Peter Pearson, 87, on April 2. Pearson started his career as a journalist with the Timmins Daily Press, before being hired by CBC in 1964 as a director, producer, and writer. He soon joined the National Film Board (NFB) as a documentarian, going on to earn 19 Canadian Film Awards – more than any other Canadian director. His credits include the NFB feature film “The Best Damn Fiddler from Calabogie to Kaladar,” launching the career of Margot Kidder, and “Paperback Hero,” a film about Canadian fascination with and colonisation by American culture. He also contributed as a director to the drama series “For the Record.” Pearson went on to helm the Canadian Film Development Corporation’s newly-created Broadcast Program Development Fund from 1983-85, which became Telefilm Canada and served as Telefilm’s executive director from 1985-87. He also played an integral role in building the Directors Guild of Canada, serving as DGC National President from 1973-76, and in 2014 received the DGC Don Haldane Distinguished Service Award. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2023.
George Jamieson, 74, on March 20. Jamieson served as a writer, producer and senior producer of daily CBC Radio current affairs program, As It Happens, for the better part of two decades during the tenure of hosts Michael Enright and Mary Lou Finlay. A 1974 graduate of the Ryerson Radio and Television Arts program, Jamieson is credited with shaping much of the sound and content direction of the long-running program from behind-the-scenes.
Violet (Vi) Schapansky Atwell, 82, on March 6. Born and raised in Rosthern, SK, Atwell graduated from Saskatoon Business College in 1960 and worked in various law offices before landing at CBC-TV Saskatoon in 1969 where she built a career that saw her ascend to the role of Sales Department Manager. Atwell retired in 1996, pursuing her passion for folk art painting and travel.
Yette Vandendam, 55, on Feb. 25, after a battle with pancreatic cancer. A graduate of Ryerson’s Radio and Television Arts program, Vandendam started her career as an Associate Director at CBC in the mid-1990s. She quickly moved into television sports, producing live to air programming and was a senior producer with the Olympic Field Unit. In 2007, she joined Olympic Broadcast Services as Head of Information ahead of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, one of nine Olympic Games she worked on over the course of her career. Vandendam moved into reality television in 2011, working on shows like Food Network Canada’s “Recipe to Riches,” Discovery Channel’s “Canada’s Greatest Know It All,” CTV’s “Masterchef Canada,” W Network’s “Say Yes to the Dress Canada,” CBC’s “Dragons’ Den,” and Family Feud Canada.” She’d most recently been working with Blue Ant Media as Executive Producer and Supervising Producer on the “Canada’s Drag Race” franchise, contributing to the series winning a 2024 Canadian Screen Award for Best Competition Reality, amid other wins and nominations.
