Less Bland Productions is a Victoria-based media production company dedicated to creating high quality television series and feature films for distribution in Canada and beyond. We are a member of the Canadian Media Producers Association.
Leslie D. Bland
Producer
Leslie has produced and directed over 150 professional projects in film, television, and live theatre.
He produced and was the co-director for the comedy heist feature The Great Salish Heist, the first Indigenous heist film ever made, starring Graham Greene and Tricia Helfer which completed its Cineplex national theatrical release in 2024. Leslie then produced the Telefilm supported and Crave TV commissioned coming of age feature Sweet Summer Pow Wow which will be released in 2025.
His credits as producer and director include the award-winning feature length documentary Gone South: How Canada Invented Hollywood which featured Howie Mandel, Neve Campbell, David Foster, and Alex Trebek; the Telus/ FNX sitcom series Ollie and Emma; doc Dust ‘n Bones for FNX/ Telus/ APTN; the documentary series The Wine Guys: Grape Escapes, filmed in Italy and Spain; two feature docs Tzouhalem and A Cedar Is Life for Super Channel and CHEK; and a CBC short doc My Pet Assassin.
His work has been featured on CBC, Bell Media, Discovery Networks, Amazon, Super Channel, Knowledge Network, FNX, Télé Quebec, Hollywood Suite, Maori TV, NITV Australia, TV 5 Monde, Bytedance China, APTN, and many other streamers and broadcasters. Prior to his work in Film/TV, Leslie was an award-winning Artistic Director of two professional theatre companies in Canada. He has his MFA in Directing from the University of Victoria, is a graduate of the University of Alberta’s Conservatory BFA Acting program, and is an alumnus of the Trans Atlantic Partners program in international co-production.
Harold C. Joe
Producer, Orca Cove Media
As a member of Cowichan Tribes, Xulputstun (Harold Joe) works as a cultural worker, archeology consultant, filmmaker, and producer. He is a graduate of the Capilano Film School.
Harold appeared in, co-directed, and was the EP for the documentary Dust ‘n Bones commissioned by Telus, and APTN in Canada, and FNX in the USA on his work as a First Nations archeology consultant and the issues surrounding the preservation and rededication of First Nations remains and artifacts. Dust n’ Bones has been sold to NITV Australia, Maori TV, Knowledge Network, TV 5 Monde, and Télé Québec.
Harold also directed and produced the Leo Award nominated feature documentary Tzouhalem with its World Premiere at the American Indian Film Festival and its Canadian Premiere at Whistler.
A Cedar Is Life, another feature documentary won the Jury Award at the Quetzalcoatl Indigenous International Film Festival, won the Audience Favourite Award at the Salt Spring Film Festival, making its World Premiere at Red Nation and its Canadian Premiere at the Victoria Film Festival.
The comedy heist feature The Great Salish Heist, inspired by Harold’s Archeological work, with Graham Greene, Ashley Callingbull, and Tricia Helfer completed its national Cineplex theatrical release and is now streaming on Super Channel. The Telefilm, ISO, Creative BC, CMF, Shaw Rocket Fund, and Bell Media supported coming of age romance Sweet Summer Pow Wow, which Harold is producing, launches in 2025.
Harold is passionate about passing on oral traditions and cultural teachings to our younger generations, while equally educating broader society about who First Nations are as a People.
Shane Bland
Producer, Bland of Brothers Productions
Shane is moving into producing film and TV, from a background as an Arts Administrator, Performer, and Choreographer. He is a Canadian Broadway Musical Veteran performing in a variety of large-scale musicals including The Lion King, Showboat, Disney’s Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and Bombay Dreams on Broadway in New York. He has been deeply immersed in the arts and arts education for the past three decades. Through his work as a professional administrator, choreographer, actor, singer, and dancer, along with being a small business owner, he has made a name for himself in the entertainment business. With his trademark larger-than-life personality and endless energy, Mr. Shane has engaged with and entertained hundreds of thousands of audience members throughout his long career.
Eve Noonan
Production Coordinator
After teaching dance in Edmonton for 20 years, and obtaining a Marketing Diploma, Eve moved to the Okanagan in 1993 and continued to direct, teach, run a business, and provided production management for a variety of live theatre events.
One of her big loves is Musicals. Eve has choreographed over 40 Musicals during her career.
Eve has studied extensively in Los Angeles, New York and Las Vegas under many legendary instructors, and has adjudicated dance festivals across Canada and the United States.
Eve is excited to bring her creativity and business acumen to Less Bland Productions and Orca Cove Media.
Valerie Houle
Development Coordinator/ Producer’s Assistant
Born and raised on the traditional lands of the Quw’utsun (Cowichan) people, Valerie has over 25 years of experience working in Canadian Theatre on over 100 productions.
Currently the Executive Director of The Literacy Circle, and previously the Producer at Victoria’s Belfry Theatre, she has worked as a Producer, Company Manager and Artist Liaison as well as in Stage Management, Development, Marketing & Publicity. Favourite productions with the Belfry include Little Red Warrior & His Lawyer by Kevin Loring (2022 World Premiere), As Above by Christine Quintana (2024 World Premiere), Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes by Hannah Moscovitch, The Ministry of Grace by Tara Beagan, Forget About Tomorrow by Jill Daum (2018 World Premiere) and The Children’s Republic by Hannah Moscovitch. She has worked on numerous acclaimed productions that have been honoured with Jessie Richardson Awards, Dora Mavor Moore Awards, and Betty Mitchell Awards.
Valerie is a graduate of the University of Victoria with a BFA in Theatre. She is a certified yoga instructor. She is fluent in French, Spanish and is currently learning Italian.
Gavin Andrews
DP and Editor
Gavin is a Singapore-born Canadian documentary filmmaker. After a BA in Anthropology & Photography, he completed the Graduate Diploma in Communications at Concordia University in Montreal. He resided in the Brazilian Amazon 2000-2016, where he produced ethnographic films for universities, government agencies and non-profits, as well as broadcast documentaries for Brazilian public TV. He is the DOP and Editor for Orca Cove Media’s feature documentaries Dust n’ Bones and Tzouhalem, and DOP, Editor, and Co-director of feature documentary A Cedar Is Life. He co-directed and co-wrote My Pet Assassin, a CBC short doc for The Nature of Things, and edited Orca Cove’s latest feature film, Sweet Summer Pow Wow.