Jason Leaver studied Film at Ryerson Polytechnic University, graduating in 2001 with a Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts. By day he is a corporate video producer – always putting a creative/fun spin on things. By night he has created a number of short films. Out With Dad marks Jason’s first foray into web series production; for which he serves as the series creator, producer, writer, director, cinematographer, editor, visual effects and somehow finds time to maintain the series’ website and all other social networking.
In 2004 he was awarded “Best Technical Production” in the 2nd annual One Minute Film Festival in Toronto for the film Duplication Violation. Also in 2004, the film Steep Decision (co-directed by Shawn Willings) placed third out of forty in the annual 2880 Minute Film Challenge in the Port Townsend Film Festival in Washington. Given, produced in 2005 for the Toronto 24hr Film Challenge place second place out of 28 completed films. In 2008 his film Penance won two awards: “Best Use of Line” and “Best Use of Character” in The 48 Hour Film Project. His video installation project “Mobius” was selected and appeared in Toronto’s 2009 Scotiabank Nuit Blanche. In February 2011, Jason was nominated for outstanding direction and outstanding writing in the Independent Soap Awards in NYC; and in March 2011 he won Outstanding Writing, Outstanding Directing and Outstanding Cinematography in a Drama Series for in the 2011 LAweb Festival all for his work on Out With Dad. His short film lol_wom3n won Best Narrative at the 6th annual One Minute Film Festival in Toronto.
Jason is also a co-organizer/co-host of the Toronto Web Series Community, a growing, supportive network of digital storytellers.
Eric has worn a few hats over the years. He began making things up early in life. As a schoolyard liar he quickly learned the rewards of storytelling. Since then, his enthusiasm for falsehood and fabrication has inspired him to play many roles.
In the past he’s worked on and behind the stage of a few small theatre productions. He’s messed with the music industry but swears he learned his lesson. Often, he writes and has been collaborating with Jason Leaver on his last few short films. Out With Dad is Eric’s first exploit in producing where his excellent organizational skills and charming personality will be put to good use.
Hannah McKimm is a keen Second Year student who is studying Film at the International Film School of Wales, Newport, Wales, UK. She has just recently completed an exchange programme also studying film for a term at Ryerson University in Toronto. She has made several short films during her time at both of these schools and has many plans to make plenty more over the next few years. Outside of school she enjoys helping with other productions. In the summer of 2009, she worked as a Location Assistant on Louis Leterrier’s Clash of the Titans, and in March 2007, during her working holiday to New Zealand, she worked as an assistant on The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Working with Jason on his upcoming web series and developing the pitch package for Nuit Blanche 2010, has been a pleasure. She looks forward to their future projects.
Kara is currently working toward her Master’s degree in teaching from OISE at the University of Toronto, where she studied drama and anthropology in her undergrad. Kara is a theatrical jill-of-all-trades, working as an actor, musician, playwright, teacher, producer and stage manager. As a playwright, Kara most recently took home the 2nd Place Award in the Toronto Fringe New Play Contest 2010 for her play Her Child. Kara’s play Losing Berlin had a reading at the Tarragon Theatre Studio Space in May 2008. She performed in its original incarnation as a one-woman show, which debuted in the U of T Drama Festival 2004 (Best Actor Award and the Robertson Davies Playwrighting Award) and the London Fringe 2004. Kara’s favourite acting credits include Kelly in The Drowned World (muckheap productions), Albertine in Past Perfect, Kent in King Lear, Edna in Waiting for Lefty (UCDP), Lampito in Lysistrata (Hart House Theatre), Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, Martha in The Secret Garden, Anne in Anne of Green Gables, and Ko-Ko in The Mikado (Opera Buffa). Film credits include Taking Possession and Penance (award-winning), which she co-wrote with Jason Leaver.
What’s an engineer doing on a film production? We don’t hold that against her. Rebecca and Jason Leaver have collaborated on a number of short film projects with Rebecca serving as the producer. Rebecca’s experience in the arts goes beyond her love of spread sheets; she’s a performer too. Recently she’s performed, as a dancer/singer, in a number of musical stage productions in Sarnia, Ontario.
Adrian is a multi-instrumentalist who grew up in Germany and Canada, and has studied classical guitar and fine art in both countries. He now resides in Toronto, where he composes music for award winning films, tv, multimedia, and theatre. Most recently, he composed the theme and music package for CTV/Discovery Canada’s “Daily Planet”. An active producer, musician, and arranger, he appears on numerous recordings and in live performances. Also busy in media music community, he has developed and moderated panels for the Screen Composers Guild of Canada and served as a jury member for the Gemini Awards. When not making music, you can find Adrian writing his blog “The Music Creative“, and teaching kids Karate.
Lizz Hodgson has completed several short fiction and short documentary films to date. Her work has been featured at the annual Cinesiege festival in 2009 and at other small events across North America to raise awareness for Pallister Killian Syndrome and rare syndromes alike. Her documentary “Welcome to Holland” was profiled in Canada’s Exceptional Family Magazine in its January 2010 issue. Although her passion currently lays within the documentary realm, she is eager to further her repertoire with fiction and television experience. Having worked as a director, assistant director, editor, production manager and artistic director on various personal and student film projects, Lizz fancies herself a Jill-of-trades and is always seeking a shiny new opportunity to further confuse her quest of film! Graduating in 2010 from York University’s BFA Film program she hopes to travel and to continue producing in any creative or artistic category.
Brendon is an actor, illustrator, cartoonist and occasional sound technician. Most recently, Brendon performed as Belize in Angels in America (Column 13).
Past theatre credits include: Column 13, Edmond (Pimp/Prisoner), In Arabia we’d all be Kings (Greer), Our Lady of 121st Street (Flip). The Fringe Festival, The Fall of Team Justice (Peter). Aisle Seat Productions, Hurly Burly (Phil).
Past film credits include Celeste’s Island and Penance, directed by Jason Leaver.
Joshua Ary is an up and coming filmmaker studying at Ryerson University. He has produced a wide variety of documentary and fiction short films. He’s had a healthy handful of films in festivals such as the Flicks Film Festival in Netherlands and the Toronto Youth Shorts Film Festival. He loves getting his filmmaking hands dirty on sets and doesn’t wear gloves for that very reason.
Amanda is a graduate of Ryerson University’s Radio & Television Arts Program (2005), where she focussed on audio engineering, mixing and sound design. Interning at Metalworks studios in Mississauga, she realized that while she loves music, film sound is where her passion truly lies. Upon graduation, she spent 3 years in South Korea teaching English and working on educational stage performances at Kyonggi- English Village. Returning to Canada in 2008, she’s worked on many productions as everything from a PA to location Sound Recordist. She’s also Stage Managed for NXNE, continuing to follow her love of music. While enjoying her experiences in production, Amanda plans to pursue more work in post production sound and loves that moment when battling with ADR when everything finally snaps into place. Also, she is ten ninjas.
