Home 5 About 5 Board of Directors

Board of Directors

Knowledge Hub

Discover industry contacts, Creative BC grant recipients, productions shooting in B.C., competitive research, and more.

Jesse Finkelstein

Chair

Jesse Finkelstein is co-founder and principal of Page Two, a publishing company that helps experts, industry leaders and organizations publish non-fiction books. Jesse brings to her work an extensive knowledge of author relations, publishing operations, sales strategy, and digital publishing. In previous publishing roles, Jesse ran D&M Publishers day-to-day operations as Chief Operating Officer, leading the company’s digital and international sales strategies, licensing content in multiple formats and in global markets, and developing enhanced ebooks. Prior to this role, Jesse was associate publisher at Raincoast Books, where she managed the publishing department, oversaw acquisitions and sold foreign rights. She holds a master of publishing degree from Simon Fraser University.

Louise Clark

Vice Chair + Secretary-Treasurer

Founder of Lark Productions, Louise Clark began her career at the National Film Board of Canada. Her career as a producer and broadcast executive spans television series, drama and comedy, documentaries  and feature films.

For Canada’s top network, CTV, Louise developed and oversaw production on five seasons of the number one comedy CORNER GAS, and three seasons of the critically acclaimed ROBSON ARMS. She also oversaw production on multiple seasons of FLASHPOINT and THE LISTENER,  ground-breaking Canada/US co-ventures.  As Vice President of Program Development, she was responsible for all original development and production across Canada, and worked directly with CTV specialty channels Bravo, The Comedy Network, and Space.

Louise had oversight of all projects at Lark Productions with her partner Erin Haskett, who now runs the company, and was Executive Producer on four seasons of CTV’s original drama series MOTIVE (ABC & USA), critically acclaimed documentary series and ratings success, EMERGENCY ROOM: LIFE & DEATH AT VGH for Knowledge Network, and the hit format series REAL HOUSEWIVES OF VANCOUVER.

 

Jeevyn Dhaliwal

Board Member

Jeevyn Dhaliwal, K.C. is a Vancouver lawyer who represents public sector and business clients in connection with workplace immigration and related employment issues. Jeevyn is active in the legal community as an elected Bencher of the Law Society of British Columbia, where she serves as first Vice President until 2024 when she will assume the role of President.  Jeevyn has served as a longstanding Board member and past president of the South Asian Bar Association of British Columbia, in which capacity she has mentored and supported legal professionals of South Asian descent.

As selected by her peers, Jeevyn has been included in Best Lawyers Canada since 2014 and she is a Lexpert Zenith Award winner.

Her larger community involvement extends to singing at charitable and sporting events and she has, over the years, been a frequent guest anthem singer for the Vancouver Canucks NHL hockey team.

Michelle Grady

Board Member

Michelle Grady is President of Sony Pictures Imageworks, responsible for overall operations, strategy, planning, and production. The award-winning visual effects and animation facility most recently completed work on SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3, ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA, the Academy Award®-nominated THE SEA BEAST and THE MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES, IN VAULTED HALLS ENTOMBED, an episode of the Netflix animated anthology LOVE, DEATH & ROBOTS, SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME, and the Academy Award®-winning SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE.

Michelle has spent over two decades in the Visual Effects and Post-production industry in Vancouver, where her career grew alongside the expanding film production business in the city.

She joined Imageworks from the visual effects studio MPC, where she served as head of film, managing projects including: SUICIDE SQUAD, BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE, GODZILLA, MALEFICENT, and the Academy Award®-winning LIFE OF PI.

Prior to MPC, Grady was vice president and general manager at Technicolor, overseeing a 35mm film laboratory, digital post production and VFX divisions.

Michelle is Chair of the Animation & VFX Alliance of BC, Vice Chair of the Motion Picture Production Industry Association of BC (MPPIA), and Executive Committee Member of Creative BC.

Matt O’Grady

Board Member

Matt O’Grady is an award-winning communications professional who has held senior leadership positions at both regional and national media companies. He has served as Editor-in-Chief of BC Business magazine twice from Mar. 2008 to May 2011, and Jan. 2014 to Nov. 2016 during which time the magazine was nominated for several National Magazine Awards, as well as a Jack Webster Award for excellence in journalism. He has also worked for The Globe and Mail in both Toronto and Vancouver, most recently running their west coast operations as British Columbia Bureau Chief.
Matt has deep ties within the Vancouver media community, having served as an editor at Vancouver magazine and Western Living, worked as an online editor for CBC British Columbia, and taught non-fiction writing, editing and magazine production courses at Langara College, Simon Fraser University and Capilano University (he continues to teach at Langara and SFU). Matt is a graduate of the Queen Smith School of Business Bachelor of Commerce program (Honours) and SFU Master of Publishing program.

Amy Lang

Board Member

Amy Lang, President of North Shore and Mammoth Studios, oversees all aspects of the operations and administration of the two production facilities. Amy is actively involved in industry-building initiatives and is an Executive Director for the Motion Picture Production Industry Association (MPPIA) and a Director on the Invest Vancouver Management Board to champion long-term growth of the film and television industry in B.C. Amy previously held the position of Director of Finance & People at Bosa Development for the past 5 years and prior to that worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers (Vancouver) from 2007 to 2017. During her years with PricewaterhouseCoopers Amy worked with both public and private companies across a broad range of industries including real estate, mining, forestry, financial services, retail, film & entertainment, and technology. Her time there also included working with PricewaterhouseCoopers (San Jose) focused exclusively on private equity venture capital in the life sciences & bio-medical field. Amy was also involved in leading the training and development programs for the CA (CPA) exams and has also worked as an Adjunct Professor in the accounting department at UBC Sauder School of Business. Amy holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Simon Fraser University, a Master of Professional Accounting from the University of Saskatchewan, and is a CPA-CA.

Shirley Lew

Board Member

Shirley Lew is the Dean, School of Arts and Sciences at Vancouver Community College (VCC). Prior to this position, she was a librarian in leadership positions and active in province-wide initiatives such as Digital BC. She was also adjunct faculty in the library program at UBC. Prior to a career in libraries, she was a bookseller in Vancouver for over ten years.

 

Shirley has served on the boards of Vancouver Writers Fest and West Coast Book Prizes Society, and for two years was a juror for the City of Vancouver Book Awards. She was President of BC Libraries Association and is currently Chair of the BC Libraries Cooperative board. She co-edited and contributed to the collection Feminists Among Us: Resistance and Advocacy in Library Leadership, published in 2017. With her co-editor, Shirley was recognized with the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Significant Achievement Award in 2018.

 

Shirley has a Bachelor of Arts in Human Geography and a Master of Library & Information Studies. She is currently pursuing her doctorate in education at UBC.

Laura Lightbown

Board Member

Laura Lightbown, President of Terra Films Inc., is a Gemini (CSA) and Leo Award-winning prime-time dramatic television producer. Laura has executive produced and consulted on numerous feature films and projects across Canada, including her recent work on the CBC television series “The Romeo Section”. She worked with Brent Butt’s (CTV “Corner Gas”) company, Sparrow Media Inc., where she produced the feature film NO CLUE, and executive produced the series “Hiccups” for CTV. Prior to that, Laura was CEO of Chris Haddock’s company, Haddock Entertainment, where she executive produced multiple successful CBC series such as “Intelligence”, the multi-award winning, eight-season series “Da Vinci’s Inquest”, “Da Vinci’s City Hall”, MTV/CTV’s “4Real”, as well as several made-for-television movies. Laura has sat on both the national and the B.C. branch boards of the Canadian Media Producers Association and has long been committed to mentoring a diverse group of professionals starting and building their careers in Canada’s motion picture industry.

Board Member

Kesi Smyth began her career in Canada’s music industry in 2003, undertaking roles of progressive responsibility at Simkin Artist Management and 604 Records where she now holds the title of General Manager & Human Resources. With studies in marketing and human resources management, Kesi now oversees both label operations for the 604 Label Group and the many clients it serves, as well as professional development, people management, and inclusive practices for the company and its staff.

Most notably, Kesi was Sr. Project Manager for Carly Rae Jepsen during the peak of her Grammy-nominated blockbuster hit, “Call Me Maybe”. During that time Kesi was responsible for an array of activities including strategic marketing, day-to-day operations, and logistical planning for performances like the MuchMusic Video Awards, Billboard Music Awards, American Music Awards, and more.

Kesi is a Board Member of both FACTOR (The foundation assisting Canadian talent on recordings), and the Canada Independent Music Association (CIMA) and serves ADVANCE, Canada Black music business collective, as a regional representative and as part of its membership committee.

Kesi Smyth

Jamie Sterritt

Board Member

Jamie began his professional career as the First Nations Liaison for Klohn-Crippen Consultants, an environmental consulting firm based in Vancouver BC. At Klohn-Crippen, he built a solid reputation in community engagement, consultation, and commercial information technology applications.

In 2005, Jamie launched Sahetxw Consulting, where he has planned and delivered a wide range of successful projects for his clients, from broadband network projects and customized computer science courses to community capacity development and planning.

Now, as both an Information & Communications Technology (ICT) expert and a seasoned Aboriginal Governance consultant and facilitator, who has a background in traditional and digital arts, Jamie brings a truly unique blend of expertise, a remarkably diverse skill set, and a wealth of experience to any project he takes on. He also brings his passion and boundless energy.

He is a member of the Gitxsan Nation and currently sits on the Board of Governors for the Justice Institute of BC and First Peoples Cultural Council.  He relishes the overlap between his various disciplines and fields of knowledge, embracing both the traditional and the modern.

Bill Tam

Board Member

Bill Tam is recognized as one of the pre-eminent leaders of the Canadian tech sector. A lifelong entrepreneur, Bill has been actively involved with technology and start-ups as a founder, executive, investor, advisor and board member for the past 20 years. Bill co-founded the development of the Digital Technology Supercluster – a signature innovation program in Canada to drive large-scale collaboration among industry leaders, small and medium enterprises, and post-secondary institutions to develop new technology breakthroughs in digital health and climate adaptation.

Bill forges partnerships across private and public sectors to accelerate economic growth and foster inclusiveness. He serves on the Steering Committee of the Cascadia Innovation Corridor initiative – a cross-border partnership between British Columbia, Washington and Oregon to develop and promote a globally recognized hub of innovation and commerce.

Bill serves as a director of CBC-Radio Canada, Invest Vancouver and Creative BC. In addition, he serves as an advisor to the Vancouver Chinatown Foundation, Founders Institute, the Rideau Hall Foundation and is as an industry advisor at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Simon Fraser University and the British Columbia Institute of Technology. He is a recipient of UBC’s Dean’s Medal of Distinction for his contributions to the engineering and tech community.

Kate Wattie

Board Member

Kate Wattie is an entrepreneur in B.C.’s dynamic music industry and a leader within the province’sbroader arts and culture community, where she also currently chairs the board for Karen Jamieson Dance. Kate is both co-owner of boutique guitar store, Exile Electronics, and artist manager and general manager of her own boutique record label and management company, Tonic Records. Kate brings a global perspective of the industry, combined with a deep understanding of the business behind music. Her career in the music industry began with Virgin Records in London, UK and led her back to B.C., with increasing responsibilities and experiences spanning from management of vintage guitar store, Another Music Shop, to serving previously for four years as a board member of the industry membership association. Her company Tonic Records has been recognized by the Western Canadian Music Awards for Impact in Artist Development and its current and past roster of award-winning clients includes: The Harpoonist and The Axe Murderer, Leeroy Stagger, We Are The City, Ryland Moranz, Satellite and The Harpoonist, Terence Jack, Buckman Coe, Bocephus King, Rodney De Croo and Jody Peck.