At our Water Street head office, Omni Film has a dedicated staff of 25 people responsible for development, financing, overseeing productions and managing business affairs.
Michael Chechik – President and Executive Producer
Brian Hamilton – Vice President and Executive Producer
Gabriela Schonbach – Vice President and Executive Producer
Heather Hawthorn-Doyle - Executive Producer, Lifestyle
David Gullason - Executive Producer, Factual
During production, Omni opens a separate production office nearby, which handles the project’s pre-production, production and post-production. At any one time, Omni has anywhere between one and seven production offices open, staffed by contractors who may number into the hundreds during peak periods.
Michael Chechik – President and Executive Producer
Michael Chechik president of Omni Film Productions Ltd., Water Street Pictures Ltd., and Water Street Releasing Ltd., has been an independent producer and director of documentaries, television series and dramatic productions since 1975.
Michael was an executive producer on Defying Gravity, a 13-part space drama with Fox Television Studios for ABC, CTV, Space, BBC and ProSieben. Michael’s dramatic mini series Dragon Boys, about Asian gangs, recently won two Geminis: for Best Dramatic Mini Series and Best Writing in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series. His popular teen drama, Edgemont, ran for five seasons on CBC and aired on ABC Family Channel in the U.S., Channel 5 in the U.K., and on many networks world-wide. Michael also discovered Kristin Kreuk who went on to star in Smallville. He was executive producer of the children’s television series The Odyssey, broadcast in over 60 countries and recipient of numerous prestigious awards including an International Emmy Award nomination, a Gemini Award for Best Youth Programme, and a Worldfest Gold Award at the Houston International Film Festival.
Michael’s success also extends to factual series. He produced the long-running series, Champions of the Wild, a 65-part series starring scientists and the animals they save from extinction.
Michael received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at the University of British Columbia.
Brian Hamilton – Vice President and Executive Producer
Brian Hamilton joined Omni Film Productions in 1994. Since then he has produced or executive produced more than 40 projects representing 160 hours of broadcast programming for Omni, where he is now Vice President and one of four partners.
Brian was an Executive Producer of Defying Gravity, along with Michael Chechik, Jim Parriott (Grey’s Anatomy) and Michael Edelstein (Desperate Housewives). Brian is also involved as an executive producer on three series produced by Omni’s Lifestyle division: Pure Design for HGTV Canada, Word Travels for OLN and Smart Cookies for W Network. He was also recently Executive Producer of Shock/Wave, a two-hour documentary special for CBC. Brian manages Omni Post, a busy facility which handles end-to-end post production for Omni projects.
Recent programs which Brian executive produced and/or produced include: three seasons of Robson Arms, CTV’s critically acclaimed dramedy; Make Some Noise, a 13-part music/activism series for CBC which recently won the Gemini for Best Youth Non-Fiction series, as well as the Shaw Rocket Prize, and the prestigious Japan Prize for Youth Programming; This Space for Rent, a comedy series pilot for CBC; Alice I Think, a 13-part prime-time comedy series for CTV and Comedy Network; The Terry Fox Legacy, a 1-hour documentary for CTV; Ancient Clues for Discovery Channel; and 39 half-hour episodes of Healthy Home for HGTV.
Brian holds a First Class Honours Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Systems Design Engineering from the University of Waterloo, and received his television training from the Banff Centre for the Arts.
Gabriela Schonbach – Vice President and Executive Producer
Gabriela Schonbach is Vice President and Executive Producer at Omni Film Productions. As one of three managing partners, she is involved in all aspects of drama and factual development, production and distribution at Omni. She is currently executive producing Ice Pilots NWT, a new hit 1 hour factual series for History Television, now in its second season. She has recently wrapped production on two CBC documentaries: Cannabiz and he Dolphin Dealer as well as the 4 x 1 hour factual series System Crash for CLT, recently acquired by the Smithsonian Networks. Gabriela is currently developing two scripted series: Switched At Birth, a half-hour comedy series for CBC, and Arranged, a half-hour comedy series for Showcase.
Past productions include Alice, I Think, a 13-part prime-time comedy series for CTV and The Comedy Network; Shimmy, a 26 episode dance series for Discovery Health, and Stuntdawgs, a Gemini award winning 13-part action/factual series for Movie Central and The Movie Network now airing across Discovery Europe. Gabriela also executive produced Slammin’ Iron, the first CBC documentary filmed and finished in HD. Previously, she created and produced the multiple award winning wellness series Quiet Places and Quiet Mind, and produced the highly successful and innovative 26 episode yoga series Namaste.
Gabriela began her career working as a photojournalist in Washington, D.C. where she earned a B.Sc. degree at Georgetown University.
Heather Hawthorn-Doyle - Executive Producer, Lifestyle
An experienced award-winning producer/director, Heather has been responsible for thousands of hours of programming including the Gemini-nominated She's Crafty (23x30), a hip, young craft series for HGTV; Word Travels (40x30), a unique docu-soap that looks at the lives behind the bylines of two of Canada’s top travel writers for OLN and Nat Geo Adventure; Smart Cookies (26x30) a smart money series for W Network; Pure Design (26x30) a ‘green’ design series for HGTV hosted by Style at Home magazine design editor Samantha Pynn. Heather also produced CBC's Make Some Noise, winner of the $50,000 Shaw Rocket Prize, the Gemini for Best Youth Series, the internationally acclaimed NHK Japan Prize and was short listed for the Prix Jeunesse.
Before she came to Omni Film, Heather successfully helmed the multiple award-winning lifestyle series The Shopping Bags for W Network and Fine Living USA, directed and produced thousands of hours of diverse programming from award shows, to talk shows, to game shows, to sporting events, and as the Senior Director, was part of the original team who started Vancouver Television, the CTV broadcast affiliate.
David Gullason - Executive Producer, Factual
David is currently producing the second season of Ice Pilots NWT, a 26 x 1 hour factual series for History Television. Previous credits include producing the 4 x 1 hour factual series System Crash for CLT, Stuntdawgs, a Gemini-award winning series about stuntmen for the Movie Network, the wilderness series Wild at Heart which was nominated for the Japan Prize, the Gemini-nominated History Television feature Icebound, the first season of TLC’s Untold Stories of the ER, three seasons of Discovery’s Storm Warning, the special effects series Cinema Secrets for American Movie Classics/Movie Network and the two hour special Space Medicine for Discovery Health. He has produced and/or written a string of documentary series and specials as a supervising producer at Alliance Atlantis’ FACT unit in Vancouver.
Other credits include a one hour documentary Blind Hope (about the quest for artificial vision) and the four-part series Medical Profile for Discovery Health, and Simon and the Spirit Bear for National Geographic Channel. His shows have won top prizes at the Columbus Film and Video Festival, Jules Verne Adventure Film Festival in Paris, the New York and Houston Festivals and at the Geminis, Canadian TV’s top prize.
David has degrees from the University of Toronto and Ryerson University.