Channel Zero is an independent Canadian media company that owns over-the-air channel CHCH-TV and specialty channels Rewind & Silver Screen Classics. Channel Zero’s digital sales agency Junction Digital offers advertisers marketing solutions on our owned and operated websites and social media platforms and beyond via our trading desk. The film division of Channel Zero features Ouat Media, an Academy Award® winning film sales and distribution company, and Channel Zero Studios, a creative production arm that brings scripted and unscripted projects to life with innovative partnerships. Channel Zero’s head office is located in Toronto, Ontario. For more information, please visit chz.com.
Romen Podzyhun
Chairman & C.E.O.
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C.J. (Cal) Millar
President & C.O.O.
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Chris Fuoco
VP, Sales & Marketing
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Romen Podzyhun is Chairman & CEO of Channel Zero Inc., a company he co-founded in 2000. He is also Corporate Head of News and Drama Programming for Movieola, Silver Screen Classics, REWIND, CHCH, Ouat Media and Channel Zero Studios. He applies his knowledge of film by serving on film festival juries and panels worldwide.
Cal Millar serves as President of Channel Zero Inc., a company he co-founded in 2000.
Mr. Millar holds a graduate degree in Business Administration from the Schulich School of Business and brings 30+ years’ experience in finance and investor relations, business operations and development opportunities to Channel Zero.
Prior to founding Channel Zero, Mr. Millar served as the President of Impact Graffiti Inc – a Toronto-based advertising agency and held senior roles with both private and publicly-traded companies such as Frisco Bay Industries where he served as Vice President and General Manager.
With an internationally-recognized ICD.D. Designation, Mr. Millar is an active member of the board for ThinkTV, Lake of Bays Brewing, and serves as Chair for the Local Independent Television Services Group.
Mr. Millar has also served on numerous For and Not-For-Profit boards, including Holland Bloorview and YMCA.
Chris Fuoco holds the position of Vice-President, Sales and Marketing for Channel Zero, where he is responsible for leading all of the revenue generating aspects for the business.
Prior to joining Channel Zero, Mr. Fuoco was Vice President, Distribution and Account Management at Alliance Atlantis and Canwest. At Alliance Atlantis, Chris successfully negotiated multi-year distribution agreements with Canada's cable, satellite and Telco companies and oversaw the development and execution of strategic marketing programs that drove subscription growth on many of Canada's most watched specialty channels.
Mr. Fuoco has held Marketing roles with prominent companies including Bell ExpressVu, AT&T Canada, and Procter & Gamble, where he has always been involved in sales, marketing, and new business development. Chris was one of the founding members of the Marketing team that launched Bell ExpressVu satellite television in 1997 and grew it to become Canada's largest digital TV provider, surpassing 1 million subscribers, in less than 5 years.
Mr. Fuoco has an HBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business and has attended Executive Leadership programs at Ivey and the Harvard Business School. He lives in Toronto, is an avid kayaking enthusiast, and spends as much time as he can at the rink coaching and playing hockey.
Geoff Thrasher
General Sales Manager
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Greg O’Brien brings over 30 years of journalism experience to his role as News Director of Channel Zero and CHCH TV. Within those 30 years, 24 have been immersed in the Canadian cable, radio, television, and telecom sectors. At CHCH, he provides ongoing leadership of the region’s most-watched television product, leading the on-air activity of CHCH’s newsroom, and will also be responsible for developing new content streams and focusing on digital audience development for Channel Zero.
O’Brien launched Cartt.ca in May 2005, a digital outlet that quickly became a news leader for the Canadian media industry. Cartt.ca offers needed intelligence geared specifically towards the men and women working in the intertwined industries of cable, radio, television, and telecom in Canada.
A Hamiltonian since 1994, Greg has always admired the tenacious, creative, vibe of the city and has enjoyed exploring Burlington, Oakville, St Catharines, Niagara, Brantford and the surrounding regions.
Jennifer Chen is the Head of Studios, VP of Content managing development and content investment for Channel Zero Studios. She was formerly the VP of Programming for the suite of Channel Zero broadcasting services including acquisitions and original programming for CHCH, Silver Screen Classics and Rewind. She began her Channel Zero career as the General Manager of Ouat Media, managing one of the largest distribution companies specializing in the acquisition, distribution and sales of short form content internationally.
Prior to joining Channel Zero, Jennifer studied cinema at the Sorbonne in Paris before returning to Canada, where she worked in feature film production and produced her own short films. After university, Jennifer spent several years in the account management group at Hewlett Packard; then extended her business acumen to include: sales and festival distribution of films at the CFC (Canadian Film Centre); and, public relations and communications at the Cannes Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival. Jennifer has shared her knowledge of the film industry with audiences at film festivals around the world, consulted on distribution strategies for award-winning shorts, and published papers on the subject.
Serving as General Sales Manager of Channel Zero Inc, Geoff Thrasher is responsible for revenue generation for CHCH, Silver Screen Classics and Rewind.
Mr. Thrasher has been the driving force behind the sales team for CHCH since 2002, and has continued to spearhead this aspect of the organization under the Channel Zero ownership. His leadership in Operations, Resource Management, Revenue Management and the Sales & Marketing area of the business, make him an invaluable part of the management team. Prior to this, Mr. Thrasher spent several years as the Director, Sales & Marketing at CBC News World.
Mr. Thrasher attended Fanshawe College where he majored in TV and Radio Broadcasting and has served as an advisor and speaker for many professional associations. In addition, Mr. Thrasher is the past President of the Canadian Association of Specialty TV, the past President of the Broadcast Executive Society, and a past board member of the Retail Advertising Council of Canada as well as the Ontario Association of Broadcasters. Currently, Mr. Thrasher sits on the board of the Canadian Association of Broadcast Representatives.
Wayne Rabishaw
Director, Broadcast Operations
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Brian Boyle serves as Vice President of Operations at Channel Zero Inc. Mr. Boyle is responsible for supervising Channel Zero’s broadcast operations, IT infrastructure and telecommunications services.
Mr. Boyle is in charge of administering the broadcast operations of Channel Zero’s clients which include but are not limited to: REWIND, Silver Screen Classics, AOV, CHCH as well as our World Media lineup of channels. Brian Boyle managed and supervised the construction and renovation of Channel Zero’s new building which dates back to 1910.
Mr. Boyle has been in the broadcast industry for more than 25 years, and has been involved in all aspects of broadcast operation from Master Control to Directing to the designing and building of stations.
Mr. Boyle enjoys the challenge of producing quality television in new and cutting edge ways as technology evolves.
Mr. Boyle was nominated for a Gemini Award in the Best Audio for Band performance category.
Wayne Rabishaw serves as Director of the Broadcast Operations area of CHCH TV in Hamilton, which was acquired by Channel Zero Inc., on August 30th, 2009.
Mr. Rabishaw is in the unique position of having worked over 39 years for the same institution, beginning his career in the Properties Department at CHCH in 1982, the same year he graduated from the Mohawk College Television Broadcasting program. He moved on from his first few years of sweeping floors, pulling cables, and filling water glasses to the responsibilities of Program Editor, Videotape Operator, Mobile Production Supervisor, Operations Supervisor, Broadcast Operations Manager, and in September 2011, became Director of Operations.
Highlights during his career so far include being the Technical Director (TD) on the Swimming & Diving crew at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria B.C.; Technical Director on the World Figure Skating crew for the 1999 event in Helsinki, Finland and for 2000 in Nice, France; TD on the Curling crew at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake as well as TD on the Beach Volleyball and Weight lifting crew at the 2003 Pan Am Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
In his current position, Mr. Rabishaw oversees the News Operations department, facilities, and eight transmitter sites. For the past five years he has been hands-on working towards building a new television facility in Hamilton for CHCH, overseeing the upgrading of six transmitter sites, and helping design a 26-foot state-of-the-art production mobile scheduled to be on the road in 2021.
Cathy Mewett serves as Financial Controller at Channel Zero Inc., where she oversees all accounting and administrative functions at Channel Zero Inc.
Ms. Mewett holds an undergraduate degree in Business Administration and is a Certified Management Accountant. Joining Channel Zero Inc. in 2004, Ms. Mewett brought with her over 15 years of diverse business experience including financial management, human resources, strategic business planning and performance management for small to medium sized firms.
Bruce Cowley
Director, Human Resources
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Inga Diev
General Manager, Ouat Media
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Sonya Davidson
Director, Programming
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Bruce Cowley serves as the Director of Human Resources for Channel Zero Inc., where he oversees all the HR functions for the Channel Zero group of companies.
As a Certified Human Resources Leader, Mr. Cowley has developed an extensive background in a variety of sectors. With over 25 years of direct management and related leadership experience, Mr. Cowley brings solid business acumen to Channel Zero in the areas of Health & Safety, Employee and Labour Relations, Organizational Learning and Development, Recruitment and Retention, and Policy Development.
Inspired by the people and company culture, Mr. Cowley takes great pleasure in his role supporting the high-performing, creative and successful workforce that drives the Channel Zero group of companies.
Inga Diev serves as the General Manager of Ouat Media, a Toronto-based international sales and distribution company specializing in short films. To date, Ouat Media has represented twelve Academy Award® nominated short films including three winners. In her role, Inga is responsible for the company’s business operations and oversees all film sales and acquisitions.
Prior to joining Ouat Media, Inga spent over a decade working in film production and broadcast programming, most recently, at Sundance Channel Canada.
Inga shares her expertise of the film industry by chairing in festival juries and participating in guest panels around the world, including the Toronto International Film Festival and Cannes Film Festival. For over six years, she has also served on the Board of Canadian Filmmakers’ Distribution Centre, Canada’s foremost non-commercial distributor and resource for independently produced film.
Inga is a graduate of York University (BFA in Film Production) and University of Oxford (MSt in Film Aesthetics).
Sonya Davidson serves as the Director of Programming for Channel Zero Inc. She oversees all acquired and original programming for the Channel Zero broadcast services, including CHCH, Silver Screen Classics and Rewind. Since joining Channel Zero, Ms. Davidson has worked in content strategy, original production, compliance and scheduling capacities.
Ms. Davidson is also the Executive Producer for Inside the Story, CHCH’s daily news magazine program that takes an in-depth look at hard-hitting news, entertainment and the stories in between.
Ms. Davidson holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Carleton University and a Business Management certificate from the University of Toronto.
Steve Macfarlane
VP, Junction Digital
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Scott Barry
Director, Operations
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Steve Macfarlane manages Junction Digital Inc., Channel Zero's digital marketing agency. Junction Digital provides a full range of online marketing services to clients including search engine marketing, social media marketing, programmatic advertising and website development. Mr. Macfarlane previously held senior management roles at AutoTrader.ca, Canada's leading online automotive marketplace and Suite 66, a national digital sales agency that represents a variety of well known website publishers, selling their ad inventory to advertising agencies across Canada.
Mr. Macfarlane has worked in the digital advertising industry for over 20 years. His experience includes the launch of Toronto.com at TorStar and the launch of beer.com, the digital marketing team at Labatt Breweries.
