His Grandfather was a film buff. His Father was a film hobbyist. His childhood was filled with moments caught on camera. Fred naturally evolved as a professional published videographer at the age of 17 with his first 30 minute film called “The Biker”. His passion and expertise are rooted in his heart.

Fred studied at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario, Canada. With true entrepreneurial spirit and a strong sense of direction he started working right after graduation. In 1998 founded AVTEL media communications. Now it has evolved into the AVTEL group and AVTEL video production.

AVTEL video production has served the Durham and Toronto region for 13 years. Long term relationships and loyal clients, such as RE/MAX, Premium Plus & Whirlpool Canada, who appreciate their quality finished productions have grown AVTEL to operate in a 5,000 square foot modern video / TV studio. As a corporate and small business media resource it’s truly a hidden gem in the heart of Pickering.

Mr. Pellegrino’s taste and class shines through the newly renovated and designed studio space that is equipped with multiple editing suites, an audio recording space, a talk show / interview stage set prepared for a three camera live shoot and finally a large enough green screen studio that a truck could be shot inside.

Fred is always ready to entertain a new client with a tour and lunch… if he isn’t on a video shoot that he wants to direct personally. Fred’s a great leader who will always be willing to get his hands dirty while serving others.

Tom is our post production Manager here at Avtel.  He is originally from Ottawa, Ont and a graduate from Algonquin Collage in the Television Broadcasting program.

Tom gained a lot of experience from his time at Rogers Television in Ottawa working on various live events and studio programming.   He has been working in the industry for 11 years now and has seen a great transition in that time. Tom has a great attention to detail and a desire for client satisfaction.

He has worked on a wide range of projects with a extensive list of clients. Whether he is working on a small television commercial or building elaborate live event support media,  Tom is always up for the challenge. He thrives on creating compelling visual stories and elements through all his projects.

From VHS to DVD and now blu-ray Tom has seen all formats through the years and is happy to answers any questions you might have.

Justin William McMakin

You may have seen Justin W McMakin speaking in front of an intrigued audience live in person or online. It goes beyond passion into absolute mastery when we at AVTEL describe this friend and joint venture partner. Justin started drawing when he was 7 years old and that evolved into his first entrepreneurial venture at 12 years of age; selling hand drawn portraits while he attended half-day special arts programs throughout school.

Within his first year at George Brown College for Advertising and Design he founded Spherecore Inc. He retired that business, after seven intense years, seeking more than the 80 hour advertising agency working week. He took on the CEO and Project Manager role with PCBD Corporation. There he lead the development of ThirtyMinuteWebsites.com a proprietary do-it-yourself online website software, FullMediaCenter.com a creative media production studio and The Vision Discovery Network.

Justin has worked with clients such as WSP International, which led to Hershey's, McCain's, Sobey's Canada and POGO. The Canadian Arrow Private Spacecraft, Workbrain, Humanity First International Peace Conference 2002, The Red Pages and Somerset Entertainment. He has an accomplished background in fine art, graphic design, marketing, advertising and web mastery.

With 14 years of experience in the creative communications industry and a track record of helping over 100 brands communicate successfully Justin has grown to be a very helpful facilitator at meetings, team developer, project manager and creative director in the production studio. He prides himself on seeing clients happy with solutions that truly suite their business and exceeds their goals.

It takes more than passion and dedication to achieve what Chris has in the last five years. He went from hand illustrating urban style designs bridging on graffiti to mastering the latest Adobe design software through practice and a little mentoring from his friend and business partner Justin McMakin.

Chris is now the Art Director for the Full Media Center design department and is serving AVTEL on a daily basis. Check out the latest AVTEL websites and other marketing collateral to see his design in action. Whether it be a new DVD cover, insert or disk design or the latest video website layout we are proud to have Chris produce AVTEL graphics and design.

His style and memorable creativity empowers our entire team to produce an even higher level of creative presentations. This French Canadian is a true pleasure to work with.

Tony Meyler has been working as a director , actor in the film industry for over 20 years. He has over 100 film/tv credit to his name. He has directed television shows, commercials , film and video. He is also on the Board of Directors at the new Guild Inn Theatre.

Max Paiement
Animator/ Web Designer

Max Paiement is a professional 3d Animator based in the Durham Region. He is a Durham College graduate with honors from the 3D Animation & Arts program. With over 5 years experience he has worked with such clients as REMAX, Netshelter, E&USA and many other businesses in the Durham Region.

Mahmoud Cheaib
Illustrator/ Graphic Designer

Mahmoud Cheaib is a professional Illustrator and Graphic Artist. He is a graduate from Sheridan and Durham College in 3D Animation & Arts and has over 5 years experience in the digital art field.  He is always looking for new ways to deliver his art with superior style and creativity.

Angela Bassano
Host/ Assistant Producer

Growing up I performed in numerous theatrical plays at the Oshawa little theatre. After high school I Graduated from Centennial College for their Radio, Television Broadcasting program in 2002. Angela co-hosted a ½ hr TV program called Our Town (2003-2005) which was created and produced by Avtel. She played a key role in script writing and marketing the television show. It was a successful program, that ran CHANNEL 12 Chex TV Durham for three seasons. After Our Town, She co-hosted Remax West TV which aired on Shop TV Canada on Rogers in 2005 produced by Avtel. Angela worked as a project manager for Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. in (2006-2008) in their Broadcast Sales divisions. She is currently at CTV in their Broadcast Sales division of the Comedy Network. For the past 5 years I have been freelancing in video productions and hosting services for Avtel Media & The Durham Home Show.