Events

Sunday March 28, 2021

Our first event specifically for artists + creatives that are Black, Indigenous and People of Colour – was a safe, open and casual conversation that explored what a true ally is.

Thursday February 25, 2021

Presented by Creatives Empowered and Reelworld Film Festival & Screen Institute, in partnership with AMPIA

A powerful and enlightening discussion on the challenges racialized talent face in Alberta’s screen-based industries – from emerging to established – and the solutions we all need to see.

We share practical and supportive resources you can access now to create more opportunity and equity.

Moderated by Creatives Empowered Founder Shivani Saini, panelists include actor, producer, award-winning entrepreneur and activist Jesse Lipscombe, Emmy nominated Tonya Williams – the Founder and Executive Director of Reelworld, and award-winning Nigerian-Canadian filmmaker Omatta Udalor.

PANELISTS

Jesse Lipscombe | Actor, Producer, Entrepreneur & Activist

Jesse Lipscombe is an Edmonton-based actor, producer, entrepreneur and activist, who started his acting career at age 14 alongside Sidney Poitier in the Calgary-shot film Children of the Dust.  Jesse continues to act and produce in award-winning productions, and is a multiple CSA and Rosie award nominee.  In 2018, Jesse was the recipient of the Obsidian Award for Top Business Leader in Western Canada, and he was named Community Man of the Year by Diversity Magazine. Through it all, Jesse’s top priority has been giving back to his community, which he’s done through multiple annual fundraisers and partnerships with Edmonton charities such as WIN House and iHuman.  In September 2017, Jesse and his wife Julia launched the #MakeItAwkward campaign to combat racism, misogyny, homophobia and hatred of all kinds.

Tonya Williams | Founder & Executive Director, Reelworld

Emmy nominated Tonya Williams is the Founder and Executive Director of Reelworld Film Festival and Reelworld Screen Institute, now in their 20th year, and AccessReelworld.ca; North America’s largest recruiting database for racially diverse talent.  Through these organizations she’s been able to advocate and create more access and inclusion for Canadian Black, Indigenous, People of Colour in the screen-based production industries.  She currently sits on Telefilm’s Diversity & Inclusion Group, the Canadian Media Fund Black Industry Leaders Group, Board of Directors for WOW! Unlimited Media, The Black Academy, and is one of the founders and a Board Member of the Black Screen Office.  Tonya is based in Los Angeles.

Omatta Udalor | Producer, Director & Actor

Omatta Udalor is a Nigerian-Canadian producer, director and actor who tells stories from a different perspective, and strives for inclusive stories with a unique voice.  The founder of Floating Handcuffs Entertainment Inc., Omatta has produced 4 award winning short films: Texted, The Trials of Miss Mudimbe, The Citizen and A Path to Somewhere.  As an actor he’s appeared on Heartland, Hell on Wheels, Wynona Earp, Till You’re 16, in web series Private Dicks and The Katabasis and in feature films such as Global Meltdown, The Lost Cafe, and Valerie.  Omatta is an active member of the Calgary Society for Independent Filmmakers, a Cultural Instigator with CADA, and an advocate for diversity, inclusion, tolerant understanding and the empowerment of BIPOC artists and individuals.

Thursday November 26, 2020

Presented By AMPIA and Atelier Culturati

In this unprecedented time Alberta’s film + television industry has an incredible opportunity to start making its productions more inclusive and diverse, by creating real opportunities for media professionals who are Black, Indigenous and People of Colour.

Gain insight from industry pros to understand why you should hire BIPOC and invaluable advice on how to approach it.

Moderated by Shivani Saini (Blackstone), panelists include Georgina Lightning (Trickster), Trevor Solway (Intertribal), Michelle Wong (Heartland) and Gillian Müller from BIPOC TV & FILM, creators of the newly released database HireBIPOC.com.

PANELISTS

Georgina Lightning | Director, Writer & Actress

Georgina Lightning is a member of the Samson Cree Nation.

She co-founded Tribal Alliance Productions, partnering with executive producer Audrey Martinez, as a means to create opportunities for Native American, First Nations, and other Indigenous filmmakers.

In 2008 Lightning directed, wrote, and starred in the award-winning supernatural thriller Older Than America, becoming the first North American Indigenous Woman to direct a major feature film.  She based the film on her father’s experience with the Canadian Indian Residential school system and other personal family stories.

In 2007 she was featured in Filmmaker Magazine as one of 25 New Faces of Independent Film.  In 2010 she was the recipient of the “White House Project- Epic-Award for Emerging Artist”. 

Trevor Solway | Filmmaker

Trevor Solway is a Blackfoot filmmaker from the Siksika Nation.  He founded Solway Entertainment after graduating from MRU’s Journalism program in 2017, and also founded The Napi Collective in 2018, a grassroots filmmaking society to help develop the next wave of Indigenous filmmakers and films.

Solway acts as writer, producer and director for his short films and documentaries, which have been screened at international film festivals and earned many accolades. His film, Indian Giver, has screened at the ImagineNATIVE Media & Arts Festival, the Calgary International Film Festival, the American Indian Film Festival and the LA Skins Fest. His documentary Siksika Strong helped raise $77,000 for the 2013 flood evacuees of his community.  His documentary Intertribal made its world broadcast premiere on CBC.

Michelle Wong | Writer, Director, Producer & Executive Producer

With more than 25 years in the film and television industry, Michelle brings an unparalleled breadth and depth of production experience to Seven24 Films, as Head of Business Affairs.

Michelle’s production credits cross all formats, from television movies to feature length documentaries, performing arts specials and features, including but not limited to Heartland and Wynona Earp.

Michelle began her formal film training at the National Film Board (NFB) working with the Oscar award-winning Studio D, where she directed and produced her first documentary Return Home, following up with the emotionally powerful Pieces of a Dream: A Story of Gambling.

Michelle is also a Board Member of the CMPA and Women in View.

Gillian Müller | Writer

Born and raised in Toronto to a mixed-up Trinidadian family, Gillian was a 2014 resident of the Canadian Film Centre’s Primetime program. Under that year’s showrunner Brad Wright (Stargate) Gillian developed Travelers (Netflix) and wrote Episode 2: ‘Protocol 6.’ Gillian has also written for Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum for PBS, Endlings for Hulu and Lockdown for YouTube. She worked in the 5 writer’s rooms of X Company and Cavendish, as well as several development rooms for shows that never happened. She co-directed the webseries Night Owl (SXSW 2018) and the BravoFact Checking Out, she co-produced Super Zee (WIFF 2019, Outlanta/OutFest 2020) with an all P.O.C. crew. In 2018, Gillian was selected for Muslim Public Affairs Council: Hollywood Bureau’s Drama TV Writer’s Lab sponsored by the Emmy nominated Wise Entertainment. She was named December 2018’s Writer’s Guild of Canada Diverse Script of the Month for her police procedural The Blue Division and was selected by Ben Watkins (Burn Notice, Hand of God) as one of his Toronto Screenwriting Conference’s Breakthrough Artists for 2019. Her pilot script for The Player’s Son is currently in the Top 100 on The Launch Pad. Her feature The Favorite Wife made the second round competition at the Austin Film Festival. Her pilot Spinsters! is on the We For She 2020 list of best unproduced female centred screenplays. Gillian also serves as a Senior Board member of the BIPOC TV & Film Visioning Committee and the Black Women Film! Advisory Board. She currently writes for The Surrealtor for SyFy.