A.W. Hopkins is writer/director/educator. Their first feature film Indian Road Trip won Best BC Director at the 2020 Whistler Film Festival. They have written and directed three other short films. A.W. has a Master of Fine Arts from the University of British Columbia in the School of Creative Writing. They participated in the Directors Lab in the Norman Jewison Film Program at the Canadian Film Center and are a member of the Directors Guild of Canada. A.W. is a member of N’Quatqua First Nation. They live in Vancouver BC on the traditional and unceded territory of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations.

Jordan Waunch is a Métis performing artist, public speaker, and award winning filmmaker based in the Coast Salish territories of the Canadian west coast. He is a member of Métis Nation British Columbia and his chartered community is the North Fraser Métis Association. A graduate of the British Columbia Institute of Technology’s Film And Television Production Program, Jordan has gone on to build a career focused on the development of Indigenous led storytelling in film, TV, animation, and XR media. In 2019 he directed the project Sisters Of Sorrow through StoryHive’s first ever Indigenous Storyteller Edition and produced the Queer Indigenous horror film Terror/Forming (Dir. Rylan Friday). His most recent directing project Shadow Of The Rougarou is playing on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network’s streaming service Lumi.

Sarah Kelley is a proud member of the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation in Golden Lake, ON. She’s an actress and an award-winning filmmaker and writer for her short film, Good Grief with 15 years’ experience in the film industry. In 2021, she graduated from the Pacific Screenwriting Program where she worked with showrunner, Will Pascoe. In 2022, she was one of five chosen for the Young Adult Scripted with the Corus Apprentice Program at the Banff World Media Festival and is completing her internship in the room with Family Law. Sarah has recently signed on to write an Untitled project with Shaftesbury and Will Pascoe and she just completed the development of two pilots with the Bell Fund Development Slate. Sarah is currently working as a Writer’s Assistant on Murder in a Small Town with Ian Weir to air on FOX.

Shaelyn Johnston is an award-winning Ojibwe and Irish-Canadian writer from Vancouver, BC. She is a recipient of the Governor General’s History Award and holds a BFA and MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia. Shaelyn was selected for both editions of Telus STORYHIVE’s Indigenous Storytellers Edition and was a participant in Whistler Film Festival’s Indigenous Filmmaker Fellowship and Screenwriters Lab. Her first short film, The Healing Dance, screened at numerous festivals across Canada & the US and won Best Short Film at the 2021 Weengushk International Film Festival. Her second short, Anishinaabemowin, will hit the festival circuit in Fall 2024. She coordinates professional development programs for Indigenous filmmakers through Capilano University’s Indigenous Digital Accelerator, and she also sits on the board of the Gender Equity in Media Society (previously WIFT Vancouver), where she manages and co-facilitates the Tricksters & Writers Screenwriting Program.

Skye R. Regan is an Indigenous-Irish writer, performer, and producer with an intersectional background, holding an undergraduate degree from Harvard and an MBA from Quantic. Skye is also an alumnus of the BANFF Spark Accelerator, BIPOC TV & Film, the Jeff Sagansky Harvardwood Writing Program, Women in Animation, and the Netflix-BANFF Diversity of Voices program. Skye has written on shows for Peacock, Prime, PBS, Apple TV+, WildBrain, CBC, Knowledge, TVO, and several development rooms, and outside of this work, she is excited to be developing unique IP through her company, Play All Day Productions.

In addition to this, Skye also serves on the board of directors for Women in Film & Television (WIFT+), is the Toronto director for Harvardwood, and is the founder of Roaming Writers. When she’s not typing away, you can often find Skye discovering and creating new tunes and cartoons, adding to her endless collection of random tidbits and fun facts, or just hanging out with woodland creatures.

Trevor Solway, Sinakson, is a Blackfoot filmmaker from Siksika Nation. He attended the Indigenous Digital Filmmaking program at Capilano University in 2012. He then graduated from Mount Royal University with his Bachelor’s of Communications in 2017. His Breakthrough film Indian Giver screened internationally and can now be found on Amazon Prime Video. He is the writer/director/showrunner of Tales From The Rez, a horror comedy anthology series available on APTN Lumi. TFTR won the audience choice award at Calgary International Film Festival.

In 2020 Trevor was the recipient of the MRU Horizon Award for early career success and in 2021 he was named Avenue Magazine’s Top 40 Under 40. He is the founder and leader of The Napi Collective, a grassroots filmmaking society based out of Siksika Nation.

A former lawyer who found his passion in screenwriting, Adam has written two television movies, been in several television writers rooms and developed multiple TV series projects with companies including BBC Studios. He was a participant in the 2019 Praxis/Whistler Film Festival Screenwriters Lab and Pacific Screenwriting Program’s 2020 Scripted Series Lab. He also participated in the BIPOC Film and Television Showrunner Bootcamp, the inaugural Netflix Canada Creator Program, as well as the Mid-Level Writers Room from Warner Bros. Discovery Access Canada and Break the Room. Adam’s recent credits include writing on the Apple series Circuit Breakers and on CBC’s Heartland. He is represented by the Jennifer Hollyer Agency.

Alex is a writer with Métis, Caribbean, & European roots. She holds a BFA in Creative Writing and is a graduate of UCLA’s TFT’s Professional Screenwriting Program. Alex was a writers assistant on the Disney+ series Turner and Hooch. Her first short film was selected for Telefilm’s Not Short on Talent Program and screened at the Cannes market. Her first comedy short played at Austin After Dark while her feature screenplay was shortlisted for the Sundance Screenwriters Lab.

Alyssa Aussant is a neurodiverse screenwriter, producer, and content creator with over 250 million views across her short form comedy videos. She’s worked as a script coordinator and/or writer’s assistant for shows such as Murder in a Small Town (Fox/Global), Wild Cards (CW/CBC), and movies like Monster High: The Movie and Monster High 2 (Nickelodeon/Paramount+). In the world of reality TV, she served as a Story Associate Producer on The Love Experiment (MTV/CTV). Alyssa’s a proud alumna of: The Whistler Film Festival’s Women In Focus Mentorship, Women In Film & TV Toronto’s Scripted Digital Series Incubator, Netflix & Pacific Screenwriting Program’s Scripted Series Lab, Banff & Netflix Diversity Of Voices Initiative, and CMPA’s Screen-Based Media Production Program. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Gender Equity in Media Society Vancouver. Alyssa loves writing funny but emotionally resonant stories, whether it be for vertical spaces or television.

Andrey Summers is a writer, podcaster and producer of independent film and theatre.

Andrey is the creator and writer of darkly comedic webseries Henchpeople and the producer of the dramatic feature We Three, currently in post-production. He is a staff writer for award-winning satirical Canadian thing The Beaverton, and writes, produces and co-hosts the podcast Satan’s Lawyer with little-known Canadian comedian Ivan Decker.

Andrey holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia, where he has taught Creative Writing as an Adjunct Professor, and lives in Vancouver with his wife and rapidly growing son. His play A Snowflake on the Tongue of Oberon won the 2015 Sydney Arts Guide award for Best Fringe Comedy, and he did not find out until a year later.

Cindy Hu is a Taiwanese-Canadian screenwriter and producer with several award-winning original shorts, a roster of original live-action and animated projects in her portfolio, and experience in animation production to her credit. Cindy holds an MFA in film production from Columbia University in New York and is the recipient of the John Rooney Scholarship for Writing from the Youth Media Alliance.

Corey Liu is a writer based in Vancouver and Toronto. He has written for shows like Davey and Jonsie’s Locker, Buried, Pinecone and Pony, and the legal drama Family Law, where he was a supervising producer. He was also the co-executive producer on Gangnam Project and is currently a writer on Private Eyes: West Coast. He has been nominated for a WGC, CSA, and Leo award. His pilot project with PSP, Horny Lover Boys, was the inspiration for his novel, which will be published by Little Brown. Corey really likes anime and B horror films. He also likes to do Maggie Smith impersonations when no one’s around. He is definitely doing one right now.

Corina Bizim is a Romanian-born screenwriter and actor who, despite earning both a commerce degree and her real estate license, has served on the TIFF Next Wave Committee, acted in numerous Film & TV projects, dabbled in the exciting (frustrating) world of producing indie short films, and was part of the 2023 cohort of the GEMS Emerging TV Producer’s Program. Corina is passionate about telling high-concept stories with a comedic flair, believing humor can solve most of life’s existential (and regular) problems. If all goes well, she hopes to create the kind of feel-good television that one day becomes her generation’s Friday night nostalgia.

Deborah is a screenwriter, playwright, and dramaturg / script reader with extensive experience in musical theatre, stand-up comedy, and TV. Her first TV pilot was selected out of 1000 applicants for Comedy 50:50’s Female Writers’ Initiative. Her play, BIG Sister was nominated for the Jessie Outstanding Original Script award, and her musical, Carry On won Pick of the Fringe. She is a proud alumnus of UBC, Goldsmiths University of London, and the Gulf Islands Film and Television School (RIP).

When she’s not writing, she is succumbing to the Vancouver pressures of trail running, gravel cycling, and plunging in unreasonably cold water.

deborahvogt.com

I have always been in love with stories, a passion which led me to pursue a career as a filmmaker. For the past ten years, I have worked on a number of different productions in Vancouver, both on set and in the production office. At the same time I worked on my own projects, including an award-winning web.

Gur-Inder got his start working in Bollywood as an Assistant Director. His dream is to bridge the gap between Hollywood and Bollywood while simultaneously delivering diverse Canadian content to international audiences. He won the American Film Market Pitch Conference twice, in 2021 (with boxing/drama GODSON) and in 2023 (with supernatural/horror SEED)

Helene is a screenwriter from North Vancouver, BC. In the early 2000s, she transitioned from a career in the environmental industry to pursuing film and theatre in New York City. During this time, she worked in the HBO offices for Philip Seymour Hoffman’s theatre company and trained as a screenwriter at the Upright Citizens Brigade and Atlantic Theater Company.

She has participated in several episodic screenwriting talent programs with the Whistler Film Festival and was the only international participant in the 2024 “Episodic LAB” with the U.S.-based Orchard Project, which highlights bold, innovative works.

Helene has contributed to several TV projects in development, including three of her original series: Chronicles of a Radioactive Girl Scout, Queen of Trash, and Weyburn. These projects are being developed with Bell Media and Creative BC in partnership with Elevation Pictures. She is represented by The Characters Agency.

www.helenetaylor.ca

I love writing about myself and I’m never sarcastic.

Bullet point hype machine says:

• Recipient of Harold Greenberg shorts to features grant
• Gold Prize winner at Page and Grand Prize winner at Table read my Screenplay
• Winner of a Diversity of Voices fellowship to Banff
• Recipient of a PSP sponsored trip to the Toronto Screenwriting Conference
• Writers’ Assistant on Season 2 of The Order

I consider bullet point lists to be one run on sentence. I am a chronic sufferer of imposter syndrome.

Photo by Jessie Robertson.

Jackson Chow is a second-generation, Chinese-Canadian television and film writer, who strives to tell stories that are modern and diverse while also serving underrepresented communities like his own. With placements in multiple writing competitions from Screencraft to The Page Awards, he’s an alumnus of the Pacific Screenwriting Program working under Karen McClellan and the Canadian Film Centre’s Bell Media Prime Time TV Program led by Ins Choi while also freelancing as a Script Analyst for Coverfly. Jackson is a multi-hyphenate who has experience working in visual effects for big-budget Hollywood movies like Fifty Shades Freed and Ad Astra, has created film and television video essays that have garnered tens of thousands of views online, directed and produced short films, and has contributed to Points in Case and The Hard Times, two digital literary humor publications.

I am a proud Haudenosaunee woman from the Onondaga Nation Beaver Clan from the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory in Ontario, I have been living in Vancouver for the past seven years and in that time I have completed my Bachelor of Motion Picture Arts Degree from Capilano University, Worked as a first assistant director on various indigenous features and series and most recently completed my first feature film title Brother, I Cry which was funded by Telefilm Canada through Telefilms Talent to watch program.

Jimmy holds a BFA from Ryerson University in Performance Studies and is currently undertaking his Masters in Playwriting at the University of Victoria. Jimmy was one of the founders and artistic directors of Babelle Theatre and he is the recipient of several awards, including the 2016 Sydney Risk Prize for Emerging Playwright and a Jessie Richardson award for Outstanding Original Script.

Jordan Hall is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter whose work focuses on climate change, the exploration of genre, and feminist representation. Her first full-length play, Kayak, won Samuel French’s Canadian Playwrights Competition, and has been produced to critical acclaim across North America. Subsequent plays include How to Survive an Apocalypse (Flying Start 2016, Samuel French 2018), A Brief History of Human Extinction (with Mind of a Snail Puppet Theatre), and The Cupertino Effect—forthcoming, with support from the BCAC. As a screenwriter, Jordan co-created Carmilla: The Series (Winner: CSA, Digital Fiction) for SmokeBomb Entertainment, and was Carmilla’s lead writer for three seasons and the subsequent movie. She has been a finalist at the LA Comedy Fest, a winner of the Crazy8s Short Film Production Competition, and a 2019 recipient of a Corus Writer’s Apprentice Fellowship at Banff. She teaches screenwriting at Capilano University.

Kat Sieniuc is an award-winning screenwriter who creates well-defined, complex characters. Kat began her career as a journalist covering local politics, crime and the courts in New York City and Toronto. Her legal dramedy pilot GUTS ‘N’ GLORY won the Gold Prize in the Page International Screenwriting Awards and the Grand Prize in the WeScreenplay Television Competition.

I have produced a number of films and always secretly wanted to write my own scripts but thought I didn’t have the talent. A few years ago I decided to make a concerted effort to write something I was happy with and finally found my writer’s voice. I have a number of projects in development. This month, I am recording one of my scripts as as a scripted podcast and will release it next year.

Kay Metchie grew up with dreams of becoming a theatre star. But before that happened she was introduced to filmmaking and never looked back. She started as a Script Supervisor before becoming a Supervising Producer for MOWs. Recently she was in the writer’s room for a Bell/CW series and the development room for season 2 of a CBC/CW series. She’s directed and produced multiple shorts that have played across North America. Her 2022 short, Weeds Are Flowers, Too, was selected for the Crazy8s Festival, the biggest independent film festival in Vancouver. She loves stories with engaging female characters and finding the beauty and heart in the most mundane of situations. She was honoured to be the second participant in Hallmark’s Make Her Mark program and looks forward to continuing her career creating stories that make people laugh, cry, and sit on the edge of their seats in anticipation.

Kaylyn Johnson is a Black/multi-racial Vancouver-based writer, graduate of the screenwriting program at Vancouver Film School and alumnus of the Pacific Screenwriting Program’s 2023 Scripted Series Lab. She has worked as a script coordinator and story editor on feature films and television series, including Family Law (Global/CW) and Allegiance (CBC). Prior to attending film school, Kaylyn practised criminal law for several years in Alberta.

Kurt Mungal is a queer, Indo-Caribbean television and film writer based in Vancouver and Toronto. Driven by a desire to tell diverse stories, this former high-end event planner enrolled in the InFocus Film and Television Writing Program in 2022, and upon graduation, was given the top Award of Distinction for his graduating class.  In 2023, Kurt was chosen to be one of the residents at the prestigious Pacific Screenwriting Program, where he participated in the writer’s room for the Scripted Series Lab under Jennica Harper. Since then, Kurt has been invited to work in the writer’s room for CBC’s Run The Burbs as part of the PSP Story Department Internship and is in development on his series Unplanned with Buzz Film Group. In addition to screenwriting, Kurt was also a contributing writer for the 2017 Toronto Book Award nominated anthology, Any Other Way: How Toronto Got Queer. Kurt is most drawn to telling stories and creating characters that have yet to be explored by the mainstream, using his unique comedic sensibilities to find humour in the most unlikely places.

Manny is a writer, director, and producer of Punjabi descent. He has created over a dozen film and television projects through his production company Sital Cinema Productions. These projects range from documentaries to narratives, shorts to features, and even avant-garde.

His latest feature as a screenwriter, Portraits From a Fire, won “Best Motion Picture” at the Leo Awards, and is now streaming on CRAVE. And his directorial debut documentary, For My Father, premiered on CBC Television and is now available on CBC GEM. Several of his independent films have played at international film festivals, most notably the Vancouver International Film Festival over a consecutive five year run.

He is a graduate of the Pacific Screenwriting Program’s Scripted Series Lab. And has since worked in several TV writers rooms across Canada including Our Big Punjabi Family (Rogers/Omni) and Allegiance (CBC/NBCU).

After studying at UBC, Mateo participated in the Writing for Film and TV Program at InFocus Film School where he quickly found his voice as a comedic writer. Interested in bringing Queer narratives to the forefront of television, he uses humour and genre to express the nuance and joys of his experience.

When not writing, Mateo can be found playing gay volleyball on Sundays and regular volleyball during the week.

Melissa Zhēn Zhū Riemer is a Canadian/Australian screenwriter drawing on her experience of navigating mixed race parentage (Chinese German), as well her time living in multiple countries as an international model for fashion houses including Chanel, Bvlgari, Gucci, L’oreal, Louis Vuitton. An accomplished songwriter, producer and composer, Melissa’s music has appeared in Netflix and feature films as well as various commercial syncing deals. A brief foray into acting gave her invaluable experience on film sets and revealed her deeper passion for screenwriting, where she now focusses her time. Melissa’s proof of concept dramatic film Salty is currently in pre-production and was recently the recipient of an arts development grant.

Hi! I’m a graduate from UBC’s Creative Writing MFA program and UVic’s Creative Writing BFA program. A year ago I placed in the Top 5 of the Austin Film Festival’s spec script competition, which led to AFF inviting me to read for their competition this year. My debut short film The Yoga Bridge screened at some prominent LGBTQ film festivals in the States, and I’m currently developing a show about the salacious world of professional wrestling.

Norman Yi Li is a Chinese Canadian Film & TV writer based in Vancouver, BC. He has earned a B.Sc. in Cognitive Systems – Computational Intelligence and Design from the University of British Columbia. His work delves into the complexities of human psychology, the evolution of cultural identity, and the societal impacts of emerging technology. Norman is a semi-finalist at the Austin Film Festival – Script Competition and his short films have screened at the Whistler Film Festival and the Vancouver Asian Film Festival. Norman is an alumnus of the Pacific Screenwriting Program, where he penned an episode for an original series by Will Pascoe, subsequently optioned by Skydance Media. In 2022, Norman worked as a writers’ assistant on Netflix’s hit series, The Night Agent. And recently, he has participated in the Warner Bros. Discovery/Break The Room Mid-Level Writers’ Room. Norman is represented by the Independent Artist Group.

normanyili.com

Storytelling has always been a part of my life but it was only once I began my journey in obtaining my Bachelors Degree in Film that screenwriting really stood out for me. I have written a few short films, a feature film that was funded by Telefilm Canada and a proof of concept funded by Telus Storyhive. I look forward to working with this group of writers to learn more and to gain more experience.

Photo by Michael Auger.

Qaseem, an Ismaili Muslim gay writer, brings a vibrant intersectionality to his craft, having graduated from prestigious programs such as The Netflix funded Pacific Screenwriting Program, The BIPOC TV & FILM: Showrunner Bootcamp, The Reel World E20 Program, The PSP/BTR present: The Pitch Accelerator Program, The Warner Bros. Discovery Access Canada: Mid-Level Writers Room and The CFC Comedy Story Room Intensive. Qaseem’s passion for inclusive narratives shines in his queer coming-of-age series, What’s Normal Anyway?, currently in development with Amaze Film + Television. With a commitment to amplifying voices from underrepresented communities, he strives to empower a new generation to embrace their identity fearlessly. Through his work, Qaseem fosters empathy, understanding, and acceptance, urging audiences to celebrate diversity in all its forms.

Ren grew up competing nationally and internationally as a martial artist, with a love of all things wild and adventurous: archery, snowboarding, scuba diving, and backcountry hiking. A few injuries later, Ren now lives vicariously through their characters, bringing their love of genre and first-hand knowledge of physical action to their screenwriting. Having earned an MA and several awards from the University of British Columbia, Ren has worked across different creative fields as an actor, novelist, ghostwriter, and developmental editor.

Recognized by Playback as one of Canada’s ’10 to Watch,’ Renuka is a screenwriter originally from Kitimat, BC. In 2020, she transitioned from finance to pursue her love of storytelling. Since then, she has earned credits on I Woke Up a Vampire (Netflix/Family Channel), Reginald the Vampire (SyFy), and Allegiance (CBC).

Beyond her on-screen credits, she has contributed to TV projects with CBC, Bell Media, and Corus Entertainment. Currently, she is developing an original comedy series with support from CMF and Bell Media, and is dedicated to bringing her passion project to life: a horror series based on the works of American novelist Ray Garton.

Renuka’s professional journey also includes being a fellow of the BIPOC TV & Film Showrunner Training Bootcamp and notably the sole BC writer selected for the 2023 cohort of the WBD Access x Canadian Academy Writers Program. She is represented by the Jennifer Hollyer Agency.

renukasingh.ca

Ryan is a Cree, Native American and dual US citizen from the Little Pine Reserve as well as an international award winning writer/director within the Vancouver film-making community. He has studied at New York’s Circle in the Square Theater School and holds a Joint MFA in Screenwriting and Film Production from The University of British Columbia as well as graduating from Netflix’s Pacific Screenwriting Program in 2021.

He has gathered numerous international awards, grants and screenings ranging from Best Webseries/ Best VFX in The New Media Film Festival, Best Horror Screenplay in The Canada International Film Festival, A Golden Ace award from The Las Vegas Film Festival and has worked in the industry on various projects ranging from Batman vs Superman, Fast & The Furious 7, Fear The Walking Dead, The Magicians and more.

In 2021, Ryan completed his first sci-fi, vr short film titled Chord VR which screened at VIFF, and worked on S1 of Netflix’s Grendel as a Script Coordinator under Andrew Dabb. In 2022, he was a winner of Access Reelworld’s competition to join the writer’s room for City TV’s Hudson and Rex S5 series and was a finalist for the NBC Launch Program. In 2023, Ryan won a $20K grant to complete a script, and holds two buyer’s agreements on two his other scripts. He is also a semi-finalist for the FOX incubator program and has finished his first staffing gig as an Executive Story Editor on the Paramount + series Skymed S2.

Sam Kieran Macneil (they/he), is a nonbinary and neurodivergent screenwriter and actor. Since graduating from Vancouver Film School’s Writing for Film and Television program in 2015, they’ve placed in multiple screenwriting competitions such as the PAGE Awards and GEMFest International Screenplay Competition, and continually work at keeping their imposter syndrome at bay. Most recently, Sam completed their first writing assignment for an independent feature film and quit their stable day job to wander into the unknown. Sam’s writing draws on queer and neurodivergent stories, striving to make them more accessible to their communities. When they’ve run out of notebooks, Sam can be found cross stitching, playing Sims, or stress-eating a six-pack of muffins.

Sarah Kelley is a proud member of the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation in Golden Lake, ON. She’s an actress and an award-winning filmmaker and writer for her short film, Good Grief with 15 years’ experience in the film industry. In 2021, she graduated from the Pacific Screenwriting Program where she worked with showrunner, Will Pascoe. In 2022, she was one of five chosen for the Young Adult Scripted with the Corus Apprentice Program at the Banff World Media Festival and is completing her internship in the room with Family Law. Sarah has recently signed on to write an Untitled project with Shaftesbury and Will Pascoe and she just completed the development of two pilots with the Bell Fund Development Slate. Sarah is currently working as a Writer’s Assistant on Murder in a Small Town with Ian Weir to air on FOX.

Scott Button is an award-winning writer of television and theatre. He’s worked in the writer’s room of Family Law Season 3 & 4 (CW/Global) and has several television projects in development with Canadian production companies. Plays include the Tom Hendry-Award nominated For Now (Green Thumb Theatre) and Night Passing (Arts Club Theatre Company – audio play), among others. As an actor, he’s toured to stages across the country and has worked in television, indie films and numerous commercials. Scott has a BFA from the UBC and is a Pacific Screenwriting Program alumnus. Represented by Meridian Artists.

After growing up in a tiny Prairie town, Shaun Balbar trained professionally in ballet and modern dance before finding success in front of the camera as a union actor, notably starring in acclaimed Canadian director Guy Maddin’s award-winning film The Heart of the World. An author of novels, stage plays, optioned features, and pilots, his work has achieved recognition in major writing competitions, including One Last Song, chosen by the Austin Film Festival judges for a live reading in 2022.

shaunbalbar.com

Shauna is a writer and actor whose stories navigate identity, loss, and belonging – but with deep heart and lots of jokes. Her feature Common Grace was recently optioned, her children’s show M is for Music is touring with symphonies, and she plays Stacey’s mom on Netflix’s The Babysitter’s Club.

Right now, Shauna’s writing a project for Nomadic Pictures out of Calgary.

Previously, Shauna earned two Leos for the short films Bedbugs: A Musical Love Story and Trying – as well as the Spotlight Image Award for Outstanding Short Work. These also opened doors for her with Sony, Anonymous Content, and Vimeo.

Shauna has lived in Edmonton, Michigan, Boston, Kenya, Honduras, Amsterdam, and now Vancouver, Canada. She has two small children and a jazz musician husband with whom she often collaborates.

After writing two independent feature films and two award-winning plays, I earned my MFA in Creative Writing at UBC in 2013. From there I served as an Associate Editor on the hit factual series Jade Fever (Discovery Canada) and created a web series called Coded (Telus STORYHIVE), which was based on my experience as a high school teacher and won awards around the world, including nominations for Best Web/Digital Series at the Rockie and Leo Awards. I’ve also served as dramaturge on several stage productions, won the Praxis Story Editing Internship and worked as the interim Scripted Development Manager at Omnifilm Entertainment. Now that I’ve completed the Pacific Screenwriting Program’s Scripted Series Lab, optioned two television pilot scripts, completed my second stint in a writer’s room, and am in pre-production with a new feature film, I’m looking to publish the two novels I’ve been working on, delving into the form I’ve always loved. Originally from Red Deer, Alberta, I now live in North Vancouver with my partner and son.

Tammy Tsang is a writer and filmmaker born and raised in Vancouver. She has written and produced a number of short films including: Driving to You (2013), Rocking on Air (2019), Lauren in the Bathroom (2021) which screened at the Vancouver Asian Film Festival and won multiple awards in the Mighty Asian Moviemaking Marathon’s Ultra Short Category including Best Screenplay and Best Director, and Operation: Stuplloyd (2023) which premiered at the Los Angeles International Children’s Film Festival in March 2024. When not working on passion projects, she works as an assistant director in the film industry. Tammy’s writing room experiences include a AAA video game through The Coalition Studio and the development room for Indigenous series, HEY CUZZIN’. An alum of the Pacific Screenwriting Program’s Scripted Series Lab 2022 cohort and a recipient of the 2022 Rogers-BSO Film Development Fund, Tammy aspires to show what stories Canadians can offer.

In her spare time, Tammy volunteers as a leader for a Girl Guide unit and also runs annual 24-hr board game charity marathons to raise donations for BC Children’s Hospital. However, she never forgets to carve out space in her schedule for binge watching TV shows and reading comics.

Tanvi Bhatia is a screenwriter whose work spans multiple genres and industries. Since being awarded a residency with the Pacific Screenwriting Program’s Scripted Series Lab, she has worked in writers’ rooms across the country, including Heartland (CBC) and Allegiance (CBC/NBCU). Tanvi received an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia, and was an editor at PRISM international and Geist magazine. Her essays and comics have appeared in various publications, including the Toronto Star, the Tyee and Maisonneuve. Her long-standing involvement in migrant justice and anti-oppression organizing earned her a nomination for the YWCA Young Woman of Distinction award in 2018. She carries her commitment to change-making into the industry, supporting Women in View in their work to promote gender equity.

Toby Marks is a neurodivergent award-winning writer with a BFA with Distinction from Syracuse University (New York). She trained in London at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and worked in film in LA. Toby likes the 3 M’s: magic, mystery and murder, telling stories with math/science motifs about smart dynamic women in dark, ominous settings. In 2022, she co-wrote a Top 6 Crazy8 film, her crime thriller pilot script was a second-rounder at the Austin Film Festival and it was on Filmarket Hub’s “Excellent Scripts List”. In 2023, she participated in the Pacific Screenwriting Program’s Scripted series lab and her grounded sci-fi pilot won Best Scripted Sci-fi pilot at the New York Big Apple Film Festival. In 2024, Toby was a semi-finalist for the Stowe Story Labs fellowship, was selected to participate in GEMS Vancouver’s Genre film lab and will pitch her period zombie feature at the Frontières Market in July.

Todd Ireland is an Indigenous (Métis) screenwriter with a passion for storytelling. In addition to his personal projects in development he serves as the Executive Vice President of Enderby Entertainment Canada. He has an active role on the Board of Directors for the Pacific Screenwriting Program and he is a proud member of the Writers Guild of Canada’s I.D.E.A. Committee.

Todd recently wrote on Circuit Breakers, a YA sci-fi anthology for Apple TV+. He also wrote several NFT comic books and a triple-A video game for Microsoft. In addition to his animated feature Sunny, which was optioned, he was a writer for Netflix’s ReBoot: The Guardian Code and the Saturn Award-winning Continuum.

Todd earned recognition with a 2019 WGC Screenwriting Award nomination. He is a graduate of the Pacific Screenwriting Program and the WGC Diverse Screenwriter Program. Todd lives with his wife and daughter in Vancouver.

Nelu is an award winning Writer, Actor and Showrunner based in Toronto. She has written for, and performed on, multiple seasons of award winning comedy series’ including: Sort Of, A Little Late with Lilly Singh, Jann, Odd Squad, Tall Boyz, The Beaverton, and Baroness Von Sketch Show. She was a Writer and Producer for all three seasons of Run The Burbs and became its Co-Showrunner in its finale season.

As an Actor, Nelu’s also been featured on Star Trek: Discovery, The Expanse, The Bold Type. She played recurring character Jade on the Emmy Award winning show Workin’ Moms.

In 2021, she earned a Canadian Screen Award for Best Writing, Variety or Sketch Comedy for Baroness. In 2022, she was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award as a Best Supporting Actor on a Web Series for her performance in Avocado Toast. For her work on the premier season of Sort Of, Nelu received a Writer’s Guild of Canada nomination for her script, in addition to a prestigious Peabody Award for her contribution.

Vancouver-born Michael MacLennan has been nominated seven times for the Writers Guild of Canada Canadian Screenwriting Award, and received the WGC’s 2018 Showrunner of the Year Award. A producer of nearly 300 episodes, his credits include Co-Executive Producer of Queer As Folk, creator and EP of Godiva’s, Co-EP on Flashpoint, Bitten, and Freeform’s hit series The Fosters. He co-created and show-ran Bomb Girls, twice nominated for Best Series by the Canadian Screen Awards and honoured as Outstanding Dramatic Series by the US Gracie Awards. He has written multiple pilot scripts for CBS and ABC and served as Executive Producer and Showrunner of Omnifilm Entertainment’s BritBox/ITV series The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco. Most recently, he created for Netflix Tiny Pretty Things, which was their number-one series worldwide for fourteen days.

Jennica Harper was most recently Co-Showrunner for Season 3 of CBC’s Run the Burbs, starring Andrew Phung. Before that, she was Showrunner and Co-creator of the award-winning comedy series JANN (CTV/Hulu) starring Jann Arden, which ran for three seasons and a holiday special. Jennica loves and has written in a wide range of genres, from dark crime dramas to kid’s multicam comedies, and credits the Canadian industry for not asking her to “pick a lane.” She was a Writer and Co-Executive Producer on the light mystery The Spencer Sisters (CTV/CW), medical adventure drama SkyMed (Paramount+/CBC), horror-comedy cult favourite The Order (Netflix), and critically acclaimed thriller Cardinal (CTV/Hulu), among others. Jennica has won two WGC Awards for best script, one for the kids comedy Some Assembly Required, the other for the pilot script of JANN.

Multi-award winning writer, director and executive producer Robert Cooper has been involved in the creation of over 400 episodes of television. His latest series Unspeakable, for CBC and Sundance TV, chronicled the Canadian tainted blood tragedy and was produced through his production company, Mezo Entertainment. Prior to that, he served as showrunner on Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency for BBCAmerica, Netflix and AMC Studios. He is also known for showrunning the record-breaking 17 season Stargate television franchise for MGM. He co-created Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe and served as executive producer, writer, and director of multiple episodes of all three series and two DTV movies.

Robert has numerous nominations and has won several awards including 2 Best Series awards and a Canadian Writer’s Guild award for best dramatic screenplay. In 2009, he was presented with an Outstanding Achievement Award for contribution to the British Columbia television industry.

Currently, Mezo Entertainment has several projects in development including one that was optioned from a PSP graduate.

Sarah Dodd is a BC-based TV writer and showrunner. She was an executive producer on seasons 2 and 4 of the critically acclaimed crime series Cardinal for CTV/Hulu/BBC4. Her Season 2 premiere episode won the Canadian Screen Award, the Writers Guild of Canada Award, and a Leo Award. She was Executive producer and showrunner on Zixx: Level Three (Cartoon Network/YTV) and head writer and producer on The Saddle Club (ABC/YTV). Sarah has written and produced hundreds of hours of television, both hour-long and half-hour, including Family Law (Global/CW), Ransom (Global/CBS/TF-1), Motive (CTV/ABC/USA), Arctic Air (CBC) and The Border (CBC/ION). Her short film, The Sparkle Lite Motel, co-written with director Cory Kinney, screened at over 30 festivals worldwide, including San Diego Comic-Con.

Photo by Kristine Cofsky.

Will Pascoe was Showrunner for the third season of Amazon’s hit series, Absentia. Previous to that, he wrote for Bell/SyFy Channel drama, Bitten; NBC drama series Chicago Med; BBC Worldwide/Starz historical drama series, Da Vinci’s Demons and Hulu’s Shut Eye starring Jeffrey Donovan and Isabella Rossellini. While working as writer and co-producer on Bell/BBC America’s Orphan Black, his episode “Variations Under Domestication” earned Pascoe a Canadian Writer’s Guild Award and nominations for an Edgar Allan Poe Award and a Hugo Award. A graduate of the Writer’s Guild of America’s prestigious Showrunner Training Program, Will has also developed television series for Fox, Playtone and Universal Studios.

Karen McClellan is an award-winning writer who served as the Showrunner-In-Residence for the 2022 Pacific Screenwriting Program where she developed her one-hour limited mystery series through the Scripted Series Lab. Prior to that, Karen was an Executive Producer and Co-Showrunner of The Next Step, a global hit series playing in over 120 countries. During her tenure over three seasons, the fictional tween dramedy garnered multiple BAFTA and Canadian Screen Award nominations, including nominations for Karen’s writing and best series. Before joining The Next Step, Karen co-created and executive-produced the Victoria, BC-set mystery digital series Spiral for which she won a 2018 Writers Guild of Canada award. Her other credits cover an array of one-hour and half-hour shows, including CBC’s international hit drama Being Erica and critically acclaimed Cracked, as well as CTV’s beloved comedy Robson’s Arms. A graduate of the Shaw Media Showrunner Training Program, Karen has multiple projects in development for Canadian and American broadcasters and production companies. She holds a Master of Fine Arts from The American Film Institute and is based in Toronto where she lives with her family.

Alysson Hall graduated from the University of Victoria in 2012 with a BFA in Acting for Stage. She has been working in Theatre, Film and TV ever since, having produced and written The Autobiography of Jane Eyre, (A modernized adaption of the Victorian novel, Jane Eyre using the vlog found footage format), and All’s Fair Play with her writing and producing partner, Nessa Aref. In 2014, Alysson co-wrote and co-created Killing It, a comedy about three friends who are granted the Grim Reaper’s power for a week. Killing It made the Top 15 in CBC’s ComedyCoup. In 2019, Alysson and Nessa co-wrote The Mirror which was selected for the Crazy8s Festival of that year, and is currently available for streaming on Alter. Most recently Alysson co-directed the music video Servant of the Outer Dark for the death metal band Thirteen Goats. In her spare time, Alysson likes to eat carbs.

Ambika Vas is a performer and writer based in Vancouver. She was born in Newfoundland, grew up moving between India and the US, and in total, has moved 16 times across eight countries. Clearly she has commitment issues!

Until five years ago she was living every immigrant parents’ dream: working in Private Equity in London (UK). The day after she received a big promotion, she celebrated by quitting her job to finally follow her own dreams.

Over the past few years, she has performed stand up comedy, improv and sketch in London, LA and Vancouver. She has also written countless sketches and four comedy pilot scripts. In 2020, her sketch comedy videos caught the attention of India comedian, Cyrus Broacha, and she was asked to join the #1 Indian Political Satire TV show, The Week that Wasn’t, as a Foreign Correspondent. She wrote and produced her own segments for 30 episodes that aired on CNN-India. All of which was done from her messy bedroom in Vancouver. She has acted in several TV shows including Alaska Daily and A Million Little Things. Additionally, she did a story internship for Family Law, has script coordinated in a few development rooms and is currently writing for Season 2 of ZARQA.

Ambika is a graduate of Upright Citizens Brigade (LA), the Peoples Improv Theater (NY) and the Comedy School (London). And her parents wanted us to mention that she also has a Bachelors and Masters degree in Accounting from the University of Iowa and an International MBA from the prestigious French school, INSEAD.

Manny is a writer, director, and producer of Punjabi descent. He has created over a dozen film and television projects through his production company Sital Cinema Productions. These projects range from documentaries to narratives, shorts to features, and even avant-garde.

His latest feature as a screenwriter, Portraits From a Fire, won “Best Motion Picture” at the Leo Awards, and is now streaming on CRAVE. And his directorial debut documentary, For My Father, premiered on CBC Television and is now available on CBC GEM. Several of his independent films have played at international film festivals, most notably the Vancouver International Film Festival over a consecutive five year run.

He is a graduate of the Pacific Screenwriting Program’s Scripted Series Lab. And has since worked in several TV writers rooms across Canada including Our Big Punjabi Family (Rogers/Omni) and Allegiance (CBC/NBCU).

A self-proclaimed cinephile with a penchant for anything Richard Curtis or Agatha Christie, Miriam van Emst is a Writer, Director, and Producer from the Netherlands and the UK, living in Vancouver, Canada. Her first feature Confessions Of a Cam Girl premiered on Lifetime earlier this year. She is currently working on two Hallmark projects, and a book adaptation for The CW and Bell Media. Her other credits include Associate Producer on The Watchful Eye (ABC/Disney+). Research Producer on Our War (The History Channel) and Story Intern / Writer’s Assistant on Family Law S.2-3 (The CW). Her work has spanned three continents, from producing and directing scripted content for platforms like Amazon and Unilever to documentaries for UN Women and the Gates Foundation. Her mission is to bring stories from underrepresented groups to the big screen and for her two cats to like her…

Nessa Aref is an Iranian-Canadian filmmaker based in Vancouver. After showrunning two original web series, Nessa co-produced her first feature film, Freaks (2018), which premiered at TIFF. She later directed and co-wrote The Mirror (2019) as part of Crazy8s 2019 festival, streaming on Alter. Her second short film Decomposing (2021) is currently touring the festival circuit. She has written and directed episodes of the Al-Jazeera podcast series, Hindsight (2020 – 2021, 2023), narrated by Charles Dance. Her work is streaming on Netflix, CBC and Spotify to name a few. Her second feature as a co-producer, With Love and a Major Organ (2023) premiered at SXSW. These days her work can be found streaming on Netflix, CBC, and Spotify to name a few.

Most recently she pitched and won the MPPIA Short Film Award. As a result, her next short film, My Roommate Ahriman will premiere at the 2023 Whistler Film Festival.

Her work focuses on identity, community, and coming of age. She is currently developing Bad Persians, a deeply personal comedy series about the Iranian diaspora.

Norman Yi Li is a Chinese Canadian Film & TV writer based in Vancouver, BC. He has earned a B.Sc. in Cognitive Systems – Computational Intelligence and Design from the University of British Columbia. His work delves into the complexities of human psychology, the evolution of cultural identity, and the societal impacts of emerging technology. Norman is a semi-finalist at the Austin Film Festival – Script Competition and his short films have screened at the Whistler Film Festival and the Vancouver Asian Film Festival. Norman is an alumnus of the Pacific Screenwriting Program, where he penned an episode for an original series by Will Pascoe, subsequently optioned by Skydance Media. In 2022, Norman worked as a writers’ assistant on Netflix’s hit series, The Night Agent. And recently, he has participated in the Warner Bros. Discovery/Break The Room Mid-Level Writers’ Room. Norman is represented by the Independent Artist Group.

normanyili.com

Qaseem, an Ismaili Muslim gay writer, brings a vibrant intersectionality to his craft, having graduated from prestigious programs such as The Netflix funded Pacific Screenwriting Program, The BIPOC TV & FILM: Showrunner Bootcamp, The Reel World E20 Program, The PSP/BTR present: The Pitch Accelerator Program, The Warner Bros. Discovery Access Canada: Mid-Level Writers Room and The CFC Comedy Story Room Intensive. Qaseem’s passion for inclusive narratives shines in his queer coming-of-age series, What’s Normal Anyway?, currently in development with Amaze Film + Television. With a commitment to amplifying voices from underrepresented communities, he strives to empower a new generation to embrace their identity fearlessly. Through his work, Qaseem fosters empathy, understanding, and acceptance, urging audiences to celebrate diversity in all its forms.