Jay Firestone (born 13 October 1956) is a Canadian

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

and

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon acce ...

Personal

Growing up in a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Firestone was the third child of six born to

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

parents

Esther Esther (; ), originally Hadassah (; ), is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. According to the biblical narrative, which is set in the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus falls in love with Esther and ma ...

, the first female cantor in Canada, and Paul. He attended

Hamilton's Buck Meadows (formerly Hamilton's and Hamilton's Station) is a census-designated place in Mariposa County, California, United States. The community is located east-northeast of Smith Peak, at an elevation of . The population was 21 at the 2020 c ...

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood, Ontario, Ainslie Wood and Westdale, Ontario, Westd ...

, graduating in 1979 with a degree in

commerce Commerce is the organized Complex system, system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions that directly or indirectly contribute to the smooth, unhindered large-scale exchange (distribution through Financial transaction, transactiona ...

and aspirations for accounting and business. After wedding

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

student Sherry Barad and earning his CA a few years later, Firestone joined accounting firm Peat, Marwick, Mitchell and Co.

Career

In 1985, disenchanted with accounting, Firestone helped found

Alliance Communications An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

with four of Canada's top producers. Firestone began as chief financial officer and set up a tax-shelter lucrative financing arm. He rose to Vice-Chairman, overseeing world operations. In 1995, he left after falling out with Lantos over company direction. Firestone cashed in his company interests, leaving with film and television credits such as

ReBoot In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...

, for which he received a

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in t ...

for "Best Animation Series.". Days after his one-year

non-compete clause In contract law, a non-compete clause (often NCC), restrictive covenant, or covenant not to compete (CNC), is a clause under which one party (usually an employee) agrees not to enter into or start a similar profession or trade in competition again ...

expired, he bought SkyVision Entertainment (the film and television production arm of Labatt Breweries of Canada,) through his newly created company, Fireworks Entertainment, Inc. He attributed the name to his own surname and the exploding film and television industry. He thus acquired 170 program episodes, including reality police series ''

Secret Service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For i ...

'', and '' RoboCop: The Series'', based on

RoboCop ''RoboCop'' is a 1987 American Science fiction film, science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner. The film stars Peter Weller, Nancy Allen (actress), Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy, Dani ...

1987 film. A year later, Fireworks neared $100 million in production through television series '' La Femme Nikita'', '' F/X: The Series'' and '' Pacific Blue''. In Fall 1997, he took Fireworks public, then sold to

CanWest Global Communications Canwest Global Communications Corporation, which operated under the corporate name Canwest, was a major Canadian media conglomerate based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with its head offices at Canwest Place (now called 201 Portage). It held radio, t ...

for over $60 million, making CanWest the sole shareholder and Firestone the chairman and CEO of Canwest Entertainment. He was a finalist for the 1998 Ontario Entrepreneur of the Year. Firestone was involved in over 20 film and television projects over the next five years. He made films such as ''

Rat Race A rat race is a metaphor used to describe an endless, self-defeating, or pointless pursuit. The phrase is sometimes used to relate the human life to that of rats attempting to earn an ultimately pointless reward when Mortality salience, death ...

'', '' Hardball'' and '' Rules of Engagement'', television shows ''

Relic Hunter ''Relic Hunter'' is a Canadian adventure television series, starring Tia Carrere and Christien Anholt. It centres on Sydney Fox, a professor who is also a globe-trotting "relic hunter" who looks for ancient artifacts to return to museums and ...

'', ''

Queen of Swords The Queen of Swords is a card in the suit of swords, part of the Minor Arcana set of the tarot. Interpretations * The Queen of Swords traditionally corresponds to the roles of widow, crone, and divorcée. She is seen to have very high standa ...

'', ''

Adventure Inc. ''Adventure Inc.'' is a dramatised adventure television series produced primarily in Canada which aired from 30 September 2002 to 12 May 2003. It was a co-production of Fireworks Entertainment (Canada), Tribune Entertainment (United States), M6 ...

'', '' Mutant X'' and '' Andromeda''. The independent film '' The Believer'' won the

Saint George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

prize for "Best Film" at the 23rd

Moscow International Film Festival The Moscow International Film Festival (, Transliteration, translit. ''Moskóvskiy myezhdunaródniy kinofyestivál''; abbreviated as MIFF) is a film festival first held in Moscow in 1935 and became regular since 1959. From its inception to ...

. CanWest founder

Izzy Asper Israel Harold "Izzy" Asper (August 11, 1932 – October 7, 2003) was a Canadian tax lawyer and media magnate. He was the founder and owner of the now-defunct TV and media company CanWest Global Communications Corp and father to its former CE ...

fell ill and his son

Leonard Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English language, English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate from the Old High German ''Leonhard'' containing the prefix ''levon'' ("lion") from the Greek wikt:Λέων#Greek, Λ ...

became CEO in time for downsizing, along with the industry. Firestone left the company in May 2003 along with Fireworks Pictures president Daniel Diamond, and was replaced by Gerry Noble, former CEO of

Global TV The Global Television Network (more commonly called Global, or occasionally Global TV) is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. It is currently Canada's second most-watched private terrestrial television network after ...

. Firestone honored his one-year non-compete clause. In April 2005,

Canwest Global Canwest Global Communications Corporation, which operated under the corporate name Canwest, was a major Canadian media conglomerate based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with its head offices at Canwest Place (now called 201 Portage). It held radio, ...

sold the name and film and television library to ContentFilm, a British company. From 14 March 2011, the name Fireworks became defunct, re-branded Content Television under the umbrella Content Media Corporation PLC. Firestone next founded ''Prodigy Pictures''. ''Stuck'', a horror film released in 2007, starring

Mena Suvari Mena Alexandra Suvari (; born February 13, 1979) is an American actress, producer, fashion designer and model. The accolades she has received include a Screen Actors Guild Awards, Screen Actors Guild Award, along with nominations for a Primetime ...

and

Stephen Rea Stephen Rea ( ; born October 31, 1946) is an Irish actor. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, he began his career as a member of Dublin's Focus Theatre, and played many roles on the stage and on Irish television. He came to the attention of inte ...

, tells the true story of a man hit by a car and left for dead in the driver's garage. A mini-series out of the popular comic book series

XIII XIII may refer to: * 13 (number) or XIII in Roman numerals * 13th century in Roman numerals * ''XIII'' (comics), a Belgian comic book series by Jean Van Hamme and William Vance ** ''XIII'' (2003 video game), a 2003 video game based on the comic b ...

was released in 2008, starring

Stephen Dorff Stephen Hartley Dorff Jr. (born July 29, 1973) is an American actor. Starting his film career as a child appearing in the Cult following, cult horror (genre), horror film ''The Gate (1987 film), The Gate'' (1987), Dorff first rose to prominence ...

, then a 13-episode follow-up series starred

Stuart Townsend Stuart Townsend (born 15 December 1972) is an Irish actor. He portrayed Lestat de Lioncourt in the film adaptation of Anne Rice's '' Queen of the Damned'' (2002), and Dorian Gray in Alan Moore's '' The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'' (20 ...

. The series aired in France on Canal Plus in 2011 and on Showcase in Canada in spring 2011. Firestone produced the supernatural series ''Lost Girl'', starring Anna Silk, which broke Showcase's viewing records for Canadian scripted series premiere when it premiered in 2010. ''Lost Girl'' ran for five seasons, the final season airing in 2015 in Canada on Showcase. The popular show aired in several countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Portugal, and Brazil. Firestone was a producer on the TV show ''

Dark Matter In astronomy, dark matter is an invisible and hypothetical form of matter that does not interact with light or other electromagnetic radiation. Dark matter is implied by gravity, gravitational effects that cannot be explained by general relat ...

'', which is based on a comic book series created by writers

Joseph Mallozzi Joseph Mallozzi (born 16 October 1965) is a Canadian writer and producer. He is most noted for his contributions to the ''Stargate SG-1'', '' Stargate: Atlantis'' and '' Stargate Universe'' television series and as showrunner of ''Dark Matter''. ...

and

Paul Mullie Paul Mullie is a screenwriter and producer. He is credited for writing episodes of ''Stargate Atlantis'', '' Largo Winch'', and ''Stargate SG-1''. He has also worked as executive producer on ''Stargate: Atlantis'' and is the co-creator of ''Dark M ...

Dark Matter (comics) ''Dark Matter'' is an American four-issue science fiction comic book series created by writers Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie. The story follows six individuals who wake up in a spacecraft with no memory of their past. The concept was originally ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Firestone, Jay Film producers from Ontario Canadian television producers 1956 births Canadian accountants Chief financial officers Businesspeople from Toronto McMaster University alumni Living people Jewish Canadian film people