Rob Sim, President and CEO of the SIM Group of Companies, today announced that Alexandra Raffé, Vice President of Production for Thunderbird Films, is the recipient of the 2015 Douglas James Dales Industry Builder Award. The award was presented to Raffé at the annual PS Dinner on the Hill, held during the Canadian Media Production Association Prime Time Conference in Ottawa.
“PS takes great pride in honouring Alexandra as this year’s recipient of the Douglas James Dales Industry Builder Award,” said Sim. “She has worked tirelessly over many years to help filmmakers achieve their visions and to foster a vibrant production community. She truly embodies the spirit of Canadian filmmaking.”
As a long-time advocate for the advancement of Canadian film and television, Raffé has spent many years building organizations that ensure feature films get made in Canada and are seen around the world. An active member in the industry, she is the former CEO of the Ontario Film Development Corporation and has served on the boards of Film Ontario, the National Screen Institute and the Canadian Film Centre Feature Film Project. She is also a past member of the National Board of the Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA), a member of the CMPA-BC Branch Council and currently serves on the Board of the Youth Media Alliance.
“It’s a great honour to accept an award named for Doug Dales, one of the pioneers of our industry, and to join the company of past recipients, who have made lasting contributions to the growth and success of filmmaking in Canada,” Raffé observed. She added that while the industry is in an enormous state of flux in Canada, as it is internationally, she is confident that Canadian talent and smarts will find new paths to storytelling and distributing our stories. “I’m always an optimist,” she said.
Over the years, Raffé has helped bring many critically-acclaimed Canadian feature films to the big screen, including I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing, White Room, Zero Patience, The Lotus Eaters and I Love a Man in Uniform, which have collectively won 11 Genie Awards. She was Executive Producer on Keith Behrman’s debut feature film, Flower and Garnet, which won numerous awards including the Claude Jutra Award at the 2003 Genies, and Larry Di Stefano’s 2006 Love and Other Dilemmas. After moving into television production a decade ago, she produced three seasons of the teen hit multi-cam sitcom Mr. Young, airing on YTV in Canada and Disney XD in the U.S. and internationally, as well as two seasons each of the multi-camera sitcoms Package Deal and Some Assembly Required. She also acted as Supervising Producer for Zigby, an animated pre-school series for Treehouse. Raffé developed and produced three seasons of Zixx, an innovative live action/animation series for Treehouse, and has recently moved back into feature film, executive producing The Birdwatcher, Siobhan Devine’s debut feature film. Raffé is also an avid fan of digital media, and has now notched up production on nearly a dozen games over the last five years.
About the Douglas James Dales Industry Builder Award
The Douglas James Dales Industry Builder Award is presented annually by PS in recognition of a producer’s sustained contributions and commitment to strengthening the Canadian film and television industry. Each year’s honouree is selected by a jury composed of the previous recipients including Sandra Cunningham, Linda Schuyler, Stephen Stohn, Wayne Grigsby, David MacLeod, Doug MacLeod, Ira Levy, Stephen Ellis, Phyllis Laing, Robin Cass and Paul Pope.
About The SIM Group
Backed by Toronto-based investment firm Granite Partners, the SIM Group is a leading supplier of technology to the film and television industry from production through post. Its operating units, PS Production Services, SIM Digital, Bling Digital, Chainsaw and Pixel Underground, maintain offices across the USA, Canada and China. PS Production Services is a rental supplier of lighting, grip, generators and dolly equipment, supplying equipment for projects ranging from small commercials to the largest feature films in the world. SIM Digital is a rental facility specializing in digital production equipment and workflow services. SIM Digital’s inventory includes digital cinematography tools from top manufacturers such as ARRI, Sony, RED, Panasonic, Canon, Fujinon, Angenieux, Zeiss, Cooke and Leica. In tandem with Bling Digital, the company offers the industry’s most comprehensive workflow solutions for feature and television production, encompassing cameras, data, dailies, offline editorial, finishing and archiving. Chainsaw is a full service post-production facility based in Hollywood with award winning artists who provide creative editorial, editorial finishing, color grading, visual effects and related services utilizing AVID, Flame, Baselight and DaVinci Resolve. Pixel Underground is a file-based post-production facility in Toronto that specializes in color grading, visual effects and online finishing, with two associated companies FINI Films and StationEX, which provide physical and file-based media fulfilment and distribution services. For more information, visit simgroup.com.
