Jim Venturi is the founder and principal designer of ReThink Studio and ReThinkNYC. Through his experiences in information technology, planning, and architecture, Venturi focuses on solving the infrastructural, social and economic challenges of transportation planning.
This holistic approach is reflected in both his work at ReThink Studio and his past work as a network architect, bridging analytical and creative assets by building early technology networks and developing software. He founded Creative Technologies, a boutique systems integration technology firm catering to architects and designers. In 1996, the company shifted focus to designing and implementing email and network migrations for Fortune 1000 companies.
Venturi’s work experience in architecture and urban planning comes from working with architects in his early career and teaching architecture students CADsoftware at Parsons School of Design. He gained further experience more recently from the production of Bob and Denise, a feature film in post-production about the renowned architects Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown.
Dr. Atiya Mahmood is a Professor at the Department of Gerontology at Simon Fraser University. She has a PhD in Architecture/Environment-Behaviour Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Her training is in environmental gerontology and her research focuses on health and built environments for older adults with a specific interest in neighbourhood environments, mobility/walkability, active living and pro-social behaviour/social engagement of diverse groups of older adults in community-based and supportive housing. She has over two decades experience in qualitative and mixed methods research in the areas of environment-behaviour studies and aging and built environment.
Sara is an architectural and urban historian whose research focuses on the link between architecture and capital. She writes about the relationship between real estate developers and architects in the twentieth century, uncovering how money has shaped cities.
Sara's first book was Developing Expertise: Architecture and Real Estate in Metropolitan America (2016, Yale University Press). Organized in two parts, it studies early suburbs and the profession of real estate development as well as postwar urban renewal in American city centres. Developing Expertise argues that real estate developers influenced public policy through their professional organizations, used design to promote investment security, and employed new financing techniques and sources of capital that avoided risk.
She is a member of the collective Architects Against Housing Alienation that curated the Canada Pavilion at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale.
Eitaro approaches every project with the philosophy that architecture has the ability to entice interaction and create meaningful connections. He specializes in various forms of seniors’ housing, village communities for persons with dementia, and housing prototypes to support aging in place.
Born in Bulgaria, Valentina B. Ganeva is graduate of the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts in Sofia. She holds a BA degree in Film History and Theory and made her mark as a freelance film critic for major Bulgarian publications. After relocating to Los Angeles, Valentina became Murex Films co-owner and an exec. producer. During her time with the company she built an extensive resume as a film editor. Her lifelong interest in art, architecture and design merged with her knowledge and experience in film production culminated in “Schindler Space Architect”, a passion project about the life and works of R.M. Schindler.
Danny Berish and Ryan Mah are award-winning documentary film directors and co-founders of Black Rhino Creative based in Vancouver, Canada.
Director credits include the one-hour documentary film for Telus “Outside In,” the 6-part series “Red Chef Revival,’ “Nude to Me,” a documentary selected by the Hot Docs Film Festival in 2020, and “House Special,” a 5-part documentary series. Danny and Ryan are also in their third season of directing the travel series “Postcards from…” for AMI.
"Arthur Erickson: Beauty Between the Lines" is the co-directors’ first feature documentary, which will premiere at the Architecture and Design Film Festival in Toronto in October 2024. The film will be broadcast on Knowledge Network early 2026.
Danny Berish and Ryan Mah are award-winning documentary film directors and co-founders of Black Rhino Creative based in Vancouver, Canada.
Director credits include the one-hour documentary film for Telus “Outside In,” the 6-part series “Red Chef Revival,' "Nude to Me," a documentary selected by the Hot Docs Film Festival in 2020, and “House Special,” a 5-part documentary series. Danny and Ryan are also in their third season of directing the travel series “Postcards from…” for AMI.
"Arthur Erickson: Beauty Between the Lines" is the co-directors' first feature documentary, which premiered at the Architecture and Design Film Festival in Toronto in October 2024. The film will be broadcast on Knowledge Network early 2026.
Leah Mallen has produced film, television, and digital content for over twenty years. Her past credits have garnered many awards and accolades including a Best Short Film Award at the Cannes Film Festival’s Critic’s Week, a Best Documentary Film at the Zurich Film Festival, and multiple Best Apps Awards at Kidscreen. She has distributed her content around the world, including such platforms and broadcasters such as HBO, Sundance, Hulu, BBC, ARTE, CBC and Knowledge Network. She was one of six international producers selected to attend the Binger Film Lab in Amsterdam, is a graduate of the Canadian Film Centre’s Producer Lab, and has chaired or sat on many creative boards, including the Hot Docs International Film Festival board, DOCBC, and Vancouver’s Cinematheque. She also produces the Architecture and Design Film Festival in Vancouver which just launched its first year.
