Revolving Door

Jennifer (Jenn) Lee has been appointed Corus Entertainment’s Executive Vice President and General Counsel. Joining Corus’ Executive Leadership Team, Lee began her career at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, working with a broad span of accounts, including media and entertainment clients where she was involved with CanWest Global’s acquisition of Alliance Atlantis and various transactions for Entertainment One. She will also assume the role of Corporate Secretary.

Darren Dutchyshen is taking time off from TSN’s SportsCentre as he undergoes treatment following a recent cancer diagnosis. Dutchyshen, 54, has been with TSN since 1995, and currently co-hosts the evening edition of SportsCentre with Jennifer Hedger.

Cynthia Mulligan has returned to Citytv Toronto after taking the summer off to recover from a new round of cancer treatment. The longtime Breakfast Television host was first diagnosed with breast cancer 11 years ago, receiving news last December that her cancer had returned. 

Cabral “Cabbie” Richards is joining Sportsnet as Executive Producer of Sports Betting Content. Richards’ broadcasting career started during an internship at The Score where he introduced his Cabbie on the Street segments, featuring interactions with stars like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, and David Ortiz, among others. He’s also worked with TSN Sportscentre, The Marilyn Denis Show, and more recently has been hosting Bleacher Report’s B/R Betting Show. Sportsnet says details of its content plans for sports betting will be revealed as legalization of single-event wagering rolls out across Canada.

Andi Petrillo has announced she’s stepping away from hosting daily noon-hour talk show, Leafs Lunch, on TSN 1050 (CHUM-AM) Toronto. Petrillo will still be heard on the station, including as a fill-in host. She’d been with Leafs Lunch since 2016, in addition to juggling gigs as a host with CBC Sports and match day studio host with the OneSoccer streaming channel.

Sheila North has accepted a reporter position with CBC Manitoba. North returns to the public broadcaster after a seven-year absence from journalism, during which she served as the first woman to ever be elected Grand Chief of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, representing 30 First Nations in northern Manitoba. Earlier this summer, North finished second in the leadership race for the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs.

Sean Vanderklis is joining CBC Thunder Bay as the new permanent host of Superior Morning. Hailing from Curve Lake First Nation in southern Ontario, Vanderklis was the co-founder of the One Dish, One Mic podcast with Karl Dockstader. He’s held a number of roles with CBC, including working on CBC Radio One’s Unreserved. Producer Amy Hadley has been hosting Superior Morning since longtime host Lisa Laco’s retirement at the end of December, following an ALS diagnosis. Laco passed away last month.

Jason Almeida is headed to Toronto where he’ll head up the promotions departments for 13 stations in five markets as Regional Promotions Director for Bell Media. Almeida arrives from Bell Media Calgary where he was responsible for marketing and promotions for both CTV and the radio cluster there.

Stephanie Gosine has joined Corus Entertainment as Project Manager, Creative Diversity. Gosine arrives from Blue Ant Media where she was most recently Delivery Manager, Media Services.

Kenny “The Hitman” Caughlin is joining MAX 97.7 (CHGB-FM) as morning show host. Caughlin has lived in Collingwood for 20 years and previously worked at 1050 CHUM, Q107 (CILQ-FM), AM 640, MIX 99.9 (CKFM-FM), Z103.5 (CIDC-FM), and Country 95.3 (CING-FM), among other stations. He also co-owns and operates Power 92.5 and 102.5 KiSS FM in the Turks & Caicos Islands. He’ll join MAX 97.7 beginning Sept. 20.

Vik Sahi has left Move 103.5 (CHQM-FM) Vancouver’s The Nat & Drew Show to work full-time as a Mortgage Expert. Sahi has been producing the morning show for the last five years.

Bahadur “Bobby” Dhillon is joining Pattison Media’s sales team at 102.3 Now! Radio (CKNO-FM) and up! 99.3 (CIUP-FM) Edmonton. Dhillon was previously an Account Manager with Rogers Sports & Media in Edmonton for the last eight and a half years. Prior to that, he was an Outside Sales Rep with Sun Media.

Chris Drake has been appointed Senior Vice President, Global Head of Revenue for Firstlight Media. Drake will lead the Toronto-headquartered company’s global sales efforts to help Tier 1 content providers and distributors deploy streaming and entertainment platforms built on the company’s Gen5 architecture. Drake joins Firstlight Media from Verizon Media, where he’s been Global VP, Media and Entertainment with responsibility for all aspects of the company’s broadcast, media, sports and operator businesses.

Jennifer Askin has joined All3Media International as SVP, North America. Askin, who is based in New York, will manage the distributor’s sales across the U.S. and Canada and build out the company’s factual co-production slate. Askin joins All3Media from her entertainment consultancy Askin & Co. Prior to that, she was VP of Sales at Kew Media Distribution.

Lainie Elton has joined MK2 | Mile End as VP, Licensing & Digital Strategy. The former eOne sales executive arrives from levelFILM where she was VP of Sales for the last four years. Stephanie Azam also joins as VP, Development & Acquisitions as the distributor pushes further into the English-language market. Azam was formerly with Telefilm for the last 13 years as National Feature Film Executive, English-Language Market.

Alistair Hepburn will succeed Sue Milling as Executive Director of ACTRA Toronto. Hepburn moves up from his role as Director of Film, Television and Digital Media (FTDM) at the branch with Milling to stay on in an advisory capacity through the transition and remain on the board of FilmOntario until its AGM in November. Hepburn served as a Business Representative with sister union, Equity, before coming to ACTRA Toronto as Director of the FTDM department in 2016. Milling came to ACTRA Toronto in 2009 from United Steelworkers. She led the FTDM department before becoming Executive Director in 2013. 

Farrell Hall has been appointed to the newly-created position of Chief Inclusion officer at 9 Story Media Group. Working with internal and external stakeholders, Farrell will create and execute diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that will impact all aspects of the business, including 9 Story’s animation studio, Brown Bag Films. Reporting to Vince Commisso, President and CEO of 9 Story, Farrell joins the Executive Leadership team, based out of Toronto. Most recently, he held the role of Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the Children’s Aid Society (CAS) of Toronto.