The 2011 CBC Prime Time Television Program Residents are:

For the past number of years, James has been floating around the film and television industry, performing a variety jobs from Story Coordinator to Script Annotator to Associate Producer of corporate videos.  All the while, his inner masochist has been hard at work, forcing him to subject himself to the trials and tribulations of the script writing process.  His first professional writing gig was on the CBC series The Border, where he was provided with the opportunity to co-write a script for the show’s second season.  A graduate of the University Of Toronto’s Cinema Studies program, James managed to limit his career options early on, making the world of film and television the most appropriate environment for him - which perfectly suits his career aspirations.

Felicia is a Toronto-based writer and filmmaker. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the film program at Ryerson University after receiving an LLB in Israel. At Ryerson, Felicia was awarded both the Nick Holeris Award for Excellence in Writing and the William F. White Production Award for her thesis film Red Dress Budapest. This film, which she also directed, was selected for the Female Eye Film Festival in the Emerging Directors category and was awarded the largest monetary prize by the Du Maurier Arts Council Grant. Her pilot Maiden (series co-created with Christine Alexiou) was a winner of the Canwest Global Writers Apprentice Program at the 2010 Banff Television Festival. Her half-hour comedy Molly and Toni, which was co-created with Karen McClellan, is currently in development with Lark Productions, while her one-hour spy drama, Assets, is in development with Off Island Films. Felicia is also thrilled to currently be working on the development team for Spiral, a BC Films award-winning web/TV series concept. Felicia’s varied background, including stints as a secretary to a very moody Major in the Israeli air force, a dairy farm worker, an ESL teacher, an educational director at a humanitarian aid organisation, a volunteer at a community school in Havana, Cuba, and a probate officer for the Public Guardian of Ontario, gives her plenty of fodder on which to draw for her creative endeavours.

Born and raised in Port Colborne, Ontario, Amy studied music and theatre before moving to Toronto to attend university.  After a short time pursuing a career in corporate public relations and moonlighting as a musician, Amy quit her day job in favour of recording and touring nationally and internationally with her band, The Rural Alberta Advantage. The band was recently a recipient of the 2010 Galaxie Rising Stars award for their debut record Hometowns, and their 2011 release, Departing, was named to this year’s long list for the Polaris Music Prize. Amy is a graduate of Ryerson University’s Radio and Television Arts Program.

Jon moved to Toronto to become a member of The Second City, and he can usually be found on stages around town making things up.  He recently worked in the writers’ room at Call Me Fitz (HBO Canada), and helped lead the team behind the 2011 Toronto Screenwriting Conference as Operations Manager.  While studying writing at the University of Victoria and then at Humber College, Jon hosted a weekly radio hour entitled, “The Extra Medium,” and won the Brian Linehan Award for Comedy Writing.   On stage and on paper, Jon loves telling stories inspired by real life, drawing upon his repertoire of weird day job experiences at Apple, Electronic Arts and Canada Customs.

According to the Toronto Star, Rosa Laborde is a young writer who “deserves both attention and respect.” As a television writer, Rosa is currently in development with CTV on her half-hour comedy Mostly Sunny. Also a playwright, Rosa’s plays include: The Source, Sugar, Dish, Leo, Hush and Like Wolves and have been produced across Canada at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Tarragon Theatre, The Great Canadian Theatre Company, Neptune Theatre, Touchstone Firehall Theatre and The Belfry Theatre.  Her comedic hit Sugar was named an Outstanding New Play by NOW Magazine, has been adapted into a short film funded by the OAC, TAC and Bravo and will be directed by John L’Ecuyer.  Her political drama Leo was nominated for five Dora Mavor Moore Awards including Outstanding New Play and was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama.  Rosa is playwright-in-residence at both Tarragon Theatre and The Great Canadian Theatre Company and has just completed her second residency with The Banff Centre for the Arts.  She is currently completing her play Like Wolves for production at The Great Canadian Theatre Company, as well as the play grace for the Panamerican Routes Festival, collaborating on the new musical Valhalla with composer Reza Jacobs, and adapting the novel Far To Go for the screen with co-writer Hannah Moscovitch for House of Films. As an actress, Rosa continues to work regularly on stage and screen and was nominated for a Gemini Award for the television comedy History Bites and a Dora Award for the play Paper Series.  Rosa is a founding member of Project Undertow for whom she directed Melancholy Play at Summerworks 2009, as well as Dish at LabCab at the Factory Theatre.  Originally from Ottawa, Rosa is a graduate of The Oxford School of Drama in Oxford, England.

Originally from Toronto, Alex moved to Los Angeles in 2001 to attend the University of Southern California’s Peter Stark Producing Program.  Upon graduation, she began her career at Creative Artists Agency, then segued into development at Neal Moritz’ Original Film where she worked on a broad slate of studio projects including Vantage Point, Made of Honor and the upcoming 21 Jump Street. Most recently, she held the position of Director of Development for Josephson Entertainment (Life as We Know It, Enchanted, Fox’s Bones). Finding her creative spirit stifled by the daily grind of trying to turn toys/cereal mascots/cartoons into blockbusters, she made the move from Los Angeles to Toronto, development to writing, and features to television (more characters, fewer toys).  After a decade of giving notes, she looks forward to seeing how the other half lives, and hopes that karma will be kind. 

Chris was born in Halifax and raised in Winnipeg, where he studied film at the University of Manitoba. After directing the short film The Meaning of Max for the NSI ZeD Drama prize program, he came to Toronto to study screenwriting at York University. Since 2006, he has been working as a freelance writer and story editor, and for the last two years has worked as Head of Development at Lumanity Productions, developing projects such as El Jefe (2010), Rock the House (2009), and shorts such as Mimi: The Knockout (2011), Silas and the Tomb (2010), and The Deaths of Chet Baker (2009). Chris is also involved in helping new writers learn their craft, and for the last three years has moderated the LIFT Screenwriter's Circle.

A Toronto native, Dan spent several years working as a teacher after graduating from Concordia University in 2005. In 2009, when his series concept, Bush League, was accepted into the NSI’s Totally Television program, Dan abandoned teaching to pursue writing full-time. Now living in Montreal, Dan works as a reader for Muse Entertainment, and has written and edited materials for their productions of The Kennedys and Being Human, among others. Dan has been fortunate enough to see several of his plays produced over the years, one of which was quite good.