Nicholas Carella is an award winning actor, writer, producer and content creator bringing his more than twenty years of diverse experience to Comedy Bar Films as the Head of Development and Executive Overseeing Production. As an actor, Nicholas has amassed more than 75 film and television credits, including FX’s 2022 event series Under the Banner of Heaven.

As producer, Nicholas has released three Feature Films, two Digital Series, several short films and has won and been nominated for numerous awards including Canadian Screen Awards (Canada’s Emmy equivalent), Borsos Award, Leo Awards, Canadian Comedy Awards, The National Screen Institute and is the recipient of the CFF Harold Greenberg Prize, the largest cash prize for screenwriting in Canada. His projects have been acquired and distributed by eOne, Mongrel Media, levelFILM, Hulu and Gunpowder & Sky.

After spending more than a decade in banking James Elksnitis partnered with Gary Rideout Jr. to co-found Comedy Bar, which they were able to grow into the preeminent comedy club in Canada in under 5 years. During this time, James received his MBA from both the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University and the Schulich School of Business at York University and has been successful in raising capital for various projects from VC, private and family offices.

In 2020, James was brought on as the Head of Operations for the Canadian Branch of The Second City, and was later tasked (with Gary Rideout Jr.) to build and operate The Second City’s new home at 1 York Street in Toronto, which opened on December 1st, 2022. James is the co-founder of Comedy Bar Films and serves as its President and CEO.

Since the early 2000’s Gary Rideout Jr. has been the most prolific producer of live comedy in Canada and was recognized for his trailblazing efforts in 2014 as the recipient of the Roger Abbott Award for dedication to comedy in Canada. 

He is the co-owner and artistic director at Toronto’s premier comedy club, Comedy Bar, which is dedicated to the development of new and established comedic talent, as well as being the go to spot for established headliners like Marc Maron, Tim Meadows, Cameron Esposito and more.

In 2019, Gary was hired as the Head of Business and Development for The Second City in Canada and in the US and is responsible for the finding, building and opening The Second City’s new home at 1 York Street in Toronto as well as their expansion into Brooklyn New York.

An experienced writer, producer, and performer, Gary is a founding member of “The Sketchersons,” an eight-time Canadian Comedy Award nominee for Best Sketch Troupe and 2007 winner. Other projects include creating and producing the Canadian Comedy Award-nominated multi-platform series But I’m Chris Jericho! and writing, executive producing, and performing in the TV shows SketchersonsTV (Rogers) and Comedy Bar (Bite TV). Gary is the co-founder of Comedy Bar Films and acts as Head of Creative & Business Strategy.