Behind the Lens

Speakers for this event

• Jared Raab

  Jared Raab

  Co-Director of Animation Any Other Way, The Jackie Shane Story

  Jared Raab is an award-winning Canadian cinematographer, director and animator. Originally coming from the world of documentary, Raab cut multiple feature length documentaries including the award-winning films Spring and Arnaud (2013), KOOP (2011) and John Greyson’s Fig Trees (2008). He has been integral in the development of Canadian director Matt Johnson’s filmmaking career and cinematographer and producer on the Slamdance winning film The Dirties (2013), Operation Avalanche (world premiere Sundance 2016, nominated for 6 CSAs including Best Picture) and Nirvanna The Band The Show. As a member of Zapruder Films, his film and television projects have screened around the world to rave reviews at festivals such as TIFF, Sundance, Rotterdam, Locarno and Slamdance. Their most recent film about the rise and fall of Blackberry, starring Glenn Howerton and Jay Baruchel, premiered in Berlin in 2023. 

  Co-Director of Animation Any Other Way, The Jackie Shane Story

• Liz Bishof

  Liz Bishof

  Production Designer, Nice Indian Boy

  Liz enjoys the demands of large-scale productions, like See Season 2. With the same dedication, she also loves designing intimate worlds on indie films operating under tighter budgets, like HelloAgain. Professionally, Liz’s talent has been recognized through multiple award nominations and wins. She received back-to-back nominations for Best Production Design from the Directors Guild of Canada for her work on Son of A Critch. Earlier in her career, while focused on prop design and fabrication, she designed the central coral cave for the Ocean Room which won a Gemini Award for Best Children’s Series in Toronto as well as designing and building the bird puppets for Otje in the Netherlands which earned a Beeld en Geluid, the Dutch equivalent of the Academy Award, for Best Youth Program.  As a Chinese-Filipino Canadian artist who has lived and worked across diverse cultures around the globe, Liz brings a unique perspective to each project informed by her multicultural background. With experience gained in theater’s collaborative environment, she strives to foster a similar spirit of teamwork regardless of a production’s scale. In her personal time, Liz pursues her passion for travel, immersing herself in art and architecture of cities ranging from historical styles to modern designs.  

  Production Designer, Nice Indian Boy

• Luca Tarantini

  Luca Tarantini

  Co-Director of Animation Any Other Way, The Jackie Shane Story

  Luca is a multidisciplinary filmmaker creating highly visual short-form content using new technologies and unique processes. His work includes award-winning documentaries, music videos, television series, animation, hybrid fiction, mixed-reality, live-visuals, and cinematography. For Any Other Way, his team developed an entirely original animation workflow integrating 3D camera-tracked  performance, hand-painted environments innovative rotoscope techniques.

  Co-Director of Animation Any Other Way, The Jackie Shane Story

• Sherien Barsoum

  Sherien Barsoum

  Producer, National Film Board of Canada

  A film director and producer based in Toronto, Sherien directed and produced Producer on 7 Beats Per Minute (premiering at SXSW!) as well as Producer of The Colour of Ink (which premiered at TIFF 2022), Cynara, Ride for Promise and Player Zero, winning the Hot Docs Short Film Pitch and Best Canadian Documentary at NorthWest Fest. She was the producer of Dreams in Vantablack and Babe, I Hate To Go, which played top festivals internationally and was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award. Sherien was also the story consultant on the Oscar-shortlisted Frame 394 and co-produced House of Z, the first feature bought and distributed by Condé Nast, now on Netflix. Sherien is a founding member of the Racial Equity Media Collective, which uses research to advocate on behalf of racialized creators in Canada. She is also the former Director of Programming for the Reelworld Film Festival and served as a board member of the Documentary Organization of Canada. 

  Producer, National Film Board of Canada

• Simone Smith

  Simone Smith

  Editor, Queen of My Dreams

  Simone Smith, CCE is an award-winning editor working across television and film. For television, she recently edited two seasons of the Amazon Original series The Lake. Recent feature credits include I Like Movies (Canadian Screen Award for Achievement in Editing), Float (for Lionsgate, starring Andrea Bang and Robbie Amell), and Firecrackers (Canadian Screen Award for Achievement in Editing). The Queen of My Dreams (starring Amrit Kaur, Nimra Bucha and Hamza Haq) is her latest feature. 

  Editor, Queen of My Dreams