Helen Hatzis

Helen Hatzis is from the suburbs of Toronto, Ontario. From a very early age, she enjoyed and excelled at the arts. In high school, she graduated with the prestigious media arts award. In university, she discovered her love of directing through the tutelage of well known Canadian theatre dramaturge Svetlana Zylin. While at Glendon College of York University, she went on to direct Samuel Beckett's End Game and The Trial of Judith K by Sally Clark. Helen honed her directing and producing sensibilities at the prestigious University of Southern California's Film & Television program. While there, she nurtured and expanded her passion for directing through the guidance of directors Richard Donner and Ron Howard. Helen returned to Canada to further her skills at the Vancouver Film School where she left early to begin work on her first feature film production as a continuity script supervisor - a job she learned over a weekend by reading Script Supervision and Film Continuity. Working in this capacity allowed Helen to work with many talented directors further allowing her to hone her skills. To date, she has directed numerous music videos. She was the only female member of the award winning and internationally acclaimed boutique production house, Proteus Entertainment, and responsible for producing over 100 music videos shown on MTV, M2, Much Music and VOLD on TVO in Ontario. Helen is also attached to direct episodes for an upcoming documentary series with producing partner Minds Eye Entertainment. Helen was recently selected to direct the inaugural production for the Canadian Short Screenplay Competition (CSSC). Seeing in the Dark has been submitted to Sundance for consideration. At this time, Helen is in pre-production for a short film (art installation) and her directorial feature film debut Spice of Life (aka Cafe Sex) - a farce set in Toronto, Canada. Helen is an extremely passionate and charismatic filmmaker who possesses the utmost professionalism, skill and creativity. She was a member of the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT) and is a current member of the Academy of Canadian Film & Television. Helen volunteers her time on the Executive Boards of The Myelin Project of Canada and the Special Bocce Foundation Canada. She is the recipient of the Vaughn Citizen Award (2007) and makes her home in the Beach (Toronto).