Leslie Ann launched her debut feature documentary Melody Makers: Should’ve Been There with the enhanced Interactive Digital Media (IDM) project, made possible with the generous support of Telefilm Canada’s Marketing and Promotions Program. The film has earned accolades at festivals around the world, opened the Fort Myers Film Festival (USA) and closed the Meraki Int’l Film Festival (Madrid), and the Bermondsey Project Space, Film and Photographic Retrospective (UK).
Through her production company, LA Coles Fine Art Films she is currently engaged in a wide variety of works which include theatrical features, non-scripted TV, documentaries, shorts and interactive digital media. Her company is committed to producing films and cross platform projects that combine art, entertainment and social justice. Coles is a Women In the Director’s Chair alumna, and a recipient of three CTV Banff Fellowships for original series.
Coles is the Founder and Executive Director of the Female Eye Film Festival (FeFF) established in 2001 to address gender parity in the film industry. She has executive-produced 46 short films directed by at risk female youth through the Young Filmmaker Development Workshop (YFDW), a program established under the auspices of the FeFF. In her capacity as the Festival’s Founding Director, she oversees the rigorous evaluation and selection of independent films for FeFF showcasing from over 2,500 entries every year.
Intimately familiar with the local and international filmmaking community since touring festivals herself with her debut short multiple-award-winning short film In The Refrigerator: Spirit of a Haunted Dancer (2001), Leslie Ann’s strength is her ability to creatively strategize projects and determine market potential during the development process, always with a critical understanding of a film’s milieu, be it social, cultural, or art-focused.
Awards & Nominations
Melody Makers (feature documentary)
2019 Best Documentary, MedFF
2018 Best Documentary, 8th Fort Myers Film Festival
2018 Best International Documentary, 16th Garden State Film Festival
2018 Audience Choice Award, Hot Springs Women’s Film Festival
2018 Gold Award Best Documentary, Spotlight Film Festival
2018 Best International Documentary, Color Tape Film Festival
2018 Best Documentary, Meraki Film Festival
2018 Best Director, Borderlands Film Festival
2018 Best Feature Documentary, Nice IFF
2018 Nomination, Best Documentary, EDA Awards Women Film Journalists, Whistler Film Festival
2017 Best Music Documentary, 18th Bare Bones International Film Festival
In the Refrigerator (short)
2001 Filmmaker In an Acting Role, the Grand Jury Award, Barebones Int.Film Festival
2001 Best Film, Sharpshooter Film Festival, Pigeon Forge, TN
2001 Best Picture, Women’s Category, Zoie Film Festival, Atlanta Georgia, USA
2001 Best Short Film Dealing with Mental Illness, Cinevue International Film & Video Festival
2001 Award of Excellence for Best Short Film – Valleyfest Film Festival, Knoxville, TN
2001 Best Actress – Cinevue International Film & Video Festival, Florida, USA
2001 Best Avant – Garde – Cinevue International Film & Video Festival, Florida, USA
2001 Certificate of Merit, Prix Leonardo, Italy
1002 Certificate of Merit Int. Film Festival of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, India
2000 Best Director – Kissimmee Film Festival Florida USA
2000 Best Actress – Kissimmee Film Festival, Florida, USA