Gemini Rising Media: Digital Art, Film & AI
Christa Schadt – producer/director/editor
Christa Schadt has produced, directed, written and edited video and film professionally since the early 90’s. She has personally been nominated for two Geminis for ‘The Dancing Game’, in the categories of best director & best editor. Other films she has edited have been awarded both Geminis, as well as an Emmy. Christa is best at the original and creative use of images, and is continuing to develop and produce socially conscious documentaries and documentary series for television and the web.
IN DEVELOPMENT:
Producer/Director/Writer: ‘Colour – The Science, Nature, History and Culture of’, 6x one-hour series
Producer/Director/Writer: ‘Through the Grass Ceiling’, feature length documentary
IN PRODUCTION:
Co-Producer/Director/Writer: ‘I Want my NFT’, 3x one-hour series
BROADCAST & FILM CREDITS:
Producer/Director/Editor: ‘Never too Late, 1/2-hour pilot for TV
Producer/Director/Researcher: ‘Dharma Highway’, developed with OMNI BC
Producer/Director/Researcher: ‘Stacy’s Quest: Peyote & the Native American Church’, developed with APTN & Vision TV
Producer/Director/Editor: ‘Roll Over Beethoven: Paul Verville & Beethoven’s Last Piano Sonata’, for Bravo Canada & APTN
Producer/Director/Researcher: ‘The Beatles: Step X Step’, developed with Craig Broadcast Systems & Telefilm Canada
Editor: ‘Dove Days’, one hour, Nightingale Productions, for Vision TV Canada
Producer/Director: ‘Apocalypse Still’, one hour developed with CIDA and CIFVF
Producer/Director: ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’, developed with Red Pepper Productions and ETV South Africa
Producer/Director: ‘Knock Out’, 1/2-hour pilot for Life Network Canada
Producer/Director: ‘Soldier Boys’, one hour for CTV and Vision TV. Distributed by Granada Media International
Producer/Director: ‘Eye School’, 1/2-hour pilot for Life Network Canada
Editor: ‘Skin Deep 1’, 7 x 1/2-hour series, Inner City Films, for Life Network Canada
Editor: ‘Pandemic: Case of the Killer Flu’, one-hour, Associated Producers, for BBC, CBC Canada, WGBH Boston
Editor: ‘Scattering of Seeds: The Wanderer’, 1/2-hour series, White Pine Pictures, for the History Channel Canada
Editor: ‘Edge of Extinction: Saving the Leatherback Sea Turtle’, one-hour pilot, Breakthrough Films, for Discovery Network Canada. Winner of a Gemini Award
Director and Editor: ‘The Dancing Game’, one-hour, Associated Producers, for CBC Canada, the NFB and Bravo USA. Awards: Bronze World Medal at the New York Festivals and a Certificate for Creative Excellence at the US International Film and Video Festival, nominated for 3 Gemini awards and 3 Hot Doc Awards. Finalist at the Banff Television Festival, finalist at the Monte Carlo Television Festival
Editor: ‘The Selling of Innocents’, one-hour, Associated Producers, for CBC Canada, HBO USA. Awards: Emmy Award for Outstanding Investigative Journalism, the Cable Ace Award, a Golden Apple at NEMN, a Gold Plaque at the Chicago International Television Festival, a Silver Nymph at the Monte Carlo Television Festival and the Donald Britain Award for Best documentary Program at theGeminis
Editor: ‘Expulsion and Memory’, one-hour, Associated Producers, for TVO. Awards: Silver Apple at NEMN and a Silver Plaque at Intercom
Editor: ‘Hemophilia In Perspective’, 4 x one hour series, Associated Producers for Sick Children’s Hospital Toronto. Segments of the series have won both the Gold and Silver Cindy Award as well as 2 Silver Apple Awards at NEMN
Editor: ‘Northern Justice’, one-hour, Associated Producers for TVO. Awards: Gold Award at Worldfest Charleston International Film Festival, Silver UNESCO Award, Bronze Medal at the New York Festivals, Silver Apple at the National Educational Medial Competition, Gold Award at the International Cindy Competition
Grants, Fellowships & Mentorship:
Soros Documentary Fund (now Sundance) • Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) • Market Mentorship at The International Documentary Forum, Amsterdam • Market Mentorship at ‘Docs Without Frontiers’, Ebeltoft, Denmark • Hot Docs Mentorship Program, Toronto • CTV Fellowship, Banff TV Festival
Christa Schadt graduated from OCAD (Ontario College of Art) with honours, majoring in Video Art, Sound Art, Performance Art, and Installation Art. Her Video Art has been featured throughout the world, including the Women in Film Festival in Hollywood, the Cologne Art Fair, the Fodor Museum in Amsterdam, the Electronic Image Conference in Bologna, the Institute Unzeit in Berlin, the Ivam Centre in Valencia, Spain, LVA in London, England, and the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
She has written, produced, directed and edited numerous pieces of Video Art throughout the years, as well as a couple of music videos. She has also written and produced Performance Art pieces and Installation pieces, that have debuted both in Toronto and Berlin.
EXHIBITIONS:
Gus Fisher Gallery, Auckland New Zealand • Sheridan College, Oakville • The Pleasuredome, Toronto • Ed Video, Guelph Ontario • The Images Festival, Toronto • Women in Film Festival, Hollywood California • Solo Warehouse Show, Toronto • The Australian Video Festival, Sydney • The Ivam Centre, Valencia Spain • Toronto Board of Education, Toronto • Cologne Art Fair, Cologne Germany • New Works Show, Toronto • Holland Festival, Amsterdam Holland • Ontario College of Art, Toronto • University of Toronto, Toronto • Fodor Museum, Amsterdam Holland • New Works Show, Toronto • Videopool, Winnipeg Manitoba • Canadian Images Festival Peterborough Ontario • British Canadian Exchange, London England • Electronic Image Conference, Bologna Italy • Great George Gallery, Charlottetown PEI • Struts Gallery, Sackville New Brunswick • Women in Focus, Vancouver BC • Video Femmes, Montreal Quebec •The Cameron House, Toronto • Institut Unzeit, Berlin Germany • LVA, London England • ARC, Toronto • The Cameron House, Toronto • The Festival of Festivals, Toronto • First International Women’s Festival, Rome Italy • ARC, Toronto • The Rivoli, Toronto • Gallery 76, Toronto • Art Metropole, Toronto • Music Gallery, Toronto • Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto • The Subway Room, Toronto • The Funnel, Toronto • Nuts and Bolts, Toronto • Music Gallery, Toronto • The Gap, Toronto
WEB3 EXHIBITIONS IN THE METAVERSE:
The Condition of a Woman’s Body Exhibition • The Faces of the Goddess • My Gaia Mom Exhibition • Wildeverse Exhibition • Crypto Art Music Metaverse NFT Exhibit + Auction • Mothers of Ethereum • Burning Life 08 • Burning Life 07
AWARDS:
Ontario Arts Council Video Grant • Canada Council Short Term Grant • Toronto Arts Council Video Grant • Canada Council Grant • Mrs. W. O. Forsyth Scholarship • George A. Reid Scholarship • Canadian Tire Tuition Scholarship • K. A. Griffith Art Bursary
My artistic practice operates at the intersection of experimental media, online ecosystems, and post-disciplinary inquiry. Working across video, sound, still image, performance, and immersive formats, I navigate the porous boundaries between material and virtual domains, leveraging platforms such as Web3 and the Metaverse to examine evolving paradigms of authorship, embodiment, and reception. Central to this practice is the integration of generative systems and AI technologies, which I employ not as tools of automation, but as co-agents in the production of affective, symbolic, and speculative encounters.
Informed by postmodernist critique, postcolonial discourse, and feminist perspectives, my work is driven by a synthesis of embodied intuition and critical theory. I explore themes such as sexuality, language, non-conformity, ecological entanglement, and the politics of perception through a lens of symbolic consciousness. This metaphorical modality is informed by a deep engagement with global mythologies, archetypes, and spiritual systems, which function not as aesthetic references but as worldview models for reimagining interconnection and presence. Movement and sound guide how I shape time, rhythm, and perception—offering a sensory matrix that grounds my process and evokes a deeper, more immersive encounter for the viewer.
My process involves reworking visual fragments, and blending them with personal memory and moments of emotional resonance shaped through digital interaction. These materials are not simply composed; they are activated through performative and curatorial gestures that emphasize the instability of narrative, authorship, and meaning-making. Whether presented in browser-native works, immersive environments, or site-specific installations, my practice highlights disruption, estrangement, and a recalibration of perception as a form of critical intervention in the hyper-mediated conditions of contemporary life.