Seeing anything routine as an obstacle to be overcome - Robert Wertheimer has been dedicated to taking risk and change in both career and in life.  He is a recent graduate of the Academy of Canada Coaching and is awaiting his final International Coach Federation certification.

An award-winning writer/producer he has been involved in international projects ever since he crashed the Cannes Film Festival while still a broke undergraduate student from Montreal’s Concordia University.  Early on, Robert’s specialty was production; serving as an Executive in Charge of Production for Paramount Studios, acting as a risk manager for Film Finances Completion Bond Company as well as a producer on a host of projects.  Early on, he was a founding board member of the Academy of Canadian Film and Television as well as a national board member of the Director’s Guild of Canada.

 His skill set has led him to work in Vietnam, Argentina, the Caribbean, India, the Philippines, Mexico, South Africa and throughout Canada and the United States.  He line-produced Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children to the screen, while on location in Sri Lanka and for The Discovery Channel - Capsized, Blood in the Water - made for Shark Week – shot entirely in the Dominican Republic.

 Robert’s skills at thriving in foreign locations led to him being asked to create a three-day lecture on the subject of commercial film making for the emerging production community in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. 

 His journey led Robert to India, serving on the first version of Deepa Metha’s Academy Award nominated feature; Water.  Once that assignment concluded, Robert created, and wrote Charlie Jade, a 22-hour, Canada-South Africa co-production, which aired on the Syfy Channel in the U.S.  Then, he created Across the River to Motor City, (a six-part mini-series) which garnered Robert a WGC Award for Best Writing in a Dramatic Series (co-winner), as well as 7 Gemini nominations.  

 Other projects that included Robert have garnered many accolades and awards including: Due South (Best Continuing Series, Banff International Television Festival Rockie Award; Chrysler Canada Award for Most Popular Television Series; Best Dramatic Television Series Gemini Award), Sam & Me (Cannes Film Festival International Critics Award Special Mention. 

 Never wanting to surrender to routine, Robert then diversified again and acted as the Content Producer for the new-age non-linear prototype Madcap Learning Systems.  Designed by Emmy winner David Devine and Dr. Michael Fullan, Professor Emeritus of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto and the late Sir Ken Robinson, (the then #1 Ted Talks authority on the future of western education practices).  Madcap – Phase One, was funded by both the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Pearson Education. 

 Currently, Robert is in development with acclaimed American environmental activist and author, Derrick Jensen, (The Culture of Make Belief) on the feature project: The Superman, which is based on their co-written short story, The Picker.   

 Robert also co-founded Testbench Technologies Inc. – an IT start-up.  Their new crypto-currency -based software product called Khalo, will be introduced in December, 2020.  His current development slate of post-Covid-19 era projects includes A Good Boy – a Canadian/German/South Africa feature co-production, as well as two features with Sunrise Films, Thief River to be shot in Wisconsin in the winter of 2021 and 2nd Line West.   

 Robert has co-created the economic development project Southwestern Ontario Film Alliance (SOFA) with Ballinran Productions run out of Stratford Ontario, with whom he is co-producing the feature adaptation of Clara Callan, based upon the the Governor General, Geller Prize and Trillium Award winning novel penned by Richard Wright.  Robert is currently on the board of directors of the TWC (The Toronto Writer’s Collective) a non-profit entrusted with bringing underprivileged and homeless people and creative writing together.  As well, Robert currently runs the Elevated Genre Online Film Club for the Westdale Theatre out of Hamilton, Ontario. 

 Born in Montreal, Robert is a U.S.-Canadian citizen, went to school in the State of Connecticut, attended the University of Vermont and has lived in North Carolina and California.   He is a former race car driver, skydiver, a shown photographer and has logged over 17,000 kilometers on his bicycle.  Robert is dedicated to transition and change in both career and life.   At the moment, he lives in Toronto.