Now in their 18th year, the Indiescreen Awards celebrate Canada’s most outstanding and most promising independent feature film producers. Nominees for the Established Producer Award are recognized for their collective body of work, as well as their contribution to the reputation of Canadian cinema on the world stage. Nominees for the Kevin Tierney Emerging Producer Award are recognized for inspirational work, demonstrating promise of a bright career ahead as a Canadian independent feature film producer.

Established Producer Award

Tanya Brunel

Companies: Logical Mayhem, Rezolution Pictures

Qualifying film: Coming Home (Wanna Icipus Kupi)

Tanya Brunel is an award-winning Métis producer from the Red River region in Manitoba. She has been developing and producing motion picture, television and digital media content with a focus on Indigenous stories since 2001. Her recent project Coming Home (Wanna Icipus Kupi) reveals impacts of the Sixties Scoop, Indigenous resilience and narrative sovereignty.

Niv Fichman, Fraser Ash, Kevin Krikst

Company: Rhombus Media

Qualifying film: BlackBerry

Co-founded by Niv Fichman in 1979, Rhombus Media has released over 200 feature films and television projects, receiving hundreds of awards at home and abroad. Since joining the Rhombus team over 15 years ago, Kevin Krikst and Fraser Ash have shepherded a number of Rhombus projects, including the recently released BlackBerry, which has seen both critical and commercial success.

Nancy Grant

Company: Metafilms

Qualifying film: Simple Comme Sylvain (The Nature of Love)

Nancy Grant joined Metafilms in 2008 and has produced several award-winning shorts and feature films. Her recent film Simple Comme Sylvain (The Nature of Love) premiered at Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023.

Jason Levangie, Marc Tetreault

Company: Shut Up & Colour Pictures

Qualifying film: The Queen of My Dreams

Shut Up & Colour Pictures, based in Nova Scotia, develops and produces feature films, special projects and television. The company has produced six features, and their latest film, The Queen of My Dreams, is set to premiere at TIFF 2023.

William Woods, Allison White

Companies: Woods Entertainment, Sara Fost Pictures

Qualifying film: The King Tide

William Woods is the founder and co-president of Game Theory Films, a boutique distribution company. Allison White is an award-winning producer whose career began with Cast No Shadow, which was nominated for four Canadian Screen Awards, including Best Motion Picture. Their latest collaboration, The King Tide, will premiere at TIFF 2023.

Kevin Tierney Emerging Producer Award

Anam Abbas

Companies: Other Memory Media, Citylights Media

Qualifying film: In Flames

Award-winning Pakistani and Canadian filmmaker Anam Abbas runs Other Memory Media. Her first feature, Showgirls of Pakistan, released globally by VICE in 2021, amassed over 1.2 million views. Her first fiction feature, In Flames, had its world premiere at Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival 2023 and will have its North American premiere at TIFF 2023.

Michael Tanko Grand

Companies: Grand Scheme Productions, 666 Films Inc

Qualifying film: Satan Wants You

Michael Tanko Grand has produced three feature documentaries including Satan Wants You, which had its world premiere at SXSW 2023 and its Canadian premiere at Hot Docs 2023. Michael is also known for Finding Big Country and Abandoned, and for consulting on the controversial breakthrough miniseries Surviving R. Kelly.

Alona Metzer

Company: Leilani Films

Qualifying film: Backspot

Alona Metzer is a Toronto-based producer whose passion lies in collaborating to create work that sits at the intersection of art and entertainment. Her debut feature, Learn to Swim, was selected as one of TIFF Canada’s Top Ten films in 2021. Her most recent film, Backspot, will have its world premiere at TIFF 2023.

Sean O’Neill

Company: Visitor Media

Qualifying film: Swan Song

Sean O’Neill is a producer, writer and director, who founded Visitor Media in 2022. Sean co-created, executive produced and hosted the award-winning CBC Arts documentary series In the Making, which brought viewers inside the lives and work of leading artists at pivotal moments of creation. Swan Song will have its world premiere at TIFF 2023.

Andria Wilson Mirza

Company: Baby Daal Productions

Qualifying film: The Queen of My Dreams

Andria is the Director of ReFrame, Hollywood’s gender equity coalition founded by Sundance Institute and Women In Film (WIF). With her wife, writer/director Fawzia Mirza, Andria runs Baby Daal Productions. The company’s most recent feature, The Queen of My Dreams, a Pakistan–Canada co-production, is set to premiere at TIFF 2023.