Join our Board of Directors!

Our Board Members
The Board of Directors at GEMS is a governance board that 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, and in particular anyone with a background in nonprofit governance, HR and staff management, accounting, fundraising, project or event management, community building, or advocacy!
This is a volunteer opportunity that requires Board Members to meet once per month for about 2 hours on Zoom. 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 industry, and what you can bring to the board!

Ghazal Elhaei - President
Director, Writer, Producer
Elected on October 8th 2024
Ghazal Elhaei is an Iranian-Canadian Director, Writer, and Producer. Her immigrant experience has imbued her work with a unique perspective on transformation and the boundless possibilities it offers, regardless of one's origins. Her passion lies in inspiring personal growth and believing in its profound impact on the world. At the core of Ghazal's journey is an unwavering commitment to sharing impactful stories that empower individuals to break free from self-imposed limitations.
Ghazal brings a wealth of expertise and insight via her decade-plus work in scripted entertainment, creative direction, and branding positioning/strategy. She has worked on productions for studios such as Netflix, Disney, Apple TV, and Bell Media. Her creative direction can be seen with globally recognized brands such as Ketel One, Bombay Sapphire, Nespresso, and ETSY.
Elhaei is the founder of Capital G Media, a Vancouver-based international integrated communications and creative agency and production company. She is currently developing her first feature and directorial debut, Let That Be Enough.

Alyssa Aussant - Vice-President
Screenwriter, Producer, Content Creator
Elected on September 27th 2023
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.

Marena Dix - Secretary
Post-production Supervisor, Festival Director
Elected on September 27th 2023
Marena Dix is an award-winning film professional working out of Vancouver, BC. Her dedication, organization and communication skills have helped her excel in her eight years working in film. After working on notable short-form works, such as the Gotham-nominated web series Inconceivable, Marena moved her focus to post production. Over the last five years she has honed her skills on many popular series and independent features in post and is excited to work on many more in the future.

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.


Andy Alvarez
Writer, Director
Elected on October 8th 2024
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.

Veronika Kurz
Director and Producer
Elected on October 8th 2024
Veronika Kurz is an award-winning director and producer whose work spans a wide variety of genres and has screened at festivals worldwide. With a background in technical film production, she delivers story-driven, cinematic products with a feature film feel. She is an alumna of the Netflix-Banff Diversity of Voices Initiative, Women in the Director’s Chair, and Capilano University’s Motion Picture Arts Program. Veronika has a passion for creative storytelling and loves working collaboratively to bring great ideas to life. Through her work, she aims to inspire, entertain, and move her audience.

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.”

Annette Reilly
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.

Mikah Sharkey
Director of Photography
Elected on October 8th 2024
Mikah Sharkey is a Director of Photography based in Vancouver through ICG 699 and in association with the Canadian Society of Cinematographers. Mikah began shooting corporate video productions in 2007 before becoming a camera assistant and working on union productions in 2009. Mikah boasts over a decade of on-set experience and has a versatile reel that ranges from drama to high budget action television incorporating VFX as well as lifestyle pieces and indie dramas. Mikah is ICG 669's first openly trans member and has spent time in the union's Human Rights Committee, Young Workers Committee, Women's Committee and Strategic Planning Committee always trying to improve the human rights of members under the associated contracts.
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