Creative Business Cohort

Ariel Bond is a writer, producer, and director based in Vancouver, BC. For her psychological thriller Deepfake, Ariel received the Equity and Emerging Development Grant from Creative BC, participated in the GEMS Genre Film Lab, won Best Feature Screenplay at GEMFest, and received fellowships from Filmable and Stowe Story Labs. Her producing credits include How Brief, directed by Kelly McCormack (Sorry, Baby) and starring Tess Degenstein (The Monkey) and Emmy-winner Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black), which premiered at Sundance; and Bare, selected for Telefilm’s Not Short on Talent showcase at Cannes. Ariel also worked for many years in production on studio projects such as Spider-Man: Far from Home. She’s an Academy Nicholl fellowship quarterfinalist and winner of the Leonard and Eileen Newman Prize for a Promising New Writer. Ariel has a B.A. in Screen Arts & Cultures from the University of Michigan and holds dual citizenship in the U.S. and Canada.

Cheesman is a writer, actor, and TIFF Emerging Canadian Filmmaker who was recently accepted into the Ryan Murphy Half Initiative. She is currently developing her auteur feature debut, Succor, with producers Lulu Wang, Mike MacMillan, and Jen Blake, based on her TIFF short of the same name. As a television writer, Hannah recently served as writer/co-producer on SurrealEstate (Hulu/SyFy) and has previously written for Workin’ Moms, Find Me in Paris, and was in the writer’s room of Orphan Black. Her latest short, Marriaginalia, premiered at TIFF 2025. She is currently adapting it into the high-concept horror feature The Joy.

Krista Rand is an award-winning producer with over 15 years of experience in film, television, and audio storytelling. Working strategically on both sides of the camera, she is known for crafting impactful, audience-driven, female-forward narratives. Her Telefilm-funded feature Re: Uniting (writer/director Laura Adkin) premiered at the Austin Film Festival, screened at Whistler, and went on to a national theatrical release with sold-out screenings in LA and NYC. The film earned six Leo Awards in 2024, including Best Film and Best Writing. A two-time STORYHIVE recipient, Krista was selected for the GEMS Emerging TV Producer Program, developing her series Perfectly Natural with her mentor at Lark Productions.

Ophelia is a director and producer whose films have travelled globally and been featured by Telefilm Canada’s Not Short on Talent program at Clermont-Ferrand and Cannes, as well as HotDocs, Sheffield, and the Miami Film Festival. Most recently, she produced Audio y el Caiman (Dir, Andres I. Estrada, 2024), which won Grand Prix Special Mention and the Audience Award – Focus Competition at the 28e Festival Regard and is now streaming on CBC Gem.

Sepehr Samimi is an Iranian-Canadian creative producer and cinematographer (BFA Film Production, SFU) based in Vancouver, BC. As co-founder of Understory Films, he produces character-driven documentary and narrative work that intersect with urgent social and political issues of our time. His recent feature documentary Fairy Creek — about Canada’s largest act of civil disobedience — won Best Canadian Feature Film at Planet in Focus ’24, and the Conservation Award at Maine Outdoor film festival, gained him a nomination for best cinematography at Leo Awards, and is streaming on Knowledge Network. Sepehr is a member of the International Cinematographers Guild (ICG 669) and the Canadian Society of Cinematographers, and an alumnus of the HotDocs Doc Accelerator and the Netflix-Banff Diversity of Voices program.

With a prolific track record that encompasses more than 180 films and TV series, Alexander Glua shares a passion for filmmaking that is evident by his 25-year career in entertainment. Learning the ropes on the sets of family classics such as Elf, Fantastic Four, and Night at the Museum led him to the business side of show business. Producing critically acclaimed shorts (Dead Hearts) evolved into producing feature-length films (Daughter, Toxin 3D, Guido Superstar: The Rise of Guido) and a commitment to fostering compelling storytelling through meaningful collaboration.

Asad Aftab is an experimental new media artist, spatial filmmaker, and immersive experience designer based in Vancouver, whose work explores the intersection of spatial storytelling and emerging technologies. With a background in industrial and interaction design, Asad brings a systems-level understanding of form, space, and presence to his creative practice. Asad is currently in the post-production process of his debut VR film The Sound of One Eye Closing, which is slated to have its world premiere as part of the Biennale College Cinema Immersive section of the Venice Film Festival.

Jacob Alcala (2001) is a Filipino filmmaker and producer based in Vancouver, BC. His debut short Until Then (2023) screened at the Vancouver Short Film Festival and San Diego Filipino Film Festival, and won Best International Short Film at the Jakarta Independent Film Festival. He produced Honey, My Love, So Sweet (2025, dir. JT Trinidad), which premiered at the Locarno Film Festival and won Best Short Film at the QCinema International Film Festival. An alumnus of the Vancouver International Film Festival’s 2025 Catalyst Program, he is currently producing Good Morning (dir. A.J. Vergara) and Muse (dir. Joshua Brad-Lee Garrido), both independent debut feature films.

Jessica Landry is a producer, director, and CSA-nominated screenwriter. Her projects have been developed through TIFF, Women in the Director’s Chair, NSI, CFC, and Whistler Film Festival, among others. Jessica recently produced Ghost Lands, an Indigenous-led paranormal documentary, and co-directed Rezervations for Two, a dating series for APTN. She’ll be writing and producing The Night Belongs to Us, a feature adaptation of her Shirley Jackson Award-nominated novella, and Anatomy of a Séance, a horror series, under her production company, Familiar Films.

Jill Sharpe is a BC-based filmmaker and producer whose work spans documentary, drama, and experimental forms. Her films have screened internationally, aired on CBC, PBS, Discovery, ZDF/ARTE, and The Movie Network, and received multiple honours, including an Emmy nomination. She founded Reel Myth Productions in BC to finance and produce her own work, including CultureJam: Hijacking Commercial Culture. Her other major works include directing Weird Sex and Snowshoes and creating the Emmy-nominated drama Bone Wind Fire. Sharpe is developing her first feature drama, Rabbit Foot Bill, adapted from Helen Humphreys’ acclaimed novel and co-written with the author.

Luke Black is a creative producer and development professional with over 15 years of experience shaping original stories for film, television, and emerging media. As Head of Development at Woods Entertainment, he oversaw feature film projects including The Kid Detective (Sony Pictures, TIFF) and Castle in the Ground (Gravitas Ventures, SXSW). He co-founded Game Theory Films, a boutique distribution company focused on strategic releases of indie films. Luke’s expertise spans narrative development, financing strategies, and the Canadian funding system, enabling him to support projects from concept to market. Beyond film, Luke collaborates and creates live improv and sketch comedy shows and produces a long-running podcast. His work blends creative ambition with sustainable practice and strategic industry insight.

Mackenzie Stannard is a producer and director drawn to stories about people navigating ambition, identity, resilience, and change. Over the past decade, he has produced feature documentaries, broadcast television, and branded films for partners including CBC, ESPN, TELUS Originals, and The New Yorker. His credits include Constant Battles (Hot Docs), Joe Buffalo (SXSW, DOC NYC, Tribeca), This Ink Runs Deep (TIFF), Precious Leader Woman (Banff), and Union Street (VIFF). He is the founder of Sentio Films, where he develops original documentary and factual projects for film, television, and digital platforms. He also advises independent producers on financing, rights, and business affairs strategy.

Pascal is a live-action feature and animation series producer. Early in his career, he produced the independent feature film How You Look at Me across the UK and France, learning more about the industry than during three years of formal study. After relocating to Vancouver, Canada, he moved into the Animation world while continuing to seek out and develop new projects across multiple media. He’s most drawn to stories that are entertaining, yet leave the audience wanting to engage with the topics more deeply after watching. As a European polyglot, he is keen to harness the creative and business potential of co-productions and wants to support an economically and socially sustainable industry.

Victoria Westcott is a film producer based in Victoria, BC, who has been producing since 2010 through Elgin Road Productions, the company she runs with her sister Jen. She executive produced Elliot: The Littlest Reindeer, which landed on Netflix, and produced Locked in a Garage Band, which had its world premiere at Raindance. Her producing career has taken her to Cannes, Berlin, TIFF, and Austin, and she won at Berlinale’s JETS program for one of the company’s animated features.

Vivi González is a Mexican producer who started her career the way most people in film do — showing up and figuring it all out. She began making films with friends, learning to solve problems creatively, and one thing led to another until she became Head of Production at Bengala, one of Mexico’s most recognized independent production companies. She produced the documentary La Montaña by Diego Enrique Osorno, which premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and is streaming on Netflix, and worked with Alejandra Márquez on El Norte Sobre el Vacío, which premiered at Berlinale Panorama and won Mexico’s Academy Award for Best Picture. In 2024, with support from Mexico’s national film fund, she produced the short film El Percutor de Historias and the feature film Hiena.