Debbie Nightingale
Debbie Nightingale (October 14, 1953 – July 10, 2025) was a Canadian film and television producer, most noted as a co-founder of the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.[1]
Life and career
Nightingale began her career in film with the Ontario Film Development Corporation in the 1980s,[2] and was later an organizer of film industry conferences for the Festival of Festivals[3] and the National Film Board of Canada.[4]
In 1993, Nightingale and Paul Jay launched Hot Docs.[5] She remained the festival's executive director for a number of years thereafter.[6]
In 2000 she launched her own production company, The Nightingale Company, to produce films and television series.[7] Her most noted credits with the company included the television film Chicks with Sticks, about a women's hockey team,[8] the television drama series The Line,[9] and the comedy series Living in Your Car, which was a Gemini Award nominee for Best Comedy Series at the 26th Gemini Awards in 2011.[10] The company also announced the development of Us and Them, a television comedy series which would have starred Aubrey (Drake) Graham and Mazin Elsadig, in 2009,[11] although the series never completed production as it was around this time that Graham's career as a rapper began to take off.
Later in life, Nightingale and her husband Shain Jaffe moved to Campbellford, Ontario, where they launched Haute Goat, a public goat farm that offered visitors the opportunity to interact with the animals.[12] Over the course of her career, Nightingale also served on the boards of the Canadian Independent Film Caucus and the Toronto chapter of Women in Film and Television International.[13]
Nightingale died from cancer on July 10, 2025, at the age of 71.[1]
References
- ^ a b Nicholas Sokic, "Hot Docs co-founder Debbie Nightingale dies at 71". Playback, July 16, 2025.
- ^ Noel Taylor, "Development corporation pushes feature films". Ottawa Citizen, April 24, 1986.
- ^ Tony Van Alphen, "Movie executives, entrepreneurs compare notes, deal at film festival". Toronto Star, September 9, 1990.
- ^ Rachel Rafelman, "Exploring the documentary dilemma: The idea of the documentary as a creative interpretation of reality has been stretched almost beyond recognition since its definition 53 years ago". The Globe and Mail, March 2, 1992.
- ^ Pat Mullen, "Hot Docs Co-Founder Debbie Nightingale Passes Away at 71". Point of View, July 15, 2025.
- ^ John McKay, "77 documentaries to be screened this week at Hot Docs in Toronto". Montreal Gazette, March 18, 1997.
- ^ Mark Hand, "Digital Media: Nightingale puts money where its mouth is". Playback, August 18, 2008.
- ^ "Nightingale hits the ice for Chicks with Sticks". Playback, January 5, 2004.
- ^ "Get Ready to Cross the Line, The Movie Network and Movie Central Premiere New Pay-TV Original Series". Canada NewsWire, February 19, 2009.
- ^ Mishki Vaccaro, "Gemini nominations announced: Flashpoint leads, once again, and controversial Kennedys miniseries gets some nods". Toronto Life, August 4, 2011.
- ^ Amy Haggar, "Nightingale teams with Degrassi duo". Playback, July 29, 2009.
- ^ "Seeds of Success: Haute Goat Farm". Brighton Today, October 1, 2024.
- ^ "Debbie Nightingale, President of Production Company The Nightingale Company". She Does the City, July 12, 2010.