Carole Vivier, 73, on March 4, following a battle with lung cancer. Vivier served as the CEO and film commissioner of Manitoba Film & Music (MFM) for 26 years, lobbying for and pioneering the first film tax credit in Western Canada and growing the province’s film production from $12 million in the early 1990s to over $269 million when she retired in 2019. She began working at the provincially-funded agency in 1985, taking up the role of CEO & film commissioner, beginning in 1993. Vivier also served on the board of directors at the National Screen Institute, Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, Canadian Film Centre Feature Film Advisory Committee, Burton Cummings Theatre Performing Arts Group, and Film Training Manitoba, among other organizations. She was instrumental in bringing the JUNOS to Winnipeg in 2005 and co-chaired the 2014 Winnipeg JUNO Awards host committee. She was named to the Order of Canada in 2024, the Order of Manitoba in 2014, and the Manitoba Business Hall of Fame in 2019. Vivier received the Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) Honorary Life Member Award in 2019, and the Western Canadian Music Awards’ Kevin Walters Industry Builder Award in 2022, among many other acknowledgements. Read more here.
Paul Bronfman, 67, on Feb. 26, following a long battle with multiple sclerosis. The son of Canadian business giant Edward Bronfman, Paul got his start in the entertainment industry working with rock acts like Supertramp and April Wine in the 1970s. He transitioned into film and television by the end of the decade, joining Astral Media’s Astral Bellevue Pathe in Toronto. Bronfman went on to launch the Comweb Corporation in 1988, providing production services, studio facilities, and equipment to film and television productions worldwide. The company’s first major venture was building and managing Vancouver’s North Shore Studios, in partnership with Hollywood producer/writer Stephen J. Cannell. The company simultaneously formed production subsidiary Comweb Productions. In 1989, Comweb acquired production equipment supplier William F. White International Inc. The company further expanded with a 50% stake in Bulloch Entertainment Services (now EP Canada), offering production-related financial services, in addition to launching financier Protocol Entertainment. Comweb went on to become a founding partner and principal investor in Filmport Studios, which opened in 2007 and was later rebranded as Pinewood Toronto Studios. Bronfman stepped down as Senior Advisor and Co-Chairman of William F. White International in September 2023 after 34 years, but remained CEO of Comweb and senior advisor to Pinewood Toronto Studios. Over the years, he served on the boards of The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, the Banff Television Foundation, Canadian Film Centre (CFC), Canadian Media Production Association (CMPA), FilmOntario and Ontario Creates. Read more here.
Mel Johnston, 88, on Feb. 23. A lifelong Saint Johner, Johnston worked at the American Clothing Company and Bank of Canada, before starting his broadcasting career with CHSJ TV as a camera operator in 1962. His interest in television and media had begun early with a gift of a Brownie movie camera he received in high school. Among the local shows he contributed to over the years were Miss Anne, Time for Juniors, TV House Party, Captain Corky, numerous Children’s Miracle Network Telethons, and the Saint John Empty Stocking Fund. Johnston retired from CHSJ/MITV as Operations and Production manager in 1994 after a 32-year career.
