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International Achievement Award

JILL HENNESSY
Actress & Singer-Songwriter

Jill Hennessy is best known for her roles on the television series Law & Order and Crossing Jordan. She will soon appear in the new HBO series Luck, starring Dustin Hoffman and produced and directed by Michael Mann.

In Season One of Crossing Jordan, Jill was nominated for a People’s Choice Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series. She took home a Golden Satellite Award for her performance in the TNT cable movie Nuremberg and was honoured recently with a Gracie Award and a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame. 

 An Edmonton native, Jill’s acting career began in Toronto with an appearance in Dead Ringers. She studied with Second City before joining the Broadway production of The Buddy Holly Story. In New York, Jill starred in Ron Howard’s feature film The Paper. Her film credits include Chutney Popcorn, Exit Wounds, Wild Hogs and Lymelife, which won the International Film Critics’ Award at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Jill also completed Small Town Murder Songs, a film directed by Toronto’s Ed Gass-Donnelly that premiered this year at TIFF.

In addition to her screen-based work, Jill is a singer-songwriter who recently released her debut album, Ghost In My Head. Her latest film Roadie features Jill playing music from the album. With husband Paolo Mastropietro and their two sons, Marco and Gianni, Jill divides her time between homes in Manhattan and Los Angeles.  

Outstanding Achievement Award

LAURIE MAY
Co-President & Co-Founder, Maple Pictures Corp.

Laurie May is Co-President and Co-Founder of Maple Pictures Corp., one of Canada’s largest film distribution companies. Maple is responsible for Canadian distribution of all Lionsgate film and TV titles, and also acquires other films for distribution in Canada. Since founding Maple, Laurie has been involved in several successful releases, including Academy Award winner Crash, Emmy award winner Mad Men, and recent Academy Award winners Hurt Locker, Precious and The Cove.

From 1997-2005, Laurie was Senior Vice President of Business & Legal Affairs for Lions Gate Entertainment Corp, where she oversaw legal matters involving production and distribution, and was involved in such films as Monster’s Ball and Fahrenheit 911.
Her corporate responsibilities included the acquisitions of Trimark Pictures and Artisan Entertainment.

Laurie received her law degree from the University of Toronto Law School, practiced corporate and entertainment law at Osler Hoskin and Harcourt, and was an adjunct professor of Entertainment and Sports Law at the University of Western Ontario Law School. Laurie acts as a mentor for women in the industry through WIFT-T programming.

Mentorship Award

LESLEY HARRISON
President, Harrison Artist Management

Lesley Harrison founded Harrison Artist Management nine years ago. Her clients include Tassie Cameron (Rookie Blue, Flashpoint, Would be Kings), Aaron Martin (Being Erica, Degrassi: The Next Generation), Semi Chellas (The Eleventh Hour, Ophelia, Stroke) and Esta Spalding (Rookie Blue, Would Be Kings, The Republic of Love).

Prior to HAM, Lesley worked at MGA Literary Agency where she met Linda McKnight, who encouraged her to start her own company.

Raised in London, Ontario, Lesley moved to Toronto as a twenty-year-old and promptly began working in film and television. She started her career as Peter Simpson’s Executive Assistant at Norstar Films, where she met mentor and life-long friend, Ilana Frank.

Lesley and Stephen Zolf (partner with Heenan Blaikie) have two sons, Ben (14) and Elliott (8). Juggling work and family, she spends more happy hours in hockey arenas, baseball diamonds and soccer fields than she ever dreamed possible.

Creative Excellence Award

SHELLEY SAYWELL
Documentary Filmmaker & President, Bishari Films

Shelley Saywell is a Canadian documentary filmmaker with a focus on socio-political and human rights issues. Her most recent film, In the Name of the Family, premiered at the 2010 Hot Docs Film Festival where it garnered the Best Canadian Feature Award. Her documentary A Child’s Century of War was short-listed for the Academy Awards in 2001.

Often highlighting women and children caught in conflict, Shelley has written, directed and produced nearly twenty independent documentaries for her production company, Bishari Films. The company is coined after the Eastern Sahara nomadic tribe documented in her first film, Shahira.

Shelley has received numerous awards, including an Emmy for Outstanding Investigative Journalism, two Hot Docs Best Canadian Feature Awards, three Canadian Cinema and Television Gemini Awards, and UNESCO’s Gandhi Medal for Promoting the Culture of Peace. She is author of Women in War (Penguin Books) and contributing author to Ourselves Among Others (St. Martins Press).

Born in Ottawa, Shelley’s passion for promoting global awareness stems from the exposure she received while travelling through Southeast and Central Asia with her father, a Professor of modern Chinese history. She is an alumni of the University of Toronto and the Canadian Film Centre.