The Team
Derek Mazur
Producer
Derek Mazur is one of western Canada's most acclaimed producers of entertainment programming. Over the past thirty years, he has earned a reputation for excellence by producing and/or directing award-winning animation, television commercials, sponsored films, documentary and drama.
Derek began his film and television career in 1974 as an animation producer with a client list that included Sesame Street, the CBC and the National Film Board of Canada. Animated films such as Blowhard and Get a Job (both NFB) received many awards, including a 1987 Genie.
In 1988, he produced and directed a multi-screen showcase, Canada: Another Government Movie, for the Canadian Pavilion at the 1988 World Exposition. The film was described by World's Fair Magazine as the best production at Expo'88.
Derek produced his first feature-length TV drama, Lost in the Barrens (Disney Channel/CBC/Global TV), in 1991 with Atlantis Films. An international success, it won the 1991 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Special and two 1992 Geminis, including Best Youth Program.
Early in 1993, he celebrated the national broadcast of the television movie The Diviners (CBC/Channel 4). The program, which he co-produced, was the winner of four 1994 Geminis, including Best Television Movie. The epic drama was based on Margaret Laurence's honoured novel.
In October 2005, Derek joined the National Film Board of Canada as the executive producer of the NFB's Prairie Centre, which is responsible for production in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Northern Ontario and Nunavut.
Derek Mazur is the founder and former president of the Manitoba Motion Picture Industry Association. He was awarded a Manitoba Blizzard prize for Outstanding Achievement and Canada's 125th Anniversary Medal for Significant Contribution to Canadian Culture.
Anand Ramayya
Producer
Anand Ramayya grew up in a film family and has been working on films since he was 15. After spending much of his twenties working and backpacking throughout Asia, Anand completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree and began working full time in the film industry.
Anand has worked with a number of creatives and companies from across the country. His projects range from independent feature-length works to stop-motion animation and documentaries. Cosmic Current, which he wrote and directed for the National Film Board of Canada, garnered several prizes, including a Gemini Canada Award.
In 2002 Anand created Kahani Entertainment to facilitate the production of a growing slate of projects focusing on intelligent, challenging and relevant content for the international marketplace. Anand has served a term as president of the Saskatchewan Motion Picture Association and three years on their board of directors. He has built strong relationships with a number of Canadian broadcasters, distributors and production companies.
Dennis and Melanie Jackson
Creators, Directors and Writers of the Wapos Bay Series
Dennis and Melanie Jackson are the creative forces behind the Wapos Bay series. The enchanting world of Wapos Bay was first brought to life in Christmas at Wapos Bay, an animated special directed, produced and written by Dennis and edited by Melanie, which premiered at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival. Drawing on this success, they joined forces with the National Film Board of Canada to produce the Wapos Bay series.
Married for twenty years and parents to two children, Dennis and Melanie’s partnership also extends into their professional and creative endeavours. In 1998 the couple founded Dark Thunder Productions (DTP). Their first project, Journey Through Fear, won the Telefilm Canada/Television Northern Canada Award at the 1998 Banff Festival).
Dennis’s interest in filmmaking began in elementary school while watching 16 mm prints of animated Aboriginal creation tales. Since this introduction, he has excelled in writing stories about his own people in the northern community of Sandy Bay, Saskatchewan, with the help of his mother and grandparents. In 1998 Dennis obtained a B.A. in Film and Video Production from the University of Regina. As producer and director he has received recognition and awards for the series Heartbeat of the Earth and Open Fire, a documentary on the Aboriginal men and women involved in fire suppression in northern Saskatchewan.
Melanie began her career in film and video with her volunteer work at the Saskatoon cable channel, where she co-produced the 13-part series Voices of Aboriginal Youth. She made her directorial debut with Episode 2 of the Wapos Bay series - Journey Through Fear. She was also editor on Heartbeat of the Earth and Open Fire. Melanie draws inspiration from her family as well as from her own Saulteaux people in southern Saskatchewan.