Bryan Gliserman is president of Toronto-based motion picture distributor Odeon Films.

For the past several years, Don Carmody has functioned as the umbilical cord between the two great Hollywoods. In this process, he has won the trust and respect of both L.A. execs and his contemporaries at home.

From modest beginnings, Don devoted himself to every project with which he was associated. Wearing several hats at once, he challenged himself and took pride and ownership in his work. Early in his career, he developed a keen eye for talent, and he quickly aligned himself with rising stars such as David Cronenberg and Ivan Reitman on the pictures Shivers and Rabid.

From there, he exposed himself to substantial risk and started his own production company. This allowed him the creative and financial control necessary to develop his repertoire and broaden his field of expertise. Don barreled into comedies (Porky’s) and psycho-dramas (as assistant producer on Jagged Edge) that remain classics to this day.

In the years that followed, Don perfected the art of resourcefulness (a key trait in any successful producer) and has come to be known as the ‘MacGyver’ of producers. Well, not really. But he should be.

His rare ability to do a lot with a little has earned Don the opportunity to produce Hollywood studio pictures in Canada. Now renowned for inhabiting this unique position, Don continues to accumulate and use all his experience in honing his craft to further his career in addition to those of others.

In this position of informal liaison between U.S. studios and Canadian production, he has been responsible for providing hundreds of Canadian industry people with employment in both film and television. His endless list of credits and expanding slate of projects being produced in Canada is testament to his belief in the expertise of our artists, business people and services.

Don is now in an enviable position where he can produce films in any corner of the world. Nonetheless, he works hard to continually bring the work home to Canada, for which we are all grateful.

The most recent example is the Christophe Gans thriller Silent Hill, starring Radha Mitchell, Laurie Holden and Sean Bean, with which Alliance Atlantis Motion Picture Distribution is very proud to be associated.

From a distributor’s perspective, Don brings the ideal qualities of a producer to the table. His refined sense of balancing a film’s audience appeal with his artistic integrity is second to none. This aptitude is a function of his relentless drive to pursue challenging fare that will, simply, be loved by audiences. It manifests itself in the trail of classic films behind him that seems to get longer with each passing year.

In this deep respect for cinemagoers, Don continues to be thanked with the stellar box-office success of his films, the most recent examples being the Golden Reel-winning Resident Evil: Apocalypse and Academy Award winner Chicago, both of which were proudly distributed by this company.

AAMPD’s relationship with Don is one that we hold in very high regard. Not only does he deliver consistent results, but he also conducts business in a professional and ethical manner. His integrity as a business partner and a friend has earned the trust of this company as well as the industry at large. It is our honor to pay him tribute as an invaluable contributor to the Canadian film industry.

Don, we congratulate you on 30 years of outstanding success, and wish you years of much, much more.