Boards & Staff

Over her 30+ year career in the film and television industry, Janice has produced hundreds of hours of award-winning content and supported dozens of independent production companies to achieve their creative and business goals. She is a trusted advocate for creative producers and a proven strategist in financing and managing projects. Prior to joining Hot Docs, Janice was the Co-Founder and President of Bizable Media, a boutique consulting firm servicing the complex business needs of projects up to $30 million. Janice’s passion has always been in documentaries where she got her start at TVOntario (TVO). She has volunteered her time on committees for DOC, Ontario Creates, and the CMPA, and is frequently asked to speak on Canadian film financing. In 2023, Janice received the Rogers-DOC Luminary Award to recognize her contribution to the documentary film community. Janice has a Bachelor of Economics from Carleton University.

As the Managing Director of Hot Docs, Heidi translates the organization’s vision into operational roles, optimizing festival and program standards, helping to expand Hot Docs’ brand nationally and internationally, and fostering stakeholder engagement. In her previous role as Director of Funds & Labs, Heidi oversaw the disbursement of over $4M in funding to filmmakers of diverse backgrounds. She has executive produced 15 short films for Hot Docs and has supervised just under 100 hours of unscripted television. Before her recent appointment, Heidi directed funds and lab programs that included the design of the inaugural Hot Docs Incubator, a Netflix-supported program for documentary filmmakers seeking growth and showcasing creative and market potential. If there is a spare moment, she tries to fit in reading, and taking a semi-strenuous hike.

Heather was a Senior International Programmer at Hot Docs; she wrote and produced three award-winning feature docs of which two are co-productions with Mexico, she is an international programmer for imagineNATIVE, AluCine, and is a reader for Chicken & Egg. Since the 90s, she has maintained relationships with the Mexican art and film world, extending to Central and South America where she travels for festivals, juries and WIP labs. In addition to film, she has a long history of producing innovative, politically charged projects in visual/performance art and theatre focusing on social justice content to inspire meaningful dialogues with audiences. Heather is the founder and former ED/AD of Toronto Free Gallery, and Culture Storm, both organizations focused on artists like James Luna and Guillermo Gómez-Peña. She is also the former publisher of Fuse Magazine and a founding collective member and producer of Indigenous Fashion Week Toronto. She is a single mom to an amazing young woman.