The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) has cut the roles of executive producers David Christensen and Rohan Fernando as part of an organizational restructure.

Christensen, who led NFB’s North West Studio, and Fernando, head of the Quebec and Atlantic Studio, departed the government agency on Dec. 11, Playback has confirmed.

The staffing changes were announced by Richard Cormier, NFB’s director general, programming, creation, distribution and marketing, and head of programming, in a memo issued to the NFB filmmaking community, members of the Documentary Organization of Canada (DOC), and the Alberta Media Production Industries Association.

Cormier made it clear that the roles have been eliminated, with Shirley Vercruysse now executive producer for Western Canada Studios, Nathalie Cloutier leading the Eastern Canada and Canadian Francophonie Documentary Studios, and Chanda Chevannes heading up the Central Canada Studios.

Christensen was named as the head of the North West Studio in 2007, overseeing documentary, animation and interactive production for a number of provinces and territories, including Alberta, Manitoba, Nunavut, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories. He was a producer on the Oscar-nominated animated short The Flying Sailor (pictured) from Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby, as well as Tasha Hubbard’s award-winning documentary nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up.

Fernando was named as the lead of the Quebec and Atlantic Studio in 2022, having worked as a producer at the NFB since 2018. He has produced documentaries such as Jennie Williams’ Nalujuk Night and Ossie Michelin’s Evan’s Drum.

Cormier said the changes have not resulted in the dissolution of any studios, and that the projects under Christensen and Fernando “remain with the producers in place who have their role to play.”

“I want to be clear: we are in no way pulling back from our commitments to Canadians—nor will we do so in the future. On the contrary, under our Action Plan, we will be able to make greater investments in production so that our films can continue to have the impact we desire,” he continued.

Image courtesy of the NFB