About
A studio built on the belief that the best films are the ones someone tried to talk you out of.
Creative Rebel Productions is an independent motion picture company founded in Toronto by Craig Stovel and Rajiv Maikhuri. We develop, finance, and produce feature films, documentaries, and limited series — from the first draft to the final delivery.
We started Creative Rebel because we kept watching good scripts get softened. Not because the writers wanted to soften them — because the system rewards the version that offends nobody and surprises nobody. We wanted to build something that worked the other way.
Both of us came up through the industry separately — Craig through financing and strategy, Rajiv through creative development and producing — and we spent years watching projects lose their nerve at exactly the wrong moment. The company exists to hold the line on that.
We are small on purpose. Every project gets both founders in the room, from the first table read to the final color pass. We don't take on more than we can give our full attention to, and we don't greenlight anything we wouldn't want to watch twice.
"We don't take on more than we can give our full attention to, and we don't greenlight anything we wouldn't want to watch twice."
01
The Script Comes First
We don't develop projects to fill a slate. We develop them because the script has something to say and we want to help it say it without flinching.
02
Independent by Design
We structure every project to protect creative control. That means building financing that doesn't require us to compromise the work before a single frame is shot.
03
Small and Accountable
Two producers. One company. No committee. When you work with Creative Rebel, you work with Craig and Rajiv — not an assistant, not a development executive, not a coverage reader.
04
Finish What We Start
We stay attached through post, festival strategy, and distribution. A film isn't done when the shoot wraps. It's done when it finds its audience.
Craig Stovel
Co-Founder & Producer
Craig comes from a finance and strategy background and leads the business architecture of every project — structuring independent capital stacks, managing investor relationships, and building the frameworks that let the creative work stay protected. He brings a clear-eyed view of what a film needs to get made without compromising the work, and ensures the company's financial and strategic foundations are always in service of the story.
Rajiv Maikhuri
Co-Founder & Producer
Rajiv comes from a creative and producing background and leads the creative development of every project — working closely with writers and directors from the earliest drafts through to the final cut. He is the person in the room when the story decisions get made, and stays involved through production and post to make sure the film that was developed is the film that gets delivered.
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For press, festival inquiries, and general questions, reach us directly.
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