Directors Announced for WIDC Career Advancement Module Fall

WIDC NEWS Editor

Source - WIDC.ca

October 11, 2022

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – October 2022: Women In the Director’s Chair (WIDC) organizers are pleased to announce the eight women and non-binary directors selected to take part in this session of the WIDC Career Advancement Module (CAM). The Fall 2022 edition of the CAM partners with Canada’s Reelworld Film Festival and the St John’s International Women’s Film Festival. Workshop sessions run through the month of October 2022, coinciding with both festivals. In addition to workshop sessions designed to build a strategic career plan, participants receive passes to both festivals’ online offerings, and follow up career coaching which will extend through March 2023.

Developing a diverse slate of narrative projects, over 50% of the cohort self-identify from under-represented communities.

Andrea Martinez Crowther is a Toronto-based Mexican-Canadian filmmaker whose first feature was produced by Guiermo del Toro. She is developing her fifth feature, the drama BEULAH & WILLEMINA.

Andrea says, “I recently stepped out of my comfort zone of directing films in Mexico to move to Canada. Being selected for the WIDC CAM is precisely what I need in this new stage of my career and I’m excited about the possibilities it may bring.”

Asis Sethi is an award-winning Indo-Canadian filmmaker and recent alumna of the CFC/Netflix Calling Card Accelerator, CineFAM Limitless Program, and a 2022 prize winner at the Caribbean Tales’ The Big Pitch at TIFF with her feature SLAM DUNK, SEHAJ! which she brings to WIDC.

Asis says, “I have been following the programs at WIDC for many years and am thrilled to be a part of it this year.”

Cailleah Scott-Grimes is a Toronto-based director and illustrator, winner of the 2021 Lindalee Tracey Award and a finalist for the Iris Prize, the world’s largest award for LGBTQ+ short films. Cailleah is developing a first feature, THE VOICE OF CALLING.

Catharine Parke is a BC-based fiction and documentary director developing her coming-of-age feature HER GIANT SELF. Her work has appeared on Discovery Canada, CBC, OLN, National Geographic and Telefilm’s Not Short of Talent program at Cannes.

Elizabeth Fraser is an alumna of the CFC’s Cineplex Entertainment Film Program (Writers’ Lab), Reykjavik International Film Festival Talent Lab and has story-edited for HBO. She is developing her debut feature film, MAKAYLA_DOES_RITUALS, a micro-budget teen horror.

Giselle Miller is a Jamaican-born writer, actor, filmmaker, and web series showrunner based in BC. She was recently nominated for two Leo Awards and is currently developing a feature film, and a new web series, JUST TRYING, a comedy about a Black woman as she finds her footing in Vancouver after a break-up.

Giselle says, “The journey to making a film is not an easy one so I am humbled and grateful to receive the support from the WIDC to reach the next level of my career. “

Holly Brace-Lavoie is a Montreal-based screenwriter and director who has developed more than ten unscripted television series, and whose short films have garnered international acclaim. She is developing several fiction projects including her debut feature film drama, TEARS OF MY ENEMIES.

Holly  says, “I can’t wait to soak up the wisdom of the WIDC mentors and speakers.”

Shelly Hong is an award-winning Korean-Canadian filmmaker, writer, director, producer and actor based in Hamilton, ON. She is developing a half-hour comedy series, MODEL MINORITIES about two sisters navigating opposite sides of a culture war.

Shelly says, “Being selected for the WIDC CAM has been an honour and a relief – an honour to be selected by such a highly regarded organization, and a relief to know that I made the right career choice!”

Since the start of the pandemic, WIDC programs have pivoted online, and begin with WIDC’s specially designed Equity, Diversity and Inclusion module led by scholar/ filmmaker Dr. Dorothy Cucw-la7 Christian and Vision TV co-founder, Dr. Rita Shelton Deverell C.M. A member of the Order of Canada, Deverell is also a WIDC alumna. Joining a series of WIDC Zoom round tables and Festival-sponsored panels to offer insights into navigating career paths and connecting screen projects with the marketplace are award-winning directors Renuka Jeyapalan, Samantha MacAdam, as well as Jordan Canning, Gloria Ui Young Kim, Melanie Oates, Kerry Gamberg and Tamara Segura who are featured on virtual panels at the St John’s International Women’s Film Festival; Digital Media and Marketing Mentor, Annelise Larson along with industry executives including Telefilm Canada, CBC, Bell Media, Independent Production Fund and Reelworld Film Festival and Screen Institute Board members. WIDC co-creator and producer, Dr. Carol Whiteman facilitates the CAM and follow up coaching.

Over one hundred Canadian directors have used the WIDC CAM to help strategically springboard their careers, including recent CAM alumnae Joy Haskell, Rebeka Herron, Frieda Luk, Daniella Pagliarello, Bronwyn Szabo, Eva Thomas who have recently earned funding for their projects from agencies such as Telefilm Canada, CMF, ISO, and the Independent Production Fund.

MORE ABOUT THE WIDC CAM Fall 2022 DIRECTORS (in alphabetical order by first name)

ANDREA MARTINEZ CROWTHER, Toronto, ON
Andrea is a Mexican-Canadian filmmaker who recently moved to Canada.  Her films are deeply personal and oftentimes explore the blurry area between fiction and documentary. Her first film INSIGNIFICANT THINGS, participated in the Sundance Screenwriter’s Lab and was executive produced by Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water, Pan’s Labyrinth). The film premiered in the San Sebastian Film Festival. Her second film is the intimate documentary CICLO, which revisits the bicycle journey her father and uncle made from Mexico to Canada in 1956, in an exploration of memories, the cycles of life and the unavoidable passage of time. Her third film, BIRDWATCHING, is a fiction film shot as if it were a documentary about a writer who develops Alzheimer’s and is loosely based on her own experience with her mother. It premiered at the Los Cabos Film Festival where it garnered the Peoples’ Choice Award. Her most recent film is TARE, a self-referenced story about loss and suffering starring Tenoch Huerta (Black Panther, Narcos, Bel Canto) and herself; it is currently in post-production. Andrea is now preparing LABRANZA, a dramatic feature revolving around 4 Mexican agricultural workers who travel to work on a farm in Ontario and is set to be shot in 2023.  She is also in the process of writing the feature screenplay BEULAH & WILLEMINA.

ASIS SETHI, Toronto, ON
Playback Magazine’s 10 to Watch, Asis Sethi is an award-winning Indo-Canadian filmmaker who graduated from Humber College where she currently teaches directing. Her career in broadcasting spans over 15 years as a 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 titled THE COLOURFUL CROWN which premiered nationally on OMNI Television. Her short film on postpartum depression titled ROCK THE CRADLE was funded by the Canada Council for the Arts and will premiere later this year. Asis was chosen for CineFam’s Limitless program where she completed the proof of concept for her first feature film SLAM DUNK, SAHAJ! The proof of concept is being supported by the CFC/Netflix Calling Card Accelerator. Asis was also selected to pitch the feature project at The Big Pitch at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival where it won third place. Asis Sethi is the founder of Fly Away Films Incorporated where she produces films, commercials and music videos. She currently sits on the advisory committee for The Canadian Academy for their WarnerMedia program Women in Post and is also on the advisory board for the International Film Festival of South Asia (IFFSA).

CAILLEAH SCOTT-GRIMES, Toronto, ON
Cailleah Scott-Grimes is a Toronto-based director and illustrator. She holds an MFA in Film Production from York University and an Honors BA in Visual Studies and East Asian Studies from the University of Toronto. From death positivity to struggles with gender identity, Cailleah’s work brings an intimate lens to transgressive topics that are difficult to talk about. Working in documentary and fiction, her films have been featured on CBC Short Docs, Air Canada, and Cinema Politica. Her work has screened at over 50 international festivals, including Hot Docs, BFI Flare, and Outfest LA. She is also a creative partner at JbyJ Production, which works closely with the Japanese-Canadian community. In 2021, Cailleah received the Lindalee Tracey Award for her Masters thesis film BETWEEN US (2020), set in her former home of Yamagata, Japan. The film received a Best Director Jury Award at Image+Nation, the Best Short Film Jury Prize at Roze Filmdagen, and it was a finalist for the 2021 Iris Prize, the world’s largest award for LGBTQ+ short films. Cailleah is currently writing her first feature, and her fantasy short, OVERGROWN, will be released in 2022.

CATHARINE PARKE, Vancouver, BC
Catharine’s accolades and awards run the gambit from director, to writer, to creative producer in both documentary and scripted film and television. Her short films have been showcased at the Victoria Film Festival and the Edmonton International Film Festival, among others. Her latest scripted short, LIFELINES, has screened at over 23 film festivals around the world and has over 300,000 views on Youtube. Her experimental documentary, VERY GOOD DIRT, was selected by Telefilm Canada to be part of Not Short on Talent at Cannes, a curated showcase presented at the Short Film Corner, a component of the Market which runs parallel to the Cannes Film Festival. VERY GOOD DIRT was also a recipient of the NFB’s Filmmaker Assistant Program. A natural storyteller, Catharine connects deeply with the subjects of her films, seeks honesty in her work and creativity in its presentation. Catharine’s career as a director and writer in documentary television has taken her around the world with credits including, Word Travels (OLN/National Geographic), Get Stuffed! (OLN) and Murder She Solved (OWN).  Recently, she has been a senior story producer and story editor for documentary television series across the channels including HIGHWAY THRU HELL (Discovery Canada), WILD BEAR RESCUE (Animal Planet) and THE NATURE OF THINGS: The Secret Life of Great Horned Owls (CBC).

ELIZABETH FRASER, Ancaster, ON
Elizabeth Fraser is a writer/director who cut her teeth in the industry as an assistant to executive producers and showrunners on two major Netflix original shows – TINY PRETTY THINGS and SPINNING OUT. In 2018, Elizabeth founded Dei Gratia Pictures where she and co-producer Breann Smordin have developed and executive produced several projects for female-driven creative teams and first-time filmmakers including ACCIDENTALS (Director: Natalie Novak), Walter (Director: Glynnis Henderson-Grant), and the CSA-nominated web series BAND LADIES (Creators: Kate Fenton, Molly Flood, and Dana Puddicombe). As a writer/director, Elizabeth’s first comedic short film THE HELP DESK debuted at the 2021 Regina International Film Festival and participated in the Short Film Corner of the Cannes Film Festival. Elizabeth shot her follow-up short, TEND WITH CARE, in the summer of 2022. She has story edited in-development feature scripts for creative teams at HBO Max and Amazon. Elizabeth also has a limited run series and feature film currently in development. Elizabeth is a graduate of the Canadian Film Centre’s Cineplex Entertainment Film Program (Writers’Lab), and in 2016 she attended the Reykjavik International Film Festival Talent Lab. Elizabeth also holds an MSt in Creative Writing from Kellogg College, University of Oxford.

GISELLE MILLER, Vancouver, BC
Giselle Miller is a Jamaican-Canadian writer, actor and filmmaker living in Vancouver. Giselle fell in love with storytelling early, winning her first writing competition at 13. Five of her feature-length screenplays have placed as quarter finalists in competitions in the United States. After completing an MFA in Creative Writing at UBC, she went on to write, produce and direct twelve short films and two seasons of the Leo Award-nominated web series YOUNG, SINGLE AND BLACK that follows Black millennials as they navigate romance in Vancouver. Giselle also received a Leo Award nomination for her performance in season 1 of the series. Giselle’s productions have been featured in the Women of African Descent Film Festival, the Big Apple Film Festival and the Roma Shorts Film Festival. Giselle is also the founder of Orange Rose Productions Inc., a production company dedicated to telling BIPOC-driven stories.

HOLLY BRACE-LAVOIE, Montreal, QC
After attending the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema on scholarship and receiving her BFA in Film Production, Holly wrote and directed THE SAME HOUSE a short film which travelled to international festivals winning some acclaim for screenwriting. Throwing herself into production she has worked as an assistant director and producer on American films while continuing to write and direct her own films, songs, series and plays. She began a career in factual television at CMJ where she developed over 10 greenlit series that appeared on Discovery ID, CBC, History, Reelz, FYI and MotorTrend. She then moved to Pixcom as Director of Development, leading the company’s international creative team. Meanwhile, she created and directed the comedic web series THE HIGH NOTE which garnered a dedicated audience online. Holly recently toured the festival circuit with her short film THE CATCH which premiered at the Berlinale. She is currently working on a new short film called MOTHER OF INVENTION, in development on a short titled SON OF A
BITCH, writing a feature called TEARS OF MY ENEMIES and co-writing a feature titled BREED.

SHELLY HONG, Hamilton, ON
Shelly J. Hong is an award winning filmmaker, writer, director and producer.  She started out as an actor in theatre and television then switched her focus to commercial production where she spent 15 years learning the ropes.  She produced many independent projects and directed and co-produced a short film, SUCH A SMALL THING, which was the recipient of the Silver Winner for Best Short and Gold Winner for Best Editing at the Queen Palm Film Festival, Award of Distinction at Canada Shorts, and Official Selection at the Toronto Shorts International Film Festival.  It is currently streaming on CBC Gem in Canada and internationally through Highball.TV. Recently, she received a Toronto Arts Council grant to produce her next short film, MOTHER TONGUE.  She is also the recipient of the Solidarity Fund 2021 and was shortlisted for the CFC Bell Media Prime Time Television Program for 2022.

ABOUT WIDC
Founded in 1996/97, Women In the Director’s Chair (WIDC) is an internationally respected Canadian professional development offering, specially designed to advance the skills, careers and fiction screen projects of women directors. With 230 director alumnae across Canada, who earn hundreds of awards and nominations for their work annually. Co-created by representatives of ACTRA, Women In Film and Television Vancouver, and The Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity which was its home venue for eighteen years, WIDC is presented with major support from Telefilm Canada, and with the participation of Creative BC, Actra Fraternal Benefit Society, ACTRA National, Independent Production Fund.

WIDC appreciates community collaborations with the National Film Board, Vancouver International Women in Film Festival, Female Eye Film Festival, St John’s International Women’s Film Festival, Reelworld Film Festival and Screen Institute, Crazy 8’s, TIFF, VIFF, Weengushk Film Institute, and the Whistler Film Festival.

The WIDC Feature Film Award is supported by SIM International, Keslow Camera, Panavision Canada, William F. White International, Encore VFX, Kaslo Studios Vancouver, Elemental Post, North Shore Studios, The Bridge Studios, Vancouver Film Studios, The Research House Clearance Services Inc., MELS Studios, Front Row Insurance, and Descriptive Video Works, Line 21 Media Services, Power of Babel, EP Canada, Portable Electric.

Read More: https://www.widc.ca/media-release-directors-announced-for-widc-career-advancement-module-fall-2022/