About Ruby Tree Films
Ruby Tree Films specializes in character driven documentary and narrative films that tell the kinds of stories that are not often told.
The company was founded in 2010 by filmmaker Donna Davies, a master storyteller with deep roots in subculture. The company has been recognized for creating outstanding content and has won numerous international awards.
Ruby Tree Films works with a talented team of collaborators to produce entertaining, compelling, and authentic work.
Donna Davies
Donna Davies is an award-winning writer, producer and director from Prince Edward Island. Her films that have toured festivals internationally and aired on CBC, Bravo, The Movie Network, IFC, HBO, Netflix, Hulu, Starz and EPIX.
Donna’s foray into filmmaking began with a number of short films including Town Shoe Repair, Gasoline Puddles, Seven Crows and A Space for Sara. She went on to finesse her filmmaking skills at the National Film Board of Canada where she wrote and directed The Kitchen Goddess, a film about women’s wisdom followed by A Sigh & A Wish, a feature length music documentary about the life and work of folklorist Helen Creighton.
Donna has gone on to make dozens of films and television series on topics as diverse as child labour to zombies. She has established herself as an outstanding voice in documentary with her popular Feature films Nightmare Factory and Fanarchy, both which have garnered dozens of awards and screened at festivals throughout the world.
Donna has recently returned to her roots in drama with the horror short Monster Proofing and Pretty Bloody, a dark comedy series about a woman who runs a horror film studio.
Donna is a member of the Canadian Media Producers Association, Women in Film and Television and Screen Nova Scotia.
She is the recipient of a 2018 Women in Film and Television Award for Best Director and a 2017 WAVE award for outstanding leadership and vision in the Atlantic Canadian Film industry.
Select Awards
FANARCHY
Boston Sci-Film Festival: Best Documentary
Screen Nova Scotia Awards: Best Documentary
Sci Fi London Film Festival: Honorable Mention
NIGHTMARE FACTORY
Indie Fest: Award of Excellence
Atlanta Horror Film Festival: Best Documentary Feature
Mile High Horror Film Festival: Audience Award for Best Feature Film
Maverick Movie Awards: Winner Best FX
Eerie Horror Film Festival: Best Director, Best Feature Film
PollyGrind International Film Festival: Best Documentary
Rhode Island International Film Festival: Best Documentary
On Nightmare Factory – “In the often dazzling documentary, we see Elijah Wood visit the studio to talk about the company becoming the go-to effects house for his fledgling genre production outfit.”
– IndieWire
Ann Bernier, VP Business Affairs/Producer
Ann Bernier is one of Canada’s most sought-after producers. With more than three decades of experience in the Canadian screen industry, Ann has garnered a reputation for producing high quality award-winning films, confidently straddling the worlds of both documentary and drama. Her specialty is championing talent, developing unique concepts and nurturing projects from early development through to delivery.
Ann’s foray into the film industry began with Telefilm Canada, where she spent several ten years overseeing film and television development projects and the new media fund. She went on to work with Atlantic Film Festival producing Strategic Partners, a highly successful international co-production conference.
Ann served as Director of Operations and Development for imX Communications, known for award winning films such as Margaret’s Museum staring Helena Bonham Carter, Love and Death on Long Island staring John Hurt and Jason Priestly, and while there produced Thom Fitzgerald’s The Wild Dogs and the Canada/France co-production Folle Embellie.
For the past decade, Ann has worked closely with Ruby Tree Films where she has produced numerous documentaries including the multi-award-winning feature documentary Fanarchy. Ann has a long-standing partnership with acclaimed filmmaker John Walker and has been producer on his last three feature documentaries including Assholes: A Theory which was nominated for three Canadian Screen Awards and a WGC Screenwriting Award. Her partnership with Vertical Productions Inc. has resulted in numerous successful productions including the animated feature film Koati, scheduled to be released this year.
In her role as President of Auguste Content, Ann is committed to the production of outstanding documentary and narrative films that tell powerful stories using the canvas of cinema. Recent work includes two one-hour documentaries for CBC TV, including The Mill which was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for Best Documentary.
Ann is a member of Screen Nova Scotia, Women in Film and Television Atlantic, and the Documentary Organization of Canada and sits on the Board of Directors for FIN Atlantic International Film Festival and the Canadian Media Producers Association. In 2017, she was presented with a WIFT-AT Wave Award recognizing her significant body of work and outstanding contribution to the Atlantic film industry.