Amaze Team

Alex Lalonde
Chief Operating Officer

She previously led Stratagem RX, The Stratagem Groups Global Production and Service arm and produced THE DESPERATE HOUR (Naomi Watt, Phillip Noyce, Director) and the Canadian shoot for MARVEL’S HAWKEYE and SECRET INVASION. Prior to that, she led Business Development and Operations as Vice President at New Metric Media and as COO at Digital Howard. Alex has deep knowledge of business affairs and international treaty co-production/co-venture gained while serving as Executive in Charge of Production for First Generation Films and as Executive Producer. Her related experience includes positions at Secret Location, The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, Telefilm Canada, the Canadian Media Fund (CMF) and the Motion Picture Bond Company.

Alex served as a board member for WIFT-T and chair of the WIFT-T foundation. She Currently sits on the Film Ontario board as well as Inside Out, the 2SLGBTQIA+ Film Festival.

Teza Lawrence
Executive Producer/Co-owner

Teza Lawrence is an award-winning producer and the co-founder of Amaze. She is a passionate storyteller and has a wide variety of interests that she hopes will positively impact the planet, specifically a deep love for trees. Over the past 20 years, Teza has co-built Amaze to be a creative incubator and producer of market-driven television and films. Past projects include CARTER for SONY and BELL MEDIA, THE STANLEY DYNAMIC for CORUS, and CALL ME FITZ for HBO CANADA. She also executive produced three feature films: FINN ON THE FLY and SAINT RALPH, which had their world premiere at TIFF, and BEING CANADIAN, which premiered at HotDocs.

Michael Souther
Executive Producer/Co-owner

Michael Souther is an award-winning producer. Michael began his career directing, writing, and producing the short film PATTI BURNS, which became a backdoor pilot for THE COMEDY NETWORK and the flagship show for Amaze. Michael has a strong commitment to telling LGBTQ stories and recently finished executive producing the first season of the half-hour comedy THE LAKE for AMAZON PRIME VIDEO. Past projects include CARTER for SONY and BELL MEDIA, THE STANLEY DYNAMIC for CORUS, and CALL ME FITZ for HBO CANADA. He also executive produced three feature films: FINN ON THE FLY and SAINT RALPH, which had their world premiere at TIFF, and BEING CANADIAN, which premiered at HotDocs.     

Irene Sudorgin
Business Affairs

Irene joined Amaze in 2019 bringing with her a background in performing arts, a degree in Business, and almost 20 years of Business Affairs experience in Film, Television, and Animation.  Irene manages the BA side of Amaze’s projects in various stages of development, production, and distribution.
Prior to joining Amaze, Irene provided consulting services to independent producers, after spending 10 years as Director of Business Affairs at C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures, a busy computer animation and special effects studio.

Caroline Murphy
Accounting

Caroline joined Amaze in 2018 on the corporate accounting side. Caroline has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Toronto and a CPA from California.  Caroline has held senior roles at content companies including Atlantis, Breakthrough; and White Pine where she was Associate Producer of the series CRACKED and Co-Executive Producer of the documentary FIGHT LIKE SOLDIERS.

Ryan St Peters
Development, Kids & Family

Bio to come.

Hugo van Essen
Producer's Assistant

Originally from The Netherlands, Hugo graduated from Humber College’s Writing & Producing for TV in 2019. Hugo used his experience in Dutch film production to become a Covid Compliance Officer for Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol (ViacomCBS). Now, Hugo uses his organizational skills to put the “prod” in Producer’s Assistant for Mike & Teza. Fueled by ravenous curiosity and adventure, Hugo enjoys climbing all sorts of things, ranging from corporate ladders to bouldering gyms!