Board Members

Josh Miller is an award-winning writer/producer and President of Panacea Entertainment, a Canadian independent film and television production company based in Edmonton. Josh’s producing credits include the feature films Freezer Burn: The Invasion of Laxdale, Intern Academy to name a few. His Dramatic TV series producing credits include “Anash and the Legacy of the SunRock”, and “Mentors”. Variety, lifestyle and factual TV series include “A Total Write-Off!”, “The Fringe: Acting Up”, and the recently broadcast “Seeds of Change: The Eco Story”. Josh has been a partner and V.P. of Development at Minds Eye Entertainment (1995-2003) and was Director of Development for the Canadian pay-television network Superchannel (1990-95). He has served on the Board of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association, the Alberta Foundation of the Arts and is a Past-Chair of the Edmonton International Film Festival Society. Currently Josh serves as Acting President of the Ampia Board as well as the Chair of Ampia’s Broadcast Committee.

Connie Edwards brings many years of diverse experience to her award winning career in television and series production.Ms. Edwards produced and directed a one hour documentary “Final Curtain” (Bronze Plaque at the Columbus Film & Video Awards). Ms. Edwards received two Alberta Film & Television Awards for her production Healing Soul Pain, notably one of these awards was for Best Director Non Fiction under 30 Mins. She produced “The Millionaires’ Club” a one hour documentary about lottery winners and was co producer of “RIP Great Cemeteries of the World”, a 26 part half-hour series for PRIME TV and two, one-hours for Discovery Travel US. She wrote and produced the one-hour television documentary “Who is Watching the Children,” and a half hour documentary “The Lullaby Lady”. Nominated for 5 Alberta Film & Television Awards in April of 2003, she won an Alberta Film & Television Award for the program “Listening To Soul Pain” which she produced and directed. Ms. Edwards has also had roles as director/creative producer on the Gemini Award winning series “Taking It Off” and “X Weighted” (Anaid Productions), as well as directing for season 1, 2 & 3 of “The Family Restaurant” (Anaid Productions). As well she took on post production direction duties on the Gemini award nominated series “Family Renovation” and on 6 episodes of “Chef Abroad” (Ocean Entertainment)Passionate and dedicated to television and film, Edwards is a tireless advocate for the production industry. President of the Alberta Motion Picture Industries Association for 3½ years, she also served for many years on the CFTPA Broadcast Committee and Mentorship Committee. She served for 5 years on the board of the Edmonton John Howard Society and is currently President of the Board of the Good Neighbour Fund. In addition she is a new member of the Board of the Mahatma Gandhi Canadian Foundation for World Peace and is also on the Broadcast committee of DOC. In 2006 she was honoured with an RBC Canadian Woman Entrepreneur of the Year nomination.

Joe Novak is a co-founder of Joe Media Group and has been Executive Producer on programs like The Secret of the Nutcracker, Joni Mitchell’s The Fiddle and the Drum, The Battle for Baghdad (with the New York Times), Hunting the Predators, Battle for the Arctic and Fish Out of Water. Joe has also traveled extensively across Canada and throughout Europe consulting for broadcasters and independent producers helping them create and implement strategic and approaches to program development and production. He created and presents Rookies in the Rockies at the Banff Festival and is a graduate of Concordia University and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Joe was a Senior Producer/Editor for The Journal, and CBC Director of Regional Network Programming for Arts and Entertainment. He is also the current Vice-President South of the Alberta Media Production Industries Association, a member of the CFTPA Broadcast Relations Committee, and on the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology Film and Television Advisory Council.

Mark Wood is President of Octane 5ive Corporation and General Manager of Studio Post in Edmonton. He has over 25 years in the television industry, starting out as a P.A. before moving into Assistant Directing and Directing, then moved into Post Production as a manager and finally as owner of Studio Post.
Mark is actively involved in Alberta’s film community, serving on the Executive Committee of the Ampia Board as well as Ampia’s Events Committee (Awards), the Edmonton Film Commission and Alberta Film’s Marketing Advisory council.

Norm Bishop was born and raised in Edmonton and would go on to receive his B.A. in 1977 and his LL.B. in 1980 from the University of Alberta. Norman’s practice specializes in intellectual property, franchising, commercial leasing and entertainment, and he is a registered Trade Mark Agent for Canada and the U.S. In addition, he is an Associate Member of the Patent and Trade Mark Institute of
Canada. Norman is an enthusiastic supporter of the arts, and has served as a director for the Northern Light Theatre and the Edmonton Art Gallery. Currently, he sits on the Board of Directors of the Alberta Motion Picture Industries Association. Norman is best known for his love of playing rock and roll, and for his total lack of interest in the game of golf. He also enjoys hiking and skiing with his wife and three children.

Camille Beaudoin has worked in the film and television industry for over ten years and it was a twist of fate that brought her into the film and television industry when she was hired as a trainee on the Family Channel dramatic series “Mentors”. Camille went on to work on such feature films and television movies as “Ginger Snaps Back”, “Ginger Snaps – The Beginning” and “100 Days in the Jungle”. She then took a position at Anaïd Productions, an independent television production company in Edmonton working as an Assistant Production Coordinator and Production Coordinator on projects such as the short film “Wind Water”, the television shows “Taking It Off” and “Exchanging Vows”, both for Life Network. Camille also worked on the feature film “Intern Academy”, directed by Dave Thomas and starring Dan Aykroyd. Recently, Camille is the Executive Producer and Head of Creative Affairs with Mosaic Entertainment, where she has produced twenty episodes of the sketch comedy television series “CAUTION: May Contain Nuts” for APTN.

Freelance Productions Ltd. has been serving the communication needs of Canada’s foremost broadcast and corporate clients for over 25 years. At the helm is the Award winning David Benson, a veteran television Producer, Director, and Writer whose documentary production credits include The Rig (Seasons I & II), Lights… Camera.. Alberta, Behind the Screen, Chasing the Sun (Season I), Island of Faith, Adoption Stories, and Canadians in Kentucky.David has worked with a range of television broadcast clients including, CTV, Alliance Atlantis, National Geographic, OLN, Rogers Sportsnet, TSN, ESPN and TBS, just to name a few. He also has a rich and diverse background of directing and cinematography for sports programs including segments for several Winter and Summer Olympic Games, the 1996 World Figure Skating Championships and the 2003 Heritage Classic Hockey Game.

With this experience, Freelance Productions also brings a team with depth in business and legal affairs, production, and post-production, which enables the ability to produce and facilitate quality, fact-based programming for broadcasters worldwide.

Tom Cox is a veteran film and television producer whose work spans twenty-four
years and includes feature films, dramatic series, mini-series, television movies and documentaries. Tom’s programs have garnered dozens of Canadian and international awards. Tom’s recent executive producer credits include Wild Roses and Heartland for CBC, Mayerthorpe for CTV and Burn Up for BBC and Global. His recent co-producing credits include television movies for ABC Family, Lifetime, Hallmark, TNT and CBS, as well as feature films for Warner Bros, Yari Pictures and Focus Features. Tom is an executive board member of the Alberta Motion Picture Industry Association and Chair of the AMPIA Producers Committee. He is the past Chair of the National Screen Institute Board of Directors. Tom is finishing his first term as a CFTPA board member, and is active on the Industrial Relations and Broadcast Relations committees. He is committed to ensuring that every region of Canada supports a vibrant and sustainable environment for content development and production through strong independent companies creating projects for domestic and international markets.

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Mike Frislev is co-founder & Chairman of Calgary based Nomadic Pictures along with Chad Oakes. Since its inception in 1995 Nomadic has completed over 30 productions including the movies “Snowbound”, “The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie”, “The Legend of Butch & Sundance”, “Lies My Mother Told Me” and “Trapped Ashes”. Nomadic also produced the miniseries “Broken Trail”, starring Robert Duvall, and the reality series “Hooked Up”. In 2009, Nomadic produced the 1960’s period feature film “45 RPM” and in 2010 the Western feature film “The Last Rites of Ransom Pride”, starring Kris Kristoffersson. Nomadic’s latest success story is a new Western series called “Hell on Wheels”, which has been picked up by AMC, which also produced the series “Mad Men” and “Breaking Bad”. Nomadic has been the proud recipient of numerous awards, as well as several Rosie Awards. Michael is an active participant in the local and international film communities, sitting on various film boards and producer based committees. He has served on the Ampia Board since 2007.

Helen Schmidt has been a member of the Anaïd team in Edmonton since 1995 where she oversees all aspects of business affairs and accounting for the production company. She is responsible for production financing, budgeting and cost control as well as overall corporate operations and has served as Executive Producer on X-Weighted, Family Restaurant, and The Rig. Helen is distinguished in the field of accounting by her advanced understanding of Canadian film financing and its related issues. Helen and her business affairs team have enabled Anaïd Productions to earn an impressive reputation with investors, broadcasters and distributors alike. A Certified Management Accountant, Helen Schmidt started her accounting career with the Alberta Government, then moved to private industry for several years prior to joining Anaïd. Helen is active in her local community and has used her financial acumen to benefit numerous non-profit organizations by serving on committees and volunteer boards.

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Tyler Shandro is a lawyer (Shandro Professional Corp.) and a member of the National Parole Board. His practice includes entertainment law, and his clients include production companies, festivals, and various nonprofits. He is an agent for players in the Canadian Football League, and a board member of the Sled Island Music Festival, the Calgary Parking Authority and a Senator at the University of Calgary. He is also a partner and executive producer at 1400 Months, a company which develops digital platforms for the creative industries.

Mike Shields crafts music with precision and intelligence. His melodies have grace, passion and hooks galore built around compelling lyrics. Part of his job is to record and perform these songs to a loyal following.Mike also gets to score television shows and major feature films like Ginger Snaps, 100 Days in the Jungle, and Crazy Canucks. He gets to work with talented directors and create a mood for the audience, making the moving pictures even more memorable. When he’s not doing that, Mike is composing and performing jingles and music tracks for some of the most successful advertising campaigns in the country. He’s helped sell you Fords, Toyotas and clothes from Mark’s Work Wearhouse.Mike has been a musician all his life, studying classical piano at the age of five. Raised by two music teachers, there was not shortage of knowledge and inspiration in his home.
In 1995, Mike released his debut CD,Grace Motel. Two singles charted nationally and his award-wining videos aired on CMT, MuchMusic and other shows like the Country Beat on CBC. Mike’s television performances for the record included the Dini Petty Show, Global TV, City TV and many others. His second CD, Stranger Than Fiction was released across the country in 1999 to critical acclaim.
In addition to writing and performing his own songs, Mike started Jet Music Inc. that year and became the music director for Sync Spot Digital Audio Post in Calgary. Recently he has opened Jet Music Canada and become a partner in SoundProof (a commercial music company) in Toronto. Since the release of his last record, the film bug has bitten hard and Mike’s been scoring many feature film scores, television programs, and commercials – and winning several awards along the way. For a complete list of credits, take a look at Mike’s CV (PDF 13KB).

While busier than ever with that side of his career and spare time is hard to come by, he’s back at writing his own material and hard at work on his own screenplay – about, what else?, music.

Bill Evans is the former Director of Programming at the Whistler Film Festival, and the former Director of Showcases and Senior Manager of Film Training Programs at the National Screen Institute – Canada. Bill also served as Festival Director of the NSI Film Exchange in Winnipeg and the Local Heroes Film Festival in Edmonton. Bill is an award-winning events producer and has a broad range of programming experience including Edmonton’s Metro Cinema, the Vancouver International Film Festival and the Calgary International Film Festival. A native of Edmonton, Bill studied Film Studies at the University of Alberta and Film Production at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver.