Panelists/Moderators & Guest Speakers

Valerie Creighton is an industry leader in arts, culture and media, recognized for reenergizing some of the country’s most important organizations in the sector over the last thirty-five years. An expert in organizational change, Valerie has been recognized as a visionary in promoting Canada’s cultural wealth.

Currently serving as President and CEO of the Canada Media Fund, Valerie positions Canadian programming at the forefront in world markets advocating successful, innovative Canadian content and software applications for current and emerging digital platforms. Valerie has taken part in foreign trade missions and is regularly called upon to present the CMF model internationally. 

Valerie was invested into the Saskatchewan Order of Merit in 2016 and the Order of Canada in 2019. She was recognized in 2017 by Women in Television and Film Vancouver for her major contribution to promoting gender equality in media, was bestowed the Honorary Maverick Award at the 2017 Female Eye Film Festival and received C21’s 2020 Content Canada Impact Award. Most recently in October 2021, she was named by The Hollywood Reporter as One of the 20 Most Powerful Women in Global Entertainment.

Valerie holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Saskatchewan, has served on a variety of regional, national, and international juries and boards and has produced radio dramas for the CBC in Saskatchewan, where she owns and operates the Red Horse Ranch.

 Joanne brings over 40 years of communications experience to the role of Commissioner, with expertise in the broadcast and production industries. She has worked as a television journalist for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, formed an independent production company, and served in senior leadership roles in broadcasting. Throughout her career, Joanne has been instrumental in recognizing the needs of Canadians by advocating for consumers and creators and by promoting forward-thinking strategies that foster a thriving digital economy.

Melanie is a member of Minegoziibe Anishinabe. She splits her time between Winnipeg and Toronto. She is currently the VP of Industry, Partnerships & Growth at the Indigenous Screen Office recently transitioning from Warner Bros. Discovery where she oversaw the Canadian team and all initiatives and investments in the screen-based industries in Canada.

She was previously a network executive at APTN and then CBC, where she managed film and television projects of all genres in development and production. It was in those roles that Melanie was on the receiving end of thousands of pitches!

Outside of her daily work, Melanie has a long history of board work with imagineNATIVE and the National Screen Institute. She currently serves on the board for Cousin Collective and countless juries and advisory roles across the industry.

In 2023 she produced a 16mm short film titled ANYWHERE written and directed by Evelyn Pakinewatik. 

In all avenues she aims to connect talent to opportunity to show the world the rich tapestry of the underrepresented storytelling community. 

Dr. Tasha Hubbard (Cree) is a filmmaker and an associate professor in the Department of English and Film and the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta. She is from Peepeekisis Cree Nation in Treaty Four Territory and has ties to Thunderchild Cree Nation in Treaty Six Territory. Her feature documentary nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up opened Hot Docs in 2019, won Best Canadian feature, and won the Canadian Academy Screen Award for Best Feature Documentary. She was also recognized by the Director’s Guild of Canada with the Discovery Award in 2019. She is active in the rematriation of buffalo to the plains ecosystem in alignment with the Buffalo Treaty. Her latest feature documentary, Singing Back the Buffalo, was released in 2024, winning audience choice awards across the continent. Her newest project is Meadowlarks, starring Michael Greyeyes, Carmen Moore, Alex Rice, and Michelle Thrush. It is her first scripted feature film and it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival as a Special Presentation in fall of 2025, and won the Panoramic Audience Choice award at the Vancouver International Film Festival.

Erin is the CEO for Creative Saskatchewan. She is responsible for the overall   operation of the organization, by providing strategic leadership and working   closely with the provincial government, industry stakeholders, the Board of   Directors, and the senior management team. Erin was Creative Saskatchewan’s   first employee, as the Director of Programs, and has been heavily involved in   the creation of programming right from the start. Previously, Erin was a Program Officer at   the Saskatchewan Film Commission and has experience working in Business   Affairs for several independent production companies.
Erin obtained her BFA in Film and Video Production and BA in English at the   University of Regina. Erin also holds a Certificate in Entertainment Law from   the Osgoode Hall Law School. In her spare time, Erin enjoys spending time   with her family, especially baking with her daughter, watching the silver   screen, and game nights with friends.    

Huw Eirug is the CEO of the Nunavut Film Development Corporation (NFDC), established by the Government of Nunavut to increase economic opportunities for Nunavummiut in the screen-based industry.

NFDC provides funding through eight programs for the production and marketing of screen-based media. NFDC’s activities also include strengthening labour skills through our industry training workshops and professional development initiatives and providing a ‘guest production’ service via the Nunavut Film Commission. 

Dorian Rowe has been a leader in the Canadian screen industries for more than two decades. He served as Executive Director of the provincial Crown corporation responsible for interactive digital media, film, and television in Newfoundland and Labrador. There, and in government, his responsibilities also have included working with the music industry, delivering film industry professional development programs, spearheading the establishment of an interactive digital media tax credit, and advocating for the successful creation of an all-spend film tax credit. He has worked in a variety of production and post-production roles including as a writer and editor and as showrunner of two unscripted series. Always keenly involved in the bigger picture of cultural industry growth, he has served on many industry boards and committees, including as co-chair of the National Tax Credit Committee. While responsible for film tax credit and equity investment programs, and serving as provincial film commissioner, production activity more than doubled on his watch.

Lindsay Hamel-Somers brings nearly two decades of professional experience in strategy development, communications, advocacy work and executive leadership across government, non-profit, and private consulting sectors.

Rooted in the creative arts industry, Lindsay’s early career included work on a range of acclaimed productions, including Guy Maddin’s

My Winnipeg, the feature documentary How to Start Your Own Country, and the feature film

The Stone Angel. She also contributed to a variety of other film and television projects in various roles at Buffalo Gal Pictures. In 2007, she participated in the CMPA Producer Mentorship Program.

In addition to her production experience, Lindsay has worked with other nonprofit membership organizations leading strategic initiatives.

Lindsay is a graduate of the Theatre and Film Program at the University of Winnipeg. In 2023, Lindsay was an honoured recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition of her community work.

Andrew Williamson is a seasoned producer and industry leader with extensive experience across the Canadian film and television sectors. He has served on the boards of Producing for the Planet, Langara College, and the CMPA – BC Producers Branch, reflecting his broad perspective on industry development and sectoral policy. Andrew has collaborated with partners including the NFB, CBC, Bell Media, Knowledge Network, ARTE/ZDF and NBCUniversal. He has produced award-winning documentaries and feature films, while mentoring emerging filmmakers to help grow the next generation of storytellers. Beyond the screen industry, he advances climate action through advocacy and community engagement.

Robert Hardy is the Executive Director of  ScreenSask . Robert has been working in  Canadian television production for over 25 years as an executive,  writer, producer & director focusing on documentary, lifestyle &  scripted television. Robert helped create one of the world’s first web  series in 1997 and has built an extensive network within the media  industry since then. He has served as President, Canada for Fireworks  Media Group, Senior Vice President Development at Entertainment One, VP  Development at Paperny Entertainment, network executive with Bell Media  and Senior Communications officer with CBC-Radio Canada. Before that he  was a fundraiser, communications director and advertising writer &  director. 

As founder of EyeSteelFilm, Daniel Cross has been a central figure in the international

documentary community for decades. His process-driven and hyper-personal approach as

director, producer, and educator has had a profound influence on a generation of documentary

filmmakers. 

In 1999, Cross traveled to Yorkton to present his very first film, a Super 8mm

documentary titled DANNY BOY. After receiving his first Yorkton Jury Award, Cross called his

parents and told them he had a new career. Since then, Cross has attended the festival regularly

and contributed to over 20 Yorkton Golden Sheaf nominated films.

His most recent film as director/producer I Am the Blues, received two Yorkton Golden

Sheaf Awards, along with two Canadian Screen Awards. Cross is a voting member of the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscars) and a Professor at Concordia

University’s School of Cinema.

Steve Allen is a principal partner, founding member and a Producer  and Director with the Wavelength Entertainment Group and is responsible  for major decisions on key issues for the Wavelength Entertainment  Group of companies.
 

Steve has worked in the television industry as a Director and/or  Director of Photography on commercials and documentary series since 2001  for History Television, Discovery Channel, Discovery Military, The  Smithsonian Channel US, A&E Biography, and TLC.
 

In 2009 he won the Showcase best Photography award In 2005 for Worksafe  Saskatchewan “Hospital” commercial, He was nominated for a Canadian  Society of Cinematographers C.S.C. Award for Best Cinematography for his  work on the documentary Escape from Iran, which was also nominated for a  Gemini Award. He was nominated for a Showcase Award for Best  Cinematography in a Documentary for the series Crime Stories. He has  also been nominated for a Showcase Award for Best Visual Effects. 

Cara Nye, Director of Production, AMI-tv, for Accessible Media Inc.: Cara has over 30 years of production experience, having previously worked for CHUM/Rogers supporting such networks as MuchMusic, Citytv, OMNI, FX Canada, OLN and Bio. Since joining AMI-tv in 2012, Cara is responsible for AMI’s original productions, including the weekly magazine-style show, AMI This Week; #IGotThis; the documentary series Our Community and the upcoming new series Mind Your Own Business. 

Cara and her team at AMI are dedicated to creating accessible content for all Canadians. Through a production process called Integrated Described Video (IDV), AMI embeds audio description directly into the programs they produce, providing a seamless and inclusive experience for the blind or partially sighted viewer. This is done without adding the traditional post-production Described Video track. Along with AMI’s team of DV/IDV Specialists, Cara’s production staff ensures that all internal productions, as well as content and programming created in partnership with outside production houses, is 100% accessible and qualifies as “described” in the eyes of the CRTC. Applying the IDV method of production ensures that the integrity of the program, as envisioned by the producers, is not altered in a post-production environment, but included in all stages: pre-production, production and post.

Stephen Sawchuk is an award-winning Writer/Director/Producer based in Vancouver, British Columbia with a wealth of experience executing large-scale scripted & unscripted projects. With nearly 15 years of experience under his belt, Stephen has produced well over 120 hours of television for networks and streamers including Apple TV, MGM, Peacock, HGTV, E, Blue Ant Media, Lifetime and many others. Stephen has had the pleasure of working with Academy Award-winning and Grammy-winning A-list talent, and has produced projects across North America, the UK and the EU. Select credits include ‘Sidney’ (TIFF official selection, feature film), 'BRATS' (Tribeca official selection, feature film), ‘Women Who Rock’ (4 x 1 hour docu-series), ‘Baking Spirits Bright’ (TV Movie) and ‘Love it or List it Vancouver’ (75 x 1 hour lifestyle series). His short film, 'Hell is a Teenage Girl' held its Canadian premiere at Fantasia International Film Festival, and has gone on to receive nominations & win awards at festivals across the world. Stephen is currently in development on a feature-length adaptation of the project, which was selected for the Blood in the Snow Feature Film Development Lab in 2024.

Sean is an award winning producer, writer, and director. Over the past 15 years, he has created and run more than 200 hours of television for major networks across Canada and around the world. He is a specialist at creating and running large scale reality, social experiment, documentary and real estate series. Credits include: Bachelor Canada, Border Security, Love It Or List It, Jillian and Justin, Urban/Suburban, Cheer Squad, Cupcake Girls, Liquidator and many more. Sean has also launched a number of Online Platforms, International Ad campaigns and is experienced in product integration for television. Clients include tourism agencies across Canada, USA, Mexico, Tahiti and the Caribbean. He has also worked with major brands including Nutrl, Nestle, Sunwing, Molson, Colgate and many more. In a previous life, Sean was a Senior Writer/ Reporter for CBC, and a London-based journalist for BBC World Television.

Charlotte Engel has over 30 years of experience in film and television as a producer, writer and broadcaster. She recently wrote and produced a mockumentary series entitled “Happy Trails Photography” for Bell Fibe Channel 1 and produced, wrote and directed an episode of CBC’s “Land and Sea” about cinnamon rolls called “The Great Cinnamon Roll Debate”. While at CBC, she oversaw CBC’s cutting edge documentary strands Firsthand and CBC Docs POV. She specialized in bringing unique voices and unforgettable stories to CBC. Many of these documentaries won multiple awards ( “Indictment: The Crimes of Shelley Chartier”, “Nipawistamasowin: We Will Stand Up” and “The Skin We’re In”).

As a producer of documentaries for Rock Yenta Productions, she brought docs to CBC, TVO and the Documentary Channel. She won a Canadian Screen Award for “My Millennial Life” and a Golden Sheaf award for “Mugshot”.

Residing in PEI, Engel currently is on the board of Film PEI and Charlottetown Film Society and is also on the Yorkton Film Festival programming committee. She has previously sat on the boards of Hot Docs, DOC Ontario and imagineNATIVE.

Engel is a storyteller at heart, always searching for the next story to tell. Fortunately, PEI and Canada are full of wonderful and important stories to bring to light.

Sometime between the invention of colour  television and the first HD broadcast in Canada, Joanne McDonald’s world  has mostly been filled with screen-based media (which until recently  was better known as film and television) and lots of coffee.

As  the General Manager for Citytv Saskatchewan she’s involved in all  aspects of broadcasting- from operations to programming. The station is a  provincial educational broadcaster and was called SCN in a former life.

Over  the years she has helped bring many hours of content from Saskatchewan  and beyond to screens and audiences. A number of titles have won  national and international awards –and have gone on to be licensed in  other markets around the world.

When  she’s not running a TV station, you can find her volunteering for arts  and cultural organizations- at present she sits on two Boards of  Directors: SaskCulture (Past President) and the Yorkton Film Festival.  She also gets to vote as a member of the Academy of Canadian Cinema  & Television and belongs to Women in Communications and Technology.  In the past she was on the board of the Saskatchewan Media Producers  Industry Association and was a member of the Saskatchewan Arts Board’s  Creative Industries Advisory Committee. In her other spare time she  likes to make jelly salads, pull weeds in the garden and travel. And  watch TV - of course.

Although her dad remains skeptical to this day, there is proof that someone with a philosophy degree can get a real job.

As the Program Manager, Original Production  (Citytv, OMNI, Citytv Sask), Rogers Sports and Media, Will Dixon  oversees the development and production of original homegrown  programming for the Rogers owned station. 

Prior  to this position, Will spent three years as a Regional Development  Executive for the premium pay television network Super Channel. Before  that Will worked primarily in TV production spending almost 20 years  writing, directing, story editing, and producing series and movies  everywhere from Toronto to Vancouver to Montreal to Edmonton to Regina  to Los Angeles.

Kaya Wheeler, Program Manager, Indigenous  Screen Office, is of Anishnaabe and Nehiyaw descent – is a registered  member of Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba. She graduated from the  University of Winnipeg with a bachelor of arts in Indigenous Studies,  and has been working within the Indigenous community in Winnipeg for  more than 10 years. 

She  has spent a large portion of this time working with Indigenous youth in  many areas, including acting and storytelling for theatre. For the last  five years she has specifically worked with emerging and mid-career  storytellers in film, tv and digital media. 

She  has had experience both volunteering and working on film sets, and even  had a small stint on the stage and in front of the camera.

Jon Taylor is a media executive based in Toronto, Canada. Jon is the CEO of the Independent Production Fund, one of Canada's oldest funding agencies and a pioneer in digital series development and production financing.  Prior to joining the IPF, Jon was VP of Digital Content & Strategy at Bell Media where he led the launch of Crave, Canada’s premiere streaming platform.  Prior to that Jon was Executive Producer of CTV Network and has worked as a producer for Discovery, ESPN, MTV, the United Nations, the Academy Awards and at the Olympic Games.