Avi Federgreen – Filmmaker

Avi Federgreen’s  nearly twenty years of experience in the Canadian film industry features many highlights, from music videos to TV series to full-length feature films. Starting in the locations department, he moved quickly into production management, line producing, post supervision, and producing.

Federgreen’s current projects include I’m Yours produced with Jennifer Jonas and Mallary Davenport of New Real Films, directed by Leonard Farlinger and starring Rossif Sutherland (High Life) and Karine Vanasse (Polytechnique); and as executive producer, Moon Point produced by Sean Cisterna and Christian Potenza, directed by Sean Cisterna and starring Nick McKinlay, Paula Brancati, and Kyle Mac.

Chosen to open the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival, Score: A Hockey Musical, written and directed by Michael McGowan and starring Olivia Newton-John (Grease), Noah Reid (Naturally Sadie), and Stephen McHattie (Pontypool) captures the fervour of Canada’s two favourite pastimes in a story big on humour and heart. George Ryga’s Hungry Hills, directed by Rob King (Something More, Moccasin Flats – Redemption), starringKeir Gilchrist (United States of Tara), John Pyper-Ferguson (Brothers and Sisters) and Gabrielle Rose (Mothers and Daughters) premiered at TIFF 2009.

As exec producer, Federgreen has also worked on the dramatic short film Hidden Driveway, produced by Sarah Zammit and Sarah Goodman, directed by Sarah Goodman and which premiered at TIFF 2011; and Little Larry produced and directed by Jill Carter.  Also produced by Federgreen She Said Lenny (produced wth MallaryDavenport), and directed by Jim Donovan premiered at WSFF 2011; Tight Space, Scout, and The Chair, allwritten and directed by Cory Kinney, and the Canadian Film Centre short Pudge, directed by Annie Bradley. Pudge premiered at TIFF 2008 and screened at several other acclaimed festivals internationally. The Chair achieved a Bronze Award at the Worldfest Houston International Film Festival in 2001.

More successes for Federgreen as producer include the Shaftesbury TV series Good Dog, written and directed by Ken Finkelman (The Newsroom), starring Finkelman and Lauren Lee Smith (Lie With Me); documentary As Slow as Possible (directed by Scott Smith), an official selection of HotDocs 2008; and the music videos Giving Thanks (Tamara Podemski), and Tough as a Pickup Truck (Jim Witter).
Federgreen’s co-production credits are impressive and varied. The feature film One Week, written and directed by Michael McGowan and starring Joshua Jackson, was named Best Canadian Film in the 2008 Calgary and Edmonton film fests, and was an official gala screening at TIFF that year. The filmsurpassed the $1.2 million Canadian box office mark, was the #1 rental on iTunes, and finished in the top 10 in DVD sales in Canada during its first week of release. High Life, directed by Gary Yates, starring Timothy Olyphant, Rossif Sutherland, and Joe Anderson, premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and was featured at TIFF 2009. Leslie, My Name Is Evil, directed by Reginald Harkema, produced by New Real Films and starring Kristen Hager and Gregory Smith, also screened at TIFF 2009,  and lastly the nationally acclaimed TV mini-series It’s Me…Gerald, (Showcase).
Federgreen’s diverse experience also includes supervising producer on the first two seasons of the Saskatoon-based TV series Rabbit Fall (starring Andrea Menard), and as associate producer for the feature film Emotional Arithmetic, starring Susan Sarandon, Gabriel Byrne, and Christopher Plummer.

Federgreen is currently in post-production on the first ever Canadian fully financed 3D feature titled Dead Before Dawn produced by April Mullen and Tim Dorion of Wango Films and directed by April Mullen. The film stars Devon Bostick (Diary of a Wimpy Kid), Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future), Martha MacIssac  (Super Bad), and Brandon Jay McLaren (The Killing). Federgreen is currently in post-production on his next feature film with acclaimed director Mike McGowan entitled Still.