Assistant Commissioner

Claude Joli-Coeur was appointed Assistant Commissioner in June 2007. In addition to his duties as Director of Business Affairs and Legal Services and Secretary to the Board of Trustees, he is in charge of the Human Resources Division, Strategic Planning and Governmental Relations, as well as Corporate Communications.

Joli-Coeur served as Interim Government Film Commissioner and Chairperson of the National Film Board of Canada from December 2006 to June 2007. He joined the National Film Board of Canada as Director of Business Affairs and Legal Services and Secretary to the Board of Trustees on October 20, 2003.

Joli-Coeur began a legal career at Langlois Drouin and Lafleur Brown after graduating from the Université de Montréal law school and becoming a member of the Quebec Bar in 1979. From 1985 to 1987, he operated from the offices of Telefilm Canada, where he served as legal advisor. For the following eight years he held the position of director of Business Affairs and vice-president of Legal and Business Affairs with Astral Entertainment Group, specializing in film financing and distribution. In 1995 he began a five-year tenure as vice-president of Legal and International Affairs at Coscient Group (later Motion International). He served as vice-president, Legal and Business Affairs and secretary of TVA International as well as vice-president Business Affairs for Zone 3 before his appointment to the NFB.

As a specialist in entertainment law and international co-production, Joli-Coeur has participated in numerous international co-production commissions between Canada and European countries such as France, the U.K. and Germany. He has represented distributors and producers in a range of industry initiatives and has served on the board of directors of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA) and the Canadian Association of Film Distributors and Exporters (CAFDE).

Since 2002, Joli-Coeur has been a member of the board of directors and treasurer for the Alliance for Children and Television (ACT). Since 2004, he has been on the board of directors of the Canadian Retransmission Collective (CRC), where he serves on both the executive and finance committees.