Steven Silver is a media entrepreneur, producer, and director. Steven is the CEO of Kew Media Group Inc., a newly formed Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) that focuses on acquiring companies in the media and entertainment industry in Canada, the US or the UK. Kew Media is a joint venture with media industry veteran Peter Sussman. With Neil Tabatznik, Steven is also Partner and Co-Founder of Toronto-based Blue Ice Group Capital. In 2005, the duo bought into Barna Alper productions, at which Steven served as President from 2005 to 2009, when it was sold to eOne Entertainment Inc. After the sale, Steven spent a year as head of eOne’s factual entertainment division.
In 2010, the Blue Ice Group partnered with Echo Lake Entertainment to form the Blue Lake Media Fund. The fund provides financing for mid- to large-budget independent films and television series. In 2011, the Blue Ice Group acquired the South African production company Out of Africa, and with the owner Lance Samuels established Blue Ice Pictures. Blue Ice Group is also responsible for a number of philanthropic initiatives including the Hot Docs-Blue Ice Group Documentary fund, which provides financial support to African documentary filmmakers for development and production.
Prior to his executive work, Steven was a filmmaker. He started his career in [South Africa] and later in Canada writing and co-producing a feature-length 1997 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) documentary Gerrie & Louise that earned him an International Emmy award. In addition to documentaries for the CBC, he also directed documentaries for PBS, History Channel and Discovery Channel, as well as Diameter of the Bomb and the critically acclaimed The Last Just Man for which he won a number of international awards. He cooperated with Barna-Alper Productions with Box Car Rebellion, Doctor's Strike, The Last Just Man; The Anglo Boer War, and The Dark Years.
His most recent film for which he also wrote the screenplay is a Canadian–South African long feature film entitled The Bang-Bang Club based on the book The Bang-Bang Club: Snapshots from a Hidden War co-written by Greg Marinovich and João Silva who were part of the group of four photographers in South Africa known as Bang-Bang Club, the other two members being Kevin Carter and Ken Oosterbroek. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).