At the heart of the film and TV business lies the talent – the creatives who conceive, execute and bring life to the shows, movies and interactive content audiences want to see. Each year, Playback‘s editorial staff selects 10 individuals from across these disciplines as the hottest up-and-comers.

Below, meet the final three of this year’s Ten (well, 11… there’s a writing team) to Watch. Look for full coverage in our TIFF print issue – along with our annual Festival coverage and this year’s Hall of Fame inductees.

Adam Higgs – writer
Age: 25
Residence: Toronto
Representation: Vanguarde Artists Management (Toronto)

Not everyone can say their first professional writing gig was with Marvel, but Adam Higgs can.

His first gigs were writing for Spider-Man and X-Men, before deciding film and TV were his true calling. The Burnaby, B.C.-born writer moved to Toronto to attend the CFC’s TV program in 2009 and since then, he’s written for kids series (Hot Wheels: Battle Force 5, The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That!) and CBC (Republic of Doyle). He’s also in development with the Ceeb on 100 Things Every Man Should Know, working with director Kelly Makin (Kids in the Hall) on a yet-to-be-named project, and collaborating with George Stroumboulopoulos and Bob Mackowycz (The Hour), including a Ben 10-esque, tween boy-targeted action series.

Missy Peregrym – actor
Age: 28
Residence: Vancouver
Representation: The Gersh Agency (Beverly Hills, California)

The Montreal-born, Vancouver-raised actress feels lucky and blessed about her role as leading lady in the new Global hit cop procedural Rookie Blue that’s become quite the Canadian success story. She’s recently held a regular role in ABC’s Reaper (2007-2009) and did a few eps of Heroes and Life As We Know It, but this is her first lead role in which she gets to get under the skin of a character and explore her backstory. Peregrym didn’t start her acting career until just after high school and had previously dabbled in modeling.

Charlotte Sullivan – actor
Age: 26
Residence: Toronto
Agency: Creative Drive Artists (Toronto), Untitled Entertainment (L.A.)

Charlotte Sullivan has come a long way from her first gig as an extra in a Liza Minelli music video way back when. She snagged a role in 2009’s Defendor, starring Woody Harrelson and Sandra Oh, as well as a number of stints on series such as The Listener, Smallville and M.V.P. As one of the main characters in Rookie Blue – which has been greenlit for a second season after just three weeks into its run – Sullivan has also recently been cast as blond bombshell Marilyn Monroe in History Channel’s upcoming mini-series The Kennedys, reportedly starring Greg Kinnear and Katie Holmes