Portfolio Entertainment co-founding partner and CEO Joy Rosen is being remembered as a “consummate entrepreneur” who helped build the operation into a leading production, distribution and animation company of kids and family entertainment.

Rosen died Thursday (June 8) at age 65 surrounded by her family in Toronto, according to a news release.

She’d been undergoing cancer treatment at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in the city, said her published obituary in the Globe & Mail, which noted her wishes were that any donations in her memory be made to support the “unsung heroes” who are members of the Ontario Nurses Association’s Local 097.

Born Joy Lori Rosen on Oct. 2, 1957 in Montreal, Rosen received a M.Sc. in Television, Radio and Film from Syracuse University. She and longtime colleague and business partner Lisa Olfman founded Portfolio “in a spare bedroom with a borrowed typewriter, a boatload of dreams and unwavering determination,” said the release.

Rosen led Portfolio’s global distribution division since the company’s inception, vaulting it into a leading global player with her intelligent deal-making and enduring relationships over three decades.

“Her strategic vision and indefatigable optimism were instrumental in the company’s multi-faceted expansion and, in 2015, the partners launched Portfolio Animation, a state-of-the-art animation studio,” said the release.

The company’s roster of productions includes the PBS Kids Emmy Award-winning animated series The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!, Hero Elementary, Doki and the ground-breaking musical puppet show Groundling Marsh.

In 2003, Rosen and Olfman received the Rotman Canadian Women Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and in 2015 they were awarded the WIFT-T Crystal Award for Outstanding Achievement in Business.

“We at Portfolio are heartbroken” said co-CEO Olfman in a statement. “Joy was my partner, my best friend, my sister-in-arms. Words can’t describe what a huge loss this is to her family, her friends, and to those in the business community who knew her. We will miss her tremendous heart, her wicked sense of humour and her buoyant optimism. A piece of us died today, but we will forever honour her legacy.”

Image courtesy of Portfolio Entertainment