Moses Znaimer

Moses Znaimer is Co-founder and Chairman of Cannasat Therapeutics, a company researching the medicinal benefits of cannabis and developing novel cannabinoid pharmaceutical products. He is also the new owner Classical 96.3FM in Toronto and 103.1FM in Cobourg, Ontario. He is the President/Executive Producer of MZTV P&D, a boutique independent television production and distribution company; and the Executive Producer and Presenter of the annual ideaCity Conference.

Moses Znaimer is co-founder and former President and Executive Producer of Toronto's radical and popular independent television station, Citytv Toronto (1972); Citytv Vancouver (2002); MuchMusic (1984); MuchMoreMusic (1998); MusiquePlus (1986) and MusiMax (1997); Bravo! - Canada's NewStyleArtsChannel (1995); SPACE: The Imagination Station (1997); CablePulse24 (1998); Star! - The Entertainment Information Station (1999); FashionTelevision (2001); SexTV (2001); Drive-In Classics (2001); MuchLoud (2001), and MuchVibe (2001).

He was founding Chairman/Executive Producer of Access Media Group, comprising ACCESS: The Education Station (1995); Canadian Learning Television: Television That Teaches (1999); BookTelevision: The Channel (2001); CourtTV Canada (2001) and The Learning Annex, Canada (2002).

Internationally, Znaimer licensed MuchaMusica, a Spanish language pop music joint venture seen in Argentina and other parts of the "Southern Cone" in South America; "Jyrki" in Finland; Citytv Bogot in Colombia; and Citytv Barcelona in Catalunia, Spain. Domestically, he participated in the historic bid to privatize Alberta's public educational television station, ACCESS, and took on the creative transformation of CKVR Barrie, a 40 year CBC network affiliate which was changed into a news, entertainment and sports-oriented independent station for Toronto and Central Ontario known as The New VR. Similar transformations then took place at The New RO (Ottawa and The Valley), The New PL (London), The New NX (Wingham) and The New WI (Windsor). The New VI was built from scratch in Victoria, B.C. and joined the "NewNet" - now called “"A Channel"” - in October of 2001.

Moses is known to the Canadian arts and business communities for having brought an original drive in television and allied communications arts into a comfortable alignment with the practical demands of commerce. He is known to the world broadcasting community for his innovation: the Participatory and Interactive Streetfront, Studioless, Television Operating System(tm).

Components of "ZnaimerVision" have achieved widespread recognition on their own "Videography" has transformed the economics and aesthetics of television news gathering; Speakers Corner(tm) has been heralded as the first effective electronic parallel to the "letter to the editor"; and "CHUMCity: The Building that shoots itself" reinvents the television "factory" as a perpetual performance and demystifies the television process in a way that's important for the democratization of the medium.

Znaimer's many honours include: The Urban Alliance on Race Relations Diversity Award for his commitment to promoting a work force that accurately reflects Toronto's ethno-racial makeup; The Human Rights Centre Gold Medal for outstanding contribution to the promotion of tolerance and creative race relations; the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews Human Relations Award for making his on-air casting and overall employment policies a living symbol of the new, multicultural, multiracial, multilifestyle Canadian reality; and the Advancement of Minorities in the Entertainment Industry Achievement Award from the Black Film and Video Networks.

Moses has also been presented with the Canadian Association of Broadcasters' 1998 CAB Gold Ribbon Canadian private broadcasting's highest award to an individual; and the Hakone Impact Award for pioneering and championing Interactivity and NewMedia, by Apple Computer. Znaimer received Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002 and was awarded the Chevalier De L'Ordre Des Arts Et Des Letters by the Republic of France in 2003. He was inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame in 2004 and is the only Television Content Creator and Operator to receive the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for lifetime achievement (2005); and joined the Order of Ontario in December of 2006.

At the same time, he has probably the largest collection of vintage TV sets in the world. His MZTV Museum encompasses 70 years of North American visual devices, TV receivers and associated popular culture. His Exhibition "Watching TV: Historic Televisions and Memorabilia from the MZTV Museum" has been on display at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa/Hull, the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies and at the Cinémathèque québécoise in Montreal.

Moses has been a producer, director and presenter for CBC Network Radio and Television; an Analyst for a venture capital fund; and an occasional theatrical and attractions impresario. "Tamara, the story you follow from room to room" was a new kind of three dimensional live presentation, a "LivingMovie" that has played in Toronto, Los Angeles, New York, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Rome, Warsaw and Lisbon. "Tour of the Universe" adapted sophisticated six axis flight motion simulators for mass entertainment and education to the delight of millions at the CN Tower in Toronto and in Japan.

Moses is the on-screen Presenter for Citytv's syndicated first person television portrait series, "The Originals"; for Bravo!'s "Originals in Art" and for SPACE's "Originals in Space". His "TVTV: The Television Revolution", a three-hour blockbuster personal video essay and exploration of the struggle between the image and the printed word, had its premiere on Canada's Public Television Network, the CBC; and has since been seen in other world markets such as, China, Australia, Hong Kong and Portugal. He has also appeared as an actor in the Academy Award nominated movie "Atlantic City" and in "The Best Revenge".

Znaimer was born in Kulab, Tajikistan and arrived in Montreal, a post war "DP" (displaced person), in 1948. His formal education was completed at McGill (Honours B.A.) and Harvard (M.A.) Universities. He holds a Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) from Athabasca University (Canada's foremost institution of higher learning in Distance Education), "for leadership and vision in the use of communication technologies to enhance the quality of social, cultural and educational life in Canada"; along with Honourary Doctoral Degrees from York University (2001) and the University of Windsor (2003). Moses' future was foretold when he purchased the family's first television set with his Bar Mitzvah money.

For more info and media coverage, visit www.mosesznaimer.com.

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