Tom Berry

After finishing up at Concordia’s cinema department, Tom Berry jumped right into the deep end and fired up Allegro Films back in ’84. The dude didn’t mess around—Allegro exploded onto the Canadian scene and turned into one of the biggest names in feature film production. Berry called the shots as president for over a decade, steering Allegro through more than just filmmaking. Yeah, they cranked out movies, but they also dabbled in distribution—got their films into theaters, sold ’em to TV, and even ran their own post-production setup. Eventually, Allegro got scooped up by Coscient Group, which is now tangled up with Quebecor. Berry’s name is slapped on more than 40 feature films, either as producer or exec producer, and he’s not shy about jumping into the director’s chair or getting his hands dirty with a screenplay. Some of his film credits? CRAZY MOON with a young Kiefer Sutherland (Miramax brought that one stateside), NEVER TOO LATE with Olympia Dukakis, SCREAMERS (shout out to Columbia-TriStar), THE ASSIGNMENT with a killer cast like Aidan Quinn, Donald Sutherland, and Ben Kingsley, and THE UNSAID starring Andy Garcia. Come 2001, Berry’s hustle didn’t slow down—he started up Premiere Bobine in Montreal, cranking out movies for TV, video, and theaters, plus handling the money and distribution side of things. With Reel One Entertainment and Imagination Worldwide, he kept spreading out into foreign sales and management. Oh, and he’s not just about the business—he was chairman of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association and snagged the Jack Chisholm Award for lifetime achievement. If there’s a corner of the Canadian film scene Berry hasn’t touched, it’s probably not worth knowing.