Jane Schoettle was born in Edmonton and studied theatre and literature
at colleges in Vancouver, New York City and upstate New York. The first
twenty years of her career were spent as a director, actress and writer
for theatre, film and television, including a stint at Toronto’s Second
City, and she spent several years as a film columnist for The Globe and
Mail’s Broadcast Week magazine. She founded, and for ten years was
Director of, the Sprockets Toronto International Film Festival for
Children. Jane is also the founding Director of the John VanDuzer
International Children’s Film Collection and she co-programs the series
Reel Talk. This is her sixth year as an International Programmer for
TIFF, where her areas of responsibility include American independent,
Australian, New Zealand and Israeli cinema. She has served on numerous
international juries, and her travels on behalf of TIFF this year took
her to Sundance in Utah, SXSW in Texas, and festivals in Australia, New
Zealand and Cannes. She lives in Toronto.