Fennella Bruce is a veteran television producer and writer, she is now at the helm of FKB Media Solutions – a media consulting business and FKB Media Productions Inc. – a livestream, television and film company. Having worked in the field of journalism for over 20 years, Fennella has produced both of Canada’s national morning shows – Your Morning and Canada. She has been the senior writer or producer at numerous major market television stations including CTV News Channel, CTV National, CP24, CityTv, Toronto 1 and BET. Fennella received her Graduate Degree in Journalism from Ryerson University and her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto. For six years, she taught Media Theory at Centennial College. Fennella is the Vice-President of the Board of Dr. Roz’s Healing Place, Vice-President of Women in Film and Television – Toronto (WIFT-T) Foundation Board, a member of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and a recipient of the 2020 100 Accomplished Black Canadian Women Award.

Roble Issa is an award-winning Somali-Canadian filmmaker based in Toronto whose focus is on writing and directing dramatic features, documentaries, and one-hour dramas. In 2021, he made his directorial debut with a short documentary entitled “Mending a Crack in the Sky”, which was an official selection at the 2021 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival and is now being broadcasted on Crave Television. Also, in 2021, he was accepted into Reelworld’s Emerging 20 Program to develop his debut feature film, “Car”. He is currently a Hot Docs fellow, as well as a participant in CaribbeanTales Black Incubator & Studio Access Project, and Netflix-BANFF Diversity of Voices Pitch Program.

Ana de Lara is a Filipina-Canadian film director, screenwriter and producer who has earned over 30 accolades for her films and screenplays in North America and Europe.  She was the lead producer for the Telefilm Talent to Watch feature ALL-IN MADONNA and the feature mockumentary OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS, which earned her nominations for the 2021 CMPA Emerging Producer Award and 2021 and 2019 BC Leo Award for Best Picture.

Ana has written, directed, and produced a number of eclectic short films, showcasing her skill for telling impactful stories in a variety of genres, most notably, GOOD GIRLS DON’T, NEAR SILENCE, IN CONTROL and FIRST WINTER LAST.

Yasmin Evering-Kerr is an award-winning Toronto-based artist who frequently addresses issues of race, sexuality and gender in her films. Her latest credits include; her documentary “The Onyx Butterfly” which has been screened in various film festivals throughout Canada and internationally. As well as receiving a 2021 Canadian Screen Award for Best Direction in a Documentary Series. Her films have been broadcasted on CBC Absolutely Canadian and Canadian Reflections. Yasmin is currently exploring directing within a multitude of mediums, the most recent being the “Opia Experience” music video which has been selected by Prism Prize as the Top 10 Canadian Music Videos of 2021. Yasmin is deeply inspired by her roots and is dedicated to showcasing the intersectionality of Black women and girlhood on screen. 

Suki Motoyi is an Indigiqueer Nitsiitapi currently living in Southern Alberta, also know as the the sacred place where the prairies meet the mountains. Suki is passionate about creating stories that revolve around indigeneity, sexuality, language, and resistance. They graduated from the Adam Beach Film Institute in 2016, and won the Southern Alberta Indigenous Youth Shine Award for their work within the LGBTQ2S+ Film community in 2017. She has worked on ten short film projects and is looking forward to taking the next steps within her career with the help of the CineFAM Limitless program.

Aeyliya Husain is an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose work focuses on issues of representation, women, and photography. She has exhibited at festivals both nationally and internationally including, Tribeca Film Festival, where her film ‘Shooting War’ was nominated for best short documentary. This film examined the Iraq War through the lens of a photojournalist, revealing the stories behind the images and the story of the war itself. ‘The World at Ten’, follows the story of two ten- year-old inner-city children as they navigate the world around them. Her film ‘Daughters of the Revolution’, tells the story of Iranian activist lawyer and her fight for women’s rights in Iran. These films have also screened at San Francisco Docfest; Glasgow Short Film Festival and São Paulo Film Festival and have been broadcast on CBC, BBC, RSI (Swiss Public TV) and France 4. Her most recent film ‘The Fifth Region’ had it’s premiere at the ImagineNATIVE Film Festival (October 2018) and aired on The Documentary Channel, SBS Australia, amongst others.

Muniyra Douglas is a creator-writer and independent animation director-producer.  She was a selected participant in Black Women Film! Canada’s 2022 residency.  Her academic work, titled African spirituality, a symbol of resistance and hope in black speculative fiction: An analysis of Lovecraft Country was accepted at Co-Futures’ “Future From the Margins” conference held at the University of Oslo in June 2022.  From Scarborough, she has been storytelling for over a decade, from spoken word to radio news to genre-bending work on science fiction, dystopian fiction, Black identities, womanhood, intersectionality, and mental wellness.  Her projects have screened at Cinefam Film Festival, Toronto Short Film Festival, Toronto Lift Off Festival, Cinefam Festival, NY Live Arts x BSAM exhibition, Carnegie Hall, and Toronto Comic Con.

Writer, producer, director of immersive experiences for kids full of fun, purpose, and heart. Kai’s career spans development to distribution on features, TV, shorts, and music videos. Kai’s work plays with intersectionality and universality with sprinklings of humour and themes around wellness. Kai is a graduate of CFC’s Producer’s Lab and Centennial’s Children’s Media program. Kai associate produced and wrote on CBC Kids in-house content like “Gary’s Magic Fort” and “Studio K”. In 2022, Kai won the YMA-TAAFI John Rooney Creator Fund.

Kristen Lambie is a Jamaican/Canadian writer, actress and filmmaker who has worked in front of, as well as behind the camera in a variety of independent film and television projects. Kristen has a Master of Arts in Media Production from Ryerson University and also has an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication and Film Studies with a specialization in Film Production from Wilfrid Laurier University. Kristen strives to tell stories about her experiences as a woman of the Caribbean/African Diaspora; including topics of identity, belonging and her Jamaican culture. She is now taking the next step into a career behind the camera by honing her skills as a writer and producer.

Playback Magazine’s 10 to Watch, Asis Sethi is a Canadian filmmaker who graduated from Humber College where she currently teaches. Her career in broadcasting spans over 15 years as producer and host on lifestyle shows. Her REMI Award winning short on menstruation, ‘A Bloody Mess’, was screened at 30 film festivals. Her 16-episode documentary series on Sikh shrines in India, ‘Darshan Dekh Jeeva’, was funded by Rogers Documentary Fund. She directed a documentary on post 9/11 effects on turban wearers which premiered on OMNI Television. Her short film on postpartum depression titled ‘Rock the Cradle’ was funded by the Canada Council for the Arts and is currently in post production. Asis has been chosen for Caribbean Tales and CineFam’s program Limitless where she will be making the proof of concept for her feature film ‘Slam Dunk, Sehaj!’.

Kirsty Plange is a screenwriter and director based in and from Toronto. Through U for Change’s film program, she created her first project Borders Carry Me Home, a short personal documentary encompassing the struggle of belonging and identity in the face of immigration. She currently works as an assistant production coordinator for the upcoming CBC documentary series, Summit 72. She conceptualized and wrote, Oakwood, a show centered around two unlikely allies set in an everchanging Toronto, Kirsty’s first love. Kirsty’s hope is to create art that reflects difficult truths and bridges the gaps with those unlike ourselves.

Daisy is a Toronto based writer and producer. She always had a passion for media but her interest in film was piqued while taking part in the U for Change film cohort. After interning in the film and broadcasting world while working in the market research analysis and publishing industries she channeled the skills acquired into establishing Afrotinis at Sunset, a multi-media platform that explores the stories, history and cultural nuances that form the rich and diverse tapestry of the black experience. In her spare time Daisy enjoys photography, comedy and listening to dramatic cinematic music while doing mundane things.