About me
With over thirty years of experience, John Ritchie has overseen the creation of more than 500 hours of
documentary and scripted films, television series and one-offs through his company Force Four
Entertainment, which was acquired by Entertainment One in 2014. John is now heading his own
independent company.
John began his career writing and directing documentaries, including numerous biographies for CBC, as
well as natural history, science and social issue documentaries for broadcasters such as CTV, Discovery
U.S, Knowledge and W Network. He produced the multiple award-winning feature length documentary
65 Red Roses (CBC/OWN), which won awards at the Banff World Media Festival and Vancouver Film
Festival and was selected to the Oprah Winfrey Documentary Club.
Highlights of John's career in the scripted realm include executive producing two seasons of the sitcom
series Seed, (CITY/ The CW). He has also executive produced numerous television movies, including
Playing for Keeps (CTV/ Lifetime) and was a co-producer of the Peabody Award-winning mini-series
Human Cargo (CBC). He has also won numerous Gemini, Leo and Canadian Screen Awards for his
work.
John has a Bachelor of Education from the University of British Columbia and a Diploma of Media from
Capilano University and is Board Chair of FactualWEST, an annual Vancouver conference for factual
television and documentary filmmakers. He is also Chair of the BCIT Broadcast Media Program Advisory
Committee and is a contributor to the Whistler Film Festival Documentary Lab.
