Léo-Ernest Ouimet

Léo-Ernest Ouimet (March 16, 1877 – March 2, 1972) was a Canadian film pioneer. He was a theater operator, filmmaker, producer, and distributor.

Early life Léo-Ernest Ouimet was born in St. Martin, Quebec, on 16 March 1877. He dropped out of school at age twelve and worked on his family's farm from 1889 to 1894, when he moved to Montreal. He was a plumber's apprentice before becoming an electrician.

Career Ouimet, who was working as an electrician, attended an event organized by Louis Minier and Louis Pupier using a cinematograph in Saint-Laurent, Quebec, on 27 June 1896. It was the first time a film was shown in Canada and Ouimet's testimony about the event would be the main evidence for its existence until Germain Lacasse proved its existence in 1984. He worked as a lighting designer at the Théâtre National Français in 1901, and a projectionist at Sohmer Park around 1903 to 1904.