FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – November 2023 (Vancouver BC)

For the first time since the start of the pandemic, Women In the Director’s Chair (WIDC) will present an in-person Industry Immersion at the Whistler Film Festival through a director-focused sponsorship provided by Warner Bros. Discovery Access Canada. 

From BC:

  • Amy Bohigian, Impact Doc Award winner (Only In Nelson) is developing the sketch comedy series Southern Interior.
  • Jenny Lee-Gilmore, alumna of the VIFF Catalyst and GEMS TV Producers programs, is developing the coming-of-age feature film Mixed Feelings.
  • Sunny Mohajer is developing the feature film Becoming Odella. Sunny will be pitching her project during this year’s WFF Power Pitch.
  • Giselle Miller is developing her dramatic feature film Sweet Plantain for which she received WIDC’s Advantage Award earlier this year and a spot at the WFF Screenwriter program.

From Ontario: 

  • Marjan Hashemi (Origami, Best Film Jakarta Independent Film Festival), is developing the dark comedy feature, After Love. 
  • Shelly Hong (Such a Small Thing), Silver Winner for Best Short and Gold Winner for Best Editing at the Queen Palm Film Festival, is developing her debut feature drama, Canadian Hanguk.
  • Yasmine Mathurin (TIFF CBC Screenwriter Award Winner 2023) is further developing her feature film, Sorry Pardon Madame.

From Quebec:

  • Marielle Quesney is developing the horror feature film Lunaris. Marielle is known for her work on Ubisoft’s largest game franchise, Rainbow Six Seige.

WIDC receives major financial support from Telefilm Canada. Story & Leadership is presented in collaboration with Whistler Film Festival and is also supported by ACTRA National, UBCP/ACTRA, AFBS, the Independent Production Fund, and Creative BC. 

“Thank you WIDC for providing a great platform that allows industry professionals to gather and connect,” says Julie Roy, Executive Director & CEO, Telefilm Canada. “It is the opportunities sparked and developed from these spaces that contribute to the growth of our talent pool.” 

“It is important to make space for all voices to be heard and for everyone to have an opportunity to tell their story,” says Eleanor Noble, President ACTRA National. “We believe diversity strengthens the industry.” 

“We are proud to support the decades-long dedication and work of WIDC that advances representation and leadership opportunity for women and non-binary creators behind the camera in B.C.’s film industry,” says Prem Gill, CEO, Creative BC.

“We are pleased to continue our long relationship with WIDC. The results have spoken for themselves as the alumnae develop strong projects and careers in the Canadian screen industry,” says Angela Heck, Executive Director, Whistler Film Festival.

“I’m thrilled to be a part of the WIDC program to further develop my feature film Mixed Feelings,” says director participant Jenny Lee-Gilmore. “This opportunity will not only empower me creatively but also enable me to cultivate a new level of leadership that encompasses both storytelling and personal growth.”

Mentors for this session of WIDC include award-winning directors Nimisha Mukerji (Gabby Durran and the Unsittables, Gotham Knights), Dr. Jules Koostachin (Broken Angel, WaaPaKe) along with screenwriter / story consultant Karen Walton (Orphan Black, Ginger Snaps). Instructors also include Dr. Dorothy Cucw-la7 Christian and Dr. Rita Shelton Deverell C.M. who lead a module on equity, diversity and inclusion work; writer and Jungian expert, Dr. Carolyn Mamchur, actor, teacher and filmmaker, Lori Triolo (Blackstone, Lost Solace), actor / instructor, Veena Sood (With Love and a Major Organ, Children Ruin Everything), and Digital Media & Marketing Mentor, Annelise Larson, who will lead sessions on leadership, story development, working with actors and marketing. An ensemble of ACTRA actors from across Canada along with ICG cinematographers, Kim Derko csc (Save Me; The Next Step), and Daytime Emmy winner, Gayle Ye (Odd Squad, Mobile Unit), will also join the program, workshopping excerpts from the directors’ original scripts. WIDC co-creator and producer, Dr. Carol Whiteman facilitates, and leads follow up mentorships for the program.

The Acting Ensemble of ACTRA and UBCP/ACTRA members selected to workshop the directors’ scripts during PART 1 of the workshop includes: Aida Keykhaii, Aixa Kay, Ashlee Ferral, Benita Ha, Feaven Abera, Gus Tayari,  Hector Johnson, Hilda Martin, Kandyse McClure, Lisa Kimberley, Monice Peter, Robert Moloney, Sage Arrindell, Tanya Jade. 

During the WFF Industry Immersion part of the program, the eight director participants partake in a first-class industry environment during the fest’s virtual component that includes an array of master classes, artist-talks, one-to-ones, and notably, WFF’s Women In Focus series. WIDC-hosted sessions also include industry guests from Telefilm Canada, Bell Media, CBC Films, the Independent Production Fund, and Creative BC, among others who will participate in roundtables and individual meetings with participants.

The 2023 Whistler Film Festival, which takes place in person November 29 through December 3 and online until December 15, 2023, and will showcase director Kim Albright’s WIDC Feature Film Award-winner With Love and a Major Organ, which world premiered at SXSW; opened this year’s Reelworld Film Festival where it won Best Feature Film and Best Male Performance (Hamza Haq). Alumnae films also screening at WFF include second features by Madison Thomas (Infinity of Dusk), a sneak peak at Jules Koostachin’s Angela’s Shadow, Bruna Arbex’s short Introduction, and Lindsay McIntyre’s compelling new short, Nigiqtuq ᓂᒋᖅᑐᖅ (The South Wind) which earned Best Short Film and ImagineNATIVE’s nomination for the 2024 Oscars. 

Story & Leadership culminates with intensive follow up development of story and marketing materials, and career coaching modules that run through to spring 2024.

For more information on Warner Bros. Discovery Access and its programs, please visit www.warner-access.com.

About the Directors:

AMY BOHIGIAN, Nelson, BC
Amy Bohigian is a Creator, Director, and Producer based in Nelson BC. She founded Watershed Productions Inc in 2007 and has received development funding, production financing, license and distribution deals with Knowledge Network, Creative BC, National Film Board of Canada, Canada Media Fund, CMPA, Canada Council for the Arts, Films Media Group, and many others. Her work has been screened on airplanes, broadcast television, multi-plex cinemas, digital platforms, at film festivals, and in classrooms around the globe. Bohigian has received awards and participated in mentorship programs from WIFTV, Banff World Media Festival Spark Accelerator Fellow (2022), Hot Docs Accelerator Fellow, Shaw Media Scholar, Pacific Screenwriting Institute Storyroom at Whistler Film Festival, DOXA, IDFA, DOC Impact Award, and Canada Council for the Arts. As Founder and President of Watershed Productions Inc, Bohigian’s team of media professionals provide a full slate of video production services across multiple platforms for mission-driven clients ranging from non-profits to corporations. She has been a faculty member with the Digital Arts and New Media Program at Selkirk College in Nelson BC since 2015. She earned Master’s in Education from Harvard University in 1999.  

GISELLE MILLER, Vancouver, BC
Giselle Miller is a Jamaican-Canadian writer, actor and filmmaker living in Vancouver. After completing an MFA in Creative Writing at UBC in 2020, she went on to write, produce and direct two seasons of the Leo Award-nominated web series Young, Single and Black. Most recently, Giselle was the 2023 recipient of the WIDC Advantage Award for her feature film Sweet Plantain. She is part of the 2023 edition of the Whistler Screenwriters Lab and the GEMS Emerging TV Producers Program. Giselle is the founder of Orange Rose Productions, a company dedicated to telling stories about the black community. She is in development on several projects including Vancouver’s first black queer web series Novelette Is Trying, which is funded by the IPF, CMF, Creative BC, and Canada Council for the Arts.

JENNY LEE-GILMORE, Vancouver, BC
Jenny Lee-Gilmore is a British born Chinese-Caucasian actor & filmmaker based in Vancouver, BC. She completed her BFA in Film Production at the University of British Columbia in 2019. Her debut short film Breakaway played in festivals across North America including Whistler Film Festival, Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival and Vancouver Short Film Festival. It was selected in the Top 9 of 2020’s CBC Short Film Face Off. Breakaway is now being developed into a YA series and received development funding from the Canada Media Fund and Independent Production Fund. She recently wrote and directed a TELUS Originals mid-length documentary, entitled Overtime, about her mom’s 55+ hockey team. She was a member of the 2021 VIFF Catalyst mentorship program, BIPOC TV & Film Showrunner Bootcamp and 2023 GEMS TV Producer Lab with Breakaway, the series. She’s in pre-production with CBC Short Doc Little Miss Sleepy and BC Arts Council funded narrative short The Forgotten Notes. She’s currently writing a horror feature titled Dormant and co-writing the feature drama Mixed Feelings. Jenny is passionate about telling female centric and Asian Canadian stories that are often overlooked or neglected by mainstream media and strives to create meaningful and authentic stories that resonate with audiences.

MARIELLE QUESNEY, Montreal, QC
Marielle Quesney (she/her) is a writer / director who launched her career in the indie scene over 15 years ago crafting music videos, experimental and documentary films. With a passion for transmedia content, she’s most recently been helming the production of graphic novels, anime short films series and CGI films for video games. Her short CGI film series for video game giant Ubisoft, won the Grand Prix Du Brand Content – Bronze Award, Paris 2021. She’s gained extensive experience writing and directing action sequences, working with stunt coordinators and actors in motion capture studios. She has been part of the Netflix x Banff Diversity of Voices Initiative twice and has received development and production funding from the Societe des developments des entreprises culturelles, the Canada Council for the Arts and the National film Board of Canada and screened in festivals worldwide including the LA MOCA. Most impressively her edgy, pop culture infused video game trailers have garnered millions of views on YouTube. Forbes.com called her work “marketing genius”.

MARJAN HASHEMI, Toronto, ON
Marjan Hashemi is an award-winning Iranian-Canadian writer/director with more than 7 years of filmmaking experience. She completed her bachelor’s degree in English literature and then obtained a master’s degree in psychology. She then went on to study acting for theatre. Later, she studied Advanced Film and TV at Sheridan College to further master her skills as a director and screenwriter. She initially had a career in acting and acted in short films and TV series. She started making films in 2017. In 2021, Origami, her LGBTQ coming-of-age short drama, won the best international short film award at the Jakarta Independent Film Festival. Marjan values themes such as freedom, love, human bonds, women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, and social justice in her work. Besides writing, directing, and producing has worked in the Canadian film industry in different roles such as casting director, and script supervisor, and she has instructed screenwriting and directing workshops, both in Tehran and in Toronto. Her most recent film as director and co-writer is called Ostracized, a short narrative shot in London, UK, in the summer of 2023, which is entering the festival circuit soon.

SHELLY HONG, Hamilton, ON
Shelly J. Hong is an award-winning filmmaker, writer and director. 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.  Her directorial debut, Such A Small Thing, 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. She received a Toronto Arts Council grant for her second short film, Mother Tongue, which is currently screening in festivals around the world. She is also the recipient of the Solidarity Fund 2021 and was shortlisted for the CFC Bell Media Prime Time Television Program for 2022 and is an alumna of the WIDC Career Advancement Module.

SUNNY MOHAJER, Vancouver, BC
Discovering her love of stories and art at a young age led Sunny to pursue film in university, receiving a Bachelor’s Degree at Capilano University in Vancouver and a Master’s Degree in International Studies in Media, Power, and Diversity in Barcelona, Spain. She has been passionate about storytelling since a young age, finishing her first novel at the age of 9. Her love of storytelling combined with visual arts naturally led her to filmmaking. Other than immersing herself in the inspiring world of filmmaking, Sunny is an avid traveler, outdoor enthusiast, and literature lover. She has written and directed six short films to date that have screened at various festivals internationally. Her short film The Yellow Wallpaper was the recipient of the Experimental Visions Audience Award at NFFTY. Ataraxia, funded by BC Arts Council premiered at the Oscar-Qualifying festival Hollyshorts 2022. Millie Did It is on CBC Reflections. Her latest short Hope is the Thing with Feathers, funded by BC Arts Council, screened at Reelworld Festival 2023. Currently, Sunny is based in Vancouver, Canada and is developing her first feature film, Becoming Odella.

YASMINE MATHURIN, Toronto, ON
Yasmine Mathurin is a Haitian-Canadian award-winning writer & director. In 2021, her first feature documentary film One of Ours premiered at Hot Docs, won the Special Jury Prize, and was nominated for 3 Canadian Screen Awards for best writing, best directing and best feature documentary. It is now available on CBC Gem and in the US through AMC+ and Sundance TV. Previously, she worked as an associate producer with CBC Original Podcast where her work has been awarded with a Webby People’s Choice and a Canadian Digital Publishing Award. She is an alumna of the Hot Docs Documentary Lab, RIDM lab, the UnionDocs Feature documentary lab, the Berlinale Doc Toolbox program, DOC Breakthrough, TIFF CHANEL Women’s Writers Network, TIFF Writers Studio. Her work has been screened at several film festivals including, DocEdge, Hot Docs, RIDM and DOC NYC. She recently directed 3 out of 6 episodes of the documentary series WITNESS which had its world premiere at 2023 Hot Docs film festival and is now available on CBC Gem in Canada and will be having its international premiere at DOC NYC this fall. She is currently in post-production on the CBC docu-series For the Culture with Amanda Parris which will premiere in 2024. She is the recipient of the 2023 TIFF CBC Screenwriter Award for her upcoming fiction narrative feature film Sorry Pardon Madame.

About Women In the Director’s Chair (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 and non-binary directors, with over 340 director alumnae across Canada, who earn hundreds of awards and nominations for their work annually. Co-created by representatives of ACTRA, GEMS Vancouver (formerly Women In Film and Television Vancouver), and The Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity which was WIDC’s home venue for eighteen years, WIDC is presented with major support from Telefilm Canada, and Warner Bros. Discovery Access Canada, and with the participation of Creative BC, Actra Fraternal Benefit Society, ACTRA National, UBCP/ACTRA, Independent Production Fund. PR sponsor, GAT PR.

WIDC appreciates community collaborations with the National Film Board, GEMFest (formerly 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 Keslow Camera, Panavision Canada, Raw Camera, William F. White International / Sunbelt Rentals, Elemental Post, Company3 Vancouver, North Shore Studios, The Bridge Studios, Vancouver Film Studios, The Research House Clearance Services Inc., MELS Studios, Front Row Insurance, Descriptive Video Works, Line 21 Media Services, Power of Babel, EP Canada, Portable Electric, Champ and Pepper.