Shaun Proulx
In 2000 Shaun Proulx left a successful and lucrative career in finance to pursue his creative ambitions from scratch, selling his home and going broke in the process. Now president and the face of Shaun Proulx Media, Shaun produces leading-edge transformational entertainment for its audience of gay men and the women who love them, with a mandate to demonstrate that everyone can be do and have anything they desire.
SPM’s uplifting platform’s include The Shaun Proulx Show (The SPS) where he has interviewed everyone from Lady Gaga to Betty White, the weekly personal empowerment radio show, Shaun & Friends, it’s companion blog, HIMBO!, the comedy/ interview podcast UNCENSORED! as well as the popular LGBT tastemaker sites, GayGuideToronto.com and GayGuideHalifax.com.
In 2009 he was crowned ‘King Of All Media’ by fab magazine, and was featured on CBC’s Connect with Mark Kelly in a career segment on successful people who were “technically unqualified, but rocked their careers based on sheer talent and moxie.” In January 2010, Montreal’s Hour magazine ranked Shaun on their 3rd annual ‘Hot List’ and he can be currently found in the 2012 edition of ‘Toronto’ in Air Canada lounges worldwide, offering his top hot spots in his hometown.
In May 2009, in partnership with OutTV Shaun began shooting the acclaimed The Shaun Proulx Show inside the PROUD FM studios (home for three years of his wildly popular afternoon drive radio show), which evolved into a second season that saw Shaun interviewing his subjects on their own turf. Now producing Season 3 independently to broadcast online, Shaun is currently travelling across Canada shooting a series of SPS specials.
Previously, Shaun appeared on television contributing to shows such as CBC’s The HOUR, and MuchMoreMusic’s Popaganda. His work also appeared for years in various sections of Canada’s national newspaper, the Globe and Mail including ‘Globe Style’ and ‘Globe Toronto’. For several years Shaun wrote the popular scene column ‘Cocktail Confessions’ for Xtra! and was a button-pushing monthly columnist and feature contributor, gaining infamy from his leading-edge, provocative articles on such topics as crystal meth and HIV and the law. He is frequently sought by mainstream Canadian and American media for comment on GLBT issues ranging from same-sex marriage to marketing to the queer community.
Shaun has appeared on stage as a lead in the Canadian premiere of Paul Rudnick’s The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told (2000), and as a lead on screen in Die Mutter, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2001. In 2006 he co-produced the Fashion Cares documentary DecAIDS – Anything Is Possible for Global Television, his first foray into documentary filmmaking. It won ‘Best Social Documentary’ at WorldFest in 2007, ‘Best Full Length Feature’ at the New York AIDS Film Festival in 2007 and was an official selection of the Hollywood Festival the same year.
A popular keynote speaker, Shaun speaks to the topic that ‘You Are The Creator Of You’ in monthly workshops produced by Shaun Proulx Media, and at universities, most recently Western University (London) and York University (Toronto).
He lives in Toronto with his husband Patrick Marano (aka international porn star Eddie Stone), with whom he was named ‘Canada’s Next Power Couple’ by Outlooks magazine in 2009. They have two dogs, Jack and Ella, and a cat, Annie. His favourite colour is purple, he is addicted to The Young & The Restless and regards his 2008 set visit as proof-positive that in the end, holding his breath and going for it was all worth it.
Jill Allen
Jill has been the National Business Development Manager for Shaun Proulx Media since 2009. With a tenacious 15 year history in sales and marketing, Jill, along with her growing team of Account Executives, have successfully created and executed campaigns for clients such as Sony Pictures, Alliance Films, Warner Music and Live Nation, along with partnerships with key community organizations such as AIDS Committee of Toronto, The Toronto People with AIDS Foundation and Toronto Public Health. Jill is also part of the production team and often a producer for The Shaun Proulx Show.
Contact: [email protected]
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Patrick Marano
Who better to fill the role of Operations Manager for Shaun Proulx Media, then Patrick Marano. As someone who has watched the business grow as Shaun Proulx’s husband, Patrick knows where the company has been and where it is going. He is excited to be on board and working with such a dynamic and colourful bunch!
Contact: [email protected]
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Sergio Martinez
Sergio joined SPM in 2010 as National Program Development Manager: Shaun Proulx’s Law of Attraction and Producer: The Shaun Proulx Show. Upon completing his graduate studies at McGill University in Montreal, Sergio moved to Los Angeles where he was recruited to do a six-month internship at Warner Bros. Communications. Several years later and numerous production stints in feature film and television under his belt, Sergio accepted a position in the literary department at the legendary Creative Artists Agency, where he would go on to work with such creative luminaries as Martin Scorsese, Mike Nichols, Barry Levinson and Clive Barker. Sergio made what many considered at the time to be a bold career move when he left CAA to take an entry-level job with two brand new aspiring young companies called Miramax Films and Sovereign Pictures Distribution. His years at Miramax would result in his involvement with such memorable award-winning films like My Left Foot, Cinema Paradiso and Reversal of Fortune. It was David Lynch’s Propaganda Films that gave Sergio the opportunity to be an independent producer and develop his own projects. In 1998, Sergio moved back to his native Canada to devote his time fully to social justice and educating the world about HIV/AIDS. He currently lives in Toronto with his life partner.
Contact: [email protected]
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Sabrina Pirillo
SInce she was just a little girl, Sabrina has had 2 major passions in life: Radio and Traveling!
For the last decade, Sabrina has been in the Radio Broadcasting industry plowing through almost every position including Promotions and Marketing Manager and On Air Swing announcer.
Today she joins The Shaun Proulx Media team as The Manager of Travel and Promotions, taking on her second passion, travel. “It’s the best of both worlds, and knowing that I still get to work with my amazing clients and now travel the world, this gal wouldn’t have it any other way!”
Sabrina has already visited: Cancun, Chicago, Las Vegas, and Miami and hopes to add to this list very soon.
Philip Tetro
Philip Tetro is a Theatre Studies Major at York University and is a classically trained vocalist. He is a music enthusiast, part-time choreographer, journalist, actor, comedian, storyteller, and lives a lifestyle of Madonnaology. Besides blogging for TheGayGuideNetwork, Philip is also a panellist on MTV’s 1 girl 5gays.