Filmmaker Bios
Justin Simms (Director, Co-writer, Producer, Editor)
Short Bio
Justin Simms is an award-winning writer, director and co-founder of Newfound Films, in St. John’s, Newfoundland. His short films have garnered acclaim and prizes at film festivals throughout Canada and the rest of the world. Punch-Up at a Wedding won awards for best screenplay, best director and best Atlantic Short at the 2006 Atlantic Film Festival. Down to the Dirt marks Justin’s debut as a feature film director.
Full Bio
Justin Simms is an award-winning writer and filmmaker, and co-owner of Newfound Films with producer Anna Petras. In 2007 Justin directed his debut feature film, Down to the Dirt. Also in 2007 Justin directed Heartless Disappearance into Labrador Seas, a thirty-minute TV pilot for CBC, written by Justin’s frequent collaborator, Lois Brown (The Bingo Robbers) “Heartless” stars Liane Balaban and Andy Jones.
In 2006 Justin’s short film Punch-up at a Wedding premiered at the 26th Atlantic Film Festival, where it was awarded the Best Screenplay, Best Atlantic
Short and Best Director prizes. The darkly humored comedy was invited to make
its international premiere as an Official Selection at the 54th Sydney Film
Festival, Australia, later that year.
2006 also saw Justin complete a ten-month directing program at the
prestigious Canadian Film Centre. His residency at the CFC culminated in his sci-fi love story Face Machine, which received its world premiere at the Montreal World Film Festival in August 2006 and has subsequently been awarded a Platinum Remmi Award at Cinefest, Houston, and the Best Director prize at the International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival in Phoenix, Arizona.
Later in 2007 Justin received the great honour of being named Emerging
Artist of the Year, by the Newfoundland & Labrador Arts Council.
Justin’s first independent film, 2002’s one-hour drama, Ashore, (following a father and son dealing with crisis in the fishery) played at film festivals throughout Canada and the U.S., and won three Golden Sheaf Awards (Best Drama, Best Director, and Best Actor-Joel Hynes) at the 2003 Yorkton Film Festival. Ashore marked the first meaningful collaboration between Justin, Joel Hynes, and Anna Petras, all three of whom would move into the feature film world together with Down to the Dirt.
Justin currently has three feature screenplays in funded development: the
political love story Come From Away; a feature film version of The King Hunt; and
Three Dogs Barking, a feature film adaptation of the acclaimed play by
Newfoundland playwright Frank Barry.
Justin runs PICTURE START at the Newfoundland Independent Filmmakers Co-operative (NIFCO), where he has shot, edited, and mentored more than forty films of varying styles and genres. He is a founding member of the Nickel Independent Film & Video Festival - a week-long non-profit event, now in its eighth year.
Currently, Justin is working with documentary filmmaker Gerry Rogers
(My Left Breast) on From Her Majesty’s Pen, a feature documentary following a
group of inmates as they write an anthology about incarceration. Shooting is ongoing.
Justin lives and breathes in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
Anna Petras (Producer)
Anna is a Producer, Production Manager, and co-owner of Newfound
Films Inc. After producing a string of highly regarded short films, advertising
campaigns, and lifestyle programs, Anna produced her first feature film Down to the Dirt in 2007, which will be released theatrically in Canada by Mongrel Media. Through Newfound Films she is developing several properties, including feature films, documentaries, and television projects.
As a much sought-after production manager Anna has overseen a host of documentaries for the National Film Board, CTV, and CBC, among others. In 2007 Anna began a position with Super Channel as the Creative Development Representative for Newfoundland and Labrador.
Anna is a dedicated advocate of the Film and TV industry and serves as Vice-President of the Producers Association of Newfoundland & Labrador (PAN), Vice-Chair of the St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival and is an active board member of the Newfoundland Independent Filmmakers Co-operative (NIFCO).
Anna is based in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.
Sherry White (Co-writer)
Sherry White was a performer and writer on the CBC series Hatching, Matching and Dispatching, and was the co-star/co-writer/co-creator of the CBC comedy pilot Rabbittown. She was also a writer on CBC’s one-hour drama series MVP: the Secret Lives of Hockey Wives. Sherry wrote and played the lead in the feature film The Breadmaker, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2003. She also co-wrote and performed in the feature Down to the Dirt. She has several feature films in development, including Maudie, a film inspired by the life of folk artist Maud Lewis, and is also the writer/director of the feature film Crackie, which goes to camera in fall, 2008. Her short film, Diamonds in a Bucket premiered at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival, and her short Spoiled, premieres at TIFF 2008. Sherry is currently writing an MOW for CTV called When Matt Became Jade, and has just joined the writing team for CBC’s comedy series Sophie.
Jordan Lynn (Director of Photography)
Jordan Lynn is a Director of Photography whose skills and creative vision have won awards for the films he has collaborated on. Lynn grew up in Ottawa, studying drawing at the Ottawa School of Art. He majored in cinematography at Ryerson University and for the last ten years has shot films, television and documentaries around North America.
2004’s C.F.C. short Milo 55160 won a Genie while the documentary The Alma Drawings won best short-medium length documentary at Hot Docs. Lynn then shot the I.F.C. channel’s first scripted TV show, a comedy set in Hollywood: The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman. He just finished the TV show Coldblood while wrapping post- production on his third feature: Down To The Dirt, set to premiere at T.I.F.F. 2008.
Mark Bragg (Composer & Original Songs)
Hailing from St. John’s, Newfoundland, Mark Bragg is a musician and narrative songwriter with a taste for the grit. His own flagship albums (The Reckless Kind and Bear Music) are critically acclaimed internationally, and with them, Bragg has toured extensively through Canada, Germany, and Ireland.
It is no wonder Bragg has been received so well across the pond; Crafting storylines and backdrops that are somehow close to home for us all, Bragg showcases the deepest and darkest of human tendencies, revealing in each of us what we are capable of, what we fail to do and what we fail to avoid. Bragg is as strong a storyteller as he is a musician. His music, though, tells the rest of the story – the parts words can’t suffice. It’s a story we all know. Bragg and his band of butchers will summon you to strut your stuff in this parade we call life.
Most recently, and most fittingly, Bragg scored and composed original songs for the buzzing Newfoundland feature film Down to the Dirt. These days, he’s close to home with his partner, Kerrie, and little girl, Jesse, performing regularly in St. John’s with his band of butchers, and enjoying the best summer St. John’s has seen in years.