Our Team

Robert is a Serbian-Canadian film director, and cinematographer. He’s a published author and a serial entrepreneur. Robert graduated from the University of Toronto in 2011 and began working at a Boston hedge fund as a proprietary trader. In 2016, he launched Pensare Films, a Canadian film studio that has now produced 10 films which have screened at over 150 film festivals.

Zurich-born Toru Gabriela Miyake Gallardo moved from Tokyo, Japan to Toronto, Canada in 1998. She has worked as a makeup artist and aesthetician and has studied medical aesthetics at George Brown. Toru is a member of the Pensare Films Collective and has worked on five projects with the company to date including; short films 'Stain', 'The Intersection', 'Penny', and the music video 'Transfixed' and continues working towards her goal of directing films in the near future.

Anastasia brings experience through her design and organization work with the Reelworld Film Festival in Toronto, and the Victoria TX Independent Film Festival in Texas. She has worked as a graphic designer and web designer for several key brands. Buterina is also the founder of Shut Up & Yoga online magazine and has worked on 5 films over the past 2 years.

Robert is an actor, writer, and producer from Toronto, Ontario. He’s appeared in numerous films, TV shows, and advertisements. His most recent work includes; A Netflix series, Jasmin Mozaffari’s feature film FireCrackers, which premiered at TIFF 2018 and booking a role on a series set to debut on Amazon Prime.

Barry is a playwright, screenwriter, director, and producer. He graduated summa cum laude from York University in 2013 with an honors BA in humanities. He’s written countless screenplays, stage plays, and directed the 2016 feature film A Journey to a Journey.

Tijana brings fifteen years of experience directing and producing licensed TV franchises such as; Kitchen Nightmare, X Factor, and Wheel of Fortune. Other experience includes work on feature films, TV dramas, commercials, and talk shows. She holds a BFA in directing from the Academy of Arts, Belgrade.

Aharon Jinjihashvili is an Israeli filmmaker and photographer. He studied film at Camera Obscure Film School and acting at the Ivana Chubbuck Acting School in Israel and decided to move to Canada in order to pursue his dream of directing films. Aharon also attended at the InFocus Film School in Vancouver.

Masha is a fourth-year student at the Schulich School of Business and has a keen interest in film and theatre. She is the youngest member of the Pendance team. Masha has also worked as a production assistant on two of Pensare Films’ biggest projects.

Andjelika graduated from the University of Toronto and NYU. She has performed with the Canadian Idols and scored 5 films; Tangerine Crossandra, Nights of Contrition, The Hallway, Stain and Allurement. She has performed for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, for the Chinese Consulate, and Serbian Consul General in Toronto. She’s also a member of SOCAN and ORMTA.

Anastasia is a Russian-Canadian writer with experience in event management and graphic design. She was part of the organizational team of TEDxYouth@NTCI, giving her own TEDx talk in 2016. She has a few published short stories and is currently working on a novel. This is her first year with Pendance.