Kirk Shaw

'Kirk Shaw (born May 23, 1956) is a Canadian-born producer who founded Insight Films in 1990. Insight Films was Canada's largest independent production house. Through Insight Films, Shaw has produced more than 100 award-winning films, including “Helen”, a 2009 Drama starring Ashley Judd that won a Leo Award in 2009 for Best Supporting Performance by a Female in a Feature Length Drama and was also nominated for Best Feature Length Drama. Shaw was part of the production team for the 2008 project, "The Hurt Locker", directed by Kathryn Bigelow and starring Guy Pearce, Ralph Fiennes and Evangeline Lilly, which reached international acclaim at the 82nd Academy Awards. It was nominated for nine Oscars including Best Picture and won six including Best Director for Bigelow, the first woman to win this award. The film earned numerous awards and honours from critics' organizations, festivals and groups, including six BAFTA Awards, and was also nominated for three Golden Globes in 2010.

Shaw also produced such notable films such as Battle in Seattle in 2007, directed by Stuart Townsend and starring Charlize Theron, Woody Harrelson and Joshua Jackson; the 2008 film Kill Switch with Steven Seagal; and two popular TV series: Blood Ties and Painkiller Jane.

Insight Films generated $500 million in film and television projects from 2005 to 2008.

Career

Early career

Shaw completed a journalism diploma at Douglas College in BC with the initial intent of becoming a writer. He landed on the administrative side of journalism, and was part of the management that launched the tabloid Edmonton Sun in 1978. Upon his return to Vancouver in the mid-1980s, Shaw spent 12 years in the computer business before launching Insight Films.

Producer

Shaw initially launched Insight Films to produce self-guided audio tours for museums and branched into video after he was approached by the Museum of Vancouver to produce display videos.

In 1994 Shaw began to produce his own documentaries, with Insight’s first dramatic feature film released in 2001, Maximum Surge.

Awards

Awards for Kirk Shaw

Awards for Films in which the Production Team included Kirk Shaw