Greg Donis (freelance producer/director)
With a cinematic eye, a strong hold on story telling and an offbeat sense of humour, Greg is a multitalented director/producer with 12 years of experience working on documentary, lifestyle, reality, animation and gaming projects. His work has been on a variety of networks such as FOX, ABC, YTV, CBC, Global, MTV and includes award winning titles such as the animated TV series Beast Machines ‘Transformers’. His directing credits include Anne Murray ‘The Music of My Life’which broke rating records for CBC, Bryan Adams lifetime achievement tribute that was featured at the 2006 Juno Awards, Gordie Howe ‘Mr. Hockey’ which was the highest rated Life and Times of the season, and Making The Cut V2 ‘Last Man Standing’, a reality series featuring the best-unsigned hockey players in North America competing for a pro contract.
Greg’s career started in 1995 by earning a degree in Motion Pictures and Television from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, California. It’s from there he soon moved to Las Vegas, Nevada where he joined the post-production team for Post Digital and edited several commercials and music videos for clients such as MGM Mirage and the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
In 1997 he turned his focus toward his directing career and was recruited by Mainframe Entertainment based out of Vancouver, British Columbia. He was one of the key members making animation history with Reboot, the first all-CGI animated TV series. During Greg’s 5 years with Mainframe Entertainment he was part of a team that won numerous industry awards and directed several animated TV series, including the highly rated Action Man and Heavy Gear which both utilized motion capture.
During 2001 Greg moved to Orlando Florida where he was part of Electronic Arts’ producing team for Madden NFL Football and NASCAR. Greg’s team developed and produced a new look, feel and game play for both games while the effort showed as Madden NFL Football won several awards and became the second highest selling video game that year. To this day it continues to be the highest revenue generating game series while NASCAR has been a strong game title in it’s own right.
Moving back to Vancouver in 2003 Greg worked on a variety of projects including the CBC series called The Week The Women Went for Paperny Films in 2007. This was an ambitious series that explores what happens when all the women in an ordinary Canadian town leave for seven days. Fast-forward a year and you’ll find Greg heading into post-production for the TV series he created called XS4Play, airing spring of 2009. This 6-part docudrama hit the road for 3000 miles, tore up 16 wild towns and cities and found out what Extreme really means - Back Yard Wrestling in Los Angeles, Drag Racing at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Surfing in Santa Cruz, MC Battles in the heart of San Francisco, this is one road trip you won’t want to miss!
Throughout the years Greg has gained a broad range of experience and has excellent people, editorial management skills, and a proven track record in taking ideas from conception to completion.