President & Executive Producer
Michael McMahon is a founding partner at Primitive Entertainment. He oversees the company's selection of projects and focuses on its many relationships with broadcasters, distributors, co-production partners, industry organizations and government agencies. Internationally, Michael has forged partnerships with co-producers, broadcasters, distributors and investors in Europe, Australia, the United States and Japan.
With more than 35 years' experience producing premium non-fiction content, Michael's films have won more than 50 awards worldwide. His films have screened at prestigious festivals around the world, including Berlin, SXSW, Traverse City, TIFF, Hot Docs, VIFF, CPH:DOX, Bergen, Munich, Sydney, Tokyo, Barcelona, IDFA, DOXA and the Museum of Modern Art, amongst others.
Michael has co-produced several projects with Germany and France under the official co-production treaties and has co-produced documentary series and features with NHK in Japan.
Michael served as Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of Hot Docs from 2003 to 2018, where he was instrumental in the acquisition and renovation of Toronto's historic Bloor Cinema. He was Co-Chair of DOC Ontario for twenty years, the largest chapter of an industry organization representing 1,000 documentary filmmakers across Canada. Michael has also served as Documentary Producer Mentor at The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) and on the editorial committee of the World Congress of Science and Factual Producers (WCSFP) from 2018 to 2022.
