Marie has ignited her brand of artistry within a variety of mediums including film, TV, radio, and live performance. Her latest project, the feature drama Red Snow has won Most Popular Canadian Feature Film at the Vancouver International Film Festival, Best Canadian Feature Film at the Edmonton International Film Festival; earned nominations for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Film, and won the Best Director of a Feature at the 2019 American Indian Film Festival (AIFF) in San Francisco. Red Snow was also nominated for 10 Leo Awards. Marie’s feature music documentary, The Road Forward, produced by the NFB premiered at Hot Docs, opened the 2017 DOXA Documentary Film Festival, closed the 2018 ImagineNATIVE Film Festival, receiving five Leo Awards including Best Production, Best Director, and Best Screenwriter. The Road Forward has screened at over 300 venues in North America also receiving a Best Director Award at the AIFF, as well as, a Writer’s Guild Nomination for Best Documentary Screenplay in 2018. A 2019 Telefilm Canada – Birks Diamond Tribute to Women In Film recipient, Marie was also nominated for a DGC Best Director Award for her work on Red Snow. She received the WFF Women on Top Award and WIFTV Spotlight Impact Award 2018. Her documentary Looking at Edward Curtis premiered at DOXA and The Yorkton Film Festival with four nominations for Best Documentary and premiered on Knowledge Network summer 2018. Marie’s multi-award-winning films have screened at Cannes, TIFF, MOMA, VIFF, Whistler Film Festival, American Indian Film Festival and ImagineNATIVE Film Festival. Her fifteen plays have been presented on some of the most prestigious stages for Canadian and international work garnering numerous awards and publications including the 2004 Canada-Japan Literary Award, and two prestigious Governor General’s Literary Award nominations. MCM is an independent media production company owned and operated by Clements specializing in the development, creation and production of innovative works of media that explore an Indigenous and intercultural reality.

Lael is President of Principia Productions, based in Vancouver. She began her career as a Creative Affairs Executive at London’s United British Artists Developments, founded by Harold Pinter, Glenda Jackson, Albert Finney, Maggie Smith, Diana Rigg and John Hurt, to develop projects for West End Theatre as well as television and feature films including The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne, Castaway, and Windprints. In 1988, Lael returned to Canada and joined Alliance Communications. During her seven years with the company, eventually as Vice President of Alliance Pictures, she served as producer on Turning April (starring Tushka Bergen), a Canada/Australia co-production; as Executive Producer on The Boys Club (starring Chris Penn); and as executive producer of On My Own (starring Judy Davis), as well as overseeing development of in-house productions and independent acquisitions (Crash, Exotica, I Love A Man In Uniform). Lael was raised in the Yukon and educated in British Columbia. She graduated with a degree in English from the University of British Columbia

Michelle is a member of the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) and a 1st AD member in the Directors Guild. She holds a BFA from York University and a MA from Staffordshire University, UK. She has taught directing and the art of filmmaking at several creative institutions, including guest lecturing at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Over her career Michelle has worked on Kathleen Kennedy’s A MAP OF THE WORLD with Julianne Moore and Sigourney Weaver, Guillermo del Toro’s thriller, MIMIC, and ABC/Disney’s ONCE UPON A TIME. Michelle has recently produced the feature film RED SNOW for Telefilm and CBC Films, the MPPIA Short Film Award Winner, GOOD GIRLS DON’T, and the DGC Crazy 8s Winner, MEET CUTE. Michelle has traveled to nearly 50 countries, spent a childhood in Iran and lived in China. She resides in Vancouver with her partner and two sons.

Best known as co-creator and producer of Canada’s internationally respected Women In the Director’s Chair (WIDC) program, Dr. Whiteman is a two-time Governor General’s award nominee and multiple award-winner for promoting gender equality in Canada’s screen industry. Since 1997, Whiteman has worked tirelessly to advance the careers, fiction feature films, network television and web series of a generation of female screen writers and directors across Canada and internationally. She produced over 150 short films through WIDC and is executive producer on eight award-winning feature films including Never Steady, Never Still, Red Snow, Rustic Oracle, Queen of the Morning Calm, and the upcoming Dawn, Her Dad & the Tractor. Whiteman recently completed her doctoral degree in education at Simon Fraser University, British Columbia. Her dissertation shares an inspiring chronicle of the tenacity and transformative leadership behind WIDC’s decades-long history.

A professional accountant with more than twenty years of experience in the film, television and new media industries, Giuliana Jules Bertuzzi has co-executive produced feature films including Hollow in the Land, Come and Find Me, Air, Grace: The Possession, Afflicted and A Night for Dying Tigers) She headed up production finance on TV series including Arctic Air, Ice Pilots NWT, Pyros, and Primevil: New World. She was a co-producer on the series Dragon Booster and Tansi! Nehiyawetan, and business & legal affairs manager at Nerd Corps. Jules has been involved with episodic CG animation from its very early days, having spent several years as the controller of Vancouver-based CG animation house, Mainframe Entertainment. She was also production controller for four seasons of the company’s CG series Reboot and Beast Wars. Her production credits also include the series Action Man and Heavy Gear; and the CG direct-to-DVD movie Barbie. After Mainframe, Jules handled business affairs for the feature film The Barber; sports documentaries including Legends – A Personal Journey; CFL Legends, and The Stick; and was production manager on several short films including Big Shoes To Fill and Bitten, both of which premiered at the 2002 Vancouver International Film Festival. Jules is an active member of the Vancouver independent film and television industry; she held an executive position on the board of Women in Film and Video Vancouver. In 2005, Jules produced A Perfect Note, a 1-hour drama for Chum Television. A native of Northern British Columbia, Jules now makes her home in Vancouver

Jonathan Tammuz is an Oscar-nominated British/Canadian director and producer. He graduated from the directing programme of The National Film & TV School in England and has worked as a director and producer in the UK, Europe, the US, Canada, Africa and the Middle East. Jonathan produced Streets of Yesterday for Channel 4 TV and then directed The Childeater, which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Live Action Short. He directed several dramatic and documentary projects for Channel 4 (UK), NHK (Japan), Sony Pictures TV and Showtime. Jonathan directed 2 theatrical features: Minotaur which opened in LA and NY to critical acclaim, and Rupert’s Land which won 6 Leo Awards including Best Picture and Best Director. It also received 5 Genie nominations including Best Picture and Best Director. Jonathan is in post-production on Heard From Above, a London-based short written by Alexi Kaye Campbell (The Woman in Gold with Helen Mirren & Ryan Reynolds). He is also developing 2 feature scripts, Rebecca’s Ring, a romantic comedy set in Dublin, and Miner, a comedic drama set in Wales. Jonathan lives in Vancouver, with his wife Lib Stephen, a children’s books illustrator.

Pablo Saravanja is the resident director of photography at aRTLeSS Collective Inc. A sought after Northern expert in documentary and factual TV, photojournalism, arts advocacy, and education, Pablo is personally interested in developing a healthy film and television scene and thriving art-filled North. Pablo is working to develop a sustainable and culturally significant film/TV industry in Canada’s arctic and to turn the fledgling Yellowknife Film Festival into the world’s premier stage for circumpolar films.

Jay runs one of the most unique film studios in Northern Canada called Artless Collective along with creative partner Pablo Saravanja. Jay is also the founder of The Dead North Film Festival which is responsible for over 50 short genre films made in the last 4 years.

After graduating from SFU in 1993 Bob started working as a director of photography in both the drama and the documentary world. Known for his work on the Canadian feature film Kitchen Party, Bob has won best cinematography awards for his work on the shorts Keys to the Kingdom, Rollercoaster, A Girl is a Girl, Liberato, and for the feature film The Overcoat. Bob’s primary passion for cinematography lies in its potential to capture the tone of a story and the emotions of its characters through images that are compelling and unique. He loves the creative process that surrounds this mandate, the teamwork, the various layers of collaboration, the diversity presented by each project, both visually and logistically. Bob also appreciates the complexities and responsibilities that are part of the cinematographer’s job, valuing efficiency, integrity and ease in his interactions with others. Bob is a dual citizen of Switzerland and Canada and eligible to work in the EU. He is fluent in English and German, and somewhat proficient in French. When not travelling, Bob lives with his partner Alison and twelve-year-old daughter, Coco, both of whom have been very supportive of all his endeavours.

A native of Alberta, Roger Vernon solidified his love for life behind the camera at the age of 13 when his parents presented him with a film processing kit. Watching those black and white images emerge off the paper in the dark room fuelled his imagination. He has gone on to combine his love for the mountains and his desire to make images into a flourishing career as an internationally respected cinematographer. Among his areas of expertise, he is internationally recognized for his mountain and adventure related subjects, which have taken him into the most remote corners of the globe. Producers, studios, and individuals alike, have all come to know him as the “go to” guy if the conditions for shooting are remote and or challenging. Roger is also known for his contributions to feature length dramas, most notably Unforgiven, the 1992 western that was nominated for best cinematography and won four Academy awards including Best Picture. An eclectic mix of outdoor skills and technological acumen have rewarded him with a specialized career as a second unit cameraman. Recent productions that include his 2nd unit work include Stephanie Meyer’s popular series – The Twilight Saga, Godzilla, 50 Shades of Grey and Deadpool to name but a few. Roger is the recipient of a CSA (Gemini) award for cinematography and ten awards from the Alberta Motion Picture Industry Association. Additionally, he has been awarded the Golden Sheaf for cinematography from the Yorkton Film Festival, The Kodak Spectrum Award, recognition for “Best Cameraman’s Work” from the Moscow Festival of Mountaineering and Adventure Films and a Certificate of Merit from the British Guild of Television Cameramen. In addition to his achievements as a cinematographer, Roger has earned admiration from his peers for his dedication to mentoring the next generation of filmmakers. He continues to be a contributing mentor to the Women In the Director’s Chair (WIDC). Among the high points of his career has been the recognition afforded him by the Summit of Excellence Award, which was presented to him by The Banff Festival of Mountain Films in recognition of a “significant contribution to mountain life in the Canadian Rockies”. Roger says that nowhere inspires him quite like the Canadian Rockies, which is why he continues to return to his home in Canmore, Alberta.

Michael Diner is a production designer and art director working in Vancouver where he makes his home. He transitioned into film after studying and practicing architecture and previous to that he worked in the bush as a field geologist. His artistic sensibilities were born of these divergent sources and developed after many years working with some of the very best filmmakers and designers alive today. He has over twenty years of film and television credits and is always on the scout for new opportunities and challenges. His design aspirations have taken him across the globe to remote and exotic locals including the Middle East, China, Europe and South Africa. His work on Red Snow brings together his passion for the imagined and his sensibility for the possible. His team includes set decorator David Manske, and art director James Boatman who were instrumental to the artistic success of this important Canadian film.

Carmen’s attention to detail and commitment to cultural authenticity has made her an in-demand member of creative teams in Los Angeles, Vancouver and Victoria. Carmen’s father, the late Art Thompson (Diitiidaht/Coast Salish), was a renowned First Nations carver and painter and he inspired her to combine both her cultural background and technical training in her work. Her mother, the late Cathy Leo (Kyuquot), raised Carmen to pursue a career in the arts, which started with sewing at 10 and then acting at the age of 13 in feature films and television in Vancouver. Carmen formed her own graphic and web design company in Victoria in 1997, and in 2003 moved to Los Angeles to study fashion design at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandise. She worked on more than 40 feature films during her career. In 2010, she moved back to Canada, and began branching out with a 7′ x 12′ copper wall installation based on her father’s design, at the Vancity Credit Union in Victoria. Other career highlights include serving as the costume designer for Jamie Foxx’s Intuition Tour and the BET Award Show honouring Michael Jackson; costuming the Haida and Coast Salish cast for a Murdoch Mysteries episode; recreating costumes for the Teen Choice Awards and VH1 Rock Honors-The Who; and designing Polynesian costumes for host Duane “The Rock” Johnson and 24 dancers for the Kids Choice Awards. Carmen was the costume designer for the international TV series, 1491: The Untold Story of the Americas Before Columbus, which involved designing more than 150 historic costumes representing different Indigenous nations such as Amazonian, Anishnaabe, Inuit, Aztec, Maya, Blackfoot, Cahokia, Cree, Inca, Iroquois, Kwaguilth, Nuuchahnulth and Pueblo. Carmen was given the Nuu-chah-nulth name Tl’aakwaa from her Uncle Ron Hamilton/Ki-ke-in/Haa’yuups, which means copper and it is particularly appropriate for an artist whose works are luminous, brilliant and culturally centred.

Lavallee roams from Indian chants to blues to rock to reggae with a sense of artistic freedom that transcends classification, leaving you with the distinct sensation that you’ve just crossed paths with an unusual singer-songwriter, and a major one at that. Yet what makes Lavallee so atypical is his outstanding ability to express his communion with the essence of nature in a progressive manner. Based on his haunting melodic approach, the 2006 winner of the “Best Aboriginal Songwriter” award of the Canadian Folk Music Society creates a contemporary take on Native mysticism without reneging his own political agenda. Clearly, Lavallee’s music is that of a survivor. That he is able to turn it into a tool for global fraternity is proof that the old fighting spirit of his ancestors is still very much alive. His sheer poetic force is a lesson in artistry we are much to be thankful for.

He is a leading feature film sound designer and mixer and is also a BAFTA nominee as well as the recipient of the Cinema Audio Society Award for Best Sound Mixing on No Country For Old Men and True Grit. He has received two Golden Reel Awards and twelve nominations. Following completion of a program in recording arts in Vancouver, Craig Berkey was introduced to the world of post-production sound getting his first job editing on the Canadian TV series Mom P.I. In 1993, Berkey moved to Los Angeles where he has had the opportunity to work on a variety of films as a sound designer, mixer and or editor. Some of his additional credits include; Hanna and The Soloist (directed by Joe Wright), The Tree of Life, The New World (directed by Terrence Malick). A Serious Man, and Big Fish (directed by Tim Burton).

Jamie Alain is an award winning film and television editor whose feature work includes the Clint Eastwood produced Indian Horse; Entanglement starring Thomas Middleditch; and the Kat Dennings led Daydream Nation. Jamie’s recent TV work includes Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency and the upcoming Netflix series Another Life.

William was raised in Fort McPherson, Northwest Territories and is a member of the Teetl’it Gwich’in First Nations. He was a product of Residential School, however, he has regained some cultural values and his language, thanks to his parents, grandparents and the many elders who didn’t give up on him. William went on the educate himself and received his Associates Degree in Native Language Teaching from the University of Fairbanks Alaska (UAF) and has become a Gwich’in language linguist in the process. He has substantial language and managerial skills and has worked in the field of language preservation and interpreting for the past 40 years for my people. William is currently working for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as a Gwich’in Language Announcer.

My name is Lillian Elias born out on the land at a lake called Pangavluk Lake. I was born to two beautiful people; a couple, names are George and Martha Harry. My grandparents were Harry Inukiqlak and Minnie; and Simon and Alice Aanaqtuuq. I was born and raised on the land until I went to school in Aklavik, NWT. I am a teacher of cultural and traditional knowledge and grandmother to the Uumarmiutun language. I lived all the ways of living out on the land without the profession they have today. I have received a lot of medals; recognition of the work I did in my life time. I just recently received the Order of NWT Award. I am well known in all of NWT. I lived in two different worlds. Learning how to live it, it was not easy, but you can adapt to anything when you have good teachers and my parents and grandparents were always there for me when I had questions, because they lived it.

After graduating from Kabul University in 1971 he was appointed as a lecturer at Herat Teachers Training College the same year. Awarded a UN fellowship to complete his master’s degree at the University of the Philippines in 1976 and subsequently graduated from the College of Education, University of the Philippines in 1978, Bashir was appointed as a lecturer at the Kabul Pedagogical Institute in 1978 and worked there until 1989. In 1989 he moved with his family to Pakistan due to the political situation and subsequently moved to Canada in 1990. During his time in Pakistan, he worked as a Teacher/Translator with the International Medical Corps (IMC). In Canada, he settled with his family in Ontario where he received his Letter of Eligibility for teaching from the Ontario Ministry of Education. In 1993, the family moved to Vancouver, BC and opened a few small businesses until he entered the Teacher Education Program at Simon Fraser University in 2002 and received his BC teachers certification. Bashir worked as a teacher at Mount Royal Conservatory of Music and fine Arts in Richmond BC from 2003 to 2005. From January 2006 to July 2010, he worked as a Language and Cultural Advisor (LCA) for the Canadian Forces in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Then he worked as an International Civilian Consultant for NATO (ISAF) in Kabul, Afghanistan from July 2010 to October 2014. Bashir has received several medals of service from both Canadian Forces and NATO.

Paula was the dramaturg on a new opera, Missing, librettist Marie Clements, composer Brian Current which played in Vancouver and Victoria in 2017. She was story editor on the film, The Road Forward, written and directed by Clements. From 2012-2014 she was the foley artist and assistant director on an adaptation of Dylan Thomas’ Under Milkwood, a new opera written and composed by John Metcalf which toured Wales. For five years she worked as company dramaturg and artistic associate at Canada’s National Arts Centre. Before joining the NAC, Paula was the artistic and executive director of Playwrights’ Workshop Montreal for 9 ½ years. In Halifax, Nova Scotia she was president of Playwrights’ Atlantic Resource Centre, and a drama producer at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Paula was also associate producer for Live Art Productions: New Dance Series, foley artist for Salter Street Films, and producer and host of Artspeak, an arts magazine show on CKDU- FM. She has been the associate dramaturg at The New Play Centre in Vancouver, at Banff’s Playwrights Colony and at The Stratford Shakespeare Festival. Paula has developed new works with playwrights and performers all over Canada and her career in the fields of production and performance span more than 30 years. She graduated from Canada’s National Theatre School where she taught for many years. Paula is currently a doctoral student at The Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance at the University of Toronto.

Howard’s recent credits include his award-winning internationally screened short film C’est Moi (www.cestmoifilm.com) which explores black history in Canada, Video Design for the world premiere of Erin Shield’s The Millenial
Malcontent (Tarragon Theatre); Video Design for The Mountaintop which premiered in Montreal (Black Theatre Workshop) with remounts in Halifax (Neptune Theatre) and Ottawa (GCTC); assistant directing for the Canadian Opera Company’s sesquicentennial production of Louis Riel in Ottawa at the National Arts Centre; assistant directing/design for the world premiere of Trina Davies play Silence at the Grand Theatre and this summer as Video/Projection
designer at The Shaw Festival, Canada’s second largest repertory theatre company, where he has also acted in the ensemble. Acting credits include Jani Lauzon’s play I Call Myself Princess; Pygmalion, Sweet Charity (Shaw Festival) Downsizing (Paramount Pictures) and 12 Monkeys (Syfy). Howard is a member of ADC (Associated Designers of Canada), CAEA and ACTRA and graduate of Ryerson Theatre School in Toronto. He hopes to continue building a practice in telling stories of his heritage, marginalized cultures not at the forefront of history and modern original works with an emphasis on bringing classical, theatrical and historical context to contemporary cinema. He is currently developing his first feature film and working with Tantoo Cardinal on an upcoming project.

Judy Lee was raised in the wilds of Burnaby in the era of headbanger wars and unfortunate denim. She got her feet wet in the film industry playing roles like “Teenager #3“, “Zombie Teenager #2“ and “Halfway House Woman #0“ but upon deeply introspective reflection, realized she sucked as an actor. Her entry into casting was a serendipitous twist of fate and she considers herself blessed to work in the Vancouver film/tv community. Her inspirations are the actors who come into her casting sessions and demonstrate unwavering courage and commitment and her young daughter who teaches her the beauty and bravery of picking one’s self up after falling and continuing on the journey.

David has been working in the Set Decorating department for the last 18 years. Originally from South America, his experience in Canada has been primarily as an On-Set Art Director / Set Dresser for blockbuster American films. Red Snow is his forth decorating assignment. He found the juxtaposition of landscapes and cultures most stimulating on this passion project. More recently, David is working towards his goal as a Director.

Sandra Wong has a 17 year career background in design, marketing and development of new media. She is a social media strategist and has been an integral part of many award-winning TV and film productions including The New BeachCombers, CTV’s The Great Race and Spy Academy on YTV. Sandra was also a nomination finalist for Leader of the Year by Woman of Worth Awards in 2013.

Sandra is also co-founder of Quantaloop Blockchain Technology and Lucky Lady Games, a game studio specializing in technology development, game design and consulting. She is a certified Social Media Director and has launched apps that debuted at number one in its category and in the top 100 in appStore. Sandra has worked on over 100 digital media projects for a range of formats including documentaries, drama series and games with some enjoying traffic numbers in the millions.

With over 15 years of editing and digital content creation, Lynne is a content producer and liaison specializing in connecting Indigenous communities with both Indigenous and non-Indigenous television and film production teams. She has produced digital content for Tribal Police Files, Indian Road Trip, Fierce Girls transmedia webseries, in addition to Red Snow. She is passionate about creating online communities to engage and assist people with online as well as bridging the gap with indigenous productions in Canada and most recently Maori communities in New Zealand.

With an eclectic realm of experience in Graphic Design, Web and Brand Development, Freda builds integrated marketing strategies and strong supporting narratives to connect people and drive awareness.

In 10 years, Freda’s collaborated with non-profits, lean start-ups to global corps in various sectors, such as food & bev, hospitality, film, gaming and commercial & residential real estate.

Lives and breathes design, Freda also owns and operates a micro ceramics business out of a collaborative seaside studio.

Jenny Breukelman is a multimedia designer, audio technician and musician from Galiano Island, B.C. She has worked over the years on many contracts with several companies as well as running her own business, Emagine That! Creative Consulting for over 20 years.

She was the Visual FX and Animation Instructor, Composer and Session Coordinator for the Gulf Islands Film and Television School for 5 years, as well as working on contracts from companies such as The Sierra Club, Gumboot Productions, The Access to Media Education Society and the National Film Board of Canada.

More recently, she has worked with Marie Clements Media, creating titles, visual FX and print material for the Number 14 movie, and for the National Film Board and Marie Clements’ The Road Forward documentary, as well as Looking at Edward Curtis series on The Knowledge Network. She has also been working as the music coordinator and graphic designer for the Tour Des Iles festival for the last five years, and is often found behind the mixing board at events on Galiano.

Jenny lives and works from her home studio in the woods on a hill overlooking the Trincomali Channel on Galiano Island.