John Robinson on Mar. 18. A prominent lawyer and business and legal affairs consultant in the Canadian film and television industry, Robinson was instrumental in authoring some of the original collective agreements for Canadian entertainment unions and guilds, including the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA). Robinson joined Alliance Communications in 1986 as the head of Business and Legal Affairs and Corporate Secretary. He moved on to Fireworks Entertainment Corporation in 1997 as senior vice-president Business and Legal Affairs and Corporate Secretary. In 2001, he formed Resonance Entertainment Corporation, providing business consulting and legal services to the production community. He was very active in industry affairs, serving on the board of directors, Labour Relations Committee, Tax and Finance Committee, and as chairman of the Lender’s Sub-committee of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association, as well as vice-president of the Canadian Retransmission Collective. He also frequently chaired producers’ negotiating committees for both the Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) and ACTRA negotiations, in addition to serving on the board of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.
Dan Blankenship, 95, on Mar. 17. Blankenship was one of the recurring characters on long-running History series The Curse of Oak Island and one of the private island’s majority property owners. Blankenship moved to Nova Scotia’s South Shore from the United States in the 1970s after reading about the fabled Oak island treasure in the Jan. 1965 issue of Reader’s Digest. He spent 50 years and untold thousands of dollars looking for the treasure. He was often featured on the reality series as the island’s resident expert, appearing on the show since its first season in 2014. His son David Blankenship is also a cast member.
Rob Beck, 73, on Mar. 9. Beck was a 30-year employee of CTV Atlantic/Bell Media. Based in Halifax, Beck first joined what was then CHUM-owned ATV in Oct. 1984 as an account executive. In 1986, he briefly went to work in sales for a local Honda dealership, before returning to the station the following year. Beck worked on both national and regional accounts for CTV and CTV2. He retired in 2015. A dedicated volunteer, Beck lent his time to Diabetes Canada, the Nova Scotia Leadership Prayer Breakfast Steering Committee, Habitat for Humanity, the Halifax Board of Trade, and the Christmas Daddies Telethon, among other causes. He was also active as a senior member of Armdale Yacht Club and the Nova Scotia Mass Choir.
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