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Passion for Canadian arts propelled academy veteran
It is no easy feat to sum up Maria Topalovich, but her friend, colleague and Hall of Fame alum, Trina McQueen, does it best.
“Like the operatic heroine Tosca, Maria has lived for art,” says McQueen. “Unlike Tosca, she never had to stab a policeman, or even a broadcast executive, to achieve her objectives.
“She has other weapons,” McQueen elaborates. “Intelligence, persistence, leadership and charm. Her passion is a simple one: that Canadian artistic excellence should be recognized and celebrated. Her victory is that the Genies and Geminis exist, and our delight is that she herself is now properly recognized and celebrated. Bravo!”
But 30 years ago, when Maria Topalovich was first approached by Andra Sheffer to join the newly born Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, the sprightly Slavic-Canadian turned her down flat.
“I had my own communications company,” recalls the gifted, brilliantly organized woman whose name will always be associated with the Academy and its glittering awards shows. “Bill [William] Littler was having me write classical music reviews for the Toronto Star, and I was teaching piano, working with choirs and helping Paul Hoffert promote a children’s record he’d made with his wife Brenda.”
A graduate of the University of Toronto’s prestigious Music Faculty, Topalovich was an avid classical music lover and one of legendary pianist Glenn Gould’s late-night phone confidants. “He’d call at 3 a.m.,” she says of the famed eccentric, “and I’d lie on the floor and just listen to him. I was honored that he valued my opinion.”
Luckily, Hoffert, a renowned musician, composer and early chair of the Academy, appreciated the dual passion of music and film, and pursued Topalovich with the help of Sheffer, the organization’s first executive director.
“We met at the old Festival of Festivals office in Yorkville,” says Topalovich of her first meeting with Sheffer, “and Andra practically seduced me into taking the job. It was the ’70s when everything was possible and I loved the idea of doing something new and exciting.”
That seemingly casual decision prompted a momentous career change for Topalovich, who spent the next 28 years rising from the role of the Academy’s director of marketing and communications to its president and CEO, the title she held until 2007 when she gracefully passed the baton. During that time, the Genie, Gemini and Gemeaux awards were established as benchmarks for excellence in this country’s major media industries.
Energetic and creative, Topalovich oversaw the growth of the Academy from 400 to over 4,000 members and still recalls its early days with enthusiasm. “It was a two-hander, just me and Andra, for the longest time,” she says, but the two hit the ground running. Topalovich was hired in December 1979 and the first Genie Awards ceremony took place in March 1980.
Sheffer recalls Topalovich’s early challenges: “Convince cynical Canadian press that Canadian feature films really are good, and that they should even write about them,” quips Sheffer. “Give them the hooks for their stories – or nearly write them for them. Wine and dine them. Cajole, convince, and caress their egos,” she laments.
“And the press were the easy part,” Sheffer adds. Every year there were “the dreaded seating plans for the Genie Awards,” she laughs, and “how to fit 1,500 people in the first five rows, where they all insisted they had to be.”
One of Topalovich’s most creative roles was that of executive producer of the Genies and Geminis, which she undertook from 1990 to 2007.
“Being a producer was an aspect of my job that was unique,” she says. “It evolved because the Academy wanted more creative input in the award shows and that became possible when we created ACCTV Productions and the shows became independent productions.”
She is pleased with the results, which were often breezier and funnier than similar productions in the U.S. and Europe. ”The creative constraints facing award shows are enormous,” she points out. ”By their very nature, they are formulaic and have a lot of business to cover, leaving scarce time for creative ‘entertainment’. But our shows always strove to be different – to stand apart from the others – and we enjoyed the support and encouragement from our broadcasters. For many years, I was lucky to work with many of the best and brightest young comedy writers, live television producers and directors working in Canada and we produced some fabulous shows.”
Topalovich also had the skills and desire necessary to work with Sheffer on creating a Montreal office for the Academy. Both were aware of the highly charged political environment in Quebec and that many artists would not be disposed to working with a Canadian organization with its national office in Toronto. Topalovich admits that “ it took a few years to woo the Quebecois and attributes much of the success to Patrice Lachance, who still runs the Quebec division and oversees the enormously successful Gemeaux Awards.
“There certainly were passionate moments over the years,” admits Topalovich, “but the secret to our success was simple – we shared the same goals, were all willing to work hard to make the relationship work. We all believed in the Academy. Like all successful marriages, it’s all about listening, compromising, mutual respect and appreciation.”
Also passionate about writing, Topalovich penned two Canadian film history books during her tenure at the Academy: And the Genie Goes to…Celebrating 50 Years of Canadian Film Awards and A Pictorial History of the Canadian Film Awards. Four editions of Who’s Who in Canadian Film and Television and the Making It, Telling It, Selling It film production trilogy were also published under her guidance.
Topalovich was able to maintain a suitable distance between her private and public life, especially difficult because her husband, Peter Mortimer, was head of the CFTPA for many years. “When we came home, we didn’t want to deal with work,” she says. “We didn’t travel, go out or socialize that much. Home was our sanctuary and our family was our focus and delight.”
Since retiring from the Academy, Topalovich has been able to spend more time with Mortimer, their two adult daughters and one granddaughter. She’s been active, serving as vice-president of the Actors’ Fund of Canada and taking on roles as vice chair of the board of trustees for Casa Loma and president of the U of T Faculty of Music’s Alumni Association.
Today she is a consultant and part-time executive director of the Guild of Canadian Film Composers. “It’s a perfect marriage of my twin passions – film and music,” says Topalovich.