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KEVIN DEWALT
Kevin DeWalt is CEO and Chairman of Minds Eye Entertainment, winner of the prestigious Canadian Film and Television Production Association’s Chetwynd Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence and Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the media category, Kevin has produced over 50 film and television projects and has spearheaded the development of a regional production company into an internationally-recognized, vertically-integrated organization which includes subsidiaries in distribution, production and post production. Over the years Minds Eye has won over 60 national and international awards.
Kevin started Minds Eye Entertainment in 1986 as a result of completing his first film project Namaste, a story about two young men and their 37-month odyssey discovering the third world. The company started by producing corporate videos and commercials and by 1989 produced its first drama project. Over the next 22 years, Minds Eye Entertainment diversified into distribution, post production, new media and production and has produced over $300,000,000 in production volume and has over 400 hours of programs in its distribution library.
Kevin has been instrumental in establishing the Canadian film and television industry with exceptional, exportable projects that have been sold to over 200 territories around the world. His current four-hour mini-series The Englishman’s Boy aired on CBC in March 2008 and is nominated for 12 Gemini Awards. The audience reaction was such that the network re-aired the series in September 2008.
Kevin has played a major role in industry awareness and growth at home, across Canada and around the world. Over the past 22 years while at the helm of Minds Eye Entertainment, he was:
- Founding board member of the Saskatchewan Motion Picture Association and board member in 12 of the last 21 years.
- Chairman of the SMPIA Industry/Government Relations Committee which established a provincial education broadcaster (SCN) and a provincial film commission (SaskFilm).
- Founding board member at Saskatchewan Film Development Corporation (SaskFilm).
- Past board member of the Regina Chamber of Commerce.
- Chair of the joint SMPIA/Saskatchewan Department of Finance Committee that established the Saskatchewan Employment Tax Credit.
- Member of the board of directors for the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA) (1991 to present).
- First non-Toronto producer to become Chairman of the CFTPA (1992-1994).
- Founding chairman and board member of the CFTPA National Mentorship Program.
- Founding chairman of Crew Call training initiative.
- Founding board member and current president of the Saskatchewan Film Producer Association.
- SMPIA board representative on the Regina Economic Development Authority Task Force Committee on the feasibility of building a state-of-the-art sound stage in Saskatchewan, which was built in 2003.
- Member of the REDA Sound Stage Implementation Committee.
- Founder of the Luther College High School Accredited Film and Television Program for students in grades 10 to 12, the first in North America.
- Board member of the National Screen Institute (NSI) (1994-1998, 2003-2006).
- Current president of the International Quorum of Motion Picture Producers.
- Past board member and executive committee member of the Canadian Television Fund (2004-2006).
Born and raised in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Kevin is married with three children, Jordyn, Madison and Benjamin. Kevin and his wife Kathy McCoy make their home in Regina, Saskatchewan.
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