Anastasia Rokina - Senior Editor

Within less than a year of being with FutuRéale, Anastasia Rokina had joined the head staff in becoming our Associate Editor-in-chief. During this short period of time, she has grown as a recognized name in the industry. Her list of collaborations with well-known experts conceived pieces with some of our highest readerships up-to-date. She propels awareness by bringing to the spotlight global issues that do not make the headlines, and her fluency in 5 languages allows for special interviews with non-english speaking individuals. Her work thrives off of informing her readers of the misinformed, misunderstood and misconstrued.

Jess Silver - Administrative Editor and Director, Access & Rise Canada at FutuRéale

Jess Silver is a very driven and committed individual. Her love of poetry is reflected in her book entitled Lake of Bottomless Waters. Her work has been featured in various online journals including the University of Toronto Women in Judaism. She has been a member of the FutuRéale team for two and a half years as a writer, editor and columnist. She has now progressed to the attainment of her status as Associate Editor in Chief. Her dedication stops at nothing as she has conducted interviews with notable Canadian writer Nino Ricci author of Lives of the Saints, Canada’s own dancer and choreographer, Tre Armstrong, Actor/ Athlete Howard Dell and more. Jess received an honorary mention from Toronto’s former Mayor David Miller and is now the Director of Access and Rise Canada

“Investment in something that one is passionate about, reaps the highest reward.”- Jess Silver

Russ Martin - Senior Editor

Four years ago Russ Martin traded in life in rural Manitoba for a shoebox sized apartment in Toronto. He makes rent working as a business reporter, but spends his evenings blogging about pop culture and writing prose. This year he’ll finish his bachelor of journalism at Ryerson University.

Jess Morton - Editor & Host at "Living Light Toronto" at FutuRéale TV

Born and raised in Courtenay, B.C. Jess moved to Toronto for school in 2009. Since then, she has explored the city of Toronto, including its small music venues, tourist attractions, restaurants, and public transit. Jess has a unique viewpoint on education as she has been home-schooled since the age of ten. Through home-schooling, Jess has developed independence and responsibility. She learned to be accountable and organized while completing the required curriculum for high school. Jess is currently completing a degree in Professional Writing and Film Studies at York University. Jess has been exposed to the making of film and TV shows when accompanying her brother, who is a professional actor, on various film/tv sets. Included in the many articles that Jess has written and had published in FutuReale in the last year, are articles on actors Amy Matysio, Laurie Murdoch, and on executive producer Howard Nemetz.

Adam Varsano - Director, FutuRéale Television Programming & Living Light Toronto

Adam Versanov is a 25 year old video producer who enjoys his craft from the ground up. His passion began at a very early age with the eagerness of absorbing the perspectives of every persuasion of art. From the evocativeness of seminal films to the imparting social implications of shared ideas, Adam respects pieces of every kind of art as a port to the human condition.Adam is well versed with the many stages of production as well as the technical know-how when it comes to creating a piece available for consumption. In the early stages of his career, Adam began with relentless patience in the editors seat and has moved into other facets of video production.

Cindy Ng Man Him - Staff Writer

Cindy Ng Man Him recently joined FutuRéale's editorial staff. She currently studies at York University for her honours bachelor's degree in English. During her spare time when she is not diligently working on articles for the magazine or on essays for school, she posts online stories to keep her creativity in constant motion. There is never a dull moment with her.

Ravish Rawat - Assistant Layout Designer

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Graeme Mollison - Senior Layout Designer

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Michael Nguyen - Assistant Layout Designer

Michael Nguyen is an 18-year-old student from Toronto. He is a first-year student at Sheridan College and is pursuing a career in print journalism. Michael has a love of writing and discovered new opportunities while developing his skills in page layouts in school. In addition to FutuRéale, Michael freelances for a tattoo publication in the states, writes for his school's newspaper/e-zine, and runs his own wordpress blog. Expressing himself through words and pictures is a big part of Michael's life and that is what led him into the field of journalism. He is excited for the future and is ready to start his journey at FutuRéale.

Kevin Hamilton - Editorial Support

As part of the FutuRéale editing staff, Kevin Hamilton has an unnatural zeal for correcting poor sentence structure. And tense confusion. And style and punctuation. Also sentence fragments. As a writer, he prefers long form feature writing and freelances for several publications. 

Olivia D'Orazio - Editorial Team

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Lindsay Romeo - Editorial Team

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Liana Rico - Host at "Living Light Toronto" at FutuRéale TV & the FutuRéale Podcast

Liana has been interested in the world of television broadcasting for a number of years. She has involved herself with many great companies and shows. She has worked with broadcasting companies such as DanseTV, InSightTV, CTV and companies within the BellMedia enterprise. After working with So You Think You Can Dance and The 26th Annual Gemini Awards, Liana moved on to work with The Marilyn Denis Show. She has learned the qualities of great broadcasting by working along with fellow CTV and BellMedia broadcasters and is excited to share her experience with the FutuRéale Magazine team. Liana is positive and fun, innovative and attentive, and understands the importance of being genuine, empowering and educational.

Amanda Cupido - "Word on the Street" at FutuRéale Radio

Amanda Cupido is a fourth-year journalism student at Ryerson University who is pursuing a career in broadcasting. She has worked as a segment producer with Positive Living TV and hosted several programs with Rogers TV. Amanda also hosts a monthly radio show on CKLN 88.1 fm. Although she has a love for broadcast, she has also worked as an Arts and Life editor for Ryerson's weekly newspaper, The Eyeopener. Most recently, Amanda has returned from working as a social host on a cruise ship. She is excited to be a part of the FutuReale team.

Ahmad Issawi - Graphics & Layout Team

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Murat Baydere - Graphics & Layout Team

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Stephanie Young - Editor/Communications

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Jamey Sinanan - Film & Television Productions Team

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Leviana Coccia - Editor

Leviana is currently studying Media Studies, Journalism at the University of Guelph-Humber in Toronto. As an Editor, she believes writing is, “an art that cannot stop being practiced.” She feels writers should have a passion for reflecting, reporting, and experiencing. As a writer herself, she is always writing in her blog, journal or for professional purposes. Leviana’s strong will is seen in her drive to be, “writing everyday.”

Keith Pinto - Managing Director, Treasury, Grants & Finance

Keith Pinto has a degree in Political Science from York University and is a strong supporter of the arts. He is involved with a number of community groups in his hometown of Mississauga. He is also an advocate for green living, and in his spare time likes to spend time at his cottage in Bancroft. His hobbies include reading, writing, and working on his research. He is thrilled to be a part of the FutuReale team and looks forward to making a positive contribution.

Melissa Doyle - Editor

Melissa Doyle is currently enrolled in the Media Studies program at the University of Guelph-Humber, specializing in Journalism. Since high school she has been submitting work for poetry contests which led her to writing for the school newspaper and now, Editor with FutuRéale. She is proud to be an Editor of this publication, as it is her passion to inform others about Toronto events and to share with others and write about the city’s growing cultural diversity.

Kait Fowlie - Columnist

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Heronymo Allen - Visual Effects, Web Architect & Webmaster

Heronymo graduated from Seneca college's Digital Media Arts program in 2005. Since then, he's been working in the digital media field, doing various work with Flash animation and scripting, motion graphics, and websites. He grew up in an artisitc family, and was always surrounded by music. 

Inspirered by friends, images, movies, music and almost anything else, he is always looking to learn more and expand his skills and knowledge. When he's not working or playing the keyboard, you can usually find him hanging out or reading about something interesting. Or maybe doing nothing at all. Maybe.

Ashley Foley - Editor

Living on a native reserve in northern Ontario, in various Ontario Provincial Parks, and currently attending school in Toronto, Ashley comes from a culturally diverse background. She originally started out as a poet with the Canadian Poetry Institute and International Poetry Institute in her early teens. Since then, Ashley has done freelance work for magazines, including Quetico Provincial Park and FutuRéale. She also served as the Managing Editor for the Guelph-Humber University Radix newspaper and will graduate in 2010 with her Diploma in Journalism from Humber College and BAA from Guelph University.

Marnina Hermann - Events Team

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Olena Protsiv - Editorial Support

My name is Olena Protsiv and I am currently attending the University of Guelph Humber Media Studies (Journalism) program. I have always had a passion for writing going back all the way to grade five. My love for reading led me to the world of writing and these two go hand in hand. Whether it is writing short stories, poetry or feature stories, the words are a way to express and show how I feel about something and showcasing it to the world to make them see it in the same light. I have been published in a poetry anthology through a contest that I won, as well as self published a novel.

Sarah Doktor - Editorial Support

My name is Sarah Doktor. I come from a small town an hour west of Toronto. I have always been an active writer. I regularly keep a journal and was active in poetry clubs in school. I became interested in journalism thanks to my mother, who works at our local newspaper, The Brantford Expositor. I was allowed to explore the newsroom while waiting for my mom to finish work, and I quickly fell in love with the idea of working in the media. I began taking specialty journalism and multi-media programs offered in high school. Knowing I wanted something more than what was offered in my small town, four years ago I moved to Toronto to experience big city living and complete my undergraduate degree in media (specializing in journalism) from the University of Guelph Humber.

Rochelle Grabenheimer - Editorial Support

Rochelle Grabenheimer is a graduate from Ryerson University's Arts and Contemporary Studies program and strongly believes in providing nobrow literature to the public. She feels readership should extend beyond social and educational background. Extensive reader of cultural studies, Rochelle feels Toronto's greatest achievement is in its culture. She looks forward to promoting one of the world's most diverse cities through relevant and interesting material. Rochelle is excited to be a member of the FutuRéale team and looks forward to keeping Toronto alive.

Omar Murji - Executive Director and Co-Founder

FutuRéale Magazine is Toronto’s Arts, Culture and Living magazine! Founded in the summer of 2007 by Omar Murji and Vincent Lorenz, FutuRéale strives to offer a unique and exceptional blend of artistic genres from a number of talented Canadian performers, singers, painters, writers and many other talented individuals. 

From the truthfulness and revelation of artwork, to the amusing and eye-catching cultural representations in the city, Omar and his colleagues actively seek to promote arts, culture and living; the final concept of living being the binding one that links arts & culture to urban life. Omar is also the President of ONAMAP Enterprises and serves as the director with a number of community organizations.

Vincent Lorenz - Co-Founder

Vincent Lorenz co-founded FutuRéale Magazine with Omar Murji in the summer of 2007. As the story goes, Vincent (Viny) and Omar were at a café in upper New York State and were amazed by some of the artwork in the café. A few days later while traveling in Boston, they discussed the idea of having an arts exchange program between Canada and Viny's home country France. FutuRéale was born as an arts & culture exchange program which later was developed into Toronto's Arts, Culture and Living magazine.