The Company

Elia Kirby Productions Ltd (EKP Ltd.), doing business as the Great Northern Way Scene Shop (GNW), is an production services and custom fabrication company that builds sets, installations, and displays. With a diverse client-base that includes large institutions (e.g. Vancouver Art Gallery) to small nonprofits (e.g. Pacific Theatre) to corporate companies (e.g. TED Talks, Moment Factory, MEC), GNW operates year-round to produce an array of scenic projects and installations. Located at the western edge of the False Creek Flats and within the Arts Factory building, the GNW Scene Shop is provides quality services and products to a diverse client base, while supporting Greater Vancouver's cultural community and providing employment to local artisans and craftspeople. Started in 2003, incorporated in 2009, the Great Northern Way Scene Shop relies on the skill, talent, and creativity of its diverse staff.

Elia Kirby

CEO

Elia Kirby (BA, SFU; MA, UBC), is a professional Technical Director and Production Manager for Theatre, Public Art, and Live Events. Significant  recent projects include: scenery for Times of India Film Awards (May 2013, BC Place), CODE Live (VanOc 2010), Calm, Plaza, and Horizon Sky for Vancouver Art Gallery Off Site, West Side Story set construction for Vancouver Opera, and the international tours of Dress Me Up In Your Love, (Theatre Replacement) and Winners and Losers (Theatre Replacement and Neworld Theatre). In 2003, Elia founded and continues to manage the Great Northern Way Scene Shop, where he has been involved in over 300 art projects, theatre and film sets, and performance events. Elia has taught Production Management and Technical Direction at Capilano University, UBC and SFU; and Human Geography at UBC.  Elia grew up with the  Caravan Stage Company, the world's foremost horse drawn theatre company. Elia has worked on site-specific spectacle theatre in the UK with   Welfare State International & Theatre of Fire; and with Legs on the Wall in Australia.  Elia is currently the President of the Arts Factory Society at 281 Industrial Avenue; a professional artist studio facility.

Elia Kirby

Marietta Kozak

General Manager

Marietta Kozak has been working in the professional art and entertainment world since the early 1980’s. Since then, she has produced many hit productions, including Sex Tips for Modern Girls and The Number 14 and continues to work as producer on such diverse projects as the Stanley Park Ghost Train and last year’s Salmon Row at the Britannia Shipyards in Richmond. Marietta has been a financial manager and consultant for many companies, including Touchstone Theatre, the Caravan Farm Theatre, Playwrights Theatre Centre and Full Circle, First Nations. She currently manages Mortal Coil Performance Society (since 2005), Elia Kirby Productions Limited (since 2009) and is the bookkeeper for Left Right Minds Initiatives, Uzume Taiko, NOW Orchestra and other small companies. Marietta is the board Secretary of the Arts Factory Society.

Marietta Kozak

Kyle Sutherland

Head Scenic Carpenter

At GNW, Kyle has been a carpenter since 2007, and now serves as a Lead Carpenter. He builds sets for theatre, opera, TV shows, and many differing fine art installations and corporate setups. Since graduating with a BFA from the University of Victoria’s Theatre Program in 2004, he has worked as a Theatre Technician and Scenic Carpenter in Montréal and Calgary, spent a year and a half perfecting his scenic carpentry skills at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Alberta, built custom cabinetry and installations with several companies in Vancouver, and currently also works as a freelance carpenter and designer here in town. Kyle also serves as a Designer-In-Residence with Vancouver’s ITSAZOO Productions, where he has designed and built the sets and props for nearly every show produced since 2007. In his  free time he enjoys cycling, hiking, snowboarding, music, gaming, and spending his time with friends and family.

Angela Carlson

Project Manager, Theatre & Arts

Angela Carlson (BFA) joined GNW in 2008, was the Head Scenic Artist from 2010 to 2017, and is now a Project Manager specializing in Theatre and Performing Arts projects. She has contributed to the production of large and small theatrical, institutional, and commerical sets and props including Times of India Film Awards 2013, Sweeney Todd and West Side Story for Vancouver Opera 2011, CODE Live for the Vancouver Olympics 2010. As a Scenic Painter, Angela has painted sets for numerous theatrical and commercial production companies such as the Arts Club, the Cultch, Gateway Theatre, Bard on the Beach, Theatre la Seizieme, Mortal Coil Performance Society, Caravan Farm, and more. She has also designed and built masks and costumes for Caravan Stage in Italy and the United States. Prior to her work in theatre, Angela designed, created, marketed, and taught functional and sculptural ceramics in the Northern interior and central interior of British Columbia.

Adam Curry

Head Scenic Carpenter

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Justus Hayes

Scenic Painter

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Michael "Che" Campbell

Head Scenic Fabricator & Welding Shop Supervisor

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