionals who are Black, Indigenous, or a person of colour with high-level executives.
This new initiative is designed “to break down the barriers that currently exist for the next generation of creative executives and business leaders,” a press release explains.
A cohort of five to eight participants will be selected for the inaugural year.
This national program includes “job shadowing at an executive level, monthly meetings with the cohort led by the community partners, bi-weekly conversations with guest speakers, monthly stipends, and a complimentary two-year membership to the Canadian Academy with free access to year-round professional development events.”
According to the program’s rules and regulations, the participating executives (referred to as “advocates”) include:
- Tina Apostolopoulos – senior production executive, original programming, factual, reality and documentaries at Bell Media
- Manny Groneveldt – director of entertainment production/executive producer at Bell Media
- Shaleen Sangha – vice-president, content, kids and family at Boat Rocker
- Sarah Adams – director of current production, drama at CBC
- Paige Murray – executive in charge of development, drama at CBC
- Jennifer Shin – director of development, comedy at CBC
- Mélanie Lê Phan – executive in charge of current production, comedy at CBC
Telefilm Canada is a supporting partner of the program. Bell Media, CBC, Comweb Foundation, Pinewood Toronto Studios, Canada Media Fund and Boat Rocker are collaborative partners, and BIPOC TV and Film, The Black Academy, and imagineNATIVE are community partners.
“We are honoured to be working with this dedicated group of partners on this important program,” said Beth Janson, CEO of the Canadian Academy, in the press release.
“While our industry has taken some meaningful steps towards change, there is much more work to be done to be inclusive and welcoming of a variety of perspectives. Our hope is that this program will flip the script a bit by providing talented mid-career professionals with the profile, support and confidence to launch them into the next phase of their careers.”
The Executive Residency Program is accepting applications for the inaugural cohort from March 2, 2022, to April 1, 2022. The participants will be chosen by the Canadian Academy, the advisory committee and program advocates, and will be announced in June 2022.
For more on the program, please click here.
