A s Toronto-based content producer Makers puts together this year’s Canadian Screen Awards broadcast, it’s also looking to expand on its original content locally.

The global production hub was founded in 2016 by Sumit Ajwani and is a collective of producers, including Toronto-based executive producers Roma Ahi (pictured left) and Katie Lafferty (pictured right), who are producing the 2023 CSAs pre-recorded final show that’s set for April 16 on CBC.

With offices in Toronto, L.A., New York, Barcelona and most recently London, Makers is growing its roster of producers and slate with projects including CBC feature documentary The Blind Couple From Mali, which is filming in multiple countries, the two producers tell Playback Daily.

“The original content space of Makers has been a really important area of growth, where we are taking creative ideation in-house and developing Makers original content projects,” says Lafferty, a producer on The Blind Couple From Mali whose past credits include the AMI-tv and TVO series Employable Me and documentary Candidato 34.

“The Blind Couple From Mali is the first one out of the gate, but that entertainment section of the industry is incredibly important for Makers. Now that we’ve tapped into a global market, we really want to expand that and be producing original content locally. We’re not specific in that we’re only chasing documentary storytelling. We’re open to cool ideas that we can all get behind and get really excited about. There’s a lot coming up in the Makers world in the original content space.”

On the immediate horizon is the pre-recorded, one-hour CSAs TV special hosted by Samantha Bee.

Ahi and Lafferty will have to quickly put together the show by condensing footage from seven in-person ceremonies during Canadian Screen Week, which runs April 11 to 16. They also have to incorporate the nine Special Awards presentations being feted to such homegrown talent as Ryan Reynolds, Catherine O’Hara, Lisa LaFlamme and Simu Liu.

“We intend the broadcast to be a really fast-paced, highly-entertaining show,” says Lafferty. “We’re doing a lot of montages and innovative ways to capture the nominated material and some of the great winning moments.”

Lafferty also worked on the 2022 Canadian Screen Awards and says her association with the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television (Canadian Academy) dates back to 2010 when she was a member of the production team for the then-Gemini Awards.

Ahi, a former eight-year VP of production for Toronto’s Diamond Marketing Group, also worked on last year’s show and says the partnership between the Canadian Academy and Makers came as the academy was looking to rejuvenate the format.

“Awards shows generally have been a little bit under the gun in conversation about their relevance, so it’s been very exciting working with them to figure out how to make them super meaningful to the industry and package it up in a way that’s going to celebrate the content and maybe not feel constantly like you’re just watching people receiving trophies.”

Makers’ expertise also spans the advertising, innovation and fabrication disciplines. Ahi says there are 70 full-time producers and a network of 11,741 producers in 173 countries. Lafferty works in the originals space, as does Ahi, who also works in brand advertising, digital and experiential.

In January, Makers hired Barcelona-based Adele Reeves, a former executive producer of feature films and series at Red Bull Studios, as global development lead.

Ahi says Reeves “was brought in to build out the entertainment portion of Makers, so we’re working in terms of building partnerships and sales, and growing Makers as a whole. The ultimate goal is being even more global than we already are.”

Earlier this month, Makers created the new position of VP, global production, for Chicago-based Diane Jackson, who was previously with Meta as director, global head of production, creative and experiential.

Jackson will work with founder Ajwani and managing partner Paul Curtin to “accelerate growth, expand the company’s differentiated offering, evolve its culture of collaboration, and contribute to its vision to elevate the role of producers,” according to a news release.

“Diane’s here to offer a structure to support the growth, especially that which we’ve been experiencing in North America,” Lafferty says.

As for the Canadian market, Lafferty says she’s working on original content for Peacock Kids and has a number of other projects in development.

Ahi also hints that the scope of Makers will also “expand beyond the big screen.”

“Come back 365 days from now and we’ll probably have a full roster of things,” she says. “There’s a big component to storytelling, too, that we’re seeking. Beyond content, we’re creating and thinking about immersive experiences and events, as well as exploring ways of doing a couple of other awards shows.”

Photo courtesy of Route 504 PR