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Dianne Schwalm

setting the scene from behind the scenes

YWCA Toronto women of distinction award 2005:
mentorship

A motion picture entertainment industry veteran, Dianne Schwalm broke through barriers in a field that has always under-represented women. Throughout her expanding career, Ms. Schwalm has always been a passionate supporter of women in Canadian screen based media. As a consequence, she has had a powerful impact on the achievement of women among successive generations.

From behind the scenes, Ms. Schwalm has worked tirelessly to ensure that young women are given the opportunity to realize their vision in the film business. Ms. Schwalm is the 2005 YWCA Woman of Distinction for Mentorship.

Ms. Schwalm has spent more than three decades in the Canadian motion picture entertainment industry, paving the way for other women to thrive. Ms. Schwalm was the first woman field director at 20th Century Fox in the mid-seventies. Then as one of the first women in management at Warner Bros., she demonstrated that a woman could balance a career and family life, along with community service. She was pivotal in the design of a maternity leave policy at Warner Bros., breaking down barriers for other women who followed.

In her current position as Senior Vice-President, Warner Bros. Theatrical Advertising and Publicity, she oversees all of the theatrical marketing for Canada.

Ms. Schwalm has risen through the ranks of Warner Bros., to a height few women achieve within multinational entertainment companies. In 1980, she joined Warner Bros. as Director of Marketing and was promoted to Vice President of Theatrical Advertising and Publicity in 1990, the role she held until being appointed to her current position.

Early in her career, Ms. Schwalm realized that the Canadian motion picture-entertainment industry needed to develop its emerging female talent. She passionately and unwaveringly helped to support and develop women’s leadership throughout the industry. She has been instrumental in founding organizations that support women as well as creating formal and informal mentorship and internship programs to help women and young girls reach their goals.

Ms. Schwalm supports girls when life-changing career paths are chosen, through public school programs such as the Marshall McLuhan Catholic High School new media and media education. Ms. Schwalm ensures that women’s voices will be part of the future of media production by running internship programs within her company that give young women their first jobs and entrée to the entertainment industry. She is widely acknowledged as a central figure in the careers of many women, ensuring that they gain a broader audience through advice and resources as well as training and development programs.

Through her tenure as president of the Women of the Motion Picture Industry (WOMPI) as well as her involvement in Canadian Women in Communications (CWC), Ms. Schwalm was instrumental in laying the groundwork for organizations that give women access to leadership and professional roles. Most recently, through her efforts, Warner Bros. provided the 'seed funding' so that Women in Film and Television – Toronto, could launch its filmmaker mentorship program assisting talented women to advance their projects.

Dianne Schwalm is an active volunteer in both the motion picture industry and in charitable organizations. Not waiting to be asked, she makes a point of helping young people realize their passions and dreams. Ms. Schwalm lives in North Toronto with her husband and three children.

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