We are a story telling foundation. Humans have been telling stories since the beginning of time. Before writing was invented of course, all stories were shared face-to-face. Many of these early story tellers used songs, masks, costumes, props and more, often changing these up with an expressive narration style and some lively dialogue. The best story tellers were skilled performers who used ritual chants, special locations, and even lightening effects and unique smells to enhance their tales. Most important In this was the constant back and forth between the teller and his or her audience. A good performance delivery has always been the key to holding a listener’s attention. A good delivery provides maximum entertainment value and also ensures that the listener will remember the tale. We have lost much of the intimacy and immediacy of ancient storytelling with the advent of modern TV, cinema and digital video formats. At the Sophia Hilton Foundation of Canada we do use modern media, as this allows our work to reach a much wider audience than face-to-face story telling ever can. But we always remember that the gist of good story telling event rests in one’s ability to effectively engage the listener.

Our foundation produces animated and documentary story materials that are intended to entertain as well as to educate. We are especially interested in themes that cross cultural divides, with mutual appreciation, understanding being our chief goal. We distribute our products to schools, universities and cultural organizations whenever possible. We always welcome suggestion for new projects in so far as our funding will allow. Public donations to our work are shown appreciation and are often eligible for a charitable receipt. We have no specific political, geographic or religious affiliation, although we do claim some experience and extra expertise where and whenever South Asian stories are featured.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

Dr. Brenda BECK

• Anthropologist, Scholar, Folklorist, University Professor and Author

Eric HARRIS

• Photographer and Technical Entrepreneur

Dr. Skye MORRISON

• Canadian Folklore Specialist, Worldwide Folk Textile Expert and South Asian Scholar

Jeyakobon JEYAKANTHAN

• Software specialist, business owner, entrepreneur, and active South Asian community participant.

Avinash RAJ

• Award-winning entrepreneur with strong cross-disciplinary interests in Visual Story-telling, Design and Engineering