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Headspinner Productions Inc.

President & Executive Producer

Michelle Melanson

Emmy And Bafta Nominated, Michelle has over 25 years’ experience in the production business with hundreds of episodes produced and over 50 awards and nominations. Most recently Michelle was President of Radical Sheep Productions, executive producing such shows as the worldwide hit The Next Step, as well as Fangbone!, The Bagel & Becky Show, Tee & Mo, Stella and Sam, The Yup Yups and Ollie The Boy Who Became What He Ate. Michelle has won the Canadian Screen award, the Grand Prize of the Youth Media Alliance, mulitiple Kidscreen Awards and Cynopsis Awards. She also has a Juno Award for producing the Stella and Sam Album.

In early 2018, Michelle started Headspinner Productions with husband Ken Cuperus, an Emmy Nominated Creator and Showrunner. They currently have several shows in development with US and Canadian broadcasters. Most recently, they acquired the rights to the Canadian classic series Hilarious House of Frightenstein with plans to reboot the series for a new generation.

In 2020, they launch their first series Denis and Me on Youtube and Crave. Season II is now underway with Wildbrain. The series has garnered 15 million+ views in the first couple of months.

Michelle graduated in 1990 from Ryerson with a BAA in Radio and Television Arts. She was added to the RTA Alumni Hall of Fame in 2019. She was also a professor of Television Production at Centennial College in the first year of their post grad program in Children’s Entertainment. From that, Michelle continued to support the Centennial program by mentoring 1 to 2 students per year for internships. Since then Michelle has mentored many students, continued mentorships with 3 candidates under the CMPA Mentorship program and gone on to hire 5 students into full time positions. All of the above being women (except one lol).


Michelle is also the Founder of Women Drawn Together-a free organization that fosters learning, networking and mentorship for Women in the Animation community. In the past four years, the group has grown to 5 cities and well over 1000 members. The organization is open to all, with a focus to free opportunities to learn about various departments in the animation field in a safe, comfortable environment. With events planned throughout the calendar year, panels and talks occur every 6-8 weeks with at times, well over 100 attendees. The group encourages mentorship amongst its members and fosters growth in industry as well as personally. Many events have host charitable attachments such as The ShoeBox Project and Dress for Success. Michelle also moderates and posts daily on the Facebook page, adding articles of interest, job postings and announcements.

Banff Spark Showcase is produced by Brunico Communications Ltd.
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