People: Development & Production

Head of Factual Entertainment

Sean De Vries began his media career making really bad student films, and studying Philosophy – a move which made for great cocktail conversations and limited employment opportunities.

After attending the Broadcast Journalism program at BCIT, he started his first real job as a Reporter and Senior Writer for CBC television. He continued working for the CBC in Edmonton before moving to London where he joined the BBC. As a Broadcast Journalist and Producer for BBC he worked on a number of International News and Current Affairs programs including, "Hard Talk", "Asia Today", and "Extra Time".

Since returning to Vancouver Sean has directed and produced a number of award winning lifestyle shows including, "Tube Tales", "Smart Cookies", and "The Shopping Bags". He now works with the Force Four team developing and creating a busy slate of factual and lifestyle programming.

Director of Development

Nicole Lawson is the Director of Development at Force Four Entertainment.  She joined the company in 2007, and works closely with independent producers and writers, and her in-house team to shape and pitch new TV series to Canadian, American and international broadcasters. 

Recent projects she managed from conception to green light include 10 one-hour episodes of the factual series Million Dollar Neighborhood for OWN (airing January 2012), 26 episodes of the half hour lifestyle series Urban Suburban, 13 half-hour episodes of the competition series Family Cook Off for Food Network (airing spring 2012), and 10 one-hour episodes of the factual series Village On A Diet for CBC. 

Before dedicating herself full time to development, Nicole worked in production on series such as Making It Big for Slice, Take It Outside for HGTV and Tube Tales for TVtropolis. She has a degree in journalism from Ryerson University and a degree in psychology from UBC.

Development Producer

Tara-Lee has had a penchant for film & television since watching Patrick Swayze lift Jennifer Grey in the closing scene of Dirty Dancing.   Assuming the mantra, “Nobody puts Baby in the corner”, Tara-Lee graduated with honours from the University of Toronto with a degree in English and Sociology, followed by a diploma in Broadcast Journalism from BCIT. 

She has contributed to a variety of Force Four series including W Network’s Cupcake Girls, OWN’s Murder She Solved and HGTV’s Urban Suburban. 

Currently, Tara-Lee works full-time as Force Four’s development producer, contributing to the logistic and creative development of an ongoing and exciting slate of new projects.   

Office Manager

Amanda previously worked as a make-up artist on two Force Four productions: Wakanheja and Art Zone. She enjoyed the experience so much that she jumped at the opportunity to join the Force Four team permanently as the Office Manager.

Amanda manages the office and ensures that everything runs smoothly for clients and employees alike.