EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS

Catherine Fogarty
President and Executive Producer

Catherine Fogarty is an accomplished, Gemini-award winning television producer, writer and director. Joining Armstrong Media in 1998, Fogarty has produced over 300 episodes of lifestyle/reality television. Her current lifestyle and reality series have aired on the W Network, The Comedy Network, HGTV Canada, HGTV US, The Discovery Network (FIT TV) and Discovery Kids.

In 1999, Fogarty formed her own production company, Big Coat Productions and was the executive producer of Breathing Space Yoga, a 65 episode yoga series for the W Network. A 50-minute companion video was also produced for this series. The series also aired in the U.S. on Discovery Health TV.

In the 2001, Fogarty co-produced and wrote Flower Power (2), an innovative 26-part documentary gardening series for HGTV Canada. Shot around the world, each episode is the biography of one single flower.

In 2003, Fogarty produced Animal Magnetism, a 26-part documentary for the W Network. The series won a Gemini Award for Best Direction in a Lifestyle Series. Animal Magnetism launched on the W Network in May 2004 and also aired on Discovery Kids.

Fogarty is the Executive Producer and Director of HGTV’s reality design series My Parents’ House. The series currently is airing in it’s 4th season, across North America.

This year, Fogarty adds Guess What...You’re Moving Out!, a design reality series, to the HGTV line-up. Created by Fogarty, the series will be shot across North America and will launch in April 08.

Dedicated to life long learning, Fogarty holds a Master of Arts Degree in Social Work from the University of Sydney, Australia and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA), in marketing from the University of New England.

Fogarty is a member of Women in Film and Television - Toronto (TWIFT) and The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.

Maria Armstrong
Vice President of Development and Production

A creative and knowledgeable professional with over twenty five years of extensive experience in the film and television industry, Maria Armstrong is currently the Vice President of Development and Production at Big Coat Productions. Prior to joining Big Coat Productions, Maria Armstrong was the Director of Original Productions for the W Network.

As an established and successful Executive Producer in both the network and independent production arenas, Maria Armstrong has overseen the development and production of over three hundred and fifty original episodes of network television in all formats, including lifestyle, information, reality, field, documentary, studio, LIVE, and magazine.

Maria Armstrong began her career in casting, quickly establishing herself as one of Canada’s foremost Casting Directors with over two hundred film and television projects to her credit. As Head of Talent and Executive Director of Talent Relations for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, she was the executive in charge of casting all in-house and independent CBC productions including such award winning programs such as The Boys of St. Vincent, Dieppe and The Road to Avonlea.

In 1996, Maria Armstrong left the CBC to launch her own successful independent production company, Armstrong Media, which has become one of the leading independent production companies in Canada, with seven highly rated television series currently airing on a variety of Canadian networks.