Paul Pope, 63, on April 14. Over a four-decade career, Pope produced roughly two dozen films and series, under the banner of Pope Productions, including 2001 feature film, Rare Birds, starring William Hurt, and 2016’s award-winning Hunting Pignut, with Taylor Hickson and Joel Thomas Hynes. Most recently, he was the Executive Producer of Citytv series Hudson & Rex. Pope worked as a second unit director or assistant director on more than a dozen other projects, including The Shipping News (2001), and more recently CBC comedy/drama Little Dog (2018/19). A founding member of the Newfoundland Filmmakers Cooperative (NIFCO), where he served as president for over 20 years, Pope was known as an industry advocate and mentor, passionate about independent production. Over the years, he served on the boards of the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA), St. John’s Resource Centre for the Arts, and was Vice-Chair of the Canada Media Fund (CMF) from 2008-10. In addition to numerous awards garnered by Pope Productions, Pope was personally recognized with the Arts Achievement Award from ArtsNL, the Douglas James Dales Industry Builder Award, and an honorary Doctorate from Memorial University. Last year, he received the City of St. John’s Legend Award for his contributions to the tourism sector through his work in film and television. Read more here.