Nationality Canadian Role Film producer | Name Evan Beloff Known for Once a Nazi | |
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Occupation film director, writer, producer Movies Too Colourful for the League Nominations Gemini Award for Best Sports Program or Series Similar People Max Wallace, Mila Aung‑Thwin, Daniel Cross | ||
Evan Beloff is a Canadian film writer, producer, director and production company executive.
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Early life
Born in Montreal, Quebec, Evan Beloff graduated from Concordia University with a double major in Playwriting and Theatre. Since then, he has worked as a writer, actor, director, script editor and producer. He has written plays for the theatre and scripts for film. He is a former researcher, archivist and cameraman for Steven Spielberg's visual history archives of World War II, The Shoah Foundation. Beloff began his film career working for renowned IMAX producer Pietro L. Serapiglia and his company Filmlegend in 1995. In the last decade he has moved into the world of docu-series, mockumentaries and documentary film writing, directing and production.
1990s
Beloff first attracted attention while still a student at Concordia University. As a member of a group of students who called themselves the Sofar Poets, he participated in a reading of their poems at Café Vilna in Montreal.
In 1998, he and an associate organized Montreal's first Radical Jewish Arts and Performance Festival which they called "Chutzpah". It was inspired by the Radical Jewish Festival in New York. It was held on the McGill University campus and included music, spoken word and even a walking tour.
In 1998, Beloff co-founded the Montreal indie film-house Diversus Productions and in 1999 co-produced the Félix Award-winning music video (Best music video, Quebec) La Vie est Laide for Quebec rock star Jean Leloup.
2000s
In 2000-2001, Beloff served as the Producer and Second Unit Director for the Gemini Award-nominated documentary Too Colorful for the League: A History of Blacks in Hockey for the CBC.
In 2002, he produced, starred in and narrated the festival hit mockumentary Schmelvis: Searching for the King's Jewish Roots (Nodance, HBO Comedy Arts Fest). The film is about a camp Jewish character called Schmelvis created by a Montreal Hasidic Jew named Dan Hartal. His costume comprises a rhinestone-studded white jumpsuit with a large Star of David wrestling-style belt-buckle and a red star-covered cape.
In 2002 and 2003, Beloff produced, wrote, and directed the nineteen-part documentary series (two seasons) Women Warriors for WTSN, SCN, CBC, Radio Canada and CFCF12/CTV. He also produced an episode of Life & Times for CBC on Canadian poet Irving Layton.
In 2003, Beloff co-produced the reality comedy-documentary Cruising Quebec for Global. He produced, co-wrote and co-directed the mockumentary The Legend of Memphre for Space and City TV.
In 2004, he co-produced Being Osama for CBC's Passionate Eye, RDI and Al Arabiya.
His final documentary project at Diversus was an architecture and travel documentary for Global titled Winter Wonderland: The Making of the Ice Hotel. Beloff wrote, directed and produced the film which is distributed by the National Film Board of Canada and broadcast internationally on such channels as: HBO Europe, Spektrum TV RT Hungary, CPS Czech Republic, TVC Spain, NHK Japan and TV2 in France.
In 2005, Beloff relinquished partnership in Diversus Productions to establish his own company, Ontic Media Inc. and has since written, directed and produced (in collaboration with Bunbury Film's, Academy Award-winning producer Frederic Bohbot) the prize-winning, biopic thriller, Once a Nazi on former Waffen SS soldier turned professor Adalbert Lallier for SCN, CTV, Canal D, CLT, American Public Television / PBS and distributed internationally by the National Film Board of Canada. Once a Nazi was awarded the 2006 J. I Segal Award for Canadian, Jewish-Themed Film of the Year. In 2007, he co-wrote/produced/directed an update of the Bigfoot/Sasquatch legend titled "Bigfoot's Reflection" for CHUM, City TV, CLT, Space and SCN. As of 2015 "Bigfoot's Reflection" is available for streaming on Netflix.
In 2008, he produced the documentary Quitter le Bercail (Leaving the Fold) by acclaimed director Eric Scott for Radio Canada, Documentary Channel Canada, ABC Australia. It is about two brothers who leave the Montreal Hasidic community.
In 2010, Beloff produced the access documentary Burning Water along with Frederic Bohbot's Bunbury Films for CBC's The Lens. The film is directed by Cameron Esler and Tadzio Richards.
In 2010, Beloff returned to directing with the documentary Underdog Plaza on Quebec Super Welterweight Boxing Champion Dierry Jean for OMNI Television Canada and PBS' world Compass.
in 2013 Beloff covered the story of eight-year-old Sandra Cantu, who was abducted, sexually assaulted and murdered next to her trailer park home in Tracy, California. "Heaven Beside Us" (aka The Disappearance of Sandra Cantu) was produced by SLV Films and is distributed by Films Transit International. and available at www.Sandracantu.com
On January 25, 2014, Beloff visited Washington, DC, to document Dierry Jean's IBF Junior welterweight title fight vs. Lamont Peterson. The events surrounding the fight would become the central narrative to Beloff's boxing sequel on Jean. Underdog Rises premiered in 2015 on Omni Television in Canada.
As of October 2016, Beloff has again partnered with producer Frederic Bohbot and his company Bunbury Films. Kosher Love a feature documentary exploring orthodox and Hassidic relationships in a wired, modern world will premiere on CBC's new documentary strand FIRSTHAND on February 16, 2017.
Awards and honors
Evan is the recipient of a CTV Producer's Fellowship from the Banff International Television Festival (2000).
Personal life
Beloff is a strict vegetarian.