Shaftesbury

One of Canada’s most successful and innovative media production companies, Shaftesbury has donated a significant portion of their archives to U of T to inspire future scholars, filmmakers and storytellers.

A force in storytelling and content creation, Shaftesbury was founded in 1987 by chair and CEO Christina Jennings (BA 1974 VIC) as a production company dedicated to telling Canadian stories through film. Spanning the production of TV, feature film and digital content, Shaftesbury titles are watched in 120 countries worldwide and include acclaimed international hits Murdoch Mysteries, Carmilla, Frankie Drake Mysteries, Regenesis, and Life with Derek.

Committed to developing Canada’s content creators of the future, Shaftesbury worked in partnership with the Etobicoke School of the Arts to establish the first-ever film program to be offered at a Canadian secondary school. The company has also been a long-term sponsor of the Canadian Film Centre, as well as supporters of Women in Film & Television, Habitat for Humanity, Sick Kids Foundation, MS Society of Canada, Childhood Cancer Canada, and Ernestine’s Women’s Shelter.

From 2007 to 2011, Shaftesbury contributed a wealth of audio and video assets to the Media Commons at University of Toronto Libraries, including thousands of hours of raw and mixed soundtrack elements, unedited field recordings, edited footage and complete television programs.

This gift-in-kind is a boon to the Media Commons and the U of T community at large. This vast archive of audio and video materials supports research across a variety of disciplines, and provides students with a rich, accessible resource of audio-visual elements that capture important aspects of Canada’s cultural heritage.