Children’s Entertainment Faculty

Suzanne Wilson, Program Coordinator

Suzanne Wilson began her career in 1993, and brings years of experience in children’s entertainment to the Children’s Entertainment: Writing, Production and Management Program.

Wilson earned a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Radio and Television Arts from Ryerson University, and has worked for Playback Magazine, BBC Worldwide, Portfolio Entertainment, The itsy bitsy Entertainment Company, Lambur & Associates and the Chocolate Liberation Front in many aspects of the production and marketing of children’s entertainment properties – from curriculum development to international distribution to licensing & merchandising – and has been involved with properties including the Teletubbies, It’s itsy bitsy Time!, Miffy, Domo-Kun and many others. During this time, Wilson also earned her MBA from York University’s Schulich School of Business.

Currently, she works in Business & Legal Affairs for Breakthrough Entertainment. Wilson brings a passion for the art of entertaining and engaging children to her role at Centennial College.

For more information about The Children’s Entertainment: Writing, Production and Management Program, please contact:

• Suzanne Wilson, Program Coordinator
• email: swilson@centennialcollege.ca
• tel: 416.289.5000 ext. 8637

Lawrence Mirkin

Lawrence S. Mirkin has produced over 200 television programs and has worked on many others as writer or executive story editor. These programs encompass many kinds of entertainment for children, families, and adults. His productions have appeared on NBC, PBS, and HBO in the United States, Showcase Television, CBC, CTV, and TVO in Canada, and variously around the world, winning or nominated for such diverse honors as the Emmy, the Gemini, the Ace, the Monitor, and the International Emmy, among others.

Mr. Mirkin had a long freelance relationship with Jim Henson, producing “Fraggle Rock” and “The Jim Henson Hour,” as well as consulting on many other projects, including the feature films “Labyrinth” and “The Witches.” With Jocelyn Stevenson he also produced the special features for each season’s Deluxe Box Set of “Fraggle Rock” (for The Jim Henson Company and HIT Entertainment.)

Mr. Mirkin is currently producing the North American production of “What’s Your News?,” a show created in the UK by longtime colleague Jocelyn Stevenson. “What’s Your News?” is a combination of sophisticated, motion-capture puppetry and live action with real kids. It is a co-venture between TT Animation (UK) and Lenz Entertainment (Canada) and will air in the fall of 2009 on the CBC. He also recently directed an episode of “Big and Small” for Lenz Entertainment and Kindle Entertainment (BBC/Treehouse) and co-wrote (with Patti Caplette) a stage play, “Franklin et les Aventures des Courageux Chevaliers,” based on the Franklin characters created by Paulette Bourgeois, which premiered in Paris in October 2008.

Mr. Mirkin co-created, produced and wrote a number of episodes of “Longhouse Tales” for Catalyst Entertainment (Toronto) and TeleImages (Paris). For Nelvana and Silver Lining Productions (NY), Mr. Mirkin wrote the Bible for two series based on award-winning U.S. children’s author Rosemary Wells’ works, “Timothy Goes to School” (PBS) and “Max and Ruby” (Nick Jr.). He executive story edited and wrote a number of episodes of “Weird Years” (Lenz Entertainment/YTV). His other writing for children includes episodes for the CBC/BBC/PBS/Catalyst series, “Noddy and Friends,” “Monster by Mistake” (YTV/ Buena Vista), “Time Blazers” (YTV/Discovery Kids), “Harry and His Bucketful of Dinosaurs” (CCI/Collingwood O’Hare/Cartoon Network), and a feature-length animated film for family audiences of “The Raccoons,” created and produced by Kevin Gillis, for broadcast on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Mr. Mirkin was also part of the original development team for “Dragon Tales” for Columbia/TriStar and the Children’s Television Workshop.

A citizen of Canada and of the United States, Mr. Mirkin received a B.A. degree from Yale College and an M.F.A. from the Yale School of Drama.

Pauline Camuti-Cull

Pauline Camuti-Cull completed her undergraduate studies in Early Childhood Education at Centennial College and Ryerson University. Her post graduate experience was completed at the Institute of Child Study at the University of Toronto.

As a faculty member and co-coordinator of the Early Childhood Education Program at Progress Campus she has works passionately to support student learning in a variety of content areas.

Her commitment to positively affect the lives of children and their families is evidenced in all aspects of her work in the classroom and through her volunteer work in the community.

Polly Beel

Polly Beel is the Director of Marketing, Kids and Family at Phase 4 Films. She manages all Treehouse branded home entertainment for Canada and is responsible for all family features globally.

She was previously the head of Marketing and Licensing for DHX Media, where she managed all brands in the DECODE Enterprises’ distribution catalogue which includes programming from DHX’s production subsidiary’s Decode Entertainment Inc., Halifaxfilm and Studio B Productions as well as acquired third party series. Prior to DHX Media, Polly held several positions in commercial animation, feature film and primetime television.

Sarah Haasz

As Production Executive for Family Channel and Playhouse Disney Canada, Sarah Haasz oversees the creative aspects of development and production for both networks, including series and movies such as Overruled!, Baxter, Connor Undercover, Wingin’ It, Vacation With Derek, Stella and Sam, and Justin Time. With 15 years of experience in television production, Sarah is credited for her work on over 1500 hours of children’s programming in a variety of genres.

Her previous roles include Executive in Charge of Production for CBC Children’s and Youth, Director of Development for Bardel Entertainment and Production Executive for YTV, Treehouse TV and Discovery Kids Canada.

Laurinda Shaver

Laurinda Shaver is a New Media and Digital Convergence Specialist. She develops, manages and delivers innovative, creative projects in the interactive media space. A media professional with over a decade of experience as a production executive and manager in television and new media. Her projects range from convergence media projects for Rogers to creating microsites for major television broadcast events that included Canada Day Live from Parliament Hill and the Ontario Men’s Curling Championships.

With Rogers TV, Laurinda recently was the Manager of Convergence and New Media. She oversaw 32 local websites (www.rogerstv.com) and project managed Chatelaine Tips and MoneySense Tips. As their Manager of Planning and Development she created business plans for the Video On Demand space and Industry Analysis for special projects. Her first role was as the Regional Station Manager in the Kitchener Waterloo area. She developed the programming strategic plan with a primary focus on improving audience share. She also oversaw the communication strategy, sponsorship, finances, and programming planning and research.

Prior to joining Rogers TV, Laurinda was Manager of Original Productions at Corus Entertainment’s Children Division (YTV, Treehouse TV and Discovery Kids Canada). She created and implemented “out of the box” storytelling opportunities for their partners through their Website and was an ambassador for the Children’s Division by articulating its creative interests on juries and panels. This was backed by 6 years and 550 hours of Production Executive work for Corus.

Laurinda is a Radio and Television graduate from Ryerson Polytechnic University. She is a member of WIFT – T, volunteers for conference such as MESH 09 and Canada 3.0 and actively tweets. Because of her intense love for the new media and television industry, she is its perpetual student.

Sasha Boersma

A 10-year veteran of the interactive digital media industry, Sasha Boersma is an Instructor on marketing and interactive content for Centennial College’s Children’s Entertainment post-graduate program, the Program Coordinator of the Interactive Digital Media post-graduate program, and a guest lecturer in the Film and Broadcasting diploma program.

A graduate of Ryerson University with a BA in Radio and Television Arts and a certificate in Marketing Management, Sasha has produced internationally-distributed, award-winning interactive projects for children’s television series, including the Youth Media Alliance Awards of Excellence and Gemini Award-winning TasteBudsTV.com.

In addition to her work at the Centennial College, Sasha is an independent business consultant to the Canadian interactive industry, advising on the business management of interactive digital media studios, government policy for digital media content, funding proposals to government agencies and project feasibility assessments. She is also a member of the programming committee for Interactive Ontario’s INplay conference.