MEET OUR TEAM:
Phil Shuchat – President, C.E.O., and MC
Leading the SuperDogs into the 21st Century
Phil brings far-reaching business experience to SuperDogs® as our President and CEO.
He has a very diversified background. His professional and artistic accomplishments are a perfect blend to help lead SuperDogs® into the future.
His vision is vaulting SuperDogs® into international markets and pioneering our merchandising and licensing opportunities.
As a graduate of the University of Western Ontario business school, Phil has held senior-level management positions at a number of Fortune 500 companies including Esselte, Centis and Waltham. His extensive business experience has also been vital in e-business startups such as Zigidoo and e-tropolis.
Phil is also a successful comedian. He has appeared numerous times at the prestigious Just for Laughs Festival and on several television specials. His touring resumé includes virtually every major comedy club in North America, as well as many cities in Europe and Asia. He is in constant demand to host corporate and private events and donates much of his time to charitable organizations and fundraisers.
Phil, an avid golfer, fitness enthusiast and passionate chef who lives in Montreal, now hosts SUPERDOGS’s shows along with Chase.
Leonard Chase - COO, CFO, Director of Cast Member Relations and MC
Entertaining millions for more than two decades
After seeing his first SuperDogs® show in 1990, Chase’s imagination was all fired up. He immediately recognized the entertainment value and potential popularity of the SuperDogs® and set his sites on partnering with the show’s founder, Herb Williams. A driven and focused man, as well as an iconic TV personality, Chase brought his solid business, marketing and advertising background to his partnership with Herb. Their common goal was to make SuperDogs® the best family-entertainment show in the world. And that, they did!
He wanted to create a hybrid show with athletic and skilled dogs plus some of the finest theatrical performance elements. SuperDogs is a cross between a Broadway play and a major sporting event.
In 1992, Chase and Herb launched the first of a long line up of theatrical SuperDogs productions called “Hollywoof”. It was lights, camera, action -- and the start of many shows to come.
Chase will often host the show with Phil, playing many different roles, including the memorable Captain Woof. Chase was a successful competitive swimmer in his youth and brings his passion for athletics and competition to each performance. He can also speak three languages and MCs SuperDogs performances in English, French, and Spanish. Chase is an avid skier and swimmer and leads a very active and healthy lifestyle with his rescue dog Rough, in Senneville, Quebec.
Amy White – Director of Operations & General Manager
Amy’s personal and professional lives have always revolved around her love for, and commitment to, dogs. She has been a SuperDog® cast member for over ten years, and has shown herself to be a remarkable team player and leader everywhere we perform.
Amy serves as our Director of Operations and General Manager, bringing that same sense of dedication to her job, along with over fifteen years of experience in the marketing, public relations and journalism fields. An obedience instructor since 1997, she worked previously as the Director of Communications with the Toronto Humane Society, then as Communication Manager at Earth Ranger. Until recently she also owned and edited the Dogs, Dogs, Dogs newspaper.
Amy shares her country home in Ashburn, Ontario, with her five SuperDogs®.
Dante Camacho – Cast Manager
Dante has performed with the SuperDogs® since the summer of 2007. Over the past four years, his dazzling work as a cast member in shows all across Canada has made him an inspiring touchstone of excellence in his field, a genuine model of precision training and handling dogs.
Originally from Brazil, Dante is passionate about dog training and performing. He began fourteen years ago, and in the years since then he has been active in all the traditional dog sports as a trainer, teacher, and competitor. He has even travelled the world. Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland, Peru, and Mexico, are just some of the countries familiar with his sure and inspiring work.
Dante’s creativity and amazing dog-training skills, exemplified particularly in his graceful dance routines, make him one of the most respected trainers in the country. It was only natural that he would be a perfect fit for the SuperDogs® Show. He joined the company on a full-time basis this summer. As well as being an inspiring leader to the cast, he strives to develop new events and to choreograph new routines to ensure that the production remains vibrant and fun with each passing year.
Jon Cunningham - Production Manager
Jonathan joined the management team of the President’s Choice® SuperDogs® in 2011, quickly rising to the position of Production Manager. That he fits so well with the rest of the team comes as no surprise: he first became involved with the exciting world of dogs through his high-school co-op program which landed him a job at SuperDog Central in Bowmanville. Over time he learned the technical elements of production and, in offering a diverse set of skills, has made a natural transition to taking charge of the sets and music of the SuperDogs® show.
Jonathan has travelled widely in Europe, and he looks forward to extending his reach throughout North America with the President’s Choice® SuperDogs®. Already he has travelled to Denver, Kitchener, and Brandon, in addition to working on home-town shows at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair and the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto.
Jon’s hobbies include outdoor sports, especially golf, and doing video production for hockey, lacrosse, and football teams. He also likes to play Frisbee with his dog Stryker, a Belgian Tervuren-Australian Shepherd mix. At present, however, he has no ambition to perform in the President’s Choice® SuperDogs® show.
