Anne Pick is an award-winning independent producer, director, writer and story editor. Her passion for story telling began as a teenager writing for her father’s country newspaper in South Australia. This led to a career in journalism in Australia and later with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation current affairs unit, and then as an independent documentary director and producer based in Toronto, Canada.
Under her company banner Real to Reel Productions, Anne has a reputation for engaging and popular, character driven productions in a variety of genres. She says learning to write from the front to the back pages of a newspaper ingrained a broad interest in subject matter from social and political issues, to history, the environment and wildlife, science and the arts.
Always an innovator with ideas ahead of the curve, she was one of the first to switch from film to tape with a ground breaking doc series on multiculturalism at the CBC called Canadians, and when CBC’s first specialty channel Newsworld launched, Anne produced its first doc series, Our Stories featuring stories of second generation immigrants and their family’s roles in building the country. She and two partners also launched one of Canada’s first Cable Networks (Life) with a high rating, award-winning series, Harrowsmith Country Life, in the brand new genre at the time called, ‘lifestyle’. They were producing ‘green’ programming before the phrase was coined. This was also the first specialty channel production to win a major award, the Cable Ace. Anne also produced the first official documentary treaty co-production between Canada and Australia, Helen’s War: Portrait of a Dissident about anti nuclear activist Helen Calidcott which won many awards including the Australian equivalent of the Oscars.
Anne continues to work with international co-production partners and recently completed a film with German partners called Gambling on Extinction about the poaching crisis in Africa, which is driving elephant and rhino populations to extinction. The film has pre-sold to 16 countries and brought in over capacity audiences at the many Festivals it has been invited to. It has also won several prestigious European Envronmental film awards, including the Prince Rainier III award for outstanding environmental program at the 2016 Monte Carlo Television Festival. The film has also been screened in the German Parliament prior to a discussion about whether or not to ban the importation of ivory products.
Her many Awards include a Canadian Gemini, an Australian AFI, a Chinese Golden Panda, Columbus Chris Awards and her programs have been screened at Festivals and distributed widely around the world.
Credits include: No Limits; A Different Drummer: celebrating eccentrics which screened at Hot Docs in 2015; Animism: People Who Love Objects; Iris Chang: The Rape of Nanking; Ronnie Hawkins: Still Alive and Kickin’; The Bunny Years; Yours Al; Helen Caldicott: Portrait of a Dissident; the Notorious Mrs. Dick and Ryan’s Well. Series include: Out in the Cold; Harrowsmith Country Life; Foodstuff and Fire Station.
Anne made a commitment to the independent community from the beginning and has been at the forefront of advocacy and lobbying efforts to promote and protect the documentary genre with broadcasters and at all levels of government. She has also been very generous with her time within the community mentoring young filmmakers and offering advice and consultation. No matter how busy, her door has always been open. This was reflected in her being given the coveted Don Haig Award at Hot Docs in 2015.
Anne was a founding Board member, and former co-chair of Hot Docs and is currently Vice Chair of the Documentary Organization of Canada and on the Board of ImagineNative the internationally acclaimed indigenous film and media festival. She was also a founding board member of the Children’s Aid Society Foundation and contributing board member for over 10 years helping to create the now renowned Teddy Bear Affair annual fundraiser.
ANNE PICK ; Selected Filmography:
DOCUMENTARY
Director
Iris Chang: The Rape of Nanking
Ronnie Hawkins: Still Alive and Kickin’
Notorious Mrs. Dick
The Bunny Years (and writer)
Labour of Love: life and times of Buzz Hargrove (and writer)
Jan Arden: a work in progress (and writer)
Sandy Hawley: the Gentleman Jockey (and writer)
Moe Norman: the King of Swing (and writer)
Getting Out (and writer)
Out of Sync: Racism in the media (and writer)
Speak Out (Co- Director, writer)
Producer
Gambling on Extinction
A Different Drummer: celebrating eccentrics
No Limits
Animism: People Who Love Objects
Iris Chang: The Rape of Nanking
Ronnie Hawkins: Still Alive and Kickin’
The Prince of Pot: the U.S.vs Marc Emery (and co-writer)
Yours Al
Follow Your Dreams
Notorious Mrs. Dick
The Bunny Years
Helen Caldicott: Portrait of a Dissident
Ryan’s Well
Labour of Love: life and times of Buzz Hargrove
Jan Arden: a work in progress
Sandy Hawley: the Gentleman Jockey
Moe Norman: the King of Swing
Getting Out
Hearing Voices: The lives and times of Rich Little
Out of Sync: Racism in the media
Speak Out
Story Editor
Gambling on Extinction
A Different Drummer: celebrating eccentrics
No Limits
Animism: People Who Love Objects
A Murder of Crows
Racoon Nation
Iris Chang: The Rape of Nanking
The Prince of Pot: the U.S.vs Marc Emery
Follow Your Dreams
Helen Caldicott: Portrait of a Dissident
Ryan’s Well
Hearing Voices: The lives and times of Rich Little
Speak Out
FACTUAL/DOC SERIES:
Redemption Inc (Story Editor)
Natural Born Dealers (Story Editor)
Cash and Cari (Story Editor)
Out in the Cold (Executive Producer, Producer, Story Editor)
Harrowsmith Country Life (Executive Producer, Producer, Director, Story Edito, Writer)
Foodstuff (Executive Producer, Producer, Director, Story Editor)
Fire Station (Executive Producer, Producer)
Money$worth (Producer)
Q&A (Producer, co-Writer)
Our Stories (Producer, Story Editor, writer)
Market Place (Producer, Director, Writer)
Canadians (Executive Producer, Producer, story editor)