Andra Sheffer

Andra Sheffer is the CEO of two private funds supporting the Canadian digital media, television and film industries: the Independent Production Fund which invests in drama series created for digital platforms; and the COGECO Program Development Fund for the development and production of television drama.

She was the founding Executive Director of the Bell Fund (1997-2014) which supports interactive digital media projects associated with Canadian television programs. Previously, she was the founding Executive Director of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television producing the annual Genie and Gemini Awards (now the Canadian Screen Awards). She lectures on the business of television and digital media and is the editor of publications about the business of TV and digital media production: New Media, New Business: The Producer’s Guide (2001), Create a Winning Proposal – the Handbook for New Media Producers (1999) and the co-editor of MAKING IT: The business of film and television production in Canada (1986 & 1995).

She also served as Managing Director of the Toronto International Film Festival, with the federal government as a Certification Officer setting up the original CAVCO office (and Canadian content “point” system), and at the Film Festivals Bureau promoting Canadian films internationally. She has been awarded the Digital Media Trail Blazer award by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, the Champion of Digital Innovation Tribute at Merging Media , an Award of Achievement by the Digi Awards and has been inducted as an Industry Builder into the Playback Hall of Fame.