CREATING CONNECTIONS

A CBC Entertains and BIPOC TV & FILM Collaboration.

Join us for a morning of panel discussions with CBC and BIPOC TV & Film, an afternoon of breakout sessions with CBC executives from the Factual, Documentary, Kids, Drama, Comedy and Acquisition departments, and a full-day opportunity to network with fellow BIPOC creatives and independent production companies.

Thursday, March 7, 2024 from 9:30am to 4:30pm
The Toronto Broadcast Centre
250 Front Street West

PANELS

BREAKOUT SESSIONS

NETWORKING BOOTHS

PANELS • BREAKOUT SESSIONS • NETWORKING BOOTHS •

Schedule of the Day

09:30 - 10.00
Registration

10:00 - 10:15
Welcome

10:15 - 11:15
Journey with the CBC Panel Discussion followed by Q&A, Hosted by CBC Entertains

11:15 - 11:30
Coffee Break

11:30 - 12:30
Getting Hired Panel Discussion followed by Q&A, Hosted by BIPOC TV & Film

12:30 - 13:30
Lunch Break

13:30 - 14:10
Roundtable Session 1 in Conference Centre

14:10 - 14:30
Coffee Break

14:30 - 15:10
Roundtable Session 2 in Conference Centre

15:10 - 15:30
Coffee Break

15:30 - 16:10
Roundtable Session 3 in Conference Centre

12:30 - 15:00
Connecting with Independent Production Companies

A Morning of Panel Discussions

My Journey with the CBC Panel Discussion

  • Anthony Morgan is an award-winning science communicator, PhD researcher, startup founder, and game designer who has hosted dozens of TV programs. He’s also the new host of The Nature of Things on CBC Television (alongside Sarika Cullis-Suzuki). He's obsessed with changing how people see, think, and talk about science in their everyday lives. He's spent close to 20 years finding ways to do just that.

    He holds degrees in Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour and Science Communication. His Ph.D. work to explores how we can reduce polarization to have better conversations around tricky science using an experimental game he hosts across Canada.

  • Chris Strikes is a Canadian Screen Award-winning director who began his career in music videos

    working with top Canadian and international artists, including Nelly Furtado, Kardinal Offishall

    and Machel Montano.

    In 2019 Chris was one of only six recipients of Hot Docs’ first Cross Currents Canada Fund, with

    his first feature length documentary BECOMING A QUEEN. Chris is also an alumni of Hot Docs

    Accelerator Fellowship, Reelworld E20 program and the Netflix-BANFF Diversity of Voices

    Initiative.

    BECOMING A QUEEN screened in film festivals in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean

    and went on to win Best Feature Film at the 2021 CaribbeanTales International Film Festival, the

    Audience Choice Award for Best International Feature Film at the 2021 Baltimore International

    Black Film Festival and was nominated for Best Picture Editing for Documentary in the 2021 DGC

    Awards.

    Chris followed up in writing, directing and co-producing the hit CBC Short Docs film, PATTY vs.

    PATTY, released in 2022. PATTY vs. PATTY went on to win five awards, most notably the 2023

    Canadian Screen Awards for Best Short Documentary.

    Most recently Chris co-directed a CBC The Nature of Things documentary titled Hairy Tales, a

    quirky and exciting examination of what is hair, why do we have it and can we change our hair

    destiny? Hairy Tales set for release on CBC on March 7th 2024.

  • Andrew Burrows-Trotman (ABT) earned a Double Honours degree in English and History at the University of Toronto before attending the American Film Institute's Screenwriting MFA programme. Upon graduation, ABT wrote a feature screenplay based on the Valley Manor Retirement Home scandal entitled, IF WE LEFT which was shortlisted for the prestigious San Francisco Film Society's Hearst Grant.

    ABT subsequently joined the writing staff of FRANKIE DRAKE MYSTERIES, writing episodes for the first three seasons of the popular series. His other TV credits include DIGGSTOWN (CBC/BET+), UTOPIA FALLS (CBC/Hulu) and THE PORTER (CBC/BET). ABT was also Co-Showrunner of a one-hour drama that was in development with CBC and Boatrocker Studios.

    ABT prides himself on paying it forward by mentoring marginalized writers of all backgrounds and walks of life. He was the Mentor-In-Residence for the BIPOC TV & Film Episodic Lab and an instructor for the Sundance Collab One Hour Drama Intensive.

  • Alexandra Lazarowich's latest project, DÊTETSI VO'I ONINJAKAN WINDING PATH, which she co-directed with Ross Kauffman, had its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival in Nonfiction Short Films. Her prior credits include Staff Writer on SYFY's RESIDENT ALIEN, Director for an UNTITLED HULU DOC SERIES, Director for CBC's STUFF THE BRITISH STOLE, and Series Producer for CBC's STILL STANDING.

    Alexandra is a Cree filmmaker from northern Alberta, Canada and her short documentary FAST HORSE won the Special Jury Prize for Directing at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. She is a co-founder of the Indigenous experimental non-profit COUSIN COLLECTIVE.

Getting Hired Panel Discussion

  • Alice Wang is a Chinese-Canadian filmmaker based in Toronto. Keeping their parents happy with a degree in psychology from the University of Toronto, they have now transitioned to filmmaking and enjoy writing stories they’ve always wanted to tell. Alice has worked as a production coordinator at CBC Kids, Industry Producer at Canadian Film Fest and Manager of Programming at Regent Park Film Festival. ¼ of Videatur Collective, they run programming to support QTBIPOC filmmakers in creating their first short films. As a creative, Alice gravitates towards telling stories about loss, acceptance, and belonging with nuanced perspectives on family dynamics and self actualization.

  • Christopher Yip (he/him) is a Queer Chinese Canadian writer director based in Toronto whose works examine love, family, and sexuality through a distinct diasporic lens. He is a participant of the Warner Bros. Discovery Access x Canadian Academy Director’s Program for 2023-2024.

    His latest film FISH BOY premiered at the BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival. His series Streams Flow From a River had its International Premiere at the Cannes International Series Festival and is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV in Canada.

    He is represented by Jennifer Irons at META Talent Agency.

  • Yazmeen Kanji is a Muslim Indo-Caribbean filmmaker, the former Advocacy and Outreach Lead at BIPOC TV & Film and the owner of Films With A Cause - a consulting firm for authentic on-screen storytelling practices. Yazmeen’s short documentary, With Love From Munera (2020), won the audience choice award at the 2021 Breakthroughs Film Festival, was an official selection at TIFF Next Wave 2021 and is now available to stream on the digital TIFF Bell Lightbox. She is developing her first documentary for broadcast in-part funded by the Hot Docs CrossCurrents Fund and is in post-production on a short film funded by the Ontario Arts Council about an Indo-Caribbean teenager who daydreams to seek her inner confidence.

  • Shazia Javed is the CEO and founder at LifeSketch Media, a Production company committed to nuanced storytelling & showcasing perspectives from historically marginalized communities. Shazia recently served as a Producer, Director and Writer on 'Potluck Ladies', a half hour scripted TV series scheduled for broadcast this spring on Hollywood Suite and YES TV. Her past credits includes 3 Seconds Divorce (Netflix, ORF, Reelworld), Namrata ( NFB, Hot Docs) and short, 'Spin Over' which premiered at British Film Institute as part of its festival run last year. Shazia is an alumna of Netflix-Banff Diversity of Voices, Banff-Spark incubator for Women in the Business of Media, BIPOC Film & TV Showrunner Bootcamp, WIDC Career Advancement Module module, Reelworld E20, and DOC Breakthrough development incubator where she won the top prize. She was inducted into Playback 10 to watch, 2020 for her achievements. Currently, Shazia is overseeing development on a slate of projects at Lifesketch Media.

An Afternoon of Roundtable Discussions

Meet the CBC Executives

  • Sandra is Senior Director of Documentary for CBC Television, overseeing documentary content that includes original one-offs, Limited Doc series, The Nature of Things, The Passionate Eye, CBC Short Docs, and the subscription-based documentary Channel.

  • Michelle McCree is an Executive In Charge of Production at CBC Docs—the team commissions broadcast hours, features, and documentary series. Michelle oversees The Passionate Eye, home to an internationally renowned playlist of documentaries from Canada and worldwide. Her most recent doc series is Black Life: Untold Stories. Before joining CBC, Michelle worked across genres as a director, writer, and producer.

  • As Executive in Charge of Unscripted Development Yasmine works with independent producers to develop factual programming for CBC and CBC Gem. Before joining the CBC she worked within Canada’s independent production sector for 20 years, including a lead development role with factual prodco Cream Productions. Yasmine also served as a content producer for the Banff World Media Festival’s inaugural BANFF Spark Accelerator for Women in the Business of Media.

  • Paige Murray has worked at the CBC for over twelve years and is currently Executive in Charge of Development, and Drama on the Scripted Content team. In this role, Paige oversees the development of a one-hour drama series and actively looks for creators and stories that reflect the spectrum of the Canadian experience to entertain and enlighten CBC audiences. Previously, she was Executive in Charge of Production, YA Digital Originals, overseeing production and development of short and mid-length series for CBC Gem such as Series Mania Best Short Series winner and SXSW Episodic Jury winner Something Undone, CSA nominated Fakes, CSA Winner Detention Adventure, CSA nominated Decoys, and For Heaven’s Sake. Before this role, she worked with the scripted content team as the Development Manager for Comedy and Drama and was the Canadian Reflections Programmer.

    Additionally, Paige currently sits on the board of Regent Park Film Festival and the advisory board of The Future of Film Showcase.

  • Micah Kernan is the Development Manager for both Drama and Comedy. She coordinates the management, tracking, and distribution of projects. She supports the team by evaluating pitches and being the point of contact for creators to connect with CBC. Micah is the current Programmer for Canada’s longest-running short film showcase, Canadian Reflections. At the CBC, inclusion and representation are a priority. This means Micah works to reflect all regions and the country’s multifaceted nature while programming for Canadian Reflections.

  • Chloe Sosa-Sims is the Senior Advisor, Unscripted Acquisitions at CBC where she oversees unscripted content planning and evaluation for CBC Gem & TV, which includes international and Canadian one-offs and series for our various slots and thematic collections. She also manages acquired content for the Passionate Eye and the documentary Channel. Prior to her role at CBC, Chloe worked in production spanning both independent documentary and factual television. She also served as the Industry Programmer at the Hot Docs International Film Festival.

  • Lea Marin is the Director of Development, Drama, for the CBC, and is responsible for driving and overseeing the quality and diversity of the drama development slate including the recently launched productions, Wild Cards and Allegiance. A graduate of the Canadian Film Centre’s Producers’ Lab, prior to joining the CBC, Lea was a Senior Producer with the National Film Board of Canada where she developed and produced several documentaries and interactive projects. Some of her credits include Ever Deadly co-created by Tanya Tagaq & Chelsea McMullan, Charles Officer’s Unarmed Verses, Astra Taylor’s What Is Democracy?

  • Emma Bishop is the Senior Specialist, Acquisitions where she is responsible for the evaluation of scripted content for CBC Gem, including Canadian and international feature films and English and non-English series. Emma has also worked with CBC Films and CBC Scripted Gem Originals. Prior to joining the CBC, Emma worked as an Industry Programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival as well as in casting for scripted series and production for independent film and theatre.

  • As Executive in Charge of Development for CBC Comedy, Sarah is responsible for developing high quality, impactful original scripted comedy series for the network’s development slate. Prior to joining CBC, she served as Creative Executive at Northwood Entertainment (Anne With An E, The Grizzlies) where she managed their slate of television and feature film projects in development and production. Sarah started her career as a coordinator for independent film and digital series (How to Buy a Baby, Detention Adventure, We are Savvy). She has also volunteered on a number of initiatives including co-facilitating AccessCBC, an initiative for creators with disabilities and as an advocate for the Academy Executive Residency Program.

  • Drew Mullin is an international award-winning Writer, Director and Producer who joined CBC Kids team as an Executive in Charge of Production in 2016. At CBC, Drew has overseen several broadcast and digital series including Dot, Kingdom Force, Big Blue, Dino Ranch, Mitten & Pants, Addison, Napkin Man, Game Savers, Let's Go Bananas, and Snapshots (2018 International Emmy winner). Drew also executive produces the recent relaunch of CBC Street Cents on TikTok.

  • It has been a wild ride (in a good way) working in Kids content for the past 25 years. At CBC Kids, I am lucky enough to work on some classic award winning series both in live action and animation. Most recently, as Executive in Charge of Production on Macy Murdoch (you read that right, William Murdoch has a great, great, great granddaughter), the super sweet 3D/2D animated preschool series, Dylan (launching April 1,2024) and Dino Ranch 2&3 (airing now).

  • Swin Chang is the Executive in Charge of Development and Production for CBC Kids. She works with the independent production community to seek out, create and curate preschool and tween content for CBC TV and CBC Gem. In this role, she focuses on development and acquisitions, and oversees production of selected projects with independent producers as well as in-house preschool series.

    Prior to that, Chang was Director of Development for Alibi Pivotal Kids, and the Director of Development for Entertainment One Family. She began her career at Family Channel, Disney XD and Disney Jr (Astral Media networks) where she worked in collaboration with independent producers on many hit shows such as Life With Derek, Radio Free Roscoe, The Latest Buzz, Wingin’ It, Stella and Sam and Justin Time.

  • Marie's career in children's media began at TVOntario as a writer/producer where she helped create Gisele's Big Backyard and included a stint at CBC in the early 2000s where she launched the in-house kids’ programming brand then known as Kids’ CBC. Since taking the lead at CBC Kids in 2017, Marie and her team have launched the award-winning in-house flagship preschool series Studio K and Gary's Magic Fort. CBC Kids has championed homegrown animated and live action originals such as Dino Ranch, Mittens and Pants and Detention Adventure, and featured bespoke acquisitions from around the globe such as Paddington Bear and Hello Kitty Superstyle on the CBC Kids national morning television block and CBC Gem streaming service. CBC Kids’ array of original daily games, activities and news content on award-winning cbckids.ca and cbckidsnews.ca websites have become a popular staple for school kids across the country. CBC Street Cents, the reboot of CBC's iconic financial literacy series, is helping teens and Gen Zs make money stuff make sense daily on TikTok and YouTube.

  • Jessica oversees development of original content and formats in the genres of factual, entertainment and documentary series at CBC and CBC Gem. She is responsible for sourcing the best new formats from around the world, and working with the independent production community in Canada to bring their ideas to life. Since joining the Unscripted team in 2011, Jessica has led development on popular and award-winning series including Stuff the British Stole, Race Against the Tide, Best In Miniature, Canada’s Ultimate Challenge, You Can’t Ask That, Great Canadian Pottery Throw Down and original paranormal series Ghosting.

Connecting with Independent Production Companies

Meet the Production Companies

 FAQs

  • Attendees will be told which two Roundtable Sessions they will be attending at registration on the day of Creating Connections, on March 7 at 9am.

  • Unscripted Roundtable Sessions (Factual and Documentary) will be in Conference Room A

    Scripted Roundtable Sessions (Comedy and Drama) will be in Conference Room B

    Kids Roundtable Sessions will be in Conference Room E & F

    Acquisitions Roundtable Sessions will be in Conference Room D

  • Confirmation of attendance (ID, email)

    Business cards or something similar to share contact information with other attendees.

    A water bottle, there will be no bottled water available, but plenty of water fountains.

  • There will be coffee and tea available in the morning and afternoon.

    The food court in the Broadcast Centre is open for attendees to grab lunch at 12:30pm.

    If you wish to leave during the lunch hour, there are plenty of places to grab food in the surrounding area.

  • Registration opens at 9am and we encourage everyone to join us at our two panel discussions in the morning. There will be some great insight from our panel guests you won’t want to miss.

  • While ASL will not be available, closed captions for the panel discussions can be accessed through the link here. You will also be able to access the closed captions through a QR code provided at the event.

Contact Us

BIPOC TV & Film
Ashutosh Sharma - ash@bipoctvandfilm.com
Rebecca Rashev - rebecca@bipoctvandfilm.com

CBC Entertains
Justine Fung - justine.fung@cbc.ca