Andy Alvarez is a Colombian-Canadian award-winning writer and director. She primarily focuses on female-driven stories with elements of the Latinx diaspora. Often blending genres and dismantling story structure to compel audiences. Her short film work includes La Mariposa (CICFF’20), Our Home (OFFA’19 - Winner of best Canadian Short Film), Sol (NYCIFF’21) and a web series comedy pilot, Growing Up With Mi Familia (TELUS). She co-founded Studio 104 Entertainment, which produced films such as Wild Goat Surf (VIFF’23) and Curl Power (HOT DOCS’24, VIFF’24).  She’s currently in pre-production on her debut feature, Memoria, a Canadian Colombian co-production funded by Telefilm Canada, Crave, CBC Films and Creative BC.

Cindy Au Yeung is an editor and producer based in Vancouver, Canada, with over a decade of experience from scripted live-action series to documentaries and animation, and often aims to advocate for highlighting marginalized stories and artists in her work. Recent editing works include documentary features such as Muzizi and Arthur Erickson: Beauty Between the Lines, and scripted features such as Are We Done Now?, a sci-fi thriller feature, Jonah and Mary J. Blige's Family Affair. Her co-producing work with filmmaker Quentin Lee in a stand-up comedy series called Comedy Invasion won Best Comedy Special for the episode “Rez Style” at the 2024 Canadian Screen Awards with Squamish comedian Keith “Bubbas” Nahanee. She previously volunteered on the board of the Vancouver Post Alliance, and was the co-chair of the EDI committee.

Alyssa Aussant is a neurodiverse screenwriter, producer, and content creator with over 250 million views across her short form comedy videos. She’s a proud alumna of: The Whistler Film Festival’s Women In Focus Mentorship, Women In Film & TV Toronto’s Scripted Digital Series Incubator, Netflix & Pacific Screenwriting Program’s Scripted Series Lab, Banff & Netflix Diversity Of Voices Initiative, and CMPA’s Screen-Based Media Production Program.

Ariel Bond is a writer, producer and director based in Vancouver, BC. A social impact filmmaker, Ariel’s goal is to shed light on uncomfortable truths and be the catalyst for change. In her directorial debut Rupture, a CASCADIA International Women’s Film FestivaloEicial selection, Ariel adapted her traumatic experience with an ovarian cyst rupture into an urgent story about medical gaslighting, calling attention to the issue of the Gender Pain Gap, or the gap in diagnostics and treatment of women in healthcare, resulting in poorer health outcomes. For her upcoming feature project Deepfake, a feminist true crime thriller taking on the issue of non-consensual deepfake pornography, Ariel received the 2024 Equity and Emerging Development Grant from Creative BC and participated in the 2025 GEMS Genre Lab which culminated in the film’s pitch at the Frontières film market in Montreal. For her previous work, Ariel has been awarded the Leonard and Eileen Newman Prize for a Promising New Writer, and she’s been named an Academy Nicholl fellowship quarterfinalist.

Prior to writing and producing projects through her company Storiel Entertainment, Ariel worked for many years as a production supervisor and producer’s assistant on studio projects such as Disney’s Peter Pan & Wendy and Marvel/Sony’s Spider-Man: Far From Home. Her most recent producing credits include the experimental-narrative short film How Brief, starring Emmy-winner Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black). Ariel holds a B.A. in Screen Arts & Cultures from the University of Michigan and has completed additional training through UCLA extension, Second City, and Roadmap Writers. She holds dual citizenship in the U.S. and Canada. In her spare time, Ariel enjoys running, practicing her French, and mentoring aspiring filmmakers from her home state of Michigan.

Thea Bracewell is a Senior Policy Analyst in the federal government with a professional background in governance mechanisms, policy development, communications, project management, community building, evaluation, and advocacy. Thea was recently an Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs and taught the graduate level course ‘Leadership in Public Policy’. Separate from policy work, Thea previously worked as a professional photographer and as a driver on the production of the film, ‘Iron Road’ and is currently pursuing screenwriting. Thea is invested in supporting creative industries and organizations like GEMS for a thriving cultural ecosystem in Vancouver.

Ana Carrizales is a Peruvian-Canadian writer, filmmaker, and performer based in Vancouver, BC. An engaged community member with a passion for supporting underrepresented voices, she has produced award-winning narrative films & documentaries. Her work has been screened internationally at prestigious film festivals, including Hot Docs, Tribeca and Palm Springs, and short commissioned by New York Magazine. She is currently developing Conversations with Madre, an interactive mixed-media documentary (awarded Canada Council Explore & Create), and completing her first feature documentary Chemical Consent, executive produced by Canadian documentarians Mark Achbar and Amy Miller. Ana is also a 2022 TEDx speaker, and Producing & Acting instructor at Vancouver Film School.

Shelley Janzé is a former Women in Film/TV member and an alumni of the Actor Mentorship Program. She credits the program for opening doors for her in the acting business, securing her dream agent and building credibility with casting. She has been on the jury for the Leo Awards, and last year’s GEMS Screenwriting competition. She enjoys all acting related events and festivals and is happy to give back to the GEMS organization with her time and enthusiasm.

Ą́ba wašte, my name is Shasha McArthur. I’m a Nakota and Nehiyaw filmmaker based here in Vancouver, BC on the unceded territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Tsleil-Waututh, and Musqueam people. I joined the film industry to contribute to changing the under-representation and often misrepresentation of Indigenous crew, talent and creatives within the film industry. Sharing Indigenous narratives and traditional stories whether they’re fiction, or nonfiction often requires protocols and respect for the nation from which the story came. A respectful and mindful preservation of tradition is what I want to achieve with each project I undertake. I would like to say Thank You to the amazing Indigenous creatives that came before me, their tenacity and passion is what has created the path we all walk today. 

“Nothing about us, without us.”

Emma Selinski is an award-winning independent filmmaker, writer, and director originally from Adelaide, Australia. She has worked all over the world, beginning her professional career at London’s Royal Court Theatre and later training at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, before serving as the Artistic Director of Breadcrumbs Theatre in Sydney. Transitioning into film, she built a career as an enthusiastic 1st AD in Los Angeles. Now as the founder of Sunflower Sings Films, her original works have screened and won multiple awards at international festivals. Emma also spent four years as the Senior Virtual Production Coordinator at Netflix’s Eyeline Studios, contributing to high-profile projects including Wednesday, K-Pop Demon Hunters, and One Piece. She is passionate about fostering inclusive, equitable creative spaces where artists can thrive and is proud to support GEMS’ mission of advancing gender equity in media.

Amanda Panon Desbassayns de Richemont (stage name: Amanda Burke) was previously on the board of Women in Film and Television Vancouver (now named GEMS) from 2013 to 2017 and chaired their Film Festival (VIWFF) Committee for their 2014, 2015 and 2016 festivals. Her UBC theatre degree led to performing in musicals, producing and serving as president of MUSSOC, UBC's Musical Theatre Society, improvising, social ballroom dancing, and acting for Film (The Curse of Willow Song, Hold the Dark, Cadence) and TV (The X-Files, The Twilight Zone, A Series of Unfortunate Events). She is a full union member of UBCP/ACTRA, a permittee member of IATSE 891 (Accounting Department, Finance Clerk 2) and a member of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.

Annette Reilly is an award-winning queer neurodivergent filmmaker and actor, known for her role as Diana Spellman, Sabrina’s mortal mother, in Netflix's Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Growing up in small town Alberta, she pursued her love of theatre with a BFA from UVic and was eventually led to film in an effort to bring pressing social justice issues into cinematic storytelling. Annette has developed a wide breadth of production skills working as a Director, Producer, Assistant Director, Production Coordinator, and Asset Coordinator with companies ranging from Independents to Disney, Paramount, and Apple.

Her 2018 film, A Typical Fairytale (which she directed, produced, and acted in), finished its 4 year film festival circuit, garnering over 20 wins and nominations across North America. It can now be seen on the US Premiere LGBTQ2+ Network, HereTV, as well as part of the Out-In-Schools program, an in-school initiative to teach diversity and inclusivity to Canadian youth.

Shiren Van Cooten is a producer currently working on her own content as a director and writer in the documentary sphere. She has produced for CBC and has worked on the small business affairs team in Bell Media’s factual department, working on numerous factual series. After moving to Vancouver from Toronto, she also worked on Hallmark MOWs in a business affairs capacity with Reel One Entertainment, and acted for a few years under representation at Lucas Talent. She has long been a member of WIFT-Toronto, before relocating to BC, where she has been a member of both GEMS and the former WIFT Vancouver. Other memberships include DOC Ontario and DOC Northwest, among others. In the festival world, she was Development Manager for the ReelWorld Film Festival and Special Events Coordinator for a number of years at the Reel Asian Film Festival. She has served on the boards of the Regent Park Focus Youth Media Arts Centre and the Ontario Alliance of Black School Educators. In another part of her life, she is a community educator, offering private and group lessons and public speaking through her company.

Carrie Wheeler is a talent agent and producer based in Vancouver, Canada with over two decades of experience in the fashion and film industries. Carrie has produced commercials, short and feature films, web series, theatre, a new media magazine &  lifestyle series and most recently produced a half hour scripted comedic Pilot. Carrie was the recipient of the Irving Avrich Fund at TIFF 2014, completed the British Columbia Film Producer’s Internship Program, completed the Telefilm Canada Online Marketing and Multiplatform Strategies Program, completed the Antiracism At Work Workshop with Selam Debs, and completed the Disability Awareness Workshop with Heather McCain (LETS). Carrie is the owner/agent of Carrie Wheeler Entertainment Group and co-owner/producer of Redundant Redundant Filmed Entertainment, which is a member of Producing For The Planet, a production sustainability coalition. Carrie sits on the Board of Directors for CineVic Society of Independent Filmmakers in British Columbia.