About Us
Mission Statement
Hungry Eyes Film & Television is an award-winning media company that delivers compelling, quality productions. Whether film, television or digital media, Hungry Eyes is renowned for story-telling that inspires and entertains. We will feed your hungry eyes.
Sudz Sutherland
Writer / Director / Executive Producer
Sudz Sutherland works on both sides of the fence as a freelance writer and director for Dramas and Documentaries. Sudz’ sophomore feature film ‘Home Again’, currently in production and slated for a fall 2012 release, is the follow up to his multiple award-winning and Genie nominated debut feature film ‘Love, Sex and Eating the Bones.’ He is currently developing two other feature films, ‘Colourblind’ and ‘Operation Red Dog’.
Sudz is also in post-production on ‘She’s the Mayor’, his first television series co-created with Jennifer Holness and Min Sook Lee. Airing on VisionTV in March 2011, this half hour comedy stars Colin Mochrie, Janet Laine-Greene and Tonya Lee Williams.
Previous to this, Sudz was involved with the feature film ‘Toronto Stories’, an anthology in conjunction with 3 other directors and was invited to TIFF for September 2008. On the TV side, he also completed the dramatic miniseries ‘Guns’ for CBC based on four families caught up in illegal gun trafficking. Starring Colm Feore and Elisha Cuthbert, ‘Guns’ aired on Labour Day weekend September 2009. Sudz also wrote and directed the triple Gemini award-winning (Best Direction, Best Supporting actress, Best Television Movie) ‘Doomstown’, an MOW for CTV/Sarrazin-Couture.
Sudz has written for various TV shows including, ‘Da’ Kink in My Hair,’ (Global) and ‘Degrassi: The Next Generation’ (CTV), ‘JOZI-H’ (CBC), ‘Blue Murder’ (Global), and he was a Story Editor on the Nickelodeon/YTV series ‘Caitlin’s Way’. He also wrote the pilot episode for Back Alley’s series ‘Drop The Beat’, which triggered an order for the first season and resulted in a Gemini nomination for Best Dramatic Writing category for his work on the series.
Sudz’ episodic television directing work includes Heartland and Wild Roses for CBC, the pilot and second episode of ‘Da Kink in my Hair’ for Global, ‘Degrassi: The Next Generation’ for CTV, ‘The Famous Jett Jackson’ for Disney, ‘Drop the Beat’ for CBC, ‘Skin Deep III’ for Life Network, ‘Tell It Like It Is’ for W Network, ‘Brand New Life’ for NFB/YTV and ‘Canadian Geographic for Kids’ for TVO.
Sudz’s powerful half-hour dramatic debut, ‘My Father’s Hands’ screened at The Toronto’s International Film Festival. It had its Canadian television premiere on CBC and went on to win prizes in Canada at the 2000 Yorkton Film Festival (4 awards including best drama, script, direction and best actor), and internationally, including the $20,000 HBO Short Film Award at the Acapulco Black Film festival. The film was also nominated for a Gemini Award for Best Short. In addition, Sudz co-directed the National Film Board’s documentary film, ‘Speakers for the Dead’.
Jennifer Holness
Producer / Writer / Director
Jennifer is a writer and producer with numerous award-winning films and television programs to her credit. Her latest feature film project, Home Again, is Sudz Sutherland’s sophomore feature that is currently in production and slated for a fall 2012 release. Also in development with Telefilm are two comedy features, Operation Red Dog: Bayou of Pigs and Colour Blind.
Jennifer is also producing a new feature documentary called The Numbers Game, which looks into the world of math education as well as her first iOS app The Music Biz scheduled to be released in 2012.
On the TV side, Jennifer co-created the thirteen-part half-hour comedy series She’s The Mayor currently airing on VisionTV. She’s The Mayor tells the story of sixty-something political neophyte, Iris Peters, who unexpectedly becomes the Mayor of a crumbling steel city.
Her two-part miniseries, Guns which stars Elisha Cuthbert and Colm Feore aired on CBC in September 2009, and won five of nine Gemini nominations including best writing and directing. Jen’s documentary Badge of Pride – about gay cops with award-winning filmmaker Min Sook Lee, aired on CBC’s The Passionate Eye in February 2010. Jen has also produced the environmental documentary Brick by Brick with Genie award-winning filmmaker Catherine Annau which aired in 2011 for OMNI TV & won the Heritage Toronto Award for Excellence.
Jennifer is currently co-writing the pilot Trust, a one-hour drama series for CBC about a family law practice. She has also developed the thirteen-part mini-series Common Law for CTV along with a one-hour documentary, The Sexpat.
Her feature film, Love, Sex & Eating The Bones won 9 festival awards internationally including the City TV prize for Best First Feature at the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival. The Film was voted one of the Top Ten Films of 2003 and won the Blockbuster Audience Award for Best Feature at the American Black Film Festival in Miami. Love, Sex & Eating the Bones was released theatrically in Canada in March 2004. The film also received 3 Genie nominations – Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for the 2004 Genie Awards.
Jennifer’s other documentary films include: Dolores: The Art of Art Modeling and on/black/stage/women, for BRAVO; Yin Yin/Jade Love, which aired on TVO won the award for Best Canadian Film at the 2003 ReelWorld Film Festival and Speakers for the Dead, which she co-directed for the National Film Board that won Best Documentary at the 2000 Reel Black Film Awards and aired on VisionTV and CBC Rough Cuts. In 2001, She line-produced the six-part documentary series Skin Deep II, which won a Gemini for Best Lifestyle Series. She also directed 2 episodes of the series, one of which won the 2002 BFVN award for Best New Documentary.
Also of note is her short film My Father’s Hands which premiered at the 1999 Toronto International Film Festival, won the HBO Award for Best Short Film airing on that network, it was also nominated for a 2000 Gemini Award for best Short Film and won four awards at Yorkton for Best Drama, Best Script, Best Director and Best Actor (Ardon Bess).
Jennifer is a 1999 Producer’s Lab graduate at the Canadian Film Centre where she produced the quirky dark comedy Chez Amore.
On her down time Jennifer chases after her three delightful girls.
Devin Mahesh
Sales & Distribution Coordinator
With a strong background in marketing and professional sales, Devin joined the Hungry Eyes family as part of the Canadian Film & Television Producers Association’s National Mentorship Program in 2009. Prior to working with Hungry Eyes Devin lived in New York City and completed studies in Film & Television Production at the New York Film Academy. While still living in New York, Devin worked with an award winning staff of producers and directors (Billboard, Music Choice, MTV, and BET) creating online and mobile video content.
Devin earned a BA in Philosophy / Psychology from York University and had a lucrative career in advertising sales at one of Canada’s largest media companies. He has also worked closely with a variety of chaitable organizations including the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of Canada and the ALS Society of Canada.
Though he continues to develop as a writer, director and producer his main focus is on marketing, distribution and finance.