Gilles Gagnon

Gilles was born in Montréal, Québec. He is a videographer, composer, musician, and web designer. It is Gilles' fascination with people, their stories and life experiences that has led him to create "The Wisdom Speakers". He has had the idea of recording people's wisdom and stories for over a decade. Originally, the concept was a compilation of audio recordings of "words of wisdom" over a soundbed of his original music. His fascination developed after meeting extremely interesting people while backpacking in places such as Tunisia, Morocco, Spain and Ecuador. He was inspired to create videos instead of simple audios when he saw the power of visual images to bring the audience closer to the subjects. "It is much more personal and intimate", he says. Training in film and video production followed, and The Wisdom Speakers, which features video vignettes, was born.

Gilles has a background in Information Technology and worked in the "corporate world" for many years. However, his free-spirit and entrepreneurial nature prompted him to leave that world behind and strike out on his own where he is free to navigate his ship wherever the guiding star of passion leads him.

Gilles dove into exploring his love of music which included composing, performing, and creating community events with drumming, percussion, singing, and dancing. His primary instrument is the keyboard/synthesizer. He creates impressionistic music, suited for meditations, as well as worldbeat and dance music. He has collaborated in creating and producing two meditation CDs and has also composed and recorded dance tracks for the Toronto Move Collective. Gilles' technical background as a computer programmer and network analyst assists him with the technical aspects of recording and producing, that is engineering, mastering, and mixing. These skills have translated well into the video production and editing world. Gilles also delivers animation and documentary film workshops at the National Film Board of Canda (NFB).

The Wisdom Speakers project is a dream-come-true for Gilles. It's an outlet for his various skills and interests for what is a worthwhile cause.

Gilles resides in Toronto, Ontario. You can often find him working on projects, laptop in hand, in local cafés - often striking up interesting conversations with strangers. His deep love of nature often takes him to the woods where the waterfalls, creeks, hiking trails, and trees, call to his desire to live a simple and balanced life.

Nicole Arends

Nicole is honoured to be a part of such a special project as The Wisdom Speakers. To be able to meet and interview such fascinating people has been inspirational for her. Having come from an extensive theatre directing background, Nicole's main interest in the creative process is working with metaphor and creating thought provoking ideas that lend themselves to deep reflection and intellectual stimulation. She has often been told of her skills to empower actors to their finest performances. This, combined with strong dramatic storytelling, has created emotional resonances for her audiences in plays and projects that she has chosen to explore. Now, with her collaboration with Gilles Gagnon on The Wisdom Speakers, she is able to merge her deep curiosity of the human condition with interviewing people and helping to creatively tell their stories through video.

Nicole has been working in the arts industry for the past 20 years working as an arts administrator, special events coordinator, theatre director, casting director, performer, workshop facilitator and fundraiser. Since receiving her BA in Theatre Studies from York University and a diploma in Events Management from Algonquin College, Nicole has worked for such arts organizations as The Royal Ontario Museum, Equity Showcase Theatre, Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People, Theatre Columbus, Theatre Smith-Gilmour and The Royal Conservatory of Music. She is a recent graduate of ISIS-Canada in Expressive Arts Therapy.

Nicole has worked as an independent theatre producer and director for several small companies and fringe shows in Ottawa and Toronto. She is currently working for Learning Through the Arts at The Royal Conservatory as the Community Programs Manager of the Outreach Program, the Active Ecology Program and the Institute of Creativity, Health and Social Change.