To help her through grief, Fitch turned to what she knows best: writing. She began to chronicle her journey, never intending to publish, but to use it as a means of catharsis. But as the book began to take form, Fitch was persuaded to make it public, in hopes that it might help others who have become part of “that club to which no one wants to belong.”
Fitch says she looks at herself as a before and after: all the things she was known for before the death of her son Dustin and who she became after he died. She spoke with team member Kelley Edwards about grief, her sojourn through it and writing her book called “You Won’t Always Be This Sad.”
Award-winning producer, director, and writer, Johanna has crafted, and assisted in crafting, many compelling, entertaining, and profoundly thought-provoking programs during her 20+ years in the business. Her work has received eight Gemini (Canadian equivalent of an Emmy) nominations and taken home three awards. In addition to producing more than 150 hours of television series and one-offs as an in-house executive producer, she has made independent documentaries for her own companies, Wild East Productions and Centre East Media, and won best documentary at Hot Docs International Film Festival for her moving and timely film, Forgiveness: Stories for Our Time. She has worked as Director of Programming for Alliance Atlantis and played a key role in the launch of IFC—The Independent Film Channel Canada. Prior to that, Johanna was Head of Independent Production for CTV, Canada’s #1 network. She created View-finders, the first competitive international children’s film festival in English-speaking Canada, and was Artistic Director of the Atlantic Film Festival. Years of programming and producing have honed her storytelling talents. Johanna’s most recent documentary, An Uncommon King, is still making its way around the world through festivals and iTunes.
