The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) has named Rohan Fernando as the new executive producer of its Quebec and Atlantic studio, where he’ll oversee English-language documentary production.

Julie Roy, NFB’s director general of creation and innovation, made the announcement on Tuesday (Sept. 6). Fernando (pictured), who has served as interim executive producer since April, will be based out of its Halifax office, according to a press release.

Since joining NFB as a producer in 2018, he has produced countless projects, including the Labrador Doc Project, which is an initiative to showcase documentaries by Inuit creators from or in Labrador. Out of that project, docs such as Jennie Williams’ Nalujuk Night and Ossie Michelin’s Evan’s Drum were produced by Fernando.

He was also series producer on 2019’s Reimagining Nova Scotia, a three-part series of shorts by filmmakers from Nova Scotia, including Sandi Rankaduwa’s Ice Breakers, Jason Young’s Gun Killers, and Rachel Bower’s I Am Skylar.

From Prince Edward Island, Fernando has produced Susan Rodgers’ Then Sings My Soul, and Millefiore Clarkes’ Love in Quarantine and The Song and the Sorrow, among others.

Fernando directed five films with the NFB before joining its Quebec and Atlantic studio: Becoming Labrador, which he co-directed with Tamara Segura and Justin Simms; The Chocolate Farmer; Blood and Water; Trudeau’s Other Children; and Cecil’s Journey.

Currently, he is in development on new projects with Andrea Dorfman, Monique Leblanc of the East Coast, as well as Montreal’s Melanie Shatzky and Brian Cassidy.

Roy said in a statement that Fernando has been instrumental in helping to lead the studio since the retirement of Annette Clarke, adding that he has a “collaborative and generous spirit, and will be integral in fostering a creative hub for artists, creators and communities across Quebec and Atlantic Canada.”

Image courtesy of NFB