About

Samantha Pineda Sierra, Coordinator

Samantha is a screenwriter, film director and producer based in Vancouver.  She has created and led film and screenwriting workshops and served as a jury for cultural organizations and film festivals across Mexico. She’s also a member of the Mexican Academy of Film and Mexico Women in Film and TV.

Her work has been nominated for the ARIEL (Mexican Academy of Film) and screened in cinemas, television and festivals around the world. She’s been part of the Berlinale Talents, TIFF Filmmaker Lab, Oaxaca Film Lab in collaboration with the Sundance Film Institute and shortlisted at the Sundance Development Track 2020 and Vancouver Women in Film and TV Screenwriting competition 2021.

She holds a BA in Science Communication and an MFA in Film Production and Creative Writing from UBC.

Ophira Calof

Ophira Calof is a multi award winning Disabled writer and performer with credits including Generally Hospital (Canadian Comedy Award Nominee, Patron’s Pick), Literally Titanium (Next Stage Theatre Festival, Buddies in Bad Times), TallBoyz (CBC) and more. Ophira also works as a curator, workshop facilitator, consultant, and keynote speaker with projects including Myseum Toronto’s Making Space: Stories of Disabled Youth in the GTA, the MNJCC’s COVID-19 through a Disability Lens: Storytelling and Filmmaking Project, Bad Dog Comedy Theatre’s 5th annual Our Cities On Our Stages Symposium and Dis/Play, a partnership project with ArtWorxTO: Toronto’s Year of Public Art 2021-2022.

Carolyn Combs

Carolyn Combs is an experienced filmmaker with an extensive history in organizational leadership, festival programming and labour advocacy.

She is currently the Executive Director of Mayworks Toronto, Canada’s largest labour arts festival, which curates and supports the original creation of art by diverse artists committed to the advancement of cultural, economic and social justice.
Her feature films have been screened at festivals around the world.  The most recent, which she both directed and edited, Bella Ciao! (Whistler 2018) starred Carmen Aguirre, Tony Nardi, Taran Kootenhayoo and Alexandra Lainfiesta. The Georgia Straight’s Aidan Mack called the film “a poem to the notion that art and resistance nourish each other.”

She is the former executive director of Women in Film and Television Vancouver, and during her tenure oversaw the continuous growth of the organization as well as of the Vancouver International Women in Film Festival. Collaborating with a range of partners she implemented such innovative talent programs as Tricksters and Writers, a screenwriting program for Indigenous women, The Genre Film Lab, the Producers Workshop Series, and a variety of professional mentorship programs.  She is a founding member of the WIFT Canada Coalition.

Joan Jenkinson

Joan is the inaugural Executive Director of the Black Screen Office where she works to support Black Canadians in developing talent, accessing funding, and in assuming decision-making roles in television, film and digital media. She fosters relationships with federal funding agencies, broadcasters and distributors to eliminate anti-Black racism in the screen industries.

Joan is a founding Partner/Producer at Artemis Pictures which is focused on developing and producing high-end scripted content for television and the cinema, for international audiences. Joan was Vice-President of Independent Production for ZoomerMedia Limited, Television Division. She commissioned, developed and executive produced hundreds of hours of award-winning creative content in all genres for VisionTV.

Joan spearheaded VisionTV’s ground-breaking DiverseTV/NSI initiative which produced award-winning comedy and drama programs and earned her a Visionary Award from the ReelWorld Film Festival.

For five years, Joan served as Executive Director of Women in Film and Television – Toronto (WIFT-T), where she established professional development training and networking opportunities for women in screen-based media

Doreen Manuel

Doreen Manuel (Secwepemc/Ktunaxa), MFA, is the sixth child of Grand Chief George Manuel and Spiritual Leader Marceline Manuel. She is an award-winning filmmaker with an extensive background as a leader working in First Nations education and community development. She is the Director of the Bosa Centre for Film and Animation, which is a state of the art facility housing 8000+ square feet of studio space and extensive inventory of advanced film industry equipment. She serves on the Board of Directors for Knowledge Network, Women in Film & Television, Documentary Organization of Canada, and Vancouver International Film Festival, and is a Partner of the Talent to Watch Telefilm Fund. She is a Matriarch with the IM4 virtual and augmented reality-training program, an advisor on the TELUS Storyhive fund Indigenous envelope, Telefilm Indigenous Working Group, Motion Picture Production Association of BC Equity and Inclusion Committee, WIFTV Equity Seeking Lobby Group and serves on the Motion Picture Production Association of BC Equity and Inclusion Committee. Doreen is also a founder and instructor for the WIFTV Tricksters and Writers feature film screenwriting program, a founder of the Indigenous Digital Accelerator multi-million dollar fund and the founder of Filmmakers in Indigenous Leadership and Management Business Affairs training program.

Sharon McGowan, Co-Chair

McGowan has been an active part of Canada’s film and television industry for over four decades as an award-wining feature film producer and documentary filmmaker as well as an educator.  Her work has been screened on television, in cinemas and at festivals around the world.

McGowan is a Founding Director of Women in Film and Television Vancouver (1989) and a Founding Director of the new Women in Film and Television Canada Coalition (2020).  She is widely recognized as a leader in the movement for gender equity in the Canadian industry.

McGowan is currently an Associate Professor, teaching Film Production and Creative Writing at the University of UBC. She has served as a mentor for many national  professional industry training programs and has created and led workshops, moderated panels, presented keynote addresses, and served on awards juries for a wide range of industry and cultural organizations across Canada.

McGowan has an MFA in Film Studies from UBC and is a recipient of the Women in Film and Television Vancouver Woman of the Year Award.

Jan Miller

Jan Miller is an international consultant and trainer specializing in film and television co-production and co-venturing. She also continues to present one of the world’s top Pitching & Content Development Workshops for programs including Poland’s ScriptEast, Australia’s AttaGirl, and the Vancouver’s Women in Animation’s Animation Career Eccelerator (ACE) Program. Her workshops have spanned countries from Iran to China, to Argentina and across Canada.

A talent that makes things happen, Jan was one of the driving forces behind setting up Canada’s first film school, the National Screen Institute (NSI). She also designed and presented the Strategic Partners international Co-production Market at the Atlantic Film Festival. Eleven years ago she collaborated with Berlin’s  Erich Pommer Institut to design the hugely successful Trans Atlantic Partners (TAP), followed by  lead on the design and delivery of CMPA’s international Coproduction Accelerator Program. Most recently Jan has returned to her roots, working with the NSI in designing and serving as Program Advisor for the Business for Producers: Atlantic Women’s Edition. Jan also co-designed and presented several iterations of Women in View’s Five in Focus training opportunities, Jan presently serves on the Women in View Board, the WIFT Canada Coalition, completed a term on the AFC Board and has recently joined the CSARN Board.

www.janmillerconnect.com

Tash Naveau

Tash Naveau is Dene (Chipewyan) and Eastern European, of the Deer Clan and was raised in and is a member of the Anishinaabeg community of Mattagami First Nation, On. Her past work in advocacy, photography, media-making and project coordination has brought her to many ancestral homes and waters, all of which have contributed to her growth and practice as an artist and artsworker. For the past 8 years she has led, coordinated and assisted on short-form independent projects, has co produced a short for CBC arts, and has experience editing videos for non-profit organizations and collaborative projects within the Toronto Indigenous community.

Tash works as a media maker for documentary content and has exhibited multimedia installations using natural materials, projections, video and sound. She has presented work at a variety of film festivals and the Toronto Reference Library, Allan Gardens park, and the Ontario Science Centre. She is currently a Program manager at the Indigenous Screen Office, a member of the Moontime Productions Collective and sits on the board of Directors for the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers Toronto and Women In View.

Anik Salas

Dynamic: that’s a word often used to describe Anik Salas. Passionate and versatile, she’s actively involved in all aspects of her art, from scriptwriting to editing. In both fiction and documentary, her approach to filmmaking implies taking a position and leaving her mark using different forms of expression. Putting her degree in social communication into practice, she created the webmagazine [VRÈ], a platform for the video capsules directed and produced by Salas exploring various issues facing today’s society, with a focus on women’s empowerment. Certain episodes have been used as learning tools in both France and Quebec. After studying directing at L’inis, her first short film, La guerre des bleuets, won a Gold Remi Award and was screened in Quebec theatres for several weeks, while also playing on the European and American festival circuits. Salas continues her work on short films and has produced a wide range of web capsules. She’s currently writing a screenplay for her next short fiction film and developing her first feature-length documentary. Over the past several years, she’s worked in television for media companies such as Savoir.media, Zone 3, Radio-Canada and Corus. Her commitment to increasing women’s on-screen representation is present in everything she does, but especially in her position as chair of Réalisatrices Équitables.

Michelle Wong

Michelle’s production credits cross all formats, from television movies to feature length documentaries, and performing arts specials. She is currently the Head of Business Affairs at Seven24 Films producers of Heartland, Jann, Wynonna Earp and Family Law. She has served on a number of boards, most recently the Alberta Motion Pictures Industries Association (AMPIA) and currently sits on the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA), Women in View, and is a founding member of Creatives Empowered, an Alberta based collective of artists who are Black, Indigenous & People of Colour empowering each other as an allied community. 

Aisha Jamal, Past Co-Chair

Aisha Jamal is a Toronto-based filmmaker. Her documentaries have screened at festivals and venues worldwide. Her feature-length documentary debut “A Kandahar Away” is now playing on the Documentary Channel and CBC Gem. She directed, co-produced and co-wrote the web series “How We Die,” https://www.storiesforcaregivers.com/series/how-we-die/    Aisha is also Canadian Film Programmer at Hot Docs Canadian Documentary Film Festival and in the past has worked for TIFF as a Programming Associate and as Head of Programming for the Syria Film Festival Toronto. Aisha teaches film theory and history at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario. She is currently working on a new feature documentary entitled “The Theft” about art restitution.

Tracey Deer, Past Chair

Tracey Deer is a Mohawk writer, director, and showrunner whose two decades of experience spans documentary, television, and film.
Her award-winning documentaries with Indigenous-owned Rezolution Pictures kicked off a collaboration that led to acclaimed dramedy Mohawk Girls, which ran for five seasons on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. As its co-creator, director, and co-showrunner, Tracey earned four consecutive Canadian Screen Award nominations for Best Direction and the TIFF Birks Diamond Tribute Award.
That success propelled Tracey to co-executive producer on a season of Netflix/CBC series Anne with an E, working alongside Emmy winner Moira Walley-Beckett. Tracey followed up with her debut feature Beans, which screened at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival to critical acclaim. She was awarded the prestigious TIFF Emerging Talent Award, presented by Ava DuVernay, and named one of Variety’s 10 Screenwriters to Watch.
Tracey strongly believes in giving back to the community. She chaired the board of directors of Women in View, a non-profit that promotes greater diversity and balance in Canadian media, from the standpoint of employment equity, creative authority and gender representation. In 2017, she was appointed to the board of directors of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. 2019 found Tracey being elected 1st Vice President of the Directors Guild of Canada.

Bita Joudaki, Coordinator

Bita Joudaki is an Iranian-Canadian comedian and filmmaker. She has been writing and performing comedy for the last fourteen years, and recently wrote and directed an episode of The Slowest Show, a comedy series commissioned by CBC for their streaming platform, CBC GEM. Bita was also a member of Bad Dog Theatre’s Featured Players, and has performed comedy across Canada at festivals like Vancouver International Improv Festival and Combustion Festival in Toronto. She holds a BFA in Film, Video + Integrated Media from Emily Carr University, and a MFA in Film Production from York University. Her films have screened across North America at LA Web Fest, where she was nominated for Best Comedic Actress, and at the National Screen Institute. Bita has worked as a Story Coordinator and writer on several comedic TV shows in development, and is currently developing a feature-length horror comedy with development funding from Telefilm, and a live-action workplace comedy.

Amber-Sekowan Daniels, Past General Manager

Amber-Sekowan Daniels is an Anishininew storyteller originally from Winnipeg and a band member of Garden Hill First Nation. Based in Toronto, she has written on Diggstown (CBC), served as story editor on Trickster (CBC) and co-creator of ACTING GOOD, a half hour comedy with CRAVE. Her stand up comedy has been featured in the Winnipeg Comedy Festival, Oddblock Comedy Festival and on CBC’s The Debaters. She was a participant in the 2018 Whistler Film Festival Indigenous Filmmaker Fellowship and was selected for the 2019 Netflix-Banff Diversity of Voices initiative. As an arts administrator, Amber has facilitated film and video training for Indigenous youth through New Directions’ Project Opikihiwawin and Resources for Adolescent Parents in Winnipeg. She does on-going work with the Manitoba Aboriginal Youth Achievement Awards.

Rina Fratecelli, Founding Executive Director

Rina Fraticelli has devoted her career to addressing gender inequity issues, particularly in Canada’s arts and cultural industries

Since the late 70’s she has worked to strengthen opportunities for women in the fields of theatre, literature, media and public life. She authored a highly influential report on the status of women in Canadian theatre to the Applebaum-Hebert Commission. She  led two NFB Studio’s – Studio D, the Women’s Studio in Montreal, where she oversaw a number of innovative projects including New Initiatives in Film to advance opportunities for Indigenous and racialized minority women; and the B.C. and Yukon Studio where she expanded activities increase the profile of Indigenous filmmakers and people with disabilities.

In 2008, Rina co-founded Women in View and authored five influential reports tracking the employment of women in publicly-funded Canadian media. In 2015 Women in View launched Directing Change, a three-year initiative sponsored by the Status of Women Canada to shift the Canadian media landscape towards greater equity.

In 2018, Fraticelli left Women in View to take on the role of Director of The Socrates Project, McMaster University’s ambitious new forum for artists, scholars and the wider community to come together to engage with the critical issues of our time.

Liz Shorten, Founding Chair

Liz Shorten has been working to build capacity in the film and television sector in Canada for the past 20 years. Currently Managing Vice-President, Operations & Member Service, she advocates for BC companies, creates policies and strategies to assist in industry growth, and organizes industry development workshops and conferences.

An accomplished decision-maker with a strong record of performing in diverse program and policy environments, Liz has contributed at a senior management level as Partnerships Executive at CBC British Columbia, Manager of Marketing and Communications at British Columbia Film, and Manager of Corporate Development at the Ontario Film Development Corporation. Liz was the 2006 recipient of the Women in Film “Wayne Black Service Award” in honour of her work supporting BC’s film and television industry.