Archival Collections

Domenic Troiano was born in 1946, Modugno, Italy. He immigrated with his family to Toronto in 1949, being a naturalized citizen in 1955. Growing up in Toronto, he immersed himself in the music of the time and the sounds Toronto was producing.

At the age of 17,… more

Dorothy Crawford is from Port Hope, Ontario, and collected a variety of 16mm films from public institutions when they deaccessioned them to make room for digital content.

Doug McClement was born and raised in Kingston, Ontario. He is a graduate of Queen’s University with an Honours Bachelor of Commerce. Throughout his time in high school and university, McClement played in various rock bands and became a recording enthusiast, so much… more

Doug Thompson was born in Kingston, Ontario. In 1959 when his family moved to Oakville, Ontario, and he discovered CHUM-AM. This Toronto radio station, a legend at the time and still remembered today, began his love for radio. His career began in 1964 when he became… more

Edith (Edie) Steiner is a Toronto based photographer, filmmaker, composer, writer, and teacher. Born in Germany, Steiner emigrated to Canada with her parents in the 1950s, and her family settled in Manitouwadge, in Northern Ontario. Steiner moved to Toronto in the… more

Photographer Elaine Ling was born in Hong Kong in 1946, and immigrated to Canada when she was nine with her family. She studied music and medicine, and obtained a medical degree from the University of Toronto. Ling practiced family medicine around the world, including… more

For close to thirty years, Epitome Pictures and related companies have been producing award-winning television and educational programs. CEO Linda Schuyler co-created and executive produced the multi-award-winning original Degrassi series, including The Kids of… more

Canadian Political Scientist and academic Frank Peers was born on January 18, 1918 in Alsask, Saskatchewan. Peers received a Bachelor of Arts in 1936 and a Bachelor of Education in 1943 from Mount Royal College at the University of Alberta, and a Masters of Arts in… more

Fritz Spiess is best known for his work as a cinematographer and television commercial director. Born into a family of photographers in Germany in 1925, Spiess received his own box camera at the age of 6. He apprenticed for his father, Karl, prior to WWII and later… more

Galafilm Inc. was founded in Montreal in 1990 by Arnie Gelbart. Gelbart (who was born in Brussels and raised in Montreal) got his start in the film industry working as the Assistant Director on Luis Bunuel’s The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie in 1972. He… more

George Leonard Gorringe (January 19, 1936 - May 22, 2022) was a graduate of Hotel, Resort and Restaurant Administration at Toronto Metropolitan University (then called Ryerson Polytechnical Institute) and he graduated around 1957. He married Iris May Jennett on August… more

An award winning production company, Good Earth Productions makes television documentaries about Canada’s natural landscape. The company was formed in 1991 and has now reached well outside the boarders of Canada. Their shows have been distributed in over twenty-two… more

Gordon Hinch began his career in advertising in the 1950s, and joined the CBC in 1957. By 1965, he was creating half-hour productions of experimental dramas and special programs like You Can Always Learn from a Lady, The Painted Door, Three Penny Profile, and others.… more

Gordon Sparling was a pioneering director, producer, screenwriter and editor who made about 200 films over 40 years. Sparling was virtually the only creative filmmaker to work in the commercial Canadian film industry during the 1930s, and his Canadian Cameos series of… more

Ivan Graeme Ferguson was born in Toronto on October 7, 1929, to Frank and Grace Ferguson (nee Warner), both school teachers. His parents encouraged his creative pursuits, gifting him a Kodak Brownie camera when he was seven, and later, a Keystone 8mm film camera.… more

Greg Gormick is a Toronto based researcher, writer, interviewer, broadcaster, columnist and policy analyst. He was educated at Ryerson Polytechnic University (School of Journalism) between 1975 and 1978. He worked as a contract archivist during the late 1970s,… more

Ian Easterbrook is an author, audio-visual technician, and an active volunteer in the preservation of Canadian history. Born in Sarnia, Ontario, he grew up in Moore Township Labton and graduated from Upper Canada College. He received a combined degree in Philosophy… more

Ian Hose was a collector of Canadian music. He is the brother-in-law of George Connell.

Ian Thornley is a rock singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He has released music as a solo artist and with the band Big Wreck and Thornley. He has also played as a sessional musician for other recording artists.

Thornley grew up in Toronto, and left for Boston… more

The Aron Cinema is Campbellford Ontario, has been owned and operated by Paul Imperial from 1976 to 2011. The theater began screening films in 1947. Due to the lack of growth in the rural area, and change in cinema, the Aron was set to close down in 2009. The community… more

The Insight Production Company Ltd. is an independent production company based in Toronto. It was established in 1970 by Penray "Pen" Densham and John Kingsley Watson. In 1973, the company gained recognition for the documentary film Life Times Nine, which received two… more

International Rocketship Ltd. is an animation company based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Founded in 1975 by Marv Newland (creator of the 1969 cult favourite Bambi vs. Godzilla), the company has produced 20 short animated films as well as several animated sequences… more

Jacob (Jay) Switzer was born in Calgary (ca. 1956) and raised in Lethbridge, AB and Estevan, SK. The family moved to Toronto when Switzer was in his teens. His father, Israel, was an engineer and his mother Phyllis was a journalist. In 1972, Phyllis Switzer (along… more

The rare public figure to be named both a Member of the Order of Canada and an Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters in France, Juno Award-nominated musician Jacques Israelievitch left an indelible impression on the music scene, both within and beyond the borders… more

Jan Rubeš was a singer, actor and director whose career spanned more than half a century. Born in Volynĕ, Czechoslovakia in 1920, Rubeš was the second son of a local bank manager. Although he had planned to follow his brother into medicine, his studies were… more

Jana Lynne White is a media training instructor and a seasoned pop culture reporter. White has been noted by many as an excellent pop culture interviewer, with notable talks with many A-list celebrities.

Raised in Vancouver, White moved to Toronto in 1990 to… more

Janis Cole (b. 1954, Chatham, Ontario) and Holly Dale (b. 1953, Toronto, Ontario) are a filmmaking duo who have produced and directed works together, and separately. They first met in 1975 at Sheridan College, in Oakville, in the film studies program. At the time, the… more

Jeff Healey was born in Toronto on March 25th, 1966 and was adopted by his parents in July of that year. As an infant, Healey developed retinoblastoma, a rare form of eye cancer, and consequently lost his sight at the age of one. At the age of three, his father gave… more