Artist Statement
As Executive Director of CreativePEI, I want everyone who works in arts and culture on PEI to make their biggest impact and a good living. As a documentary filmmaker, I provide a megaphone for people whose stories and perspectives need to be heard.
Biography
Mark Sandiford studied filmmaking at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts School of Art and Design and earned a B.A. in Psychology at McGill University in 1976. He produced and directed instructional television programs for McGill during the late seventies.
In 1982 Mark went to Canada’s arctic to work as a trainer for Taqramiut Nipingat and the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation. Mark joined the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in Iqaluit, Nunavut in 1986. He created Aqsarniit, a ground-breaking weekly documentary program in Inuktitut. In 1992 he moved to Yellowknife to become executive producer of Focus North, CBC North’s flagship current affairs series. Later at CBC Northbeat he led the production of documentaries in English and five aboriginal languages. Mark left the North in 1998 to become senior producer of Compass, CBC’s evening news program in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
Mark started Sandiford Productions, specializing in documentaries for knowledge mobilization, in 2001. He started Beachwalker Films, to produce broadcast documentaries, in 2004. Mark's film, Qallunaat! Why White People are Funny, won the Gemini Canada Award in 2008 and is one of the most streamed films on NFB.ca with over 91,000 views.
Mark Sandiford has been the Executive Director of CreativePEI since 2013.