MediaStyle’s Team

Ian Capstick, President

613-863-7746
Ian has over a decade of professional political and communications experience. He has worked for cabinet ministers and opposition members in the House of Commons, including some of Canada’s most colourful and influential political minds from both the New Democrats and Liberals. Ian is passionate about creating social change through communications. An experienced media coach, political tactician and engaging speaker he is quoted widely in Canada’s media. He is a regular on Power & Politics on CBC News Channel and is a go-to source for comment on the changing world of communications. He was named Xtra Canada’s Political Activist of the Year in their annual Hero Awards. Ian sits on the Boards of Director’s for Forum for Young Canadians, is an active advisor to LeadNow.ca and chairs Ottawa’s LGBTQ Village committee. His opinion work has been published in the Ottawa Citizen, Globe and Mail and PostMedia newspapers across Canada. He has been featured on CTV National News, CBC’s The National and was on Global’s national election coverage team in 2011.
 

Caitlin Kealey, Vice President

613-369-5006 ext 102
Caitlin brings to MediaStyle over a decade of proven experience in journalism and corporate communications. Spending her career working for non-profit organizations, think tanks, newspapers, universities, and most recently as an independent contractor, she brings a passion for social change and digital communications. She holds a Master of Arts from the University of Ottawa, where she wrote a thesis on the future of the newspaper. Caitlin also holds a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of King’s College and a Bachelor of Arts in International Development Studies and Spanish from Dalhousie University.
With a passion for community groups, Caitlin was a committee member of Women’s World 2011, the International Conference on Media and Higher Education and was a co-organizer of Changecamp Ottawa. Her professional and academic credentials, along with her seasoned communications skills, will help Mediastyle engage the Canadian policy communities, leveraging the power of social networking with effective strategic communications focused on results.
 

Benjamin Dickerson, Creative Director

613-402-7797
Benjamin Dickerson is a multi-disciplinary digital artist. He is an award-winning producer, director and editor.
He creates decadent and articulate solutions in the areas of Production, Post-Production, Creative/Technical Direction and Consultation. Benjamin’s creativity and technical abilities have caught the attention of noteworthy artists, commercial clients and politicians.
Benjamin comes to us by way of two years service with the communications team at the Office of the Leader of the Official Opposition. Here his professional video productions played an instrumental role in shaping Canada’s political discourse. Prior to this, he worked for 10 years in Toronto’s creative industry participating in countless projects within broadcast television, feature film, commercial, design and multimedia fields.
 

Gabriela Warrior Renaud, Producer

613-369-5006 ext 103
Gabriela joined MediaStyle as a graduate of Concordia University, where she completed a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies with a specialization in film production. She has several short films under her belt, one was recently awarded Best Experimental in the Student Film Category at the 43rd Annual World Film Festival. Since joining the team, Gabriela has played a key role in all video and audio projects, while also maintaining the MediaStyle Studio and writing for the blog. Always eager to learn, she has worked to expand her repertoire, taking on new challenges including event planning, animation, and web-based projects. Her passion for visual storytelling goes beyond her work as she continues to create film and photography projects independently.
 

Daniel Kaunisviita, Producer

613-369-5006 ext 104
Dan helps clients manage social media, produce web content, and coordinate online communities. Drawing from his experiences handling publicity and managing social media campaigns on behalf of film festivals, art galleries and artist-run centres, Dan brings a dynamic creative perspective to his work. His passion for non-traditional mediums is reflected in his role as principal programmer of PLACEmachine, an emerging Canadian electronic art and music label.
 

Jesse Kaunisviita, Web Producer

Jesse writes code. It’s quicker to count the years he hasn’t been programming computers than the ones he has. He’s worked on games, social media tools, e-commerce software and plenty of other things to satisfy his drive to create. Drawn to the energy of small startups, Jesse joined MediaStyle to help craft high quality online experiences. In his personal life he plays the banjo, explores nature, makes art and is currently designing cufflinks. His love for cupcakes may exceed Ian’s.
 

Rebecca Comeau, Office Manager

Rebecca is MediaStyle’s indispensable office manager who, to paraphrase Jesse during a recent staff meeting, gets “stuff” done.
Rebecca puts her 5 years of administrative experience to work as MediaStyle’s go-to for efficiency, order and positive vibes. Most days, Rebecca can be found streamlining, ordering, figurin’ or helping to manage MediaStyle’s diverse and multi-talented team. The rest of the time, she’s likely taking care of stuff they simply don’t understand.
The person for whom the phrase ‘grace under fire’ was written, Rebecca makes the MediaStyle office an inviting place to visit and to work…and she’s not a bad person with whom socialize during our many public events. She has been known to place great importance on snacks and hopes that you will soon stop by.
 

Ewald Friesen, Producer

Ewald has worked for various provincial Cabinet ministers and served as primary speech writer for the Premier of Manitoba. Ewald was invited to join Jack Layton’s speech writing unit in the May 2011 federal election, contributing to the NDP’s war room efforts and their historic electoral gains.
Since leaving politics, his repertoire has come to include creative, promotional and technical writing. He’s written content for countless companies and organizations while contributing to a number of print publications and entertainment blogs as writer, researcher, reviewer and copy editor.
Ewald continues to apply his talents to various creative endeavors, composing song lyrics and writing dialogue for short films and videos. He’s written award-winning scripts for television commercials. He has a Master’s degree from McGill University.
 

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