Peter R. Simpson is Chairman and CEO of Norstar Filmed Entertainment Inc. in Toronto and a veteran of the Canadian film industry. With an industry career of more than twenty-five years, he is a multi-talented individual with expertise in both marketing and advertising, as well as a passion for Canadian politics. He was also a ten-year board member of the Toronto International Film Festival.

Two of the many highlights of Simpson’s successful advertising career were his pioneering ideas to promote movies through television advertising, and his creation of the world’s first media buying service. It was in 1978 that Simpson made the transition from film promotion to production. Warner Bros. picked up his first film SEA GYPSIES and it earned a thirty percent share when it was broadcast on NBC. His second film followed on this success with the box office smash of the classic horror, PROM NIGHT starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Leslie Neilson. This spawned three highly successful sequels.

The eighties saw Simpson actively involved in politics. Under the Progressive Conservative government of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, Simpson played a prominent role as a strategist and advisor on Canadian Film Policy. Although he maintains an active interest in Canadian politics at all levels, he now limits his involvement on campaigns to ‘informal advice.’

Simpson moved into the theatrical distribution after recognizing the need to control the marketing of his films. Norstar Releasing came into being in 1984 and quickly became Canada’s key independent distribution company. Not only did Norstar release commercial hits such as DIRTY DANCING and TEEN WOLF but also specialty films including CHOOSE ME, ROOM WITH A VIEW and a host of other films by noted directors including Stephen Frears, Atom Egoyan, Jon Amiel, Nic Roeg, and Oliver Stone.

Over the course of his extensive career, Simpson has worked with some of the industry’s biggest personalities including such names as Jeremy Irons, Richard Harris, Timothy Dalton, Bryan Brown, Louis Gossett Jr., Jonathan Pryce, Forest Whitaker, Harvey Keitel, Paul Sorvino, Lolita Davidovich, Lou Diamond Phillips, Danny Aiello, Dave Thomas , and Jason Priestley, to name a few, as well as, countless other cast and crew who got their first break on a Norstar film.

In 1997 Simpson sold the Norstar library to Alliance Atlantis and scaled down operations to his boutique feature film production company, Norstar Filmed Entertainment Inc. Simpson formed a partnership with noted UK Writer and Producer Allan Scott. The duo started an aggressive development slate and their first endeavor was the artistically acclaimed Canada-UK co-production REGENERATION starring Jonathan Pryce, Jonny Lee Miller and Dougray Scott. They recently completed their seventh project, the dramatic supernatural thriller THE MARSH, starring Gabrielle Anwar, Justin Louis and Forest Whitaker, directed by Jordan Barker.

Simpson has produced some 35 features as well as mini-series and documentaries. He is the epitome of the Producer-Financier-Distributor commuting between his Toronto and Los Angeles bases as well as London and the major film markets of Cannes and Berlin.

Simpson was recently recognized by the Academy of Canadian Cinema for his contribution to Canadian film and received the Genie Award for Special Achievement.