As Director of Content, Acquisitions, & Sales, Sarah oversees the content strategy, rights management, and acquisitions across Bell Media’s English Entertainment portfolio. She leads efforts to secure key content across all platforms, assesses original programming needs, develops successful content strategies, manages programming expenditures, and identifies key revenue opportunities.

Sarah plays a key role in shaping Bell Media’s content leadership – launching its AVOD and FAST channels, driving Crave to record streaming, and leading CTV Comedy to become Canada’s #1 specialty channel for more than five years. Sarah spearheaded global content sales and the integration of Sphere Abacus, forging international partnerships across the U.S., U.K., Germany, Australia, and with domestic platforms including Roku, Netflix, and Tubi.

How many years have you been a judge?

This is my first year!

What excited you about judging for the Telly Awards?

Seeing content from a multitude of creatives and sources is always inspiring and often distills ‘what’s next’, new and exciting for audiences.

What was your first job in the industry? What did it teach you?

I began as an executive assistant to a television programming executive and it was the perfect job to understand how important collaboration and communication is across teams. To succeed, everyone has to row in the same direction towards the same goal, and hoarding information doesn’t help anyone.

What are your current roles and responsibilities and what do you love most about your job?

Acquiring content across entertainment platforms means I have the privilege of working with so many partners and the ability to see content across genres. Supporting Canadian creators, stories and content in film and television is always exciting. With my responsibilities in content sales, I get to see the other ‘side’ of the coin and shepherd great content into the rest of the world.

What inspired you to pursue your career path?

A love of film and television and the self-awareness that I am not going to be on the creative side of the industry.