It Gets Better CanadaIt Gets Better Canada
Have you ever wondered how to get your foot in the film industry?
What grants or funding opportunities are available for queer creatives?
What does navigating the industry look like as a trans creative?
Join It Gets Better Canada for Roadmap for Queer and Gender Diverse Filmmakers, an engaging virtual panel on November 20, 2024. This livestream event will feature trans and queer filmmakers and industry professionals: Breton Lalama (Spindle Films Foundation), Michelle Mama (GAY AGENDA), and Katherine King So – sharing practical insights for queer and gender-diverse creatives. Topics include breaking into the film industry, accessing funding, overcoming unique challenges, and prioritizing self-care in a demanding field.
Don’t miss this opportunity to learn, connect, and envision new possibilities for representation in film!
EVENT DETAILS:
Date – November 20, 2024 (Transgender Day of Remembrance)
Time – 5:30 pm EST
Location – Virtual (to be hosted on Zoom)
Hosted by – It Gets Better Canada
Sonny Cantalini (they/them)
Sonny Cantalini is a queer, non-binary educator, specializing in 2SLGBTQ+ inclusion, media literacy, and community building. They hold a Master of Arts in Gender Studies and work as the Program Coordinator at It Gets Better Canada, a national charity that seeks to uplift and empower 2SLGBTQ+ youth.
Breton Lalama (he/him)
Breton Lalama is a writer, performer, and filmmaker committed to enriching and diversifying trans representation in storytelling. Breton currently sits on the Pink Triangle Press Advisory Council and is a proud co-founder of the Spindle Films Foundation, an initiative to support gender-diverse Canadian filmmakers.
Film/TV acting credits include: Really Happy Someday (Spindle Films/TIFF premier 2024, CIFF 2024, Whistler 2024, and more); The Madness (Netflix), Y: The Last Man (FX/Hulu), Pretty Hard Cases(CBC/NBC), Slasher season 4+6 (Shaftesbury/Shudder), Unseen (post-production, Crave), Broadway World Award (Best Featured Actor, Touring Production). Writing credits include: Really Happy Someday (Spindle Films); when i was a boy i wasn’t (short; screened internationally), RENTBOI (pre-production), THE LAST SHOW ON EARTH TRADEMARK SYMBOL (Neptune Theatre world premiere), What For What (Tarragon; in development), Lucky Bastard (in development). Producing credits: REALLY HAPPY SOMEDAY, when i was a boy i wasn’t, RENTBOI (Vicarious Playground Productions).
Read Breton’s interview “A glimpse behind the curtain of trans and gender diverse filmmakers” with It Gets Better Canada here
Michelle Mama (she/her)
Michelle is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and veteran factual producer/director with over 200 of hours of television under her belt. She is a CSA winner who has been nominated five times as both a producer and director for by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.
Michelle was the Executive Producer of SUMMER QAMP (TIFF ’23, Streaming on Peacock) a feature documentary film about an all queer camp for youth in the mountains of Alberta. She was Executive Producer on S3 of CANADA’S DRAG RACE as well as CANADA’S DRAG RACE: CANADA VS THE WORLD. Previously, she was showrunner on both seasons of IN THE MAKING, a prime-time CBC documentary series about ground-breaking artists, as well as a writer on the iconic sketch comedy series BARONESS VON SKETCH SHOW (IFC/CBC) and a director on the first season of History Channel’s hit series LOST CAR RESCUE. In 2021, Michelle produced and directed an 8-part documentary series for Fuse/OutTV called SHINE TRUE about Trans and Non-Binary folks discovering the way they want to present in the world that was lauded by The New York Times, The New Yorker and Vogue.
In 2023, Michelle launched GAY AGENDA with Bill Taylor – a new prodco designed specifically to develop and produce queer stories and continue her project of mentoring young queer and BIPOC creatives. She has since directed and episode of THE NATURE OF THINGS called “Fluid: Beyond the Binary” (CBC) with host Mae Martin.
Katharine King So (she/her)
Katharine is a multi-hyphenate creator. As an actor, she has leading credits in features Bloodthirsty (Apple TV), The Voyeurs (Amazon), and Ordinary Girl in a Tiara (CW) with recurrings on TV for Revival (SyFy), The Recruit (Netflix), and Transplant (CTV). Many of these roles have been playing out and proud queer characters. She created the queer webseries The Walk-In Closet which was picked up for international distribution by REVRY TV. She is developing horror-comedy series Party Girl #3 which was selected for TIFF Series Accelerator, Inside Out’s Finance Forum and Reelworld’s E20 Writers Program 2024. She received CBC’s CRF development funding for her sitcom The Buzzkills! in 2020. She has also worked in production and casting in scripted and unscripted including Seasons 5-6 of Family Feud Canada. She founded the ACTRA Montreal 2SLGBTQIA+ committee and her work often explores her identity as a half-Asian gay woman.
It Gets Better Canada is a registered charity in Canada that envisions a world where all 2SLGBTQ+ youth are free to live equally and know their worthiness and power as individuals. Its mission is to uplift, empower, and connect 2SLGBTQ+ youth across Canada.
Please visit www.itgetsbettercanada.org for more information, and join the conversation on all social platforms @itgetsbettercanada (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads).
