About

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.

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.

Aisha Jamal, 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. 

Lizzy Karp

Lizzy Karp is a curious, creative thinker driven by a love of story. As the Marketing and Communications Manger of TELUS Optik Local and STORYHIVE, she is a proud member of a team who support creators across BC and Alberta through funding, training and inspiration. Her passion is inspiring creators to boldly grow their audiences, connect with communities and be proud of their work. Named ’30 under 30’ by BC Business in 2015, she is also Founder of Rain City Chronicles, Vancouver’s premiere storytelling event, partner at Here There, experiential event studio as well as co-founder of Children’s Book Drive – A Good Book Drive. When “off duty”, you can find Lizzy strolling through Vancouver with her funny husband Pat and pooch Farley.

Jan Miller

As an International consultant, Jan draws from 25 years working in the global market place as consultant, connector and trainer. Working with Berlin’s Erich Pommer Institut, Jan co-developed and serves as Director of Trans Atlantic Partners, the highly regarded international coproduction programme for European, Canadian and US midlevel film and TV producers and their projects. Jan also offers one of the top Pitching & Content Development workshops globally from China to Cuba, Cannes to Colombia, Iran to Poland.

Jan was the architect and director of the international co-pro market, Strategic Partners for 15 years, one of the key driving forces behind the design and delivery of the National Screen Institute-Canada, introducing the Features First and Drama Prize programs during her tenure as Executive Director, and the Founding Chair of Women in Film and Television- Atlantic, introducing its annual Women Making Waves Conference, the Advanced Management and Mentoring Program in collaboration with the Centre for Women in Business and the WAVE Awards. Jan also supports Canadian missions to industry events around the world including to Berlin, Rio and Hong King in 2015 and as Mission Lead for this year’s Canadian Delegation to the Hong Kong Filmart. Supporting producers is in Jan’s DNA, working with key industry players globally, to connect projects and talent.

Joan Jenkins

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

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. 

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.

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.

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.