This month we are featuring Telly Award Council Member, Dylen Postnikoff! She is an award-winning and results-driven marketer with 13+ years of experience working in media and entertainment. Dylen draws on a proven track record of success in leadership and relationship-building skills, balanced with the pragmatism and cultural sensibility needed to create highly-visible 360 marketing campaigns for both the domestic and international market. 

In Dylen’s current role as VP, Global Brand Strategy at Shaftesbury, she is responsible for cultivating and serving the company’s global audiences while expanding its content footprint, focusing on audience awareness, audience loyalty, and increasing engagement by building on existing global fandoms, and tapping into passionate audiences to create deep and dynamic new ones. 

Prior to joining Shaftesbury, Dylen served as Head of TV Entertainment and Content Marketing at CBC where she led a team that launched award-winning shows, including Schitt’s Creek, Kim’s Convenience, and The Baroness Von Sketch Show. 

What video/television piece inspired you recently? 

I just finished watching both seasons of Fleabag and I may actually be Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s biggest fan. She has an innate ability to capture a moment in between what people are saying and create that time in space to feel so relatable it’s as though you have been transported into the scene and real life is playing out in front of you.  And while it’s been done before, there is something special about the way Waller-Bridge breaks the fourth wall drawing the audience into her complicated, messy, imperfect, and eclectic world while sharing an inside joke or comedic beats as she flirts with the camera. From the writing to the directing to the brilliant performances on screen, there is a nuance to Fleabag that so accurately captures the agony and ecstasy of life (and everything in between).

What is the most exciting for you at this moment within your industry?

I was recently appointed to the board of directors for the Toronto division of Women in Film in Television (WIFT-T) and I’m so proud to be joining a group of inspiring and talented people who are committed to the development and advancement of women in the screen-based industry.  

While there is still a huge gap to fill in terms of gender parity and equal representation within the entertainment industry, I am hopeful of the progress that is being made towards recognizing and addressing the vast imbalance of women and people of color, both behind-the-scenes and in front of the camera.  As we start to see powerful movements rallying for change, not just in Hollywood but globally, I’m excited for a world where we are all collectively working towards inclusivity and equality and where bias in this industry, conscious or unconscious, is no longer a part of the discourse. I realize we still have a long way to go to get there but I’m cautiously optimistic that this will eventually become a reality.  

What is the one thing the Telly Awards community should know about you? 

I love to travel. I love meeting new people, trying new food, visiting places that I’ve never been to before, and immersing myself into new cultures while learning about the history of a place. My sister and I were fortunate to have started traveling at a very early age with our mom, who more often than not opted for experiences off the beaten path and our family vacations consisted of hitchhiking in Mexico, riding camels through deserts in Egypt and surfing off remote islands in Venezuela. She gave us a life changing opportunity to see the world through a different lens and this has influenced not only who I am on a personal level but also how I’ve approached my career, the people I work with and the perspective I bring to the table.  

What is a piece of work you are most proud to have worked on? 

I’ve had the chance to work on a lot of great shows so it’s hard to pick just one campaign.  But if I have to, I’m really proud of the brand we built and the cultural impact that the series Schitt’s Creek has had not just in North America but around the world. When first launching the show, we knew that the tremendously talented cast and brilliant storytelling would resonate with viewers. Our goal initially through the marketing efforts was to build and grow audiences to drive tune-in each week but we quickly realized that what we were actually doing was cultivating a global fandom. It has been amazing to see how the viewers have gravitated towards this little show made in Canada with the underlying message of acceptance, laughter and heart.  Now going into its sixth and final season, Schitt’s is more popular than ever and while the show is coming to an end, the narrative it’s based on of love and humanity, will hopefully continue to inspire audiences well beyond its final episode.