Julie Roy

In May 2020, Julie Roy became Director General of Creation and Innovation at the National film Board of Canada.

For the previous six years, Montreal-born Roy was Executive Producer of the NFB’s French Animation Studio, where she also served as a producer for 13 years. Over the course of her career, Roy has produced some 50 films and interactive projects, primarily animated shorts. She holds a master’s degree in film studies from the Université de Montréal, has written numerous articles on women in film and the subject of animation, and has served as a guest programmer at many international festivals. She is also a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Her notable recent productions include Jean-François Lévesque’s I Barnabé/Moi, Barnabé (2020); Regina Pessoa’s Uncle Thomas: Accounting for the Days/Oncle Thomas: La comptabilité des jours (2019), winner of the Jury Prize at the Annecy film festival; Patrick Bouchard’s The Subject/Le sujet (2018), which premiered at the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight; and Matthew Rankin’s The Tesla World Light/Tesla, lumière mondiale (2017), selected to screen in competition at the prestigious Cannes Critics’ Week. Roy was executive producer of Theodore Ushev’s Blind Vaysha/Vaysha l’aveugle , nominated for Best Animated Short at the 89th Academy Awards in 2017. In 2016, she co-produced Franck Dion’s The Head Vanishes/Une tête disparaît (Papy3D/NFB), which won the Annecy festival’s most prestigious award, the Annecy Cristal.

Roy also produced Claude Cloutier’s Carface/ Autos Portraits (2015); Priit and Olga Pärn’s Pilots on the Way Home/Le retour des aviateurs (2014); Tali’s Bus Story/Histoires de bus (2014, Special Jury Mention at Annecy); Michèle Lemieux’s Here and the Great Elsewhere/Le grand ailleurs et le petit ici (2012, Grand Prize at Espinho); Franck Dion’s Edmond Was a Donkey/Edmond était un âne (2012, Special Jury Prize at Annecy and winner of some 30 awards around the world); and Dominic Etienne Simard’s Paula (2011, Grand Prize at Interfilm in Berlin).

Roy has shown a particular interest in experimental projects, producing Quiet Zone/Ondes et silence (2015) by Karl Lemieux and David Bryant and Reflection/ Réflexion (2013) by Sylvie Trouvé. She has also served as producer for the animation section of the NFB’s Aide au cinéma indépendant program.