Tony Papa, Director of Film Program
Tony is an established producer, director, and editor has always placed creativity in the forefront of his life and his career. He spent 7 years in New York studying music, dance, acting, film production, and photography and combined his knowledge to create music videos. His talents soon caught the eye of Dire Straits front man Mark Knopfler, who hired Papa to direct the music video for their #1 hit ‘Private Investigations’. Followed soon, thereafter, with another music video for Huey Lewis and the News (Heart of Rock and Roll).
Papa soon found himself in Los Angeles making short films. Refining his skills in Vancouver, he developed a form of storytelling he called the “Musimentary”, which combines music video with documentary to tell a larger story. One Musimentary entitled “Beauty and the Beast: Ocean Falls”, garnered a Much Music Video award in 1995.
Papa furthered his experimentation in a long form experiential film entitled, “Traveler”, scored by world renowned flutist, Paul Horn which premiered on Bravo and won “Best Cinematography” at the Toronto Short Film Festival. In 1996 Tony Papa formed Avanti Pictures and soon won the Best Artistic Film at the Hot Docs festival (1997) for performance documentary “True Prince: Vladimir Malakhov”.
Some recent projects include Opre Roma: “Arise Gypsies”, shown at Montreal and Vancouver Film Festivals, “Ice Time For Old Guys” and the critically acclaimed dance drama, “ICE: beyond cool”, a stunning visual and musical explosion, utilizing innovative techniques and going straight to the heart of contemporary youth issues.
Papa is committed to innovation. His development slate includes feature films, dramatic series, lifestyle documentaries and arts specials, all of which push boundaries with the unique spark that has come to be associated with the work of Tony Papa.