The team
Marcy page – Producer (NFB)
Marcy Page grew up in northern California and created her first animated film, Balloon Man Meets Butterfly Lady, in 1972. She went on to teach animation at San Francisco State University and the California College of Arts & Crafts, and she freelanced in animation with various companies in San Francisco, New York and Montreal. In 1987, she produced and directed the independent film Paradisia, which won 15 international awards. Three years later, she joined the NFB as a producer. Page quickly became known for her audacious choices and firm commitment to auteur animation.
She has worked with a number of acclaimed animation directors, including Paul Driessen (The End of the World in Four Seasons, 1995; The Boy Who Saw the Iceberg, 2000), Craig Welch (How Wings Are Attached to the Backs of Angels, 1996; Welcome to Kentucky, 2004), John Weldon (Frank the Wrabbit, 1998; The Hungry Squid, 2002), Chris Hinton (Watching T.V., 1994; Flux, 2002). She also worked with emerging filmmakers Torill Kove (My Grandmother Ironed the King’s Shirts, 1999) and Chris Lavis and Maciez Szczerbowski (Madame Tutli-Putli, 2007) on their Oscar®-nominated first professional film.
She has co-produced two Oscar®-winning films, Ryan (2004), directed by Chris Landreth, and The Danish Poet (2006), directed by Torill Kove, and her work has helped to shape dozens of recognized films that together have garnered well over 250 international awards for the NFB and its celebrated animation program.
Steve Hoban – Producer (Copperheart)
Steve, founder of the Toronto-based film production company Copperheart Entertainment, is currently completing post-production on the Vincenzo Natali-directed science-fiction thriller Splice, which features groundbreaking visual effects and stars Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley. Steve has also just completed the CG animated short film, The Spine, which features the voices of Gordon Pinsent and Alberta Watson and was directed by Chris Landreth, who also directed Copperheart's 2005 Oscar®-winning short, Ryan. Steve has produced animated films, Imax3D films and feature films including the Ginger Snaps trilogy, the remake of Black Christmas and 2008’s low-budget comedy hit Young People Fucking.
Prior to becoming a film producer Steve’s career included being VP business affairs at a completion bond company followed by co-founding and running an animation studio and R&D facility for Imax Corporation.
Mark Smith – Co-producer (Copperheart)
Mark Smith was born and raised in Montreal. He began working as production coordinator for the IMAX Sandde ™ Animation Studio in Montreal. The studio collaborated in the creation of the unique IMAX feature, Cyberworld 3D. It was on Cyberworld 3D that Mark first met Steve Hoban, who recruited him to be project manager at his upstart production company, Copperheart Entertainment, in Toronto.
Since making the move from Montreal, Mark has been involved in several feature film projects, including the Vincenzo Natali-directed films Nothing and more recently Splice, two sequels to the cult horror film Ginger Snaps on which he acted as associate producer. The Oscar ®-winning animated short Ryan, directed by Chris Landreth, represented the auspicious debut of Mark Smith as a producer. The bizarre animated imagery is also incorporated into a longer live-action documentary about Ryan Larkin called Alter Egos, on which Mark Smith also shares a producing role.
He then co-produced the stop-motion animated short Paradise and acted as post-production coordinator on Copperheart’s comedy feature Young People Fucking. He recently completed a co-producer role on Chris Landreth's follow-up to Ryan, the animated short The Spine. Currently, Mark continues to work for Copperheart Entertainment in Toronto where he lives with his wife Kerri Norman.
David Verrall – Executive Producer (NFB)
David Verrall was born in Ottawa and began his career at the National Film Board of Canada in 1977, after a number of years in private-sector production. Verrall has worked as an editor (This Is Your Museum Speaking, 1979; The Sweater, 1980) and director (The National Scream, 1979, co-directed with Robert Awad; Real Inside, 1984, co-directed with John Weldon) – but he has primarily made his mark as a producer.
His impressive filmography runs to more than 60 titles, including Oscar® winner Bob's Birthday (1993), directed by David Fine and Alison Snowden, as well as Strings (1991), directed by Wendy Tilby, and When the Day Breaks (1999), co-directed by Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis – both of which received Oscar® nominations for Best Animated Short Film. Other notable productions include Norman McLaren's Narcissus (1983), Creative Process: Norman McLaren (1990), directed by Donald McWilliams, and Village of Idiots (1999), directed by Eugene Fedorenko and Rose Newlove.
Verrall has been Executive Producer for the NFB's English Animation Studio since 1996, placing the studio's focus on innovation and daring creative approaches. During his tenure, the studio has enjoyed an exceptionally dynamic period whose highlights include two Oscar®-winning films: Chris Landreth's Ryan (2004) and Torill Kove's The Danish Poet (2006). Verrall has also promoted the production of stereoscopic animated films made with SANDDE™ technology – including Falling in Love Again (2003) and June (2004), both directed by Munro Ferguson – and supports emerging animators through the HotHouse series of production and training workshops.
Bob Munroe – Producer (C.O.R.E.)
Bob Munroe, co-founder and CEO of C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures, has over 20 years of experience in the film and television industry.
In 1994, with John Mariella, Kyle Menzies and William Shatner, Bob founded C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures. His leadership helped make the Toronto-based company a world class creator of digital visual effects and animation, successfully building four divisions: C.O.R.E. Visual Effects, C.O.R.E. Toons, C.O.R.E. Feature Animation and C.O.R.E. Film Productions.
For the past three years Bob has produced the visual effects and directed second unit in Ireland for Showtime’s dramatic series The Tudors. Recently, Bob supervised the visual effects and directed second unit on Vincenzo Natali’s feature film, Splice, for Copperheart Entertainment and Gaumont.
Bob is immediate past chairman of the board of directors of the Canadian Film Centre and is a member of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television and The Director’s Guild of Canada.
