Brian Paisley C.M. is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

film and theatre producer.

Early years

He was born in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, and grew up in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada.

Career

Paisley is most famous in Western Canada for his contributions to the development of Canadian theatre, most notably as the founder of the

Edmonton International Fringe Festival The Edmonton International Fringe Festival is an annual arts festival held every August in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Produced by the Fringe Theatre Adventures (FTA), it is the oldest and largest fringe theatre festival in North America (based on ...

, which he modeled after the

Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

. The festival began in 1982 and was the very first Fringe festival in North America. The alternative theatre concept has since spread and been developed as similar 'Fringes' in major cities across the continent including Vancouver,

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Paisley worked as producer of the Fringe festival in

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

for the first ten years of its existence, until 1991, when he left his position to shift his artistic focus from theatre to film. Paisley's feature-length screenplay, ''Lies Like Truth'', won the 2003 CHUM TV Reel Edge competition. Along with a million dollar plus budget for the film itself, a 13-part documentary entitled ''Good To Go'' was made to chronicle the development of the project from script to screening. The documentary, which featured Paisley's insight prominently throughout the series, aired nationally in Canada on the

A-Channel A-Channel (proposed as The Alberta Channel) was a Canadian television system initially owned by Craig Media from September 1997 to 2004, then by CHUM Limited from 2004 to 2005 through A-Channel, Inc. It consisted of Craig's television stations in ...

network. ''Lies Like Truth'' premiered at the 2005 Victoria Independent Film & Video Festival. In 2006, Paisley once again tackled event production and worked as producer for the 2006 Victoria Arts Symposium.

Recognition

In April, 2010, Paisley was awarded the Order of Canada. Named as a Member, he received the honour as "a cultural visionary who has left an indelible mark on Canadian theatre". In 2012, the City of Edmonton named a new suburban neighbourhood in the Heritage Valley area as Paisely in his honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paisley, Brian Members of the Order of Canada Film producers from British Columbia Canadian theatre managers and producers Living people Northern Ireland emigrants to Canada People from Belfast Year of birth missing (living people)