Maxine Bailey

Maxine Bailey is a Canadian film industry executive, who is the current executive director of the Canadian Film Centre.[1]

Career

She began her career in theatre, collaborating with Sharon Lewis on the play Sistahs in 1994.[2] The two subsequently launched their own theatre company, Sugar & Spice Productions,[3] through which bailey received a Dora Mavor Moore Award nomination for Outstanding Direction in a Play, Small Theatre in 1996 for the company's production of Bryan James's Stockholm(e).[4]

In 1999 she served as director of the Guest Services office for the 1999 Toronto International Film Festival,[5] remaining with the festival in various senior roles, becoming best known as the festival's vice-president of fundraising and advancement in the 2010s.[6] During her time with the festival, she also played a key role in spearheading the Share Her Journey campaign to improve conditions for women in the film industry.[7]

After leaving TIFF in 2018 she served on the jury for that year's Giller Prize.[8] She has also served on the boards of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, The Walrus and the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund,[9] and was a co-founder of Black Artists Network in Dialogue.[10]

She joined the Canadian Film Centre in 2021.[10]

Awards

In 2019, she received a Special Jury Award of Distinction from the Toronto chapter of Women in Film and Television International.[9]

In 2026, the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television named bailey the recipient of its special Changemaker Award at the 14th Canadian Screen Awards.[11]

References

  1. ^ Jordan Pinto, "maxine bailey wants to do a ‘damn good job’". Playback, September 15, 2021.
  2. ^ Vit Wagner, "Ingredients all there but Sistahs isn't soup yet". Toronto Star, October 23, 1994.
  3. ^ Amanda Parris, "31 Black Canadian female playwrights you need to know". CBC Arts, March 6, 2020.
  4. ^ Geoff Chapman, "Canadian Stage, Tarragon lead Dora nominations". Toronto Star, May 17, 1996.
  5. ^ Rob Salem, "Do you wish to stumble upon a star? Up Front ; Forget it at Toronto's film fest where Hollywood babes are pampered". Toronto Star, September 9, 1999.
  6. ^ Chaka V. Grier, "Local hero: TIFF’s maxine bailey sets out on a creative journey". Now, October 29, 2018.
  7. ^ Kate Taylor, "TIFF 2018: At Share Her Journey rally, women point to an inequality problem - and offer ways to fix it: Rally sets out to help address gender imbalance on film sets, where the large majority of directors and writers are men". The Globe and Mail, September 8, 2018.
  8. ^ "Esi Edugyan, Patrick DeWitt back as Giller prize nominees". St. Catharines Standard, October 2, 2018.
  9. ^ a b Connie Thiessen, "Esta Spalding, Mary Young Leckie among WIFT-T Crystal Award honourees". Broadcast Dialogue, October 23, 2019.
  10. ^ a b Connie Thiessen, "maxine bailey appointed CFC executive director". Broadcast Dialogue, April 29, 2021.
  11. ^ Nick Logan, "Mike Myers, Hazel Mae among recipients of special 2026 Canadian Screen Awards honours". CBC News, March 4, 2026.