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Home | JOHNNY LOMBARDI: The Great Communicator
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JOHNNY LOMBARDI: The Great Communicator
Winner of the Colin Low Award
Best Canadian Documentary - National Film Board of Canada
Canadian Documentary Premiere on OMNI.2
Italian Language Version – Saturday, April 5th at 10PM ET on OMNI.1
ENCORE PRESENTATION: Saturday, April 12th at 5PM on OMNI.1
March 27, 2008 - Toronto, ON - Rogers OMNI Television is proud to present the world television premiere of Johnny Lombardi: The Great Communicator as part of the OMNI Television Documentary Special series. The 60 minute documentary launches to Italian language audiences on OMNI.1, Saturday, April 5th at 10:00 p.m. with an encore presentation the following week, Saturday, April 12th at 5:00 p.m.
A labour of love for the entire production crew – especially Grace Fusillo-Lombardi of Fuel Productions, Writer/Director/Producer of Johnny Lombardi: The Great Communicator and Lenny Lombardi, Executive Producer -- their heartfelt portrait details Johnny Lombardi’s rise from poverty, the son of poor immigrants from Italy, to successful businessman, entrepreneur and key contributor to the development of multicultural broadcasting in Canada.
“My father’s dream of broadcasting was to be far reaching, touching the lives of millions of people across Canada,” says Lenny Lombardi. “His CHIN Radio station was first to provide new immigrants with a voice; he played a major role in helping shape and define a vision of Canada that openly embraced different cultures and different languages.”
But while Johnny Lombardi and multicultural broadcasting in Canada are now closely linked, when CHIN was first established, multiculturalism was in its early stages of evolution.
“At one time broadcasting in non-official languages was actually illegal; our society was not always as multicultural as it has now become,” echoes Grace Fusillo-Lombardi, wife of Lenny Lombardi and daughter-in-law of the late, great communicator. “Johnny Lombardi had to overcome many struggles to realize his dreams, and we are grateful to Rogers OMNI Television for their support in helping us to inspire others with his story.”
The documentary features over 35 industry leaders, politicians, friends and family members sharing their fond memories of Johnny Lombardi: The Great Communicator, among them:
- The Rt. Hon. Jean Chrétien; former Prime Minister of Canada;
- Charles Dalfen, former Chair, CRTC;
- Ted Rogers, President and CEO, Rogers Communications Inc.;
“Of the hundreds of documentaries generated by OMNI’s Independent Producers Initiative, Johnny Lombardi: The Great Communicator is a re-affirmation of Canadian ethnocultural identity,” says Madeline Ziniak, National Vice President of the OMNI Stations. “Moreover, the partnership between OMNI and CHIN on this project underlines our mutual strengths as diversity broadcasters who both build bridges by reaching out to our respective audiences in their language of comfort.”
The English language version of Johnny Lombardi: The Great Communicator debuted on OMNI.1 in December, 2007, shortly after what would’ve been Lombardi’s 90th birthday.
Johnny Lombardi: The Great Communicator was exclusively funded through OMNI's Independent Producers Initiative, a $32.5 million independent production fund that to date has supported over 200 new documentary programmes. Interested producers can access funding criteria at OMNI Television’s web site http://www.omnitv.ca/ontario/info/funds .
About Rogers OMNI Television
Rogers OMNI Television is a free over-the-air regional broadcasting system operated by Rogers Communications in the Rogers Media division. The OMNI stations have the collective mandate to reflect Canada’s diversity through the airing of inclusive and accessible multilingual/multicultural programming. Rogers OMNI.1 and OMNI.2 are currently available across Canada to subscribers of Starchoice and ExpressVu satellite systems.
About Fuel Productions Inc.
Grace Fusillo-Lombardi began Fuel Productions Inc. in 1998 as a planning, promoting and production company, shortly after graduating from Ryerson University with a Bachelor of Art in Radio and Television. As principal of the company, Ms. Fusillo-Lombardi has written and produced numerous video projects, including documentaries related to the history of Italians in Canada, and developed promotional and public relations campaigns.
To secure a screening copy of Johnny Lombardi: The Great Communicator,photos for print or to interview anyone associated with its production please contact:
OMNI-TV Media Contact:
Fuel Productions Media Contact:
Grace Fusillo-Lombardi - Writer/Director/Producer, 416-531-9991 ext 2200
Fuelproductions@aol.com
