Corina Bizim is a Romanian-born screenwriter and actor who, despite earning both a commerce degree from UBC and her real estate license, has served on the TIFF Next Wave Committee, acted in numerous film and TV projects, is an an alumna of the GEMS Emerging TV Producer’s Program (2023), and is a recent graduate of the Pacific Screenwriting Program’s Scripted Series Lab (2025), under showrunner Nelu Handa. Her projects have garnered recognition across the industry, including finalist spots at the Whistler Film Festival Power Pitch and the Screen BC Short Film Award, and her co-written script Young Hags was the winner of the GEMFest International Screenplay Competition for Best TV Pilot (2025). Bizim is passionate about telling high-concept stories with a comedic flair, believing humour can solve most of life’s existential (and regular) problems.

Alison Almeida is a South Asian producer whose associate producing credits include Amar Wala’s Shook (TIFF ’24), Hubert Davis’ The Well, Durga Chew-Bose’s Bonjour Tristesse (TIFF ’24), Reza Dahya’s Boxcutter (2024), and Season 4 of New Metric Media’s Children Ruin Everything. She started off her career as a coordinator on acclaimed feature films such as Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla (2023), Matt Johnson’s Blackberry (2023), Clement Virgo’s Brother (2022), and many more. She line-produced the musical short Before They Were Them (2019) and produced the 39-minute musical film More Together (2023), which has won Best Musical in multiple international festivals. Almeida has participated in the CMPA Production Mentorship Program with Babe Nation Films, the 2024 Whistler Film Festival Producers Lab, and the 2024 CFC Norman Jewison Producers’ Lab. She worked with Cameron Pictures as their Executive Assistant in 2025.

Maddy Hillis is an actor and writer based in Vancouver, with 20+ film and TV credits. She holds an Honours BA in English Literature from Toronto Metropolitan University and completed the creative writing program at the University of Edinburgh. Her writing career spans roles as a columnist and editor, with highlights including award-winning journalism, the creation of a feminist literary zine, and the authorship of a financial literacy newsletter. Her work has been recognized across the industry, with finalist placements at the Whistler Film Festival Power Pitch and Screen BC Short Film Award. In 2025, her co-written pilot Young Hags won Best TV Pilot at the GEMFest International Screenplay Competition. She hopes to create the kind of quotable television that one day becomes her generation’s Friday night nostalgia (said in a humble, likeable tone).

Nicolas Citton is a writer-director from Vancouver, currently developing his next feature, Hal & Charlie, 1963, with the support of Telefilm and SFinvest. Citton was a Film Independent Writing, Directing, and Producing Fellow. His first feature, My Good Man’s Gone, and his award-winning short film The Future Perfect screened at over 100 film festivals worldwide. In 2025, he completed his latest short, No Language, supported by the Canada Council. On the television side, Citton was the co-creator of the CBC sitcom This Space for Rent. Through his association with Film Independent, he joined the FOX Studios Writers’ Incubator, where, under the mentorship of FOX and FX’s development departments, he created a slate of original television projects. Since then, Citton has written projects for Bell Canada, CORUS, Entertainment One Canada, HBO Canada, and the CBC. He is an alumnus of the CFC, the NSI, and Columbia University (MFA in Film).

KC Carthew is an award-winning producer and founder of Galley Ventures Ltd., a Toronto-based company whose development slate includes three Telefilm-supported features, and two one-hour television series: The Knife (a thriller inspired by a Canadian mining disaster) and The Herd (a sci-fi thriller exploring climate collapse), both supported by the Canada Media Fund. Carthew’s prior credits include features, numerous shorts, documentaries, and music videos. Her work, spanning collaborations from the Arctic to the Atlantic coast, has screened at top-tier festivals and secured global distribution across theatrical, streaming, and broadcast platforms. A former producer with the CBC, Carthew also worked as an innovation analyst at USC’s Annenberg Innovation Lab. Carthew is an alumnus of the CFC, the NSI, the London School of Economics (MSc), and the University of Southern California (MA). Her work is driven by a commitment to meaningful storytelling, creative risk-taking, and building a more connected, sustainable future.

Nach Dudsdeemaytha is a Thai-Canadian filmmaker based in Vancouver. Select credits include the Netflix Documentary Series Voir (2021) with executive producer David Fincher, the web series Inconceivable (2017), which has been nominated for Breakthrough Short Film Series at the 2017 IFP Gotham Awards, and Cypher (2017), which won Best Short Film at Vancouver Short Film Festival. Dudsdeemaytha’s first feature project Mongrels (2024; dir. Jerome Yoo) premiered at Vancouver International Film Festival and received the FIPRESCI Prize at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. His second feature project, Akashi (2025; dir. Mayumi Yoshida), is currently in post-production. Dudsdeemaytha is a recent alumnus of the NSI / EAVE ACCESS Producer Program. Outside of Musubi Arts, Dudsdeemaytha works as a Line Producer and Production Manager for independent feature films.

Mayumi Yoshida is a Japanese-born, Vancouver-based actor, writer, and director whose work bridges cultures and generations. Raised across Japan, Belgium, and the US, her international upbringing informs her storytelling — intimate, emotionally layered, and often exploring identity, intergenerational trauma, and the quiet ache of belonging. A TIFF Writers’ Studio alum and participant in WBD Access x Canadian Academy and Beyond Japan Filmmakers Program (mentored by Kore-eda Hirokazu), Yoshida crafts character-driven narratives with lyrical visuals and understated emotional power. Her directorial debut short, Akashi, which she also wrote and starred in, won Outstanding Writer at the NBCUniversal Short Film Festival and Best Female Director at the Vancouver Short Film Festival. Her SXSW Jury Award–winning music video Different Than Before was also nominated for a JUNO. She recently served as Associate Producer on the A24/Apple TV+ series Sunny. Her debut feature, Akashi, a Japan-Canada co-production, is set for completion in 2025.

Simon Paluck (he/him) is a Toronto-based writer and director focused on expanding queer representation beyond trauma narratives. He is set to direct his debut feature Homewrecker through Telefilm’s Talent to Watch Program. His short Insta Gay screened at Clermont-Ferrand, InsideOut, and Palm Springs ShortFest (nom. Best Short), and is currently being adapted into a series with Noble TV. His previous film and TV work has earned support from the National Film Board of Canada, CBC, and the Canada Media Fund. Paluck has also directed national campaigns for brands including Pantene, TD, and AMEX. Most importantly, Paluck loves Bake Off.

Nabil Mehchi is one of the founding members of Noble Television. For the past 20 years, he has worked as a key creative on numerous Canadian and international series. He has over 100 hours of television to his credit. In 2014 he started Noble Television with Frank Fiorito, a production company dedicated to the development and creation of impactful and entertaining content. Together, they created the CBC documentary series Interrupt this Program (a.k.a. Resilient Cities) which went on to win the CableFax award for Best International Series and was nominated for an International Emmy Award (for Best Arts Programming) as well as eight Canadian Screen Awards.

Jessie Anthony is a proud Haudenosaunee woman from the Onondaga Nation, Beaver Clan, born and raised on the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory in Ontario. She is currently in post on a feature doc she wrote and directed. She has written episodes in all three seasons of Acting Good and Tribal, was in the writer’s room for series in development with Pier 21 and Reality Distortion Field, and has been on Telefilm’s Talent to Watch list. Anthony was a shadow director on The Handmaid’s Tale and directed an episode of the doc series Amplify. Her feature director debut, Brother, I Cry, which she also wrote and produced, won the BC Emerging Filmmakers Award at the Vancouver International Film Festival and the Audience Choice Award at the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival. She has recently received development support for two features as writer-director. Anthony is a DGC member and resides in BC.

Bracken Burns is a Canadian producer of narrative series and documentary films. Burns’ dedicated pursuit of storytelling, rooted in her experience as an actor, has shaped her distinctive approach to producing. Her narrative work includes peopleWatching, which won a Canadian Screen Award for Best Web Program, earned two additional CSA nominations, and won the Banff Rockie Award for Best Digital Fiction Series. Burns worked with Viggo Mortensen on his directorial debut, Falling, which premiered at Sundance 2020 and went on to screen at TIFF, Cannes, VIFF, and the San Sebastian International Film Festival. On the unscripted side, she produced the feature documentary What We Carry for CBC Documentary Channel. As Head of Scripted at Cutting Class Studios, Burns champions bold, innovative storytelling with a focus on unrepresented voices, driving an ambitious slate from development through to production.

Lucy McNulty is an award-winning Canadian filmmaker, writer, and producer dedicated to telling bold, inclusive, female-driven stories. A graduate of Studio 58, McNulty is an alum of the Canadian Film Centre’s Producers’ Lab and is currently part of the GEMS Genre Film Lab. She is the founder of Strange Company Productions and co-founder of DropShock Pictures. Her acclaimed short film Chicken screened at over 40 international festivals and was recently acquired by CBC. With a background in both theatre and film, McNulty’s work blends heart, humour, and social impact. She is currently developing a slate of original film and television projects that champion underrepresented voices and challenge industry norms.

Isabelle Deluce is a Filipino-Canadian producer and former child actor whose work spans Canada, the US, France, Mexico, and Greece. She appeared in the Golden Globe–nominated The Ron Clark Story and cult horror classic Trick ’r Treat before transitioning behind the camera. Her award-winning short film Chicken (dir. Lucy McNulty) was acquired by CBC and screened at Oscar-qualifying festivals. Her directorial debut, Ernesto’s Bag, was selected for Telefilm’s Not Short on Talent program at Cannes and premiered at Inside Out in Toronto. Deluce is currently in pre-production on her first feature, a French-language Talent to Watch co-production, and recently wrapped an unannounced short film directed by Charlie Kaufman. She is the co-founder of HiLo Films and Beau Geste Films, and is known for championing inclusive, emotionally resonant storytelling.

Romeo Candido is a Toronto-based writer, director, and showrunner whose work spans television, film, and digital platforms. He is the creator and showrunner of the digital series Topline (CBC Gem) and web series Prison Dancer. He has directed episodes for Workin’ Moms (Netflix/CBC), This Hour Has 22 Minutes (CBC), and The Next Step (Family Channel), where he also served as co-showrunner. Candido brings a distinct voice rooted in Filipino-Canadian identity and is known for integrating music, emotion, and genre-bending worlds into his storytelling. He is passionate about creating series that are heartfelt, inclusive, and globally resonant.

Priscilla Galvez is an award-winning director and producer whose films have premiered at top festivals like TIFF, DOC NYC, Slamdance, and SXSW. She’s best known for producing Islands, which snagged an award at SXSW. As a producer, Galvez has won two Canadian Screen Awards — Best Documentary Short for Sing Me A Lullaby and Best Live-Action Drama Short for Motherland. In her directorial work, Galvez is known for A Fermenting Woman, a visceral body horror short starring Sook-Yin Lee. The film travelled the festival circuit around the world and picked up several awards, including the Grand Prize at Festival Court Métrage in Rennes, France. Galvez is also the co-founder of Silent Tower, an independent production company based in Toronto. Silent Tower is dedicated to championing bold and offbeat storytelling that remains true to its indie roots, creating raw and authentic films in collaboration with exciting filmmakers.

Tamar Bird is an innovative Producer and Production Manager with over 10 years of experience in budgeting, crew building, and working with Canadian broadcasters and American studios. Bird develops and leads productions through pre-production, production, post, and release. She has strong on-set experience working with union and non-union crews for shorts films, features, and television series, and is a main collaborator with some of Canada’s biggest emerging talent in production, writing, and directing.

Kelly Fyffe-Marshall is making powerfully impactful films. Using the medium to disrupt one-dimensional narratives of Black people across the diaspora, Fyffe-Marshall is a TIFF, Sundance, and Canadian Academy of Film and Television award-winning director who cares deeply about the global community and its welfare. Her non-profit, Make Ripples, focuses on addressing racism, inequality, and making activism accessible.