The Future of Film Showcase (FOFS) has announced a new leadership team, programmers and advisory board members, including the appointment of co-founder Eric Bizzarri to the newly created position of CEO.

Bizzarri (pictured left), who has served as the Toronto-based short film festival’s artistic director since 2014, is joined by Eman Pathan (pictured centre left) as CFO, Jocelyn Lau (pictured centre right) as COO and Frances Santiago (pictured right) as creative director.

The appointments are effective immediately as the festival gears up for its ninth edition, which will unfold with both virtual and in-person events from June 17 to 26.

New additions to the FOFS programming team this year include associate programmers Kent Donguines, Bruna Arbex, Goldbloom Micomonaco and Emma Meske. They join director of programming Zac Goldkind, who has been with the festival since 2018.

The advisory board is also expanding with the additions of Kadon Douglas, executive director, BIPOC Film & TV; Paige Murray, executive in charge of development, drama, CBC; Samah Ali, founder, Sisterhood Media; and Ravi Srinivasan, international programmer, Canada at TIFF. Returning to the FOFS advisory board are Shant Joshi, president, Fae Pictures, and Jenn Kuzmyk, executive director of the Banff World Media Festival and publisher of Playback.

Bizzarri is a writer, director and producer based in Toronto. His short films The Shallow End, Cold Hands and Pressure Play have been distributed by Amazon Prime (U.S., U.K., Germany), Revry, Think Shorts and Super Channel, respectively. His latest film, I Wanna Make a Movie, or I Wanna Die Trying will air on CBC’s Canadian Reflections program sometime this year.

Pathan is a recent graduate of the Master of Management program at the Schulich School of Business, York University, and has worked in production and marketing for short films and podcasts. She produced the short film Kashif, which has screened at events including the Toronto International Reel Asian Film Festival and TIFF Next Wave Film Festival.

Lau is a published neuroscientist working in the field of learning and memory research. Originally from Vancouver and now based in Toronto, she is pursuing a career in film, television, and music video production.

Santiago is a production designer who has worked on short films, music videos and theatre pieces. Her short film Inheritance premiered at TIFF last September.