Vancouver’s independent film scene just got a major power-up.
Filmable, in partnership with Collective Bunch, is proud to unveil the inaugural cohort of the Filmable Fellowship, a 5 month mentorship built to champion storytellers and expand the creative ecosystem right here in BC.
After a highly competitive selection process, four breakthrough feature film teams, six rising cinematographers, and one outstanding editor have been chosen to join the very first class of fellows.
These Sixteen voices represent the bold, curious, craft-driven future of filmmaking, exactly the kind of talent the Fellowship was created to amplify. Across the Fellowship’s five-month journey, participants will dive deep into craft, collaboration, and sustainable creative practice. They’ll refine their films, sharpen their skills, and connect with a vibrant community of peers and mentors, forming the kind of long-lasting networks that move careers forward.
This isn’t just about stronger scripts or smarter workflows (though there will be plenty of that). It’s about giving Vancouver’s next generation of filmmakers the tools, mentorship, and confidence to create work that lasts. The program offers two mentorship streams, each designed to support a different side of the creative process:
The Production Stream
For the craftspeople who build the world of a film from the ground up. These 7 talents will be paired one-on-one with veteran mentors to hone their artistry and grow their careers.
The Feature Stream
For bold, ambitious filmmakers developing their first or second feature film—directors, writers, and creative producers with a strong point of view who are ready to be championed as they take their careers to the next level.
The Filmable x Collective Bunch Fellowship marks a milestone for filmmakers ready to push boundaries and make their mark. The future of film is here—and it’s being built in Vancouver.
For updates, announcements, and a closer look at this year’s fellows, sign up the newsletter and follow us on instagram.
Brodi-Jo Scalise - Writer/Director
Brodi-Jo Scalise
Project: SON OF A BITCH
Feature Film Stream
Brodi-Jo Scalise completed his Bachelor of Motion Picture Arts at Vancouver, Canada’s Capilano University. Upon graduation he entered the local film/tv scene while climbing the ranks in the production office. In 2020, Brodi was selected by Crazy8s to write & direct his queer short horror film ITSY BITSY SPIDER, a provocative exploration of infidelity shot with the use of real tarantulas. The short was acquired by CBC for Canadian distribution, with Gunpowder & Sky’s ALTER taking international rights. The film had a successful global film festival run screening at Blood in the Snow, Vancouver Short Film Festival, Salem Horror Fest, Brooklyn Horror Film Festival and Chilliwack Independent Film Fest, among many others. His latest short film, FAMILY DESCENT, is a dark comedy/horror about the pressures to continue the family line. Brodi remains committed to telling distinctly personal stories through a subversive genre lens.
Julie Zhu - Writer/Director
Julie Zhu
Project: PICKLED RABBIT
Feature Film Stream
Julie loves stories! She believes a powerful story can change someone's life. Graduating from Queen's University with a Film and Media degree, Julie then moved to Ottawa where she sought more schooling at Algonquin College for scriptwriting. She then found her place on set as a script supervisor, working on features, series and MOWs. Now, she wants to spread her creative wings and tell her own stories.
Joshua Robert Bateman - Producer
Joshua Robert Bateman
Project: PICKLED RABBIT
Feature Film Stream
Joshua Robert Bateman is professionally a Script Supervisor, and artistically a Script Writer dedicated to the art of film from the day he rented Transformers: the Movie (1986) from his local library. Since he has produced and wrote and performed in, one of Ottawa's funniest alt sketch comedy shows, a talk radio show about film and television, and the short film Pickled Rabbit which had it's world premiere at the Fantasia Film Festival. While in Ottawa he taught a writer's criticism class as an adjunct professor at Algonquin College from 2014-2020. He is now based in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Ariel Bond - Writer
Ariel Bond
Project: DEEP FAKE
Feature Film Stream
Ariel Bond is a writer, producer and director. As a social impact filmmaker, her focus is adapting true stories that shed light on uncomfortable truths. With her short film, Rupture, Ariel transformed her traumatic experience with an ovarian cyst rupture into a cautionary tale about medical gaslighting, raising awareness for the Gender Pain Gap. For her true crime thriller feature Deepfake, Ariel received the Equity and Emerging Development Grant from Creative BC, participated in the GEMS Genre Film Lab, and was named a semifinalist for the Athena Film Festival Writers Lab. Ariel worked for many years as a producer’s assistant and production supervisor on projects such as Peter Pan & Wendy and Spider-Man: Far From Home. She’s an Academy Nicholl fellowship quarterfinalist and winner of the Leonard and Eileen Newman Prize for a Promising New Writer. Ariel has a B.A. in Screen Arts & Cultures from the University of Michigan and holds dual citizenship in the U.S. and Canada. In her spare time, she enjoys mentoring aspiring filmmakers from her home state of Michigan. She also serves on the board of the Gender Equity in Media Society.
Lucy McNulty - Producer
Lucy McNulty
Project: DEEP FAKE
Feature Film Stream
Lucy McNulty is an award-winning producer, writer, and actor. She is the founder of Strange Company Productions, a boutique production company championing female and underrepresented voices, and the co-founder of DropShock Pictures. A graduate of Studio 58 and alumna of the Canadian Film Centre’s Norman Jewison Producers’ Lab, the GEMS Genre Film Lab, the St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival Producer Cohort, and the TIFF Series Accelerator, Lucy’s debut short film CHICKEN—which she wrote, directed, produced, and starred in—received international acclaim, winning the Jury’s Choice and DEAI Award for Diversity, Equity, Access, and Inclusion at the Thomas Edison Film Festival, a Leo Award, Best Script at Santa Barbara ShortFest, and Best Film at the Women’s Comedy Film Festival in Atlanta. The film was acquired by CBC and the Japanese streamer Samansa and has been recognized by Down syndrome organizations worldwide.
Her producing credits include Hunting Matthew Nichols, directed by Markian Tarasiuk and named one of Deadline’s “2025 Horror Films to Watch.” The film is set for a 2026 U.S. theatrical release across more than 1,500 screens and was nominated for seven Leo Awards, winning Best Found Footage Feature and Best Editing at FilmQuest and Best Director at the Blood in the Snow Film Festival. Lucy also produced How Brief, directed by Kelly McCormack and starring Emmy Award–winner Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black) and Tess Degenstein (The Monkey), and is currently co-producing Devour with Wildling Pictures while developing a slate that includes Deepfake and The Ensemble—both recipients of early development financing from Creative BC’s Equity & Emerging Program.
Miranda MacDougall - Director
Miranda MacDougall - Director
Project: DEEP FAKE
Feature Film Stream
Miranda MacDougall (she/her) is an award-winning Canadian actor, director, and producer whose work spans film, television, and branded content. She has directed upwards of 30 commercial, documentary and narrative projects, collaborating with brands such as lululemon, Architectural Digest, and Monos. She co-directed and produced the CBC documentary In The Land of Dreamers, and developed and directed the comedy pilot Public Swim (GEMS Emerging TV Producers Program). Miranda comes to the world of directing with the unique perspective of simultaneously working on the other side of the camera; with a BFA in Acting from the University of Windsor, she has trained and performed across Canada and the United States, and appeared in many a film and television series, including as a series regular on the Hallmark Channel hit When Calls the Heart, and her recent award-nominated performance as Tara Nichols in Markian Tarasiuk’s Hunting Matthew Nichols (Whistler 2024 *Borsos Nominated, Newport Beach 2024, FilmQuest 2024 Blood in The Snow 2024, Leo Awards 2025, UBCP/ACTRA awards 2025, etc). She is also an active EP on the DropShock Pictures project. Miranda is a resident EP, producer and director at the established Vancouver production house Eastcherry Media Inc, and is the founder of Third Rodeo Picture Co. She is slated to direct and co-produce the psychological thriller Deepfake.
Jess McLeod - Writer/Director
Jess McLeod
Project: HEY JUDE
Feature Film Stream
Jess McLeod is a trans non-binary filmmaker and actor, living and working on the unceded ancestral territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Watuth) Nations. Their first short, DTF?, premiered at the Oscar-qualifying 2024 Out On Film festival, and has picked up several awards thus far, including Best BC Film at the Vancouver Queer, Chilliwack Independent, and Short Circuit Pacific Rim film festivals. Their next short, She's Nonbinary, was executive produced by Bob Odenkirk and Jane Schoenbrun, and will premiere in 2026. Upcoming acting credits include Bob Odenkirk’s new action film Normal, and AMC’s new series The Audacity, starring Zach Galifianakis and Billy Magnussen.
JayR Tinaco - Producer
JayR Tinaco - Producer
Project: HEY JUDE
Feature Film Stream
JayR is an actor and emerging writer best known for their roles in Netflix’s Another Life, Space Force and Mike Flanagan’s The Fall of the House of Usher.
Their debut feature film Hey Jude draws inspiration from their own experiences as a queer/non-binary individual navigating love. Aiming to resonate with diverse audiences through its exploration of the complexities of love and identity.
Erin Purghart - Producer
Erin Purghart
Project: HEY JUDE
Feature Film Stream
Erin Purghart is an actor, comedian and award-winning producer. Erin graduated with a BFA in Acting from UBC in 2021, and has since produced and performed in independent film, professional stage productions, and comedy shows across North America. Erin began producing via their regularly sold-out comedy show, That's gay! comedy which has been presented by Just For Laughs VANCOUVER and the Vancouver Fringe Festival, and featured in the Georgia Straight, The Tyee and more. Erin's first foray into film producing was lead producing multi-award-winning Crazy8s Top 6 short film, DTF? (2024). They’ve since produced a variety of narrative shorts, music videos and commercials. Recent producing credits include DTF? (2024), Summer Fling (2025), The Reveal (2025), and Bob Odenkirk and Jane Schoenbrun executive produced short She’s Nonbinary (2026). As a producer, Erin is passionate about making space and uplifting marginalized voices both in front of and behind the camera.
Cameron Mackenzie - Editor
Cameron Mackenzie
Production Stream
Cameron Mackenzie is an editor and filmmaker based in British Columbia. He studied Visual Arts at the University of British Columbia and holds a BFA in Film Production from Simon Fraser University’s School for the Contemporary Arts. His directorial and editorial work has screened at several festivals including the Vancouver International Film Festival, Telefilm’s Not Short on Talent, and Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival. A 2017 recipient of the BC Arts Council’s Early Career Development Grant, Cameron was a resident filmmaker and educator with The Cinematheque’s Learning and Outreach Department and has taught at Capilano University’s Film Program. Since 2020, he has worked primarily as a film and video editor in commercial advertising while continuing his independent editing practice. His filmmaking work investigates how personal identity is shaped by psychological, social, and environmental conditions, with a particular focus on queer experience and interiority.
Karina Jesson - DOP
Karina Jesson
Karina Jesson is a Vancouver-based cinematographer who enjoys bringing her personal flare and passion to a range of film mediums.
Karina has a BFA in Motion Picture Arts and is an Affiliate CSC Member. Her narrative and documentary work has been screened at festivals such as TIFF Next Wave, Sundance Asia, and VIFF.
Commercial and branded doc work is Karina’s emphasis; having shot for Arctery’x films, Hershey’s Canada and 7-Eleven, she strives to merge visuals, story and brand in a meaningful way. Karina is driven by a background in a variety of set environments and technical departments and strives to operate and lead inclusive sets, and loves to share knowledge and foster film community in Vancouver.
Most recently, Karina completed shooting a Crave Original documentary series, travelling across the UK, following the Canada Women’s Rugby
Kevin Masundire - DOP
Kevin Masundire - DOP
Kevin, is a Director and Cinematographer, who brings a formal and creative touch to his craft. With a background in advertising and marketing, he shapes his narratives with a unique perspective. He believes that film not only serves as an escape from society but as a reflection. His films are not merely visual spectacles but profound journeys that explore the intricacies of the human experience.
Morgan Tams - DOP
Morgan Tams
Morgan Tams is a Canadian director and cinematographer with an interest in the creative intersections of landscape and the humanity within it. His practice focuses on process-driven projects in remote and challenging locations around the globe. His film credits include the documentaries ‘Green Valley’ (2025) and 'Dear Mr. Dudley' (2021).
Nick Shahfazlollahi - DOP
Nick Shahfazlollahi
Director and Cinematographer specializing in music video, commercial and narrative work.
Rachel Chen - DOP
Rachel Chen
Rachel J. Chen is a director of photography based in Vancouver BC. Her work has screened at festivals such as TIFF Nextwave, NFFTY, St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival, Vancouver Asian Film Festival and more. Rachel’s work seeks to illuminate the human experience through intuitive imagery, drawing on her experiences growing up between Xiamen, China and Vancouver. She is an International Cinematographer’s Guild member and an affiliate member of the Canadian Society of Cinematographers.
Sebastian Marin - DOP
Sebastian Marin
Sebastian is a Colombian-Canadian Cinematographer based in Vancouver BC, specializing in narrative and commercial projects.
His work has been featured in film festivals like Slamdance, NFFTY, LEO Awards, and more.
