Rick Miller is a Dora and Gemini award-winning writer/director/actor/musician/educator who has performed in five languages on five continents and who Entertainment Weekly called “one of the 100 most creative people alive today”. He has created and toured solo shows such as the hit sensation BOOM, MacHomer, and (w. Daniel Brooks) Bigger Than Jesus and HARDSELL. With Robert Lepage, he has collaborated on Geometry of Miracles, Zulu Time, Lipsynch, and on the film Possible Worlds. As the artistic director of WYRD Productions and co-creative director of the Kidoons Network, Rick has most recently developed BOOM and its sequel BOOM X, and (w. Craig Francis) Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea, GAME of CLONES, Jungle Book, and Frankenstein; as well as animated series that educate, enlighten, empower and entertain young people. He often teaches an interdisciplinary class at the University of Toronto called The Architecture of Creativity. Rick is from Montreal, and lives in Toronto with his partner Stephanie Baptist and their two daughters.

Bruno Matte was born and raised in Quebec City, and graduated from Cegep Limoilou in 2005 in audiovisual design. A music enthusiast, he began his professional career as a lighting designer for concerts. He began working with local artists, then moved to international acts ranging from Richard Séguin to Charlotte Cardin to Cypress Hill to Daniel Lanois. In an effort to expand his creative research, Bruno began working on several bold theatre productions. Whether with Ex Machina or Kidoons, he found ways to seamlessly integrate lighting with video, under very rigourous technical constraints. His spatial design exploration continued in the world of dance, where he has worked with several La Rotonde choreographers on productions such as Alan Lake’s Les Caveaux. Bruno now regularly designs for the circus, which seems a natural fulfillment of his experience in music, theatre and movement. In productions ranging from Flip Fabrique or Machine de Cirque, the complexity of the work allows him to keep refining his craft.

An accomplished director, editor and visual artist, Nicolas Dostie studied Media Arts and Technology with a focus on television. With the arrival of the digital era in 2002, he became interested in large-scale architectural projection, and helped design the multimedia for the highly visual spectacle Cavalia. His design career then pushed him more and more into the worlds of theatre and circus. Most notably, he worked for Ex Machina and Robert Lepage, on Le projet Anderson, the Jeux de Cartes series, 887 and most recently, Kodō. Considered one of the pioneers in architectural projection, Nicolas has worked on the 2014 Sotchi Olympics (with Pixmob), and the Cirque du Soleil productions Delirium, the Michael Jackson world tour, and Varekai.

After a Bachelor’s degree in theatre and cinema from Université Laval, Virginie went on to study scenic design at Conservatoire d’Art Dramatique de Québec. She was the first recipient of the design scholarship Théâtre Blanc-Desjardins. She received Quebec’s Prix d’excellence des arts et de la culture for costume designs on L’asile de la pureté (2009) and Fin de Partie (2012), as was nominated for Cyrano de Bergerac (2008) and Dans la République du Bonheur (2015). For Ex Machina, she toured with La Celestina (2004), designed props for La Tempête (2011), Jeux de Cartes : Pique (2012), Coeur (2013) and Lipsynch (2007), where she met Rick Miller. She is also a frequent designer with other renowned Quebec-based companies, including Théâtre de la Bordée, Théâtre Périscope, Théâtre du Trident, and Carrefour international de théâtre de Québec. Virginie is delighted to be co-designing BOOM X, her first Kidoons/WYRD production.

Irina Litvinenko is an accomplished creative artist, graphic designer, and video production artist. Irina has been a longstanding collaborator with Rick Miller and Craig Francis, including as Multimedia Designer for Jungle Book and BOOM X; assisting on onscreen multimedia and DVD production for MacHomer and its educational Animated Shakespeare videos, brand design for BOOM and BOOM X, and video sequences and design elements for Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea. As a web and video artist, Irina is a designer, animator, and production editor of the Kidoons Network animated series. She has worked on advertising and multimedia campaigns for Performing Arts Centers across Canada and the US; for shows from BOWFIRE to Carol Burnett; and campaigns including TELUS, Cirque Musica, and the University of Kentucky Opera Theatre.

Craig Francis is a writer, illustrator, performer, and multi-disciplinary creator, whose works are enjoyed by millions of people worldwide. A founding member of the 20K Collective, he is the co-author and co-director with Rick Miller on the productions Jungle Book, GAME of CLONES, and Frankenstein, as well as their Stage Manager. He’s the co-author and Stage Manager of the theatrical adaptation of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea (directed by Miller), and a producer, designer, dramaturg and Stage Manager for Miller’s solo productions BOOM and BOOM X. Craig is co-creating reimagined adaptations of Wizard of Oz, Rose Red, and an Animazia animated series. He illustrates the cartoon characters for the Kidoons Network videos (as well as writing and voicing them), which are on display at museums in 4 provinces, with millions of views. Craig performed TheatreSports and improv comedy internationally for 12 years; stage credits include The Refugee Hotel (Teesri Duniya/Segal Centre). He lives in Montreal, where he has illustrated several books, been a commentator on radio and TV, and voiced several cartoons and video games.