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Our Board

Our Board is composed of individuals who, on the basis of their knowledge and experience, help make Blink49 Studios a home for talented creators and world-class entertainment.

Kirstine Stewart is an internationally award-winning leader with deep expertise working at the intersection of media and technology, and a reputation for turning around revenue performance and driving new market expansion on a global scale. Her work spans executive leadership roles with Twitter, Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC), Crown Family Media/Hallmark, the World Economic Forum, as well as other media corporations and technology start-ups.

Kirstine is presently the Chief Revenue Officer of Pex, a technology company backed by Tencent and Universal Music Group. She was formerly at the World Economic Forum, Kirstine headed the Future of Media, Entertainment, & Sport division as a member of the WEF Executive Committee, collaborating with C-level leaders from multinational enterprises like Facebook, Google, ByteDance, Publicis Groupe, P&G and more to address emerging issues such as digital disruption, the value in media, consumer privacy, and the future of work. Prior to joining the WEF, she served as President and Chief Revenue Officer for TribalScale, a global innovation and digital transformation firm, after leaving her post as Chief Strategy Officer for Diply, an early-stage tech start-up and content publisher that ranked #1 in Deloitte’s Fast50 Tech Growth Companies in Canada.

Kirstine initially entered the tech industry as the Founding Head of Canada for Twitter where she initial entry into the country before taking on the role of VP Media for all of North America. As a prolific broadcasting industry leader, she was credited with catapulting ratings and launching into the digital market as CBC’s Head of TV, Radio & Digital. Prior to that, she served as Senior Vice President to grow the subscriber base for Alliance Atlantis, a media company with a portfolio of Canadian lifestyle channels including HGTV, Food Network, BBC Canada, National Geographic, History, and many others.

As Head of Programming for Crown Media/Hallmark she opened five new international markets to position the portfolio for a profitable sale directly following her as General Manager and Head of Programming for Trio Newsworld International where she secured the $300M sales to NBCUniversal.

Kirstine launched her media career with Paragon, a media licensing and distribution firm where she rose from her initial entry-level position to ultimately become president leading television content licensing and global distribution into emerging markets. In 2016, Kirstine authored the bestseller, Our Turn, an internationally award-winning book on leadership published by Penguin RandomHouse.

As a sought-after board member and corporate advisor, Kirstine serves as the World Economic Forum Advisor for Young Global Leader (YGL) and member of the board for Think Research, a publicly traded medical technology company and Rivalry, a global Esports and Gaming company. Her leadership extends into non-profit advocacy as well, after serving as a member of the Founding Board for CILAR (Coalition of Innovation Leaders Against Racism) and as a member of the board for the Center for Addiction & Mental Health (CAMH) Foundation.

She is also a Founding Member of Chief and Soho House as well as a Board Member of C-100, Top Canadian Technology/Business Leaders. Kirstine is internationally known as an industry leader having earned recognition including The Power 50: Canada’s Most Powerful Business People by Canadian Business in 2016, Person of the Year by Playback Magazine in 2012, Woman of the Year by Canadian Women in Communications in 2010, CBC Media Player of the Year by Marketing Magazine in 2009, Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 Award in 2007, among others.

A native of Canada, Kirstine earned her bachelor of arts from the University of Toronto before completing executive leadership programs including the Global Leadership in the 21st Century through the Harvard Kennedy School, the Transformational Leadership program through the University of Oxford, Saïd Business School, and Leading with Finance, Capital Markets and Valuation through the Harvard.

Nelson Kuo-Lee is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Blink49 Studios overseeing all operations and financial matters. Previously, Nelson served as Executive Vice-President of Entertainment One’s global Film and Television business and held positions of Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer before departing in early 2020. Nelson joined eOne in 2007 and was instrumental in shepherding its growth into a global independent studio; as COO, leading its early M&A strategy and new business integration, and as CFO, overseeing its global finance restructuring and information systems transformation. Nelson is a former Director of the Board of FilmOntario.
Jeff Lynas serves as Blink49 Studios’ Co-Founder and General Manager with a focus on Production and Production Financing. Prior to joining Blink49 Studios, Jeff was Chief Operating Officer for eOne Television and responsible for operations on a global basis. He also led business development for the division, establishing and structuring new business relationships across production, distribution, and digital media. Jeff supported the growth of eOne’s U.S. non-scripted business, worked on transformative deals including the initial acquisition of The Mark Gordon Company and a multi-series output deal with AMC Networks. Jeff joined eOne in September 2008 when the company acquired Blueprint Entertainment, where he served as Senior Vice President, Operations. Before the acquisition, he played a key role in establishing Blueprint’s business in the U.S. and building relationships with producers and broadcasters.
John Morayniss is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Blink49 Studios, overseeing all aspects of the company’s activities, which encompass the development, production, licensing, financing and monetization of all forms of television content. Before launching Blink49 Studios, John served for a decade as the CEO of Entertainment One Television (eOne). Under his leadership, eOne established an unparalleled network of global television partnerships, delivered acclaimed scripted and non-scripted series and grew its global sales operation to be among the best in the industry. Some of the most notable productions during his tenure include The Rookie for ABC starring Nathan Fillion, Designated Survivor for ABC and Netflix starring Kiefer Sutherland, Sharp Objects for HBO starring Amy Adams, Hell On Wheels for AMC, Burden of Truth for the CBC and CW, Hung for HBO and Rookie Blue for Corus and ABC. On the non-scripted side, during John’s tenure, eOne’s slate included Naked and Afraid for Discovery; Siesta Keys for MTV; and LA Burning: The Riots 25 Years Later for A&E. In addition, John orchestrated the acquisition of international distribution rights to AMC’s The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead.
Chris Rice is Co-founder and Co-CEO of FIFTH SEASON, a 21st century content studio that produces, finances and distributes over 50 feature films, television series and documentaries each year. FIFTH SEASON’s recent film titles include the award-winning and critically acclaimed “The Lost Daughter” from Maggie Gyllenhaal, Lin Manuel Miranda’s “In the Heights,” The Michael B. Jordan starring “Just Mercy,” “Book Club” and “Blue Miracle” and from Michael Bay “Ambulance” starring Jake Gyllenhaal.The studio produces and distributes premium TV series including the critically acclaimed and award-winning “Killing Eve,” “Normal People” and “The Night Manager”, Apple TV+’s “The Morning Show”, “Severance”, “See” and “Truth Be Told”, the HBO series “His Dark Materials” and “Scenes from a Marriage”, “Tokyo Vice” for HBO Max, and for Hulu the Nicole Kidman starring series “Nine Perfect Strangers” and Amy Schumer’s “Life & Beth”.Prior to the formation of FIFTH SEASON, Rice was a partner at WME IMG where he led WME’s international television group and oversaw entertainment financing and distribution for IMG. Before joining WME, Rice was Co-founder of Cinnamon Entertainment, a financing, production, and sales company for television series including the “Ironman” kids television spin-off with Marvel Entertainment. Rice also acted as an advisor to multiple media and distribution businesses and was part of the investment team at Creative Capital Fund, a UK based seed/venture capital fund focused on media investments. Rice received an MBA with distinction from London Business School.
Patrice Theroux is one of the industry’s most respected film and television executives having built major distribution and production organizations for more than 30 years including Alliance Films, where he was Chief Executive Officer, and Entertainment One where he served as President of Film and Television from 2007 to 2014 and guided the entry and growth of the company in all of its content initiatives. Having also produced more than 45 films and television programs, he is a member of the Producers Guild Association (PGA), the British Academy of Film and Television (BAFTA) and the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.
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