Board of Directors

Jeffrey Elliott has over thirty years of strategic and creative experience in broadcasting, production, and digital media – and always at the forefront of emerging technologies in broadcasting and new-media and is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of TableRock Media.

Jeffrey was also the founder and CEO of GlassBOX Television. Glassbox Television became one of Canada’s leading multiplatform media companies. One of GlassBOX channels; Bite TV, the world’s first Interactive and multiplatform television channel, was awarded an International Emmy for Interactive Broadcasting and won the best in Cross Platform Broadcasting at the DIGIS (Canadian New Media Awards). Glassbox Television was purchased in 2012 by Blue Ant Media. In 2015 Jeffrey received the Digital Media Trailblazing Award by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.

Jeffrey lives in the country with his family and tries to find as much time for his passions of photography and flying, having been a pilot for thirty years.

Lydia Sani has spent over 20 years in the corporate communications industry since graduating from Concordia University’s Communications Faculty. Her early career featured positions at Du Pont in their internal training group and later at Ogilvy & Mather in their communications division. In 1988 Lydia founded Invisions Productions. Since that time she has guided the company to its current position as one of the pre-eminent players in the Canadian communications industry. She started up Redwood e-Learning Systems in 2003 specifically to address the online learning market. With a sole focus on training, Redwood’s mission is to advance skills through a new level of e-learning by having learners engage with immersive environments and social media. Lydia is on the board of CeLEA, the Canadian e-Learning Enterprise Alliance and IO’s E-Learning Committee. She has presented many papers on soft skills E-learning and other high performance learning initiatives.

Max practises in the areas of entertainment, music, digital media and intellectual property law. Before joining Stohn Hay Cafazzo Dembroski Richmond LLP, Max worked as in-house counsel for the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency Ltd. (CMRRA) and as an associate at Bereskin & Parr LLP. With experience both as in-house counsel and in private practice, Max brings a practical and business-oriented perspective to legal matters.

Max works with a wide variety of clients, ranging from emerging and established artists to music publishers and copyright collectives. He assists them with negotiating and drafting agreements, intellectual property enforcement, licensing and royalties, and provides general copyright law advice. Max has prepared legal and policy submissions for various levels of court and government, including the Copyright Board of Canada, and the Departments of Canadian Heritage (PCH) and Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED).

Max has always been passionate about the arts, and has been involved in projects including a variety of garage bands, film programming and production. More talented with a pen than a guitar or a camera, he became a lawyer to support creators. Max is an advocate for the arts and accessible legal resources, and is a board member with the Artists’ Legal Advice Services (ALAS), a group of volunteer lawyers and students providing summary legal information to artists.

Kerry Hopkins is Senior Vice President, Legal & Government Affairs with Electronic Arts.  Kerry is representing EA’s Ontario operations, including EA’s mobile game studios, Glu (Toronto) and Red Crow (Kitchener). 

Kerry joined Electronic Arts in 2006.  She currently oversees the company’s global intellectual property, litigation, government affairs and public policy programs.

Before joining Electronic Arts, Kerry was a litigation associate at Reed Smith LLP, where she represented clients in a variety of intellectual property matters.   From 1994-2001, Kerry was with Sony Computer Entertainment America through the launches of the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 game consoles and managed SCEA’s intellectual property compliance and anti-piracy programs for North America. 

Kerry is currently treasurer on the board of the Entertainment Software Association of Canada and sits on the advisory board of the Raising Good Gamers initiative.  Kerry also is a member of the board of Muttville Senior Dog Rescue in San Francisco.

Denise Cooper is a lawyer and strategic advisor for media, entertainment and technology clients, with expertise in the areas of corporate/commercial, mergers and acquisitions, film and television production and distribution, employment, broadcast, telecom, e-commerce, privacy and intellectual property law.  Prior to entering private practice, Denise was Vice President and General Counsel for Virgin Mobile Canada.  Prior to that, she spent 14 years at CHUM Limited, where she served as Vice President, Business & Legal Affairs, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary.

Denise received her Bachelor of Laws Degree from Osgoode Hall at York University  (Toronto) (1990) and a Masters of Law Degree from Columbia University (New York) (1993).  She is a member of both the Ontario and New York State Bars.

With over 20 twenty years in the factual and documentary industry and an MFA in documentary media from Ryerson University, Joanne’s artistic focus has been integrating documentary narrative in immersive and interactive forms. Previous projects include SESQUI, a non-profit venture producing a 360 degree full dome film and VR programme that reached 1.5 million Canadians in over 60 different communities in 2017 for the Canada/Ontario 150 year. Nominated in many immersive categories, content from the programme has gone on to exhibit internationally at Epcot Walt Disney. She is currently developing an ambient literature piece for NFB’s interactive studio and had a featured project at Cannes XR development showcase for 2020. Joanne serves as industry mentor at Ryerson’s TransMedia Zone, steering committee member for Space Place – a team of educators and advocates for a new immersive planetarium in Toronto, and on Interactive Ontario’s board representing the independent producer’s community within the industry.

Vikas Gupta is a charismatic leader who defines himself as a seasoned executive with an entrepreneurial DNA. He has an insatiable passion for start-ups and emerging growth tech companies. Vikas is the co-founder & CEO of AVARA Media, a company focused on the creation of an immersive Augmented Reality technology platform that experientially connects people to the biggest environmental and ecological issues our planet is facing. Formerly as the CEO of Big Blue Bubble, Vikas established the company as the largest independent mobile gaming company in Canada and ranking among the 50 fastest growing technology companies in the nation.

In addition to his professional activities, Vikas enjoys working with entrepreneurs and does a great deal of mentorship and coaching work. He also sits on a variety of boards ranging from the University of Waterloo, University of Waterloo Stratford Campus, Interactive Ontario, and was on the former Premier’s digital advisory board. Vikas is also a member of the prestigious YPO (Young President’s Organization) and served as the Chapter Chair for YPO Toronto.

Joel Burgess is the Studio Director of Capybara Games in Toronto. He is an 18-year veteran of the video game industry, with credits on games such as Watch Dogs Legion, Skyrim, Oblivion, the Fallout franchise, Aeon Flux, and Bloodrayne 2. Joel is also a co-founder and annual organizer of the Level Design Summit at GDC in San Francisco and Shanghai, and has presented lectures on game design at campuses, conferences (and zoom calls) across the globe.

Ryan Andal has focussed his career on the convergence of technology and entertainment. First, as an entrepreneur in the immersive entertainment industry, and now as the Co-founder and President of Secret Location which was acquired in 2016 and now owned by Hasbro. Throughout his career he has been honored by hundreds of awards including 2 Emmys, 11 Canadian Screen awards, and a Peabody. Having led the company through 2 acquisitions, he has continued to adapt the business not only with the rapid changes in the entertainment industry, but also considering the opportunities and interests with its parent organizations eOne and Hasbro. Ryan is seen by his peers as a visionary leader, thinking strategically about interactivity and immersion. Whether it’s helping kids to learn with their tablet, immersing gamers in a virtual world, or having a shared experience with friends in physical spaces, Ryan continues to expand, grow, and expose new audiences to the benefits and possibilities with lean-forward entertainment.

Ramona Pringle is an Associate Professor in the RTA School of Media at X University (formerly Ryerson University,) and Director of The Creative School’s Innovation Studio, a creative network comprised of multiple incubators, including the Transmedia Zone, Design Fabrication Zone, and Fashion Zone, as well as the Global Campus Studio, a unique digital studio devoted to fostering international co-productions through the use of contemporary collaboration tools. She is the 2021 recipient of the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. As a writer, producer, researcher and journalist, Ramona’s work examines the evolving relationship between humans and technology. She was the executive producer of “Communities Create,” writer and director of the interactive documentary “Avatar Secrets, the interactive producer of PBS Frontline’s “Digital Nation.” Ramona was editor in chief of “Rdigitalife,” has edited and guest edited several “IEEE” publications, and has been a technology columnist for CBC, tackling current affairs and the impact of technology and social media on all aspects of people’s lives, from work to relationships. Ramona’s projects have been featured at festivals and conferences including i-docs, Power to the Pixel, TFI Interactive, Sheffield Doc/Fest, Hot Docs, SXSW, NXNE, Social Media Week, TEDx, and in publications including the New York Times, Mashable, Cult of Mac and the Huffington Post. She is a member of the City of Toronto Film, Television and Digital Media Board, board member with Media Smarts, Interactive Ontario, and SIRT (the Screen Industries research and Training Centre) .Ramona has a Master’s Degree from NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program.