In addition to his management duties and work as a producer at Dufferin Gate Productions and Temple Street Productions, Patrick Whitley is one of the production sector’s busiest advocates. A significant part of that has seen him as a CFTPA board member for the past six years.

‘Patrick has been a very wise and stable voice on the board,’ says CFTPA president and CEO Guy Mayson. ‘One of his greatest contributions has been to raise the profile of the services sector within the association, and to underline its importance to the health and well-being of the entire Canadian production industry.’

One sign of the CFTPA’s growing acknowledgment of the importance of service production is the fact that it has made Whitley vice chair of its board. But Mayson adds that in addition to tooting the horn for producers who work for foreign clients, Whitley, also co-chair of the FilmOntario lobby group, speaks for the industry as a whole.

‘Patrick has always believed in the industry putting aside its differences and speaking with one voice to government and business,’ Mayson says. ‘This is why Patrick is chairing the new Canadian Film & Television Industry Council.’

Formed at the Banff Television Festival this past June, the CFTIC represents over 70,000 cultural workers, incorporating English- and French-Canadian unions and guilds, and more than 500 production companies. Under Whitley’s guidance, the organization has launched with a straightforward mandate: ‘The council will address, with a single voice, national issues that affect the Canadian film and television industry.’

-www.cftpa.ca