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CineFocus Canada Inc.

Director and Founder

Joan Prowse

I have three decades experience as a writer, producer, director and video editor. I co-founded CineFocus Canada to tell thought-provoking, Canadian stories worldwide and to deliver them on accessible platforms. With sales to broadcasters around the world, CineFocus programs have aired on A&E, TLC, PBS, and Oxygen in the United States, on Discovery and several other networks in Europe and Asia, and in Canada on Bell Media, CBC, Global, Radio-Canada, Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, Bravo!, TVO, SCN, and the Knowledge Network.

As a company director and producer, I am directly involved in all aspects of the development, production and distribution of more than 25 hours of prime-time arts, biography and social issue documentaries and television series. CineFocus has successfully pre-licensed or sold this original programming to Canadian networks across the country and to international broadcasters on all four continents. Additionally, we have produced 75 + commissioned videos for government, health and non-profit organizations, many in both official languages.

As a writer, director and editor, my notable credits include the international documentary hit, "Beauty and the Beach" and the Juno-nominated biography "Buffy Sainte-Marie: A Multimedia Life." Along with my documentaries, I produced and directed 26 episodes of the biography series "Lucky Breaks" that aired on A&E’s Biography Channel and produced 28 profiles of Canadian musicians, directors and actors for Global’s Northern Lights. The pilot for my latest TV series, "Green Heroes" was a nominee at the Banff World Television Festival and was produced as a multi-platform production of 12 TV half hours, 45 on-line shorts and a mobile app in association with TVO and the Bell Fund. "Green Heroes" aired for nine years on TVO and more recently on Amazon Prime.

I am an alumnus of TMU's (formally Ryerson) Radio and Television Arts program, the Canadian Film Centre, the Banff New Media Institute, OCAD University’s Imagination Catalyst, and the National Screen Institute. Currently, I am a member of the Writers Guild of Canada and Banff Spark’s Women in the Business of Media alumni and am a Jury member for this year's Banff World Media Festival awards in the Current Affairs and Social Issues category. From 2020-2022, I was part of the Canadian delegation in the spotlight at the Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC), adding to the list of international markets I've been selected or invited to attend since 2000.

Outside of CineFocus, I've taught documentary and dramatic scriptwriting in the department of Media Studies at Niagara College and oversaw the production of short dramas and documentaries in the Films Studies department at Humber College; was co-producer for the development of the Telefilm supported feature film, "Rebel Girl" and was development co-ordinator for three pilot comedy series with writer Howard Busgang for Global TV. I began my television career working with Daniel Richler for three seasons on TVO’s "Imprint."

Banff Spark Showcase is produced by Brunico Communications Ltd.
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