User:Mattslan/sandbox

Jon Slan ; born September 10, 1946) is a Canadian executive producer, pioneer and key figure in the Canadian film and television industry with over 30 years of experience in the production and distribution of quality entertainment programming. At present, Jon Slan is the President of Slanted Wheel Entertainment (November 2002) an innovative film and television company based in Toronto and Los Angeles.

Early life
Slan was born on September 10, 1946 in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Leon and Isobel. He was educated at York University. He earned his MA degree at Columbia University (magna cum laude). He completed his PhD degree at University of Toronto.

Career
As the head of Slanted Wheel Entertainment Inc., Slan has developed and produced A Friend of the Family, a Hitchcock-esque thriller about the real life serial killer David Snow, Plague City: SARS in Toronto, a tense, suspenseful dramatic re-telling of 2002’s outbreak of the deadly virus, Alice, I Think, a half-hour family comedy for CTV and Mayerthorpe, the recipient of Best Movie and Best Screenplay Gemini Awards. He is currently in production on a 2-hour pilot for CTV and SPACE for the  dramatic series Borealis.

Prior to founding Slanted Wheel, Slan was chairman and chief executive officer of Paragon Entertainment Corporation, located in Toronto, Los Angeles and London, England. Combining his creative and business savvy, Slan created a number of successful feature film and television projects. Among his early efforts were the 20th Century Fox release with Donald Sutherland, Threshold, and An American Christmas Carol with Henry Winkler for ABC TV. In 1994, he diversified Paragon through the purchase of Handmade Films, purchased from George Harrison, and re-started the dormant company as a viable production entity with such films as Intimate Relations with Julie Walters and Rupert Graves for Fox Searchlight, The James Gang released by Polygram and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. In addition, Slan served as Executive Producer of Wyatt Earp starring Kevin Costner and Dennis Quaid for Warner Brothers. For television he created the Emmy Award-winning Lamb Chop’s Play-along with Shari Lewis, Kratt’s Creatures and Zaboomafoo all for PBS Television. He also produced the acclaimed television movie Kissinger and Nixon for TNT.

Jon was also a co-founder of Superchannel, Canada’s first and most profitable pay television service, and a co-founder, shareholder and director of YTV, Canada’s number one youth network.

He is a Doctor of English Literature, educated at Columbia and the University of Toronto.

Personal life
Slan is married to Hannah Slan. His son, Matt Slan is the owner and CEO of Slan Sports Management.