Women in Film & Television – Toronto (WIFT-T) and the Foundation for WIFT-T are pleased to announce the 2018-2019 Board of Directors, elected last night (May 7, 2018) at their respective Annual General Meetings held at Goodmans LLP.

Newly elected directors for WIFT-T are: Susan Alexander, Production Executive, Corus Entertainment; Janet Chant, Finance Director, Digital and Content Publishing, Rogers Communications; and writer-director, Gloria Ui Young Kim. The newly elected directors for the Foundation for WIFT-T are Helen Argiro, writer, executive producer, director; and Marilyn Orecchio, Consultant.

“We are pleased to welcome Susan Alexander, Janet Chant, and Gloria Ui Young Kim to the WIFT-T Board, and Helen Argiro and Marilyn Orecchio to the Foundation for WIFT-T Board. Collectively they bring tremendous business acumen, a wide range of industry experience, and a strong commitment to advancing gender parity and inclusion within the screen-based industry."

~Heather Webb, Executive Director, WIFT-T

Susan Alexander has been a creative force within Canadian television for over two decades, as a Producer and Executive for independent production companies and the broadcast community. As a Production Executive with Corus Entertainment, Susan has overseen the development and production of numerous dramatic series, including Mary Kills People, Ransom and Private Eyes. A recipient of several prestigious awards including a Gemini for Little Mosque on the Prairie, Susan has developed and produced hundreds of hours of Canadian television to critical acclaim. She has strong relationships with the independent production community. Equally important to her is the work she does nurturing emerging talent through her role as a Mentor at the Canadian Film Centre, of which she is a proud graduate, and through many industry-sponsored programs. Susan is a member of WIFT-T, the WGC, the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, and is a graduate of the WIFT-T Media Leadership Program (2016).

As Finance Director, Digital & Content Publishing for Rogers Communications, Janet Chant, leads the Finance operations for the Publishing and Data businesses across Rogers Media. She has worked with Rogers in various capacities since 2008 including leading large transformation projects and implementing the enterprise risk management program. Prior to joining Rogers, she spent a few years in Fort McMurray, AB, working on a large municipal project and also taught business classes at Keyano College. Janet holds a MBA from Rotman School of Business, University of Toronto, and is a Certified Public Accountant.  

Born in Seoul, Korea, writer-director Gloria Ui Young Kim comes from a long line of media makers. With a degree in English Literature, University of Toronto, she’s an alumni of the Canadian Film Centre’s Director’s Lab, and TIFF Talent Lab. She wrote, directed, and produced her latest short, Flamenco, for CBC (2015) and won the 2017 Corus Fearless Female Filmmaker Award. Gloria has won numerous Golds for her commercial work at the Cannes Lions, Bessies, the Marketing Awards, One Club, ADCC, and has had over a million views online. She recently directed two episodes of Sinking Ship’s Dino Dana (TVO, Amazon); two episodes for Riverbanks’ When I Grow Up (TVO) and 7 episodes of BGM’s It’s My Party (TVO). Gloria is now working on two features: Deception, a thriller (WIFTV Genre Competition); and Queen of the Morning Calm, a redemption story (Women in the Director’s Chair Feature Film Award). Gloria was chosen by Women in View as one of the 2017 Five in Focus and is a Creative Lead for Lunch agency.

With a decade of film and television experience to her credit, Helen Argiro wrote the feature film screenplay adaptation of bestselling author Jay McInerney's novel: Story of My Life. She is the co-writer/producer/director of the independent feature film Hayley's Comment; showcased in the Film Canada Pavilion at the Cannes International Film Festival. Helen also spent four years working in development at TVO. More recently, Helen's first collection of short stories Sex & Suburban Lunacy (satire/humour), has become a popular cult favorite and has been selected by Ranker as one of the Top 50 Best Absurdist Fiction books of all time. Sex & Suburban Lunacy is currently being adapted into a romantic-comedy series for cable TV. She has also written and performed stand-up comedy at the Comedy Bar in Toronto. Helen’s company Rebel Street Productions has projects in various stages of development, including the scripted series Byron Pope and the comedy series Unionville.

With over 20 years of experience in the advertising and broadcasting arena, Marilyn Orecchio has developed a strong, multi-disciplined approach to business. Most recently she held the role of Vice President, National Sales at Corus Entertainment, where she was responsible for establishing and executing the Business Development Strategy for the Corus Entertainment brands. Marilyn played an instrumental role in building Corus’ reputation as a strong solutions provider that leverages content and insights to deliver results. Marilyn began her career at Corus in 1999 as an Account Manager on the YTV business. Subsequently, she became Sales Manager on Corus’ newly acquired women’s service, W Network. As the Television division grew, Marilyn took on responsibility for leading the sales team that successfully launched and expanded the women’s portfolio of brands to include W Movies, Cosmopolitan TV and OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. In 2004, the Women’s sales team was honoured with the company’s prestigious President’s Award in recognition of their strong contribution to the company.  Currently, Marilyn is engaged as a Sales and Strategy Consultant working with female entrepreneurs in the areas of software, travel and content creation.