Atom Egoyan

Born in Egypt to Armenian parents, he was raised in Western Canada. Both his parents were painters, and he planned to be a playwright, but after making a short film, he became hooked on telling stories visually. Returned to ethnic "homeland" when he filmed Calendar (1993) in Armenia. Won attention at the Sundance Film Festival for earlier work, then broke through critically and commercially with Exotica (1994). Afterwards, The Sweet Hereafter (1997) led him to receive two Academy Award nominations, and then Chloe (2009) became his biggest moneymaker ever (after the film's DVD/Blu-ray release). Atom Egoyan's parents were painters and he studied International Relations and music at the University of Toronto where he began making short films: Howard in Particular (1979), After Grad with Dad (1980), Peep Show (1981) and Open House (1982). While he has several distinguished Television and Opera works on his resume and such pictures as his debut Next of Kin (1984/I) , Berlin and Moscow International Film Festival-winning Family Viewing (1988), Exotica (1994) - his most critically acclaimed creation is The Sweet Hereafter (1997) and his biggest commercial success is the erotic thriller Chloe (2009). 4 time Cannes Film Festival winner and the most famous Armenian filmmaker since Sergei Parajanov, the Egypt-born, Canada-bred, Oscar-nominated master of indie cinema, has collected an impressive 4 awards from the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival. A 7 time recipient of Canada's top Genie Awards, he is one of the most remarkable figures of the contemporary independent filmmaking. Trade Mark Frequently casts David Hemblen, Elias Koteas, and Gabrielle Rose Frequently incorporates televisions and video monitors into his films Frequently repeats voice-over sequences thoughout the course of a film Many of his films deal with the complicated nature of human sexuality Trivia His wife Arsine Khanjian appears in almost all his movies, except Chloe (2009). Parents Joseph and Shushan(nee Devletian) painted, but also ran a furniture store. Graduated University of Toronto, B.A. International Relations, 1982. Plays classical guitar He and his actress wife, Arsine Khanjian, have a son, Arshile. Created an Officer of the Order of Canada by Governor-General Romo Leblanc. [Ottawa, Sept. 23, 1999] One of his favorite movies is Sergei Parajanov's The Color of Pomegranates (1968), his best friend Mikhail Vartanov's most favorite film. Member of jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1996 Head of jury at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2003 Was member of the dramatic jury at the Sundance Film Festival in 1995. In December 2010, Atom Egoyan said to The Toronto Star (a newspaper in Canada) that Chloe (2009) had made more money than any of his previous films. Personal Quotes "I think with all directors there are ideas that recur, at least for the ones that have creative control of their films." This idea of clarity and that people should know at all times what's going on is obviously very attractive from a marketing perspective, but I think it would completely eviscerate the power of what these movies are about... We are still discussing what the opening sequence in Persona might mean and the wealth of possibilities that can be read into this piece of work. I believe that's why it endures.

George Stroumboulopoulos studied Radio Broadcasting at Toronto's Humber College.

Radio broadcasting In the second quarter of 1993, Stroumboulopoulos worked for a rock radio station in Kelowna, B.C., for a few months before getting a job offer at the Toronto radio station Fan 590 AM, working in talk radio for about four years before moving to MuchMusic. MuchMusic From 2000 2004, Stroumboulopoulos worked at MuchMusic as producer and host of The Punk Show, then host of The NewMusic, MuchLOUD and MuchNews. The Greatest Canadian Prior to joining The Hour Stroumboulopoulos was featured on CBC television's The Greatest Canadian series as the advocate for Tommy Douglas. More than 1.2 million votes were cast over six weeks, as each of 10 advocates made their case for the Top 10 nominees. Stroumboulopoulos made a personal and passionate case for Tommy Douglas, Canada's "father of medicare"; Tommy Douglas was later named The Greatest Canadian. Strombo Show Stroumboulopoulos has hosted a long-running Sunday night talk radio show, The Strombo Show. Originally aired as a talk show on CFRB in Toronto and CJAD in Montreal, the show moved to the Corus network in November 2007 and the format changed to one of mainly music. The Strombo Show broadcast from 102.1 The Edge's Toronto studio and on other radio stations in the Corus Entertainment network, including CFOX-FM in Vancouver, Power 97 in Winnipeg, FM96 in London and Y108 in Hamilton. The show moved to CBC Radio 2 on November 8, 2009. The Hour / George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight On January 17, 2005, the first episode of The Hour went to air. Currently in its seventh season, The Hour is a hybrid of news and celebrity and covers everything from politics, pop culture, the environment, human rights, entertainment, sports and more. Airing nationally at 11:00 pm on CBC, The Hour is Canada's only late-night talk show. It has won eight Gemini Awards. Stroumboulopoulos and The Hour have hosted a range of guests from world leaders to celebrities and politicians. For the 7th season of the talk show, CBC announced that beginning September 20, 2010, the show was being renamed and shortened into a daily half-hour show called George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight; the revised program is broadcast weeknights at 11:05 pm local time, 11:30 pm in Newfoundland. The One: Making a Music Star In July 2006, George Stroumboulopoulos hosted an American reality television talent show, The One: Making a Music Star that aired on ABC in the United States, and CBC Television in Canada. It was advertised as a similar show to American Idol and Rock Star but with the twist that contestants would "live together in a fully functioning music academy", with their actions documented similar to the Big Brother format. Reportedly the most expensive summer series in the history of the ABC network, its first episode, on July 18, 2006, scored a low audience of 3.08 million viewers. Subsequent episodes had even fewer viewers. The series was cancelled after just two weeks (four episodes) with the final results undecided on July 27, 2006, with no plans for any further episodes. Stroumboulopoulos returned to The Hour after the failure of the reality television show The One. Charity and public awareness George Stroumboulopoulos and The Hour sponsored the "One Million Acts of Green" Internet Website challenge, calling on Canadians to register environmental acts they've done. The campaign registered over 1.6 million acts on the website. Stroumboulopoulos and his family have been devoted to this cause also supported by Dr. David Suzuki. Stroumboulopoulos has also been involved with numerous charitable initiatives, such as hosting the 'HipHop4Africa' Mandela Children's Fund Canada and CapAids February 2006 Toronto benefit. He has traveled to the Arctic for a special on literacy, youth culture and the loss of Inuit identity. He has been to Sudan with War Child Canada, and Zambia for a World AIDS Day

special documentary. He also supports Make Poverty History. He joined other prominent Canadians in sharing views on global issues in the March 2010 issue of Upstream Journal magazine. He was co-host of Canada for Haiti television with Cheryl Hickey and Ben Mulroney to help the humanitarian crisis in Haiti after a devastating earthquake. Stroumboulopoulos was appointed Ambassador Against Hunger for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) the world s largest humanitarian agency in March 2011. He has visited WFP operations in Pakistan and Haiti and has been a strong supporter of Freerice.com and WFP s WeFeedback campaign which has helped to feed millions of hungry children. He also presented at Vancouver's EPIC Expo in May 2011 where he showed support for Fair Trade and the work of the nonprofit organization, Fair Trade Vancouver. George showed up to the Toronto Occupation of downtown Toronto to show his support for the movement. The CBC and Stroumbuolopuolos came under criticism for hosting an apparently extravagant party during the Toronto International Film Festival, at the Hazelton Hotel in Toronto. The CBC, which is funded by the Canadian government, was criticized by some in the right-wing media for the expenditure for the event. Awards The Hour has won six Gemini Awards. In 2006 Viewers Choice Award Best Host In 2007 Best Talk Series Best Host Best Production/Design In 2008 Best Host Stroumboulopoulos was awarded an honourary Doctor of Laws, from the University of Calgary on November 13, 2007.[14] He was also awarded an honourary degree in Communications from Humber College in June 2009. He was selected by the United Nations World Food Programme as an official ambassador in March 2011.