Tony Papa, established producer, director and editor has always placed creativity in the forefront of his life and his career. He spent 7 years in New York studying music, dance, acting, film production and photography and combined his knowledge to create music videos. His talents soon caught the eye of Dire Straights front man Mark Knopfler, who hired Papa to direct the music video for their #1 hit Private Investigations.
Followed up soon there after with another music video for Huey Lewis and the News (Heart of Rock and Roll). Papa soon found himself in Los Angeles making short films. Refining his skills in Vancouver, Papa developed a form of storytelling he called the "Musimentary", which combines music video with documentary to tell a larger story. One Musimentary entitled "Beauty and the Beast: Ocean Falls", garnered a Much Music Video award in 1995.
Papa furthered his experimentation in a long form experiential film entitled "Traveler" scored by world renowned flutist, Paul Horn which premiered on Bravo and won "Best Cinematography" at the Toronto Short Film Festival. In 1996 Tony Papa formed Avanti Pictures and soon won the Best Artistic Film at the Hot Docs festival (1997) for performance documentary "True Prince: Vladimir Malakhov".
Some recent projects include Suzuki Speaks, a powerful resentation of one of Canada‚s most radical thinkers, scientists, and environmentalists. WorkLoveWorldLove, a journey of children's words and art, sent in response to the children of tsunami-stricken Kalmunai, Sri Lanka and the critically acclaimed music special Kathaumixw: A Thousand Voices, A Single Passion, a stunning visual and musical explosion of choral musc and song nominated for a Leo Award.
Papa is committed to innovation. His development slate includes feature films, dramatic series, lifestyle documentaries and arts specials, all of which push boundaries with the unique spark that has come to be associated with the work of Tony Papa.
