CFTPA Executive Bios
Norm Bolen
President & CEO
Norm Bolen is currently the President and CEO of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA), based in Ottawa. The CFTPA represents Canada’s independent film, television and interactive producers.
Norm is the former Executive Vice President, Content, for Alliance Atlantis Communications. At Alliance Atlantis he had overall programming responsibility for thirteen Canadian specialty networks: Showcase, History Television, Slice, HGTV, Food Network Canada, BBC Canada, BBC Kids, Discovery Health Channel, National Geographic Channel, Independent Film Channel, Showcase Action, Showcase Diva and Fine Living Television. Norm was also responsible for Alliance Atlantis' web based and emerging new media content and all Broadcast Operations.
Prior to joining Alliance Atlantis in 1997, Norm spent 21 years at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as a journalist and executive. In his last position at the CBC he was the head of Network Television Current Affairs.
Norm is a current Board member and past Chair of the Banff World Television Festival Board, Board Member and past Co-chair of the Hot Docs International Documentary Festival and a Director of the National Screen Institute and the ACTRA Fraternal Benefit Society. Until recently, he was also a Director of mDialog, a web-based high-resolution video distribution platform that's optimized for the iPhone.
Tom Cox
CFTPA Chair
Executive Producer, SEVEN24 Films
When Tom Cox recently accepted a Gemini award for best mini-series for the political thriller Burn Up, it was hard to believe he became an independent producer because none of his filmmaker friends wanted the job.
Tom is a managing partner of Calgary’s SEVEN24 Films, along with Jordy Randall, and has been doing “the job no one else wanted” for over 20 years now, producing and co-producing dramatic features, mini-series, series and television movies garnering more than 100 industry awards and nominations.
Tom’s recent executive producer credits include Wild Roses and Heartland for CBC, Mayerthorpe for CTV and Burn Up for BBC and Global. His co-producing credits include such feature films as The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Brokeback Mountain.
“In addition to our core business of creating and producing high quality dramatic programs for Canadian and world audiences, we are very adept at co-production work. Co-productions expand and diversify our business, attracting productions to Alberta and developing international alliances that allow us to continue to branch out.”
SEVEN24 and its sister company Alberta Film Entertainment have shared working relationships with CBS, Lifetime, TNT, ABC Family, Disney Channel, Granada, and Mandalay Television. “We are mindful that we need to look beyond Canadian borders to ensure the long-term health of our company,” says Tom. “And while our core business is drama, we are also exploring other genres and platforms in order to become as diverse as possible".
Tom is Chair of the CFTPA Board of Directors and a member of the Broadcast Relations Committee.
“The CFTPA represents a broad spectrum of Canadian content creators. Being involved with the CFTPA board of directors is a wonderful way to stay connected with my peers in the rest of the country,” says Tom. “Being involved also insures that as a national organization, the CFTPA truly represents a diversity of voices that is so essential to the health of our industry.”
John Barrack
Chief Operating Officer and Chief Legal Officer
John Barrack provides strategic leadership with respect to all CFTPA labour activities and is responsible for handling all aspects of labour relations for the association and its members. In this role he serves as the chief negotiator for CFTPA collective agreements with the ACTRA Performers Guild, Writers Guild of Canada and Directors Guild of Canada in addition to various technical unions. Barrack is also chief negotiator for CFTPA in its Terms of Trade negotiations with Canada’s private and public broadcasters.
John also sits as a director on various boards including FIAPF (Federation of International Producer Associations), ISAN Canada and the Canadian Retransmission Collective. Barrack volunteers as a director and treasurer to the board of Shelternet for Abused Women, a web based service which links women to shelters and shelters to each other across Canada. Barrack is the past management representative for Government Relations for the Canadian Bar Association’s Labour Law Sub-Section Executive. Barrack has an Honours B.A. from Trent University and received his L.L.B from Dalhousie University.