Laurie Gordon
Director of Animaze (The Montreal International Animation Film Festival)
Laurie Gordon is the director of the Animaze – Montreal International Animation Festival. Laurie creates alliances nurturing partnerships in animation, film, gaming and related tech industries. She is a film marketing consultant and media entrepeneur. Laurie says “My strength is seeing the big picture envisioning what will go from trend to standard. I am ahead of the curve when people don’t understand what is to me around the corner. I often know intuitively because to me it’s purely logical due in part to having an indie band in the music industry for many years, having a good imagination and experiencing first hand the collapse of the music industry years before it’s decline. I was an early adopter of new technologies and the internet utilizing mp3.com and myspace and other platforms when they were startups perceived as threats and rogue forces. This experience has lead me to embrace new technologies as I advance my entrepreneurial skills.” Laurie is a festival circuit professional and speaker at industry conferences. She produced Spare Change for animator Oscar nominee Ryan Larkin, subject of Oscar winning film “Ryan” and finished directing his film after his untimely death during production. . This story was depicted in the documentary film Ryan’s Renaissance produced with Bell Media. The film depicts the incredible arc of Larkin’s life and career. Laurie produced Oscar winner Co Hoedeman’s semi autobiographical animated film 55 Socks about Hoedeman’s childhood during the Nazi occupation in the Netherlands. Laurie has also curated for Francophonies , the Moscow International Film Festival, Animation Day in Cannes (Animaze in Cannes) and is a co-producer of the World of Film Festival Glasgow UK. She is currently in pre-production with several animation and live action films and recording some new music. She’s also an avid animal love and has two cats and two dogs!Laurie Gordon is the director of the Animaze – Montreal International Animation Festival. Laurie creates alliances nurturing partnerships in animation, film, gaming and related tech industries. She is a film marketing consultant and media entrepeneur. Laurie says “My strength is seeing the big picture envisioning what will go from trend to standard. I am ahead of the curve when people don’t understand what is to me around the corner. I often know intuitively because to me it’s purely logical due in part to having an indie band in the music industry for many years, having a good imagination and experiencing first hand the collapse of the music industry years before it’s decline. I was an early adopter of new technologies and the internet utilizing mp3.com and myspace and other platforms when they were startups perceived as threats and rogue forces. This experience has lead me to embrace new technologies as I advance my entrepreneurial skills.” Laurie is a festival circuit professional and speaker at industry conferences. She produced Spare Change for animator Oscar nominee Ryan Larkin, subject of Oscar winning film “Ryan” and finished directing his film after his untimely death during production. . This story was depicted in the documentary film Ryan’s Renaissance produced with Bell Media. The film depicts the incredible arc of Larkin’s life and career. Laurie produced Oscar winner Co Hoedeman’s semi autobiographical animated film 55 Socks about Hoedeman’s childhood during the Nazi occupation in the Netherlands. Laurie has also curated for Francophonies , the Moscow International Film Festival, Animation Day in Cannes (Animaze in Cannes) and is a co-producer of the World of Film Festival Glasgow UK. She is currently in pre-production with several animation and live action films and recording some new music. She’s also an avid animal love and has two cats and two dogs!
Martin Petrov
Martin Petrov Bio
Festival Coordinator
Graduate of the school of Film & TV studies of Glasgow University in Scotland, Martin has been actively involved in the film industry for the past five years. After making a start in the press and PR team of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival in Greece, he programmed for the Glasgow Youth FF and worked on several projects before establishing WoFF: World of Film International Festival Glasgow where he serves as Festival Director for the past three years.
Martin became Festival Coordinator of Animaze: Montreal International Animation Film Festival in early 2015, while he also shares his time between festival travels and organizing journalism workshops with NISI MASA: The European Network of Young cinema.
Passions include travelling to warm places, cooking for friends and listening to their inspiring stories. Aspiration: Make a film festival on the beach.
Alexa Momtaz
Programmer
Born in Montreal in 1968 to an Egyptian father and a French mother, Alexa Momtaz began her musical career with the trio Skull Fracture. Formed alongside her brother and a friend, the group gained a following throughout the 1990s by performing in alternative clubs and receiving airplay on university radio stations.
Since 1998, Alexa has pursued a solo career, developing a signature sound that bridges the gap between the historical and the avant-garde. Her eclectic work spans electronic, classical, new-age, and experimental industrial music, drawing inspiration from compositions ranging from the 1400s to the present day. To date, she has released 24 albums available on Bandcamp, and she continues to hone her technical craft through ongoing classical piano training.
Alexa is a prominent collaborator within the electronic and modular synth communities. She frequently performs in the project Kill Gadget with Animaze Festival Director Laurie Gordon (Coda Chrome), and her music is featured in 3D animations for the Animaze MIAFF. Since 2017, she has collaborated with Johno Wells of Modular World (USA) and remains an active member of several collectives, including Data Cult Audio, the Montreal Synth Society, Modular & Synths Quebec, Brain Freeze, and EMOM.
English 
French