SHAWN WILLIAMSON
Chairman
With over 25 years of experience, Shawn Williamson has risen to the forefront of the Canadian film and television industry as a leading independent film and television producer. A native to Vancouver, Shawn began his career as a stage manager at The Arts Club Theatre in 1983 and has since produced live events, live television and television series, as well as feature films. In 2001, Shawn started Brightlight Pictures and has since been developing, financing, and producing feature films and television series. He has filmed in a variety of international locations, including: Singapore, Croatia, Romania, France, England, Northern Ireland, South Africa, and Australia. FIFTY DEAD MEN WALKING (Ben Kingsley, Jim Sturgess) was produced as a Canada/UK co-production, filmed in Belfast, and opened with a Gala Premier spot at the Toronto International Film Festival. Shawn executive produced the feature film THE INTERVIEW (Seth Rogen, James Franco) for Columbia Pictures, and HORNS (Daniel Radcliffe), produced in conjunction with Mandalay Pictures and Red Granite Pictures. He also served as a producer on THE COMPANY YOU KEEP (Robert Redford, Shia LaBeouf) with Voltage pictures, 50/50 (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen), THE POSSESSION (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kyra Sedgwick), WHITE NOISE (Michael Keaton), PASSENGERS (Anne Hathaway, Patrick Wilson), and WICKER MAN (Nicholas Cage). Shawn is currently producing the fifth season of the television series THE GOOD DOCTOR (Freddie Highmore, Richard Schiff) for Sony Pictures Television/ABC.
ARIELLE BOISVERT
Partner / Executive Vice President, Production
As EVP of Production, Arielle brings over a decade of production experience to her position at Brightlight Pictures, having worked with both independent and major studios like Fox, Disney, Sony, Voltage, ABC, Netflix, and Amazon. Arielle has served as co-producer on the cult-favourite feature COLOSSAL (Anne Hathaway, Jason Sudeikis), and producer on the Disney Channel original DESCENDANTS 3, the limited series VALLEY OF THE BOOM (Steve Zahn, Bradley Whitford) for STX TV and National Geographic, as well as the reboot of MIGHTY DUCKS: GAME CHANGERS (Emilio Estevez, Lauren Graham) for Disney +. More recently, she produced both the first & second seasons of UPLOAD, the hit sci-fi/comedy series for Amazon, as well as season 2 of Space Force for Netflix - both created by Greg Daniels. Arielle is currently producing the second season of the Netflix drama FIREFLY LANE (Katherine Heigl, Sarah Chalke), as well as the much anticipated live-action TV Movie incarnation of MONSTER HIGH.
SANDRA DESROSIERS KARR
Chief Operating Officer
As the COO of Brightlight Pictures, Sandra Karr assists the company with executing its strategic plan by directing and overseeing the day to day operations of the company. In addition to being a CPA, CGA, Ms. Karr holds a business degree in Finance. In her previous position as Director, National Business Affairs for Telefilm Canada, she led a bi-coastal team that was responsible for all business affairs aspects of Telefilm’s project financing and co-production certification. Prior to joining Telefilm, Ms. Karr held controllership positions in the entertainment industry’s distribution, production and finance sectors. Ms. Karr’s knowledge and experience makes her a valuable addition to the Brightlight team.
Emily Alden
Vice President, Originals
Emily brings over 18 years of experience in development, financing, production and distribution to her role as VP of development, where she is manages the development acquisitions and original content for both film and television. Prior to her position at Brightlight, Emily most recently acted as Senior Vice President of Pacific Northwest Pictures, overseeing the company's development, financing, production and distribution activities. Actively involved in the Canadian film community, Emily currently sits on The First Weekend Club board of directors and has been a speaker and panelist for film festivals and forums across the country.
JONATHAN SHORE
Vice President, Distribution, Post Production
Jonathan Shore is Vice-President of Distribution and Post Production for Brightlight Pictures. He has been involved in more than 250 film and TV projects. Recent credits include Co-Producer for Marc Forster’s I STILL SEE YOU, Associate Producer for PITCH PERFECT 1 & 2, MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2, and the animated feature MY LITTLE PONY. Shore has worked with many top directors such as Joel Schumacher and Robert Redford and actors, namely Sir Ben Kingsley, Anne Hathaway, and Blake Lively to name a few. As a leader in the field, Shore is a popular and knowledgeable speaker of the film industry. Shore is a founding Director of the Vancouver Post Alliance, as well as a supporter of the Whistler Film Festival and mentor to young filmmakers. Originally from Montreal, Shore graduated from McGill University with a degree in commerce. He is bilingual in both French and English. He now lives in Vancouver with his wife and two daughters.
DAVID OLAND
Vice President, Business & Legal Affairs
Born and raised in Vancouver, David Oland attended McGill University before graduating UBC Law in 2003 and being called to the bar in British Columbia. He joined Brightlight as Director, Business and Legal Affairs in 2010, bringing with him experience in entertainment, contract and labour law. David`s recent feature film and television credits include: THE POSSESSION, THE PACKAGE, LOVE AT THE THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE, TWIST OF FAITH, THE COMPANY YOU KEEP, NEARLYWEDS, FINDING MRS. CLAUS, THE WISHING TREE, MR HOCKEY: THE GORDIE HOWE STORY, DELETE and THE TRAINER.
AARON AU
Director, Production & Development
Aaron started his film career in 1998 as an actor and stunt performer and used his time on set to learn the film making process. In 2008, he moved behind the camera and wrote, directed and produced a series of short films. He then co-produced the feature PREGGOLAND (Sonja Bennett, James Caan, Danny Trejo) which premiere at TIFF 2014. Shortly after, Aaron joined the Brightlight team where he produced the features ELSEWHERE (AdenYoung, Parker Posey, Ken Jeong), 2 HEARTS (Jacob Elordi, Radha Mitchell) and most recently FLOAT (Andrea Bang, Robbie Amell). Some of his other credits include the pilots WOKE (Lamorne Morris, Blake Anderson) for Sony/Hulu and NEXT (John Slattery, Fernanda Andrade) for FOX as well as season 1 of Netflix’s FIREFLYLANE (Catherine Heigl, Sarah Chalke). Aaron is currently developing a comedy series titled BANANA BOYS based on the novel by Terry Wu.
DAVID MAGEE
Producer
David is a graduate of the University of British Columbia and started his film and television career in 1998. With over twenty years of production experience David has worked with studios such as Amazon, Netflix, Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox Television and Quibi. David has served as production manager on the series HATERS BACK OFF (Colleen Ballinger, Angela Kinsey), UPLOAD (Robbie Amell, Andy Allo), and on the feature film STATUS UPDATE (Ross Lynch, Olivia Holt). David produced the series 50 STATES OF FRIGHT (Rachel Brosnahan, Travis Fimmel) for Quibi and THE BARBARIAN AND THE TROLL for Nickelodeon. David most recently produced season 2 of SPACE FORCE (Steve Carell, John Malkovich) for Netflix.
JAMESON PARKER
Director, Production & Development
Jameson Parker is a producer who currently serves as the Director of Development & Production for Brightlight Pictures. Most recently he Executive Produced the UNTITLED BISHAL DUTTA HORROR with QC Entertainment (GET OUT, BLACKKKLANSMAN) and Neon (PARASITE, I, TONYA). He also produced the feature film SUMMER OF ’84 (Sundance ’18) directed by RKSS (TURBOKID) and starring Rich Sommer (MAD MEN), MARGAUX (Paramount / MPCA), UNDER WRAPS (Disney Channel / Marvista) and its upcoming sequel UNDER WRAPS 2. In 2019 he produced the Netflix series JULIE AND THE PHANTOMS with Kenny Ortega (HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL, THE DESCENDANTS) serving as Executive Producer and Director. Jameson was an Executive Producer and director on WHITE NINJA, the first narrative series developed for Vine, starring Paul Scheer and his first feature film PRODIGALS had its world premiere at the Whistler Film Festival. He is currently in development on FORT PULEYNE with Bell Media for their Crave streaming platform. Jameson graduated with honors from The University of British Columbia’s film and theatre department.
Ryan Silva
Director, Production & Development
After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Motion Picture Arts from Capilano University in 2013, Ryan Silva joined Brightlight Pictures in 2014 where he works on both the development and production sides of projects. Ryan is kicking off 2022 by continuing his work on the series FIREFLY LANE (Katherine Heigl, Sarah Chalke) for Netflix. Last year, Ryan completed season 2 of UPLOAD (Robbie Amell, Andy Allo) for Amazon and season 1 of THE MIGHTY DUCKS: GAME CHANGERS (Lauren Graham, Emilio Estevez) for Disney+. Prior to that, two pilots - NEXT (John Slattery, Fernanda Andrade) for 20th Century Fox and WOKE (Lamorne Morris, Blake Anderson) for Sony and Hulu. Ryan produced the second season of QUEST OUT WEST WILD FOOD for the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network and served as a line producer on a trio of independent feature films: ELSEWHERE (Aden Young, Parker Posey), SUMMER OF 84 (Graham Verchere, Rich Sommer) and 2 HEARTS (Jacob Elordi, Radha Mitchell).
Kristen Bell
Director, Business & Legal Affairs
Kristen Bell is a graduate of Capilano University and has been with Brightlight Pictures since 2010. As Director of Business and Legal Affairs, Kristen brings several years of legal experience in various areas of law to her position at Brightlight. Kristen has worked on over 120 film and television projects and has experience in various aspects of the film industry, including development, financing, production and distribution.
Ricardo Plaza
Production
Ricardo has been with Brightlight Pictures since 2017. He began his film career in Santiago, Chile as a production executive for La Casa Films, working on commercials for Nestle, Eddie Bauer and Pepsi. Currently residing in Vancouver, BC, he has worked in production (HATERS BACK OFF, DESCENDANTS 3 & THE GOOD DOCTOR, JULIE AND THE PHANTOMS), clearances (SUMMER OF 84 & ELSEWHERE) and most recently as the Production Manager on the Nickelodeon series THE BARBARIAN AND THE TROLL as well as the upcoming Feature Film FLOAT. Ricardo is fluent in both English and Spanish.
Andrea Miklos
Accounting
Andrea joined Brightlight Pictures in December 2016 as an Assistant Accountant. Her film experience started in 2012 when she enrolled at Capilano College to study costuming for theatre and film. After a brief period in costumes, she moved in the direction of production then corporate accounting. Andrea has always preferred the precision of numbers – to the infinite possibilities of letters - and continues to grow her skillsets as she advances her career in corporate accounting and payroll.