Our Production Team – “The Story Tellers”
In the hands of a pro, crafting and communicating a message or story is about understanding who your audiences are and how you are going to design the approach in order to appeal directly to them. The old business models that rely on your audiences to come to you don’t necessarily hold true anymore. In other words, you’ve got to “get into their cage”.
Big North Media’a core production team is made up of seasoned and award-winning professionals, each with unparalleled story-telling abilities developed in the documentary divisions and newsrooms of North America’s leading television networks. If you have a story to tell or a message to get out, these are the people who are going to help you do it. From crafting the message to strategically positioning it through the dozens of distribution channels, Big North Media is there to facilitate and guide you through the process.
Gordon Graff – Senior Producer and Post Production Designer
Gord has “lead the life of Reilly” over these last 25 years. He has worn every production hat and has had a role in virtually every major event that has blown through these parts. Technical Producer, Technical Director, Director, Camera, Editor – Gord has done it all. He’s the driving force behind Big North Media and has built this core team out of his vision for delivering “on-the-mark” media products using the most experienced people in the business. His experience has taken him to Global National News, Global Television, TSN, Reuters, and he has recently completed the post-production design and was the principle editor for I-Channel’s weekly television series It’s Your Government.
Willi Puerstl – Producer / Camera / Editor
This guy is driven! As a former Austrian World Cup Ski Jump champion, Winter Olympic Hero, and coach of both Canada and Spain’s national ski jump programs, there is no challenge too great for Willi. And it is that drive and determination that defines his work.
Twenty years as a Camera Operator, Technical Supervisor and then Bureau Chief for the CHUM Television National Bureau, Willi’s real passion lies in his story-telling through the lens of his camera. Nominated for his work on the documentary “State of Violence”, Willi has covered Prime Ministers to Presidents and everything in between. He is a member of the National Press Gallery, which gives Big North Media a real advantage and virtually unfettered access to Parliament Hill when the message is coming from our heads of state. His relentless attention to detail and his commitment to every project he is assigned to, shines through in his work.
Ian Parker – Writer / Producer / Director
What do you get when you take a Producer of CBC’s The Fifth Estate, add a Correspondent with The CBC’s The Journal and mix it all together with an Academy Award-winning documentary?
We introduce you to Mr. Ian Parker.
If you have a story to tell or a message to get out, this is the guy who can help make it happen. As a veteran journalist, Ian has done it all. He has worked in newsrooms in all capacities from coast to coast – news anchor, correspondent, News Director, feature documentary producer. After a creer in news, Ian then plied his trade as an independent documentary producer having worked on “The Scent of Death”, Working Kids in Nicaragua” and the Discovery Channel’s “Super Ships” to name a few. He’s done it all, and that’s lucky for us.
Ian Parker…our grizzled veteran story-teller.
Paul Nolan – D.O.P.
Our man Paul comes into it naturally. Two brothers and a father, all award-winning camera operators. And Paul is no exception. Nolan cut his chops while working with the Feature Documentary unit of BCTV’s Ottawa Bureau. He later went on to freelance where he was nominated for a Gemini Award for his work on a feature documentary for CBC’s Life and Times of Donald Marshall Jr., and shortly after on the Emmy-nominated documentary on Romeo Dallaire for ABC’s Nightline. His distinctive shooting-style has taken him to the CBC, Global Television, CTV , TV Ontario, and the Discovery Channel where his skill and visual interpretation through his camera lens sets him apart.
Sheldon Howard, LLB – Producer / Writer
Shelly’s superlative video writing, directing and producing, are the product of many years of training and experience at the highest levels of network television news production, where he worked for Canadian, U.S. and European television networks including CBC, CTV, NBC and Reuters - writing national news, then producing reports, features and documentaries in Canada, Europe and the Middle East. He has lived, worked and experienced life in Toronto, Ottawa, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. He most recently completed a series of twenty biographical video profiles on some of Canada’s great female political leaders and representatives. Shelly currently runs our production office in Washington, DC.