Professional Development

Overview
Sessions
Guests
Past Events

Meet the Creative Minds Expanding What's Possible

VIFF Industry’s Professional Development program offers a dynamic range of learning opportunities designed to strengthen artists’ skills, deepen creative inquiry, and support long-term career growth.

Presented during Industry Days at the Vancouver International Film Festival, these curated masterclasses, labs, case studies, and panels, connect filmmakers and screen creatives with leading voices from across the sector.

Together, these sessions introduce new tools, practices, and perspectives that help artists navigate changing conditions, embrace experimentation, and transform moments of challenge into opportunities for creative innovation. They foster critical dialogue, artistic exploration, and peer-to-peer exchange, supporting creatives as they push the boundaries of their practice and imagine new paths forward.

How do I access Professional Development?

If you are an industry professional, you can register for an Artist & Industry Pass and get access to exclusive Industry panels and more!

Learn More Explore Industry Schedule

Sessions

Curating Cinema in a Shifting Landscape

Panel

This panel explores film curation as a creative and critical act that shapes how cinema is seen, valued, and understood. As the boundaries of storytelling, distribution, and audience engagement continue to evolve, curators play a pivotal role in expanding whose voices are elevated and how films connect across contexts.

Featured Speakers: Pamela Biénzobas (Locarno Film Festival), Ruun Nuur (Vancouver International Film Festival)

Designing Audiences: Impact, Strategy, and Creative Distribution

Masterclass

The session examines how audience design, audience development, impact and distribution strategies can shape creative, financial, and ethical decisions throughout a project’s life cycle.

Featured Speaker: Isona Admetlla

Supported by

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Focusing on research-driven and intention-led approaches, this masterclass looks at how audience thinking can strengthen artistic clarity, sustainability, and social relevance.

Sound of Falling film image; sad child amongst a group of adults all dressed in black

Editing as Discovery: Narrative, Instinct, and the Unpredictable

Masterclass

Berlin-based film editor Evelyn Rack invites artists and industry professionals into her editorial practice across fiction and documentary, where editing becomes a space for discovery rather than resolution.

Featured Speaker: Evelyn Rack, Editor, Sound of Falling

Image: © Fabian Gamper

Supported by

More on This Masterclass

Drawing from her work on internationally acclaimed films such as Sound of Falling (Cannes Competition, Prix du Jury), We Might As Well Be Dead (Berlinale, Tribeca), and Wo/men, Evelyn Rack explores how narrative boundaries can be stretched — and sometimes broken — through instinct-driven and material-led processes.

abstract sculpture of two figures pointing at each other

Every Frame a Painting: South Korea Transformed Its Film Industry, so Can Canada

Case Study

South Korea makes movies that make money domestically, export abroad, and win Oscars. Why doesn’t Canada? To answer that question, Taylor Ramos and Tony Zhou (of the popular YouTube channel Every Frame a Painting) partnered with Filmable, traveled to Seoul, interviewed 60 people across the Korean and Canadian film industries, and put together a live talk that will have you laughing out loud and wondering “How can we do that here?”

Featured Speakers: Taylor Ramos, Tony Zhou

The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo film image; two people hugging each other tightly

Exploring the Art and Strategy of International Co-Productions

Masterclass

Acclaimed producer Giancarlo Nasi shares his expansive approach to international co-productions, drawing on his experience working across more than 17 countries and a slate of award-winning films that have premiered at Cannes, Venice, and Berlin.

Featured Speaker: Giancarlo Nasi, Producer, The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo

Supported by

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Blending artistic vision with production strategy, Giancarlo Nasi unpacks how to build meaningful creative partnerships, navigate complex cross-border collaborations, and align storytelling with global audiences and industry opportunities.

Land Acknowledgment and Location Practices

Panel

This panel examines the meaning and responsibility behind filming on Indigenous territories. It moves beyond symbolic acknowledgments to explore consent, permissions, and accountability in practice.

Supported by

Making the Deal: Lawyers and Producers in Conversation

Panel

Behind every film and television project is a framework of deals, contracts, rights, and financing. Join entertainment lawyers and experienced producers for a practical masterclass on the business side of the industry.

Featured Speaker: Porsha Gauthier

Narrative Sovereignty and Decolonization

Panel

This panel examines how storytelling transforms when creators move from being subjects of representation to holders of narrative authority. It considers who owns stories, who benefits from them, and how editorial power is distributed across the creative ecosystem.

Supported by

Rethinking the Frame: Filmmaking for Immersive Experiences

Keynote

Immersive experiences and experiential entertainment have exploded in popularity, offering filmmakers an exciting new avenue for visual storytelling. But the medium requires a unique set of skills and tools. To be successful, creative teams must think beyond the traditional frame and carefully consider how their work will be presented within an immersive space.

Featured Speakers: Lisa Adams, David Mossop

Presented by

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This session will discuss the challenges and opportunities provided by this form of filmmaking, and provide practical tips and insights for making an effective immersive film.

Flow film image; cartoon cat sitting in a city

The Journey of Flow: From Script to Screen

Masterclass

Academy Award-winning co-writer and producer Matīss Kaža unpacks the creative and collaborative journey behind Flow (2024), the first independent animated feature to win both a Golden Globe and an Oscar.

Featured Speaker: Matīss Kaža, Co-Writer & Producer, Flow

Supported by

More on This Masterclass

Drawing from his multidisciplinary practice across film and theatre, Matīss Kaža explores how a project evolves from early concept to finished work, and how story, form, and production strategy intersect along the way. Get a behind-the-scenes look at how Flow was shaped into a globally recognized film, along with practical and reflective approaches to bringing ambitious ideas to life.

We’ve Got You Covered: A FanTrust Fireside Chat with The Hollywood Reporter

Panel

No more a mystery, turns out there is a how and a why to how the trade press finds stories and sources. Hear all about how to raise your industry profile from veteran journalist and Canadian Bureau Chief for The Hollywood Reporter, Etan Vlessing, in conversation with FanTrust President Catherine Warren.

More on This Panel

Learn how to position yourself to be included in stories, from breaking news to longer industry reports and profiles. Gain practical tactics and strategies for getting yourself or your company covered. And discover how to become a trusted source, because relationships do matter.

Catherine Warren

Catherine Warren is the founder and president of FanTrust, an innovation strategy consultancy marking 25 years. She previously served as CEO of the Vancouver Economic Commission, overseeing the Vancouver Film Commission and the region’s animation and visual effects sector. Early in her career, Warren and her co-founders took a broadcast software company public on Nasdaq, growing it to a $300 million market capitalization. She holds a master’s degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Dave Mossop

Dave Mossop is an award-winning filmmaker, aerial cinematography pioneer, and Creative Director. A co-founder of Sherpas Cinema, he is known for visual storytelling that blends artistic sensitivity with an adventurous spirit. His work includes nature documentaries, commercial projects, and aerial cinematography for giant-screen films. Mossop has directed films for FlyOver, including Windborne: Flight of the Canadian Rockies, Awaken Canada, and Believe Chicago. His work has been recognized by Outside Magazine, which named him “The Auteur” and Adventurer of the Year. He studied film and anthropology at the University of Victoria and is based in Whistler, British Columbia.

Etan Vlessing

Etan Vlessing is the Canadian Bureau Chief with The Hollywood Reporter.

Evelyn Rack

Evelyn Rack is a film editor working across fiction and documentary. Most recently, she edited Sound of Falling (2026), which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, received the Jury Prize, and was selected as Germany’s official submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature. Her work also includes I Spy With My Little Eye, Ararat, We Might as Well Be Dead, WO/MEN, and Drifter, which premiered at major international festivals. Rack is an alumna of Berlinale Talents, serves regularly on festival juries, and is based in Germany, where she holds a master’s degree in editing from the Film University Babelsberg.

Giancarlo Nasi

Giancarlo Nasi is a film producer, political scientist, and intellectual property lawyer. His films include Land and Shade by César Acevedo, winner of the Camera d’Or Award at the Cannes Film Festival; Oblivion Verses by Alireza Khatami, winner of the Lion for Best Screenplay at the Venice Film Festival; The Settlers by Felipe Gálvez, premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival and winner of the FIPRESCI Prize; The Blue Trail by Gabriel Mascaro, which won the Silver Bear at Berlinale 2025; and his most recent production, The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo by Diego Céspedes, awarded the Grand Prix of Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival 2025.

Isona Admetlla

Isona Admetlla is a sociologist, cultural manager, and audience designer specializing in cinema, audience engagement, and impact strategies. For almost 16 years, she coordinated the Berlinale World Cinema Fund, supporting filmmakers and producers from Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, Asia, and Eastern Europe. As an independent consultant, she now advises film projects, festivals, industry platforms, and training initiatives worldwide on audience design, international positioning, distribution, communication, and impact.

Lisa Adams

Lisa Adams is Chief Operating Officer and Executive Producer at Flyover and a founding team member and the company’s first employee. Over nearly 14 years, she has helped scale Flyover from a single attraction into an internationally recognized experiential entertainment brand spanning North America and Europe. She oversees large-scale attraction builds, international film productions, creative teams, and operational rollouts. As Executive Producer, Adams has guided the development of Flyover’s award-winning films, with productions filmed across multiple continents. She brings experience integrating cinematic storytelling, immersive technology, creative leadership, and strategic execution.

Matīss Kaža

Matīss Kaža is an Academy Award-winning Latvian producer, director, and writer. He is best known for co-writing and producing the animated feature film Flow (2024), directed by Gints Zilbalodis, which won both the first ever Golden Globe and the first Oscar for an independent animated feature. Recent producing credits include Sisters (Warsaw Film Festival 2022 1-2 Competition Award winner) by Linda Olte, and Drowning Dry (winner of two awards in the Locarno 2024 Main Competition) by Laurynas Bareiša.

Pamela Biénzobas

Chilean-French consultant, programmer, and critic. She has been a member of the Locarno Film Festival’s feature film selection committee since 2021. She collaborates with film funds, labs, residencies, and industry events, assessing projects and mentoring filmmakers at every stage, from early development to script advising, editing consultation, and pitch training. She also works with festivals, moderating Q&As and press conferences. As a freelance writer, she has contributed to numerous publications for more than 20 years.

Porsha Gauthier

Porsha Gauthier is an entertainment lawyer with extensive experience advising clients across the film, television, and music industries. She has held senior legal and business affairs roles with leading entertainment companies, negotiating complex transactions and advising on governance, financing, production, and licensing matters for live-action and animation projects. Porsha regularly advises writers, producers, musicians, creators, agents, and managers, helping them advance their projects while protecting their commercial interests and creative vision.

Ruun Nuur

Ruun Nuur is an independent cinematic practitioner with a diasporic gaze focused on Black and Muslim communities. She is the co-founder of NO EVIL EYE CINEMA, a radical nomadic microcinema, a features programmer at the Cleveland International Film Festival, and, most recently, a documentary programmer at the Vancouver International Film Festival. Nuur is an organizational leader whose work exists at the intersection of cinema, research, and accessible programming, with a mission to inspire audiences to engage deeply with the moving image and foster meaningful connection.

Taylor Ramos

Taylor Ramos is a filmmaker and the co-creator (with Tony Zhou) of the YouTube series Every Frame a Painting. She served as writer/director on the Netflix series VOIR, executive produced by David Fincher & David Prior. Her collaborative work has been featured on Turner Classic Movies and the Criterion Collection. Over the past decade she has worked on a short film, multiple animated series and given lectures about filmmaking at major studios, companies, and institutions.

Tony Zhou

Tony Zhou is a filmmaker and co-creator (with Taylor Ramos) of the YouTube series Every Frame a Painting, and served as writer/director on the Netflix series VOIR, executive produced by David Fincher & David Prior. His collaborative work has been featured on Turner Classic Movies and the Criterion Collection. He co-wrote & co-directed a short film, The Second, starring Paul Sun-Hyung Lee. As an editor, he has cut animated series, features, documentaries & commercials for a decade.

2025

2024

2023

2022

Oct 3 – 6

Meet the Creative Minds Expanding What's Possible

How do I access Professional Development?

Sessions

Curating Cinema in a Shifting Landscape

Designing Audiences: Impact, Strategy, and Creative Distribution

Editing as Discovery: Narrative, Instinct, and the Unpredictable

Every Frame a Painting: South Korea Transformed Its Film Industry, so Can Canada

Exploring the Art and Strategy of International Co-Productions

Land Acknowledgment and Location Practices

Making the Deal: Lawyers and Producers in Conversation

Narrative Sovereignty and Decolonization

Rethinking the Frame: Filmmaking for Immersive Experiences

The Journey of Flow: From Script to Screen

We’ve Got You Covered: A FanTrust Fireside Chat with The Hollywood Reporter

Featured Guests

Catherine Warren

Dave Mossop

Etan Vlessing

Evelyn Rack

Giancarlo Nasi

Isona Admetlla

Lisa Adams

Matīss Kaža

Pamela Biénzobas

Porsha Gauthier

Ruun Nuur

Taylor Ramos

Tony Zhou

Past Events

Other Industry Programs

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