Michelle Asgarali is a Canadian writer and producer known for her work in documentary and TV development.

She made headlines as the first openly-disabled showrunner of a Canadian docuseries, Breaking Character (AMI/Winterhouse Films) before becoming lead story producer for CBC’s hit docusoap  PUSH (Fenix Films and TV/Small Army).

Her latest project, The Squeaky Wheel: Canada (AMI/Hitsby Entertainment), is a Disabled news satire blurring the lines of fact and fiction, poking fun at the absurd and ableist world we live in.

Michelle is an advocate for inclusive storytelling, consulting and leading workshops in disability storytelling and accessibility. 

Ophira is a multi-award-winning Disabled writer, performer and facilitator who works to “crip the script,” centering disability knowledge and experience.

They recently worked as the inaugural creative director for the Accessible Writers’ Lab, a national initiative experimenting with accessibility in TV writing rooms, and have taught workshops and provided mentorship internationally on storytelling, creative process and disability narratives.

Cree/Ojibway filmmaker, Erica Daniels is an award-winning documentary director, producer, entrepreneur and a proud mother from Peguis First Nation.

Erica is the owner of Kejic Productions, sharing heart-centered stories that amplify Indigenous voices, while focusing upon healing, cultural revitalization, knowledge preservation and social change.

A Canadian Screen Award nominee and Golden Sheaf Award winner, Erica started her journey through a multimedia program called Just TV and is an alumna of the CBC New Indigenous Voices and NSI IndigiDocs programs. Erica is committed to uplifting Indigenous youth by helping them reclaim their cultural identity. She runs cultural programming through the Broadway Neighbourhood Centre and is the co-creator and facilitator of Spirit of the Story, a film training program for Indigenous youth.

Inspired by the resilience of her community and the beauty of her culture, Erica shares her gift of storytelling through filmmaking. She embraces the important role of sharing Indigenous history and culture and values the preservation of teachings shared by Elders in hopes to teach and inspire future generations.

Tamara is an Ethiopian-Canadian award-winning filmmaker and arts industry executive. She has designed programs and policies to support the screen sector for DW Akademie, UNESCO, Canada Media Fund, Afreximbank, EUNIC and the Ethiopian government. 

Tamara is an alumnus of the EAVE, APOST and both the Berlinale and Durban Talents and has been awarded fellowships by Docs in Progress, Logan Nonfiction and TIFF. Her film Finding Sally won the Doc Institute Vanguard Award, Adiaha Award and the Gordon Parks Award, among others. Tamara is a 2023 Chalmer Arts Fellow and is producing a slate of films.

With a profound respect for artists and storytellers, combined with a strong dedication to justice and liberation, Kadon Douglas finds joy in supporting artists and cultural producers in their career development.

Before her role as executive director at BIPOC TV & FILM, Kadon spearheaded dynamic marketing and communication approaches at The Creative School at Ryerson University, as well as at Women in Film & Television-Toronto. Kadon’s accolades include participation in prestigious programs like the Hot Docs International Film Festival: Doc Accelerator (2013) and the Shaw Media Diverse Voices initiative (2015).

A 2023 Globe and Mail Top 25 Most Influential People in Canadian Television, Kadon maintains an active presence within the screen-based media community, generously offering her time as a speaker and advisor.

Notably, she chaired the Reelworld Film Festival (2020) and sits on the board of the Canadian Independent Screen Fund for Black and POC creators (CISF) and the steering committee of Digital Media at the Crossroads. A Caribbean native – Grenada – Kadon lives in Toronto with her anime-loving teenage son and their cat, Lord Philip Onyx Douglas the First.

Julie Di Cresce has worked in broadcasting and production for over a decade working in as a broadcast executive and producer.

She is currently an independent creative development consultant working for a number of clients across kids and adult content including WindSunSky Entertainment / Skybound North. She is also a partner in Toronto-based production company December Films Inc which launched in 2020. Most recently their series Reginald the Vampire was picked up for a 10 episode order at SYFY.

She got her start working on the suite of Corus Kids channels before transitioning to the documentary Channel, where she actively commissioned documentaries including Isabella Rossellini’s short film My Father is 100 Years Old.

Following this she became director of original programming for Canada’s two pay services consecutively, starting with HBO Canada / Movie Central followed by Super Channel. During that time she managed a robust slate of series, features, documentaries in development and was production executive on all series greenlit into production, including titles such as Call Me Fitz, Less Than Kind, Skins (MTV), Slasher (Netflix), Versailles (Canal +), Rogue (DirecTV) and Pillars of the Earth (Starz).

Julie has a masters in film from York University and an MPhil in film from the University of Kent at Canterbury. She has served as the industry director of programming for Whistler Film Festival, a program advisor and an associate faculty member at the National Screen Institute, as well as a member of the Canadian Film Centre’s Features advisory committee.

Sherry Mckay is an Ojibway Anishinabe creator and stand-up comedian from Treaty 1 Territory. Born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba and band member of Sakgeeng First Nation.

Her birth father originates from Sandy Bay Ojibway First Nation.

She’s a proud mother of four and credits her role as a mother to her perseverance and ambition.

Her childhood dream was to become a police officer and fight on behalf of her Indigenous community on social issues regarding systemic racism and racial profiling. When in a university police prep course she discovered her passion for policing was driven by the desire to help her Indigenous community and not to reprimand or punish.

She discovered a way to share important messages and engage in education and discussions regarding Indigenous issues such as MMIWG2S, systemic racism and cultural appropriation.

It was through media she noticed a shift where Indigenous people can share and educate.

Her short period at Red River College’s creative communications program gave her the necessary skills to start her journey into media production. Her focus is to assert Indigenous representation in media and film.

TikTok is where she has had the biggest impact on her journey. She plans to use her platform to further amplify the voices of Indigenous people and People of Colour

Her future aspirations are to write and direct her own movie and sitcom series with an Indigenous focus.

Her content consists of Indigenous comedy, awareness and stereotypes.

Sherry acknowledges non-Indigenous allyship on and off social media and gives thanks and appreciation to anyone who stands in solidarity with Indigenous people.

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 and content development workshops.

In Canada, her unique brand of training has been presented across the country from TIFF and the Academy to Yellowknife and Newfoundland for major festivals and film coops.

Globally her workshops have been featured at Berlin’s Talent Campus, Cuba’s Escuela Internacional de Cine y TV, Poland’s ScripTeast, Cannes, China and Iran. In great demand, Jan’s workshops have also crossed sectors into the music industry where, for almost a decade, she has been offering, through the East Coast Music Association, export-ready training for musicians to present their work to the screen industry and travel internationally.

A talent that makes things happen, Jan collaborated 11 years ago with the Erich Pommer Institut to design the hugely successful Trans Atlantic Partners (TAP), a unique two-module international training program for established film and TV producers. Jan is director of the TAP initiative.

Jan has also served as an international consultant for many organizations including Creative BC and the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA), leading and supporting Canadian delegations to Hong Kong’s FILMART, Rio Content Market and Berlin. She launched and served as director of Halifax’s Strategic Partners, one of the world’s pre-eminent international co-production markets for 15 years.

Jan was one of the driving forces behind setting up Canada’s first film school, the National Screen Institute, serving as executive director for seven years introducing NSI Features First and the Local Heroes International Screen Festival which she ran for 13 years.

From 1999 to 2001, Jan was vice-president of development for imX Communications, responsible for moving forward numerous features, television and animation projects including her role as associate producer for Lynn Johnson’s acclaimed comic-book strip, For Better or For Worse.

Committed to supporting women working in the industry, Jan established Women in Film and Television-Atlantic (WIFT-AT), serving as the founding chair for six years. During this time Jan launched the annual Women Making Waves Conference, WAVE Awards, Shadow Project for Atlantic women directors and the first collaboration with the Centre for Women in Business, designing the screen version of its Advanced Management and Mentoring Program. Jan continues as a mentor and Women Making Waves program chair for WIFT-AT.

Jan has also been very active in presenting two versions of Five in Focus training opportunities for Women in View. Jan presently serves on the Women in View board and recently completed a term on the AFC board.

Jeff Peeler is a producer and executive producer with experience across a variety of television, film and digital projects in multiple genres for numerous respected entertainment brands.

Jeff started Three Film and Television in 2020 after 17 years at a senior management level at the award-winning international film and television production company, Frantic Films. With over 25 years experience in the industry, he has overseen the production of hundreds of hours of film and television content.

Jeff’s extensive television production credits include the international Rose d’Or and Banff Rockie winning sketch comedy series Baroness Von Sketch Show, the multiple award-winning stand-up comedy / documentary hybrid Still Standing, and the stand-up comedy galas The Winnipeg Comedy Festival. Other credits include the HGTV series Buy It Fix It Sell It and Backyard Builds, and the documentary series Killer in Plain Sight (ID) and High Maintenance: Preventing Disaster (Smithsonian Channel).

Most recently, Jeff served as co-executive producer on the History Channel documentary True Story and as supervising producer on the half-hour comedy Acting Good for Bell Media and APTN.

In the realm of feature films, Jeff produced the period musical Stand!, the award-winning international festival favorite Into Invisible Light, and the prairie gothic coming of age zombie film, The Nature of Nicholas.

Jennifer Podemski is an award-winning film and TV producer and actor born and raised in Toronto, Canada.

Of mixed First Nations and Israeli decent, Jennifer began her acting career as a teen. Her career blossomed when she was cast as Pique in CBC’s The Diviners followed by a starring role in Bruce McDonald’s Dance Me Outside.

As her career in front of the camera exploded, Jennifer began to notice the inequity behind the lens. Although all of the roles she was awarded as actor were First Nations characters, she rarely, if ever, saw any First Nations writers, producers or directors.

By 25, with a solid career under her belt, Jennifer opened her first production company, Big Soul Productions with fellow, burgeoning producer Laura Milliken. BSP became the first Indigenous owned and operated, full-service production company in Canada, producing hundreds of hours of television including three seasons of the award winning dramatic series Moccasin Flats for Showcase and APTN.

In 2005, Jennifer branched out on her own and founded Redcloud Studios Inc.

Jennifer is also the creator and producer of APTN’s famed paranormal series The Other Side, currently shooting it’s second season; in her ninth year as co-executive producer and creative director of the Indspire Awards for which she was nominated for best lifestyle television show at the 2014 Canadian Screen Awards.

Most recently, Jennifer can be seen as Dr. Crowshoe on the award winning drama series Blackstone; HBO’s Sensitive Skin with Kim Catrall and in Fire Song, written and directed by Adam Garnett Jones.

A storyteller behind and in front of the camera, Jennifer still makes time for training Indigenous youth in film and TV, mentoring and holding self esteem workshops across the US and Canada.