Tony Papa

Tony Papa, established producer, director editor and educator has always placed creativity in the forefront of his life and his career. He spent 7 years in New York City studying music, dance, acting, film production and photography and combined his knowledge to create music videos. His talents soon caught the eye of Dire Straits front man Mark Knopfler, who hired Papa to direct the music video for their #1 hit 'Private Investigations'. Followed soon, thereafter, with another music video for Huey Lewis and the News (Heart of Rock and Roll). Papa soon found himself in Los Angeles as casting director for the feature film "King of the Streets". Papa made two short films in LA and sold them in Canada. In 1986 he moved to Vancouver BC and continued to refine his filmmaking skills. He developed a form of storytelling he called the "Musimentary", which combines music video with documentary to tell a larger story. One Musimentary entitled "Beauty and the Beast: Ocean Falls", garnered a Much Music "Video of the Year" award in 1995 for the Film entitle, :Beauty and the Beast: Ocean Falls". Papa furthered his experimentation in a long form experiential film entitled, "Traveler", scored by world renowned flutist, Paul Horn which premiered on Bravo and won "Best Cinematography" at the Toronto Short Film Festival. In 1996 Tony Papa formed Avanti Pictures and soon won the Best Artistic Film at the Hot Docs festival (1997) for performance documentary "True Prince: Vladimir Malakhov". As well a Gemini Award for his feature documentary "Suzuki Speaks" Some other projects include Opre Roma: "Arise Gypsies", shown at Montreal and Vancouver Film Festivals, "Ice Time For Old Guys" and the critically acclaimed dance drama, "ICE: beyond cool", a stunning visual and musical explosion, utilizing innovative techniques and going straight to the heart of contemporary youth issues. In 2008 Papa founded the Powell River Digital Film School. This is a dual credit Youth program that provides transitioning to students going on to further film studies. The school still continues to produce award winning filmmakers. Papa is committed to innovation. His development slate includes feature films, dramatic series, lifestyle documentaries and arts specials, all of which push boundaries with the unique spark that has come to be associated with the work of Tony Papa.