Arts in the Corporate World: Marketing, Consultancy & Creativity
Nanteza Lawrence
Artsci’94 (Comm culture & society)
executive producer/co-president, amaze film & television inc
Teza Lawrence is the Co President of her Toronto based production company Amaze Film + Television for over 20 years. She is a hands-on Producer and Executive Producer who is a keen collaborator and team builder. Teza Executive Produced CARTER, the one-hour drama series starring Jerry O’Connell, for Sony International Channels and Bell Media, which premiered it’s second season world wide in 2020. Preceding CARTER, Lawrence Executive Produced 52 episodes of THE STANLEY DYNAMIC, a half-hour multi-cam series for YTV. Teza Executive Produced four seasons of CALL ME FITZ, the award winning half-hour comedy series for HBO Canada starring Jason Priestley. The documentary, BEING CANADIAN, premiered at Hot Docs in 2015 and was nominated for a WGA Award for Best Documentary Screenplay. Teza co-wrote & Executive Produced the Feature Film FINN ON THE FLY, winning the Audience Choice Award for Best Feature Film at the Toronto International Film Festival for Children. Lawrence received a 2006 Genie Nomination for Best Feature Film for her work on SAINT RALPH that won the Grand Prix at the Paris Film Festival and was distributed in the U.S. by Samuel Goldwyn Films. Teza and her husband live on a hobby farm north of Toronto with their three children.
Michael Coulson
Artsci’90 (politics)
marketing consultant, arris
Michael has worked in the media and technology field for over twenty-five years. At a pioneering consultancy in the early nineties, he worked with some of the leaders in the emerging social media field, educating companies and working groups how to use community tools to collaborate online. He applied that knowledge at Bell Sympatico, where he built and managed what was then Canada’s largest online community (seven years before Facebook!). Moving to Silicon Valley in the late nineties, he had a hand in designing and marketing multiple leading-edge software products, including ThirdVoice (early browser plugin) and Planetweb (embedded CE browser).
He returned to Canada and the IPTV group at Bell to work on broadband video (now FIBETV), which led to his role as lead marketer at ExtendMedia (Internet video service management – NBC, Wal-Mart, AT&T - acquired by Cisco). He followed this up with extended consulting stints at SeaWell Networks (Multisceen ABR Session Management - acquired by Arris) and QuickPlay (OTT video - acquired by AT&T). Michael relocated with his family (back) to the Bay Area in 2017 and offers business strategy and marketing consulting to tech startups, helping them differentiate products in a crowded marketplace.
Kimberly Kaplan
Artsci’04 (geography)
BOARD MEMBER AND PRODUCT, MARKETING AND GROWTH ADVISOR
As one of the earliest employees at PlentyOfFish(POF), Kim Kaplan possesses immense insight into the life cycle of a startup and what it takes to grow and emerge as a leader. Kim was initially the sole person responsible for product and revenue growth, leading POF's Product, Marketing and Revenue initiatives focused on optimizing their core KPIs to drive growth across their Apps and Web projects. She launched product initiatives that grew Daily Active Users from 1 million to over 4 million and revenue from $10 million to over $100 million. Kim was an instrumental part of the executive team that grew the company culminating in the successful Match Group acquisition for $800 million in 2015.
Kim now acts as an investor and advisor to various companies including Spocket, Apollo Cover and Flytographer as well as mentors’ companies through Creative Destruction Labs and Techstars Seattle.
Ricardo (Rico) Garcia Ondarza
Artsci’14 (applied Economics)
Engagement Manager, McKinsey & Company inc.
Originally from Monterrey, Mexico, Rico Garcia is an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company's Toronto office focused on serving public sector institutions across a variety of strategy topics. An Artsci '13, Rico studied Applied Economics and Global Development Studies at Queen's University and later completed a Masters of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School.
Prior to his masters, Rico spent three years working at McKinsey & Company consulting primarily for financial services companies (banks, asset managers, insurance, reinsurance, and pension funds) in Canada, Ireland, the U.S., Jamaica, and New Zealand. In his spare time, Rico volunteers for Queen’s University, serving as the President of the Queen's University Alumni Association. He also enjoys the outdoors, running, and viewing / playing various sports.