Vancouver, B.C. (April 30, 2026) – Creative BC announces $200,000 in funding to support 20 projects led by emerging and/or equity seeking filmmakers in British Columbia. Designed to address systemic barriers in the motion picture industry, the Equity + Emerging Development Program enables new and diverse voices to enter the field and develop original intellectual property. By providing financial support without requiring prior commitments from broadcasters or investors, the program reduces entry barriers and allows emerging talent to focus on creativity and innovation.
The program offers grants of up to $10,000 to support the early stages of project development, including research, concept creation, and scriptwriting. Creative BC, alongside a panel of industry professionals reflecting the province’s key demographics and the systemically excluded groups this program aims to support, evaluated submissions based on the program’s priorities. The assessment considered the project’s overall strength, including originality and the ability to present innovative stories, feasibility for advancing to production, and potential impact in engaging and reaching audiences.
Acknowledging that there have been systemic barriers to access, and that supporting new and diverse talent is crucial to a vibrant and thriving motion picture industry, 100% of the funding is distributed to individuals who are either an emerging filmmaker or self-identify in one or more of the following systemically excluded groups: Indigenous, Black, People of Colour, 2SLGBTQIA+, Women, Non-binary, or people with disabilities. This program embodies Creative BC’s actions for equity and inclusion in program delivery.
The following is a list of successful B.C. recipients, each awarded $10,000 to create domestically owned and controlled creative content:
- Project: A MAMU MOVIE
Set in the awe-inspiring archipelago of Haida Gwaii, this film explores the secret and extraordinary life of the Marbled Murrelet.
Company: Wild Bus Films, Moonfish Media
Key Creative Team: Louisa Gilbert, Deirdre Leowinata
Type/Location: Mid-length Documentary, Campbell River - Project: ADDENDUM
A visual artist discovers a hidden prenup clause that exposes her fiancé’s true agenda and sparks a ruthless psychological showdown.
Company: Meghan Hemingway
Key Creative Team: Meghan Hemingway, David Taylor
Type/Location: Scripted Feature, Vancouver - Project: ADVERSE POSSESSION
Four renovicted renters break into a vacant mansion for shelter. They soon realize that the mansion isn’t just empty: it’s famished.
Company: Aesopica Media Inc.
Key Creative Team: Norman Li
Type/Location: Scripted Feature, Surrey - Project: AWAY WITH THE FAIRIES
When three sisters gather on a remote island in British Columbia to confront their mother’s mysterious illness, buried resentments and cultural duty unleash a slow-burn descent into horror.
Company: Media Plaster Productions Inc.
Key Creative Team: René Brar, Renuka Singh, Shevon Singh
Type/Location: Scripted Feature, Vancouver - Project: BOYS WILL BE
When a teenage boy realises he crossed a partner’s boundaries, he begins to unravel the culture of masculinity, friendship and silence that shaped him, and the boys around him.
Company: Michael Makaroff
Key Creative Team: Michael Makaroff, Jess McLeod, Cheyenne Petrich, James Gardiner
Type/Location: Scripted Feature, Vancouver - Project: BUDDY CHECK FOR JESSE
A grieving father’s simple gesture in a youth hockey locker room sparks a grassroots mental‑health movement across Canada. Young athletes, coaches, and families begin to confront the pressures, vulnerabilities, and quiet courage that shape sport.
Key Creative Team: Michael Anthony
Type/Location: Documentary Feature, Victoria - Project: CHAKAPISH – THE TRICKSTERS
Stories of ghosts, spirits, and other supernatural beings are central to Michif oral tradition, with trickster tales at its heart. But are these stories simply ways of understanding the unknown, or do Tricksters still walk among us?
Key Creative Team: Paula deMontigny Montgomery
Type/Location: Documentary Series, Nanaimo - Project: GHOSTWRITE
When a directionless writer lands a job ghost-writing men’s dating profiles, she can’t help but fall for one of the women she’s catfishing.
Key Creative Team: Cassidy Anhorn
Type/Location: Scripted Feature, New Westminster - Project: HEADCASE
Kylie, a wannabe influencer, lurks in the shadows after a cheeky hit-and-run threatens to derail her coveted brand partnership.
Company: Toaster Productions Inc
Key Creative Team: Jessica To, Spencer Zimmerman, Patrick Moonie, Siobhan Connors
Type/Location: Scripted Feature, Vancouver - Project: ITTY BITTY BEASTS
A mayfly with only 24 hours to live meets a black widow spider facing a wedding he won’t survive. In a world where being an insect is unforgiving, they decide to join forces.
Company: Werewolves of London Productions Inc
Key Creative Team: Steph Song, Antony Redman
Type/Location: Animation, Vancouver - Project: JUNIE
When a creatively-blocked, well-known Black painter discovers her late mother’s hidden legacy in 1957 Hogan’s Alley, her stagnant life erupts into a journey of art, truth and creative rebirth.
Company: Akilla Express Ltd.
Key Creative Team: Praneet Akilla, Priscilla White, Teresa Ho
Type/Location: Scripted Feature, Chilliwack - Project: LEVIATHAN
A cash-strapped couple tries to survive a natural disaster, only to discover their true enemy isn’t nature, but the thing that followed them into the wilderness.
Company: A Lasting Dose Productions
Key Creative Team: Bryan Demore, Neil Champagne
Type/Location: Scripted Feature, Vancouver - Project: LITTLE BOY BLUE
When her ex-partner dies of an overdose, Beanie becomes entangled in a dispute over his remains. Her search through the wilds of British Columbia leads her to the truth about who he was and how to finally set him free.
Company: Echo Andersson
Key Creative Team: Echo Andersson, Julian Brave NoiseCat, Grace Dove, Jason James
Type/Location: Scripted Feature, Vancouver - Project: PANIC
A rookie police investigator arrives in a small prairie town just as children’s accusations of satanic abuse ignite a community-wide witch hunt.
Key Creative Team: Brodi-jo Scalise
Type/Location: Scripted Feature, North Vancouver - Project: PAPER MACHE
When the city of Creasedale faces erasure by a mysterious force known as the Margins, a young outcast must embrace the cultural heritage he’s spent his life suppressing to unite the town and stop its greatest threat.
Company: Photocell Productions Inc.
Key Creative Team: Sina Sultani, Kenneth Aaron Champion
Type/Location: Animation, Vancouver - Project: ROUGH STOCK
An Indigenous woman strives to be the first female bull riding champion and becomes a reluctant superstar in the male-dominated world of rough and tumble cowboys
Company: Grinning Indian Productions Inc.
Key Creative Team: Darrell Dennis, Katya Gardner
Type/Location: Television Series, Campbell River - Project: THE CARPET WEAVERS
A documentary exploring the carpet‑weaving industry on the brink, as environmental and societal pressures push a centuries‑old tradition toward extinction.
Company: Spirit of 84 Films LTD
Key Creative Team: Ryan Sidhoo
Type/Location: Documentary Feature, Vancouver - Project: THE FAWN RESPONSE
A professional cuddler who specializes in making people feel safe faces her ultimate nightmare: a new client who turns out to be her estranged, alcoholic father.
Key Creative Team: Chantelle Humphrey
Type/Location: Scripted Feature, Vancouver - Project: THE REMEMBERING
Old therapy tapes unleash a dangerous presence, forcing a mother and son to confront the evil her father may have summoned and recorded decades earlier.
Company: Nootka Street Film Company Inc.
Key Creative Team: Sean Horlor, Steve Adams
Type/Location: Scripted Feature, Vancouver - Project: THE SHORTAGE
In this dark comedy feature film, a trans-masculine and nonbinary softball team band together to overcome a national testosterone shortage by any means necessary.
Key Creative Team: Jackie Hoffart
Type/Location: Scripted Feature, Vancouver
View a list of the recipients by program online here.
The Equity + Emerging Development Program is supported by the Province of British Columbia’s historic announcement made on April 19, 2023 of $15.9 million investment, over three-years, into B.C.’s domestic motion productions, workforce and creators through 2027. This program is also a part of Creative BC’s Reel Focus BC suite of support for B.C.’s domestic motion picture industry.
For more information on the Creative BC Equity + Emerging Development Program visit: www.creativebc.com/funding-programs/domestic-motion-picture-programs/equity-emerging-development/
Quotes
Honourable Anne Kang, Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport
“Through Creative BC, our government is proud to support programs that break down barriers and spark innovation. The Equity and Emerging Development Program helps strengthen British Columbia’s reputation as a place where creativity, equity, and inclusion can thrive. I’m especially proud that this program opens doors for emerging talent, creating meaningful opportunities for new voices and for diverse voices to share their lived experiences and unique perspectives.”
Prem Gill, CEO, Creative BC
“Creative BC is proud to support emerging and equity‑seeking filmmakers whose perspectives are essential to the continued growth of British Columbia’s motion picture industry. By reducing barriers to access, the program amplifies underrepresented voices and has evolved into a cornerstone of the domestic independent funding landscape. To date, the program has invested $855K in 86 projects, serving as a launching pad for creative careers, further investment, and long-term sustainability.”
Jessica To, Toaster Productions Inc, Program Recipient
“The support from Creative BC and acknowledgement of the viability of our project means everything to us. We’re at an early but critical juncture of our project and this funding allows us to set ourselves up for success in the long run that wouldn’t be possible otherwise. As first-time feature filmmakers, it’s a game changer, and a great step towards creating more B.C.-owned and controlled IP in order for B.C. filmmakers to compete on an international stage.”
Media Contact
Creative BC
Lisa Escudero
media@creativebc.com
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About Creative BC
Creative BC is an independent non-profit society created and supported by the Province to sustain and help grow British Columbia’s creative industries: motion picture, interactive and digital media, music and sound recording, and magazine and book publishing. The society delivers a wide range of programs and services with a mandate to expand B.C.’s creative economy. These activities include: administration of the provincial government’s motion picture tax credit programs; delivery of program funding and export marketing support for the sector; and provincial film commission services. Combined, these activities serve to attract inward investment and market B.C. as a partner and destination of choice for domestic and international content creation. The society acts as an industry catalyst and ambassador to help B.C.’s creative sector reach its economic, social, environmental, and creative potential both at home, and globally. Website: www.creativebc.com