Visitor Media works with storytellers to produce film, television, digital media and audio projects. We centre the artist’s vision. We tell stories that envision a more creative, interdependent world. We actively reduce harm and fight oppression in all of our practices and projects. And we believe that stories shape the future.
Sean O’Neill Founder & Chief Creative Officer 📃 bio
Sean is a producer, director, writer, and the founder of Visitor Media. As President & Chief Creative Officer, he leads the company’s strategy and the development of the company’s film, television, digital and audio projects. He co-created, produced and hosted the award-winning CBC arts documentary series In the Making, a primetime show that took viewers inside the lives and work of notable artists at pivotal moments of creation. Over two seasons, the Canadian Screen Award-winning series screened at MoMA PS1, the National Gallery of Canada, the Remai Modern, VIFF Cinema, and other festivals and museums across Canada. The series was named by NOW Magazine as one of the year’s best upon its debut, and CBC Radio’s q described it as one of their “favourite shows on television.”
Before In the Making, Sean worked for a decade at the Art Gallery of Ontario, beginning as a waiter in the Gallery’s restaurant before working in communications, project management, programming, and ultimately serving as the museum’s first Director of Public Programs & Cultural Partnerships. His work at the AGO included the launch of Creative Minds, a national talks series presented with the CBC, Banff Centre and Massey Hall; and First Thursdays, a multidisciplinary event series that featured commissions and performances by more than 200 artists, including Patti Smith, Mykki Blanco, Lido Pimienta, and Tanya Tagaq. He also developed large-scale interdisciplinary commissions, including the Jennifer Baichwal/Nicholas de Pencier/Rheostatics collaboration Music Inspired by the Group of Seven, and Robert Binet’s acclaimed ballet The Dreamers Ever Leave You, produced with the National Ballet of Canada.
While at the AGO, Sean worked as a writer and director in theatre and performance, collaborating with the artist Liz Peterson to develop works as Events in Real Time, including Express Yourself (2011-12), which won the Jury Prize for Risk and Innovation at the SummerWorks Festival and was presented at the Incubator Arts Project in New York. Sean grew up working in film and television as an actor and host, and from 2015 through 2017, he hosted Crash Gallery on the CBC. His writing has been published by Canadian Art and CBC, and he co-edited the publication Ten Years: The Aimia | AGO Photography Prize, 2008 – 2017.
Christina Carvahlo
Christina is an award-winning documentary and factual producer and director with a passion for facilitating authentic and meaningful storytelling, navigating between the production and creative elements like the Gemini she is. Recent productions include the award-winning web series Farm Crime (Big Cedar Films/CBC Gem) and the documentary short Nancy’s Workshop (CBC Gem, 2 million+ views). She’s collaborated with some of Canada’s brightest doc filmmakers on feature films, including Chelsea McMullan (Throat, NFB feature, forthcoming) and Charles Officer (NIA, feature doc, forthcoming). Her television credits include Hello Goodbye (CBC), The Beaverton (CTV/The Comedy Network) and In the Making (CBC).
