Join our Board of Directors!
Our Board Members
The Board of Directors at GEMS is a governance board that provides strategic direction and oversees our organization’s decision-making, as well as our legal and financial operations. The Board also maintains the organization’s accountability to our membership, and the broader community that we serve. We encourage expressions of interest from any voting members in good standing, as well as anyone with a background in nonprofit governance, HR and staff management, law, policy, accounting, fundraising, project or event management, community building, social media, marketing or advocacy!
This is a volunteer opportunity that requires Board Members to meet once per month for about 2 hours on Zoom along with several hours devoted to strategic planning and oversight for an estimated 10 hours total per month. Board Members are expected to attend the monthly meetings, the occasional additional meeting, as well as promptly respond to emails. Please email operations@gemsvancouver.org with a resume, a brief introduction, your role in the film/television industry or in another relevant field, and what you can bring to the board!
Cindy Au Yeung
Editor, Producer
Elected on September 29th, 2025
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.
Thea Bracewell
Policy Analyst, Project Manager
Elected on September 29th 2025
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
Writer, Filmmaker, Performer
Elected on September 29th 2025
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.
Shasha McArthur
Filmmaker, Media Artist
Elected on September 20th 2022
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.”
Amanda Panon - Treasurer
Producer, Actor
Elected on October 8th 2024
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 - Secretary
Filmmaker, Actor
Elected on October 8th 2024
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
Producer, Writer, Director
Elected on September 29th, 2025
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.
Working committees of board members and member volunteers help to carry out all of GEMS’ events and activities. For information on volunteering for a GEMS committee please contact operations@gemsvancouver.org
