Corporate body

Paperny Films

1994

Paperny Films is an internationally recognized, independent, Vancouver-based production company established in 1994.
Following graduation with a Master's Degree from the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School of Communications, David Paperny took a position with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in Toronto in 1983, first as a researcher and then as a producer. In 1989, he moved to Vancouver to produce documentaries for the CBC, which included 1993's The Broadcast Tapes of Dr. Peter, which earned Paperny an Academy Award nomination in 1994. That same year David Paperny along with his wife and fellow Annenberg graduate Audrey Mehler. From an original staff of two, Paperny Films has grown over the years to include a permanent staff of eighteen with an additional 100-200 production staff on contract at any given time. Currently, Paperny Films has seven productions running simultaneously and is considered one of the busiest West coast production companies. In 2006 Paperny's production budget totalled more than $9 million.
Since its inception, Paperny Films has adopted a relatively broad scope of programming. The material includes in-depth profiles of well-known Canadians, including Mordecai Richler, Jimmy Pattison, Nancy Greene, Henry Morgentaler. Productions have included historical documentaries subjects such as the history of British Columbia, the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919, the Holocaust, the Canadian War Experience during World War II and the Korean War and the history of the Canadian airline industry; science documentaries showcasing Canadian medical research; social documentaries on arranged marriages in the Canadian Sikh community and Canadian emigration to the United States; sports documentaries, lifestyle documentaries; the Canadian business establishment and the black market trade in human organs. The reality series in this collection examine the issues of being single in Vancouver and the experience of functioning as a surrogate mother.
Until the creation in 2006 of a documentary intended for theatre release, the market for Paperny productions was exclusively television. Networks that have purchased broadcast rights to Paperny productions include; CBC, CTV, Discovery Health, Global, History Television, the Independent Film Channel, Life Network, LOGO, Slice TV. While many of the productions have a uniquely Canadian subject matter and tell important stories of the Canadian experience, they also have a resonance extending beyond its national borders. As a result, Paperny Films continues to contribute to the growing Vancouver film and television sector.