Masterclasses

This Masterclass session will be moderated by Haydn Wazelle

Haydn Wazelle is a Vancouver-based media & entertainment producer and software developer. He is the co-founder and CEO at ZedDrive, a web-based dailies/cuts/screeners tool built to give content creation teams the ability to design their own secure media collaboration workflows: from concept to delivery. 100% BC-owned and operated, the company has managed productions across the globe, including the dailies & cuts for many Netflix, CBC, Hulu and Bell Media productions, including every season of CARDINAL, LETTERKENNY and KIM’S CONVENIENCE.

He currently sits on the national boards of the Black Screen Office (BSO), the Canadian Independent Screen Fund (CISF), and the Canada Media Producers Association (CMPA).

While working producer-side on projects for Screen Siren Pictures, No Equal Entertainment, Insight Film Studios, Haddock Entertainment and his own shingle Tabula Dada, Haydn has worked on 5 international co-productions, 2 interprovincial co-productions, 10 feature films, 2 TV series, 4 documentaries, and 2 video games. He is proficient in navigating the BC film & TV & Interactive digital media production space and tax credit systems.

Haydn produced the feature films ALONE (2010), HELLO DESTROYER (2016) and VIOLENTIA (2018), the CBC documentary DADS (2013), and the critically acclaimed video game EON ALTAR (2016). In 2017 HELLO DESTROYER was nominated for 4 CSA’s, including best picture, and named to TIFF Canada’s Top 10 list.

Sherman del Sol CEO/CTO
Deltech Communications Group Inc. : Sherman del Sol’s entry into the Film and Broadcast market was as a Technical Representative for The Eastman Kodak Company of Rochester New York. After two years Sherman moved to the Canadian Broadcasting Service. In 1985, led by the prime desire to be based in Canada, founded the consulting company, Deltech Communications Group Inc. Over the years Deltech transformed from a consulting company to a full Value-Added Services Company which plans, designs and implements audio-visual and communications facilities for broadcasters, Institutional and corporate clients. Deltech continues to serve a large and diverse group of clients from the public and private sectors, and maintains state-of-the-art knowledge of broadcast, audio-visual, computer and communications technology and project management techniques.

Jennifer Irons is a writer turned talent agent who studied at Act One in Los Angeles, California. In 2021, Jennifer founded META Talent Agency, the first Black-owned film & TV literary talent agency in Canada, with a mission to help increase access and opportunities for Canadian BIPOC writers and directors. In 2021 Jennifer was also named one of Playbacks 10 to Watch. During her writing career, Jennifer was named one of Reelworld’s top 20 Emerging Canadian Filmmakers of Colour, won the Canada Telefilm New Voices Award, and received the Bell Media/Corus Entertainment Primetime TV Writing Program award. Jennifer’s short film Opportune screened at the 2019 Toronto Black Film Festival, and her dramatic feature, Intolerance: No More, screened at the 2020 American Black Film Festival, before being picked up for distribution by Random Media. Jennifer was staffed on the US/Canada co-production television series, Pretty Hard Cases, and in the development room of the BYUTv and Marble Media co-productions The Parker Andersons, and Amelia Parker. As a talent agent, Jennifer is devoted to discovering, nurturing, promoting, and advancing BIPOC creator’s careers for long-term success in the entertainment industry.

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Shant Joshi is a queer Indo-Canadian producer based in Los Angeles and Toronto. His credits include the films Framing Agnes (Sundance, NEXT Audience Award, NEXT Innovator Award), International Dawn Chorus Day (Berlin, TEDDY Award Winner), Porcupine Lake (Toronto), and Noor & Layla (BlackStar); the hit web series Teenagers (CSAs); and the Dekkoo original series, I’m Fine (Outfest). Shant co-founded the Future of Film Showcase as a launchpad for emerging Canadian filmmakers, and he previously worked at the United Talent Agency, Buchwald, and Lit Entertainment Group (fka Madhouse Entertainment). He is an alum of the Producers Lab at the Canadian Film Centre, holds a Certificate in Entertainment Law from Osgoode Hall Law School, and was named to York University’s inaugural Top 30 Changemakers under 30.

Shant is currently Vice-Chair on the Board of Directors at BIPOC TV & Film, a sitting member of the Restructuring, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (REDI) Action Committee at the Canadian Media Producers Association, and sits on the Advisory Board at the Future of Film Showcase.

Leslie Norville is an award-winning producer whose films have screened at film festivals around the globe, including SXSW, Tribeca, Hot Docs, Doc NYC and IDFA and on various networks including Hulu, PBS, CBC, Sundance Channel and VH1.

Norville’s credits include the feature documentary A BALLERINA’S TALE about Misty Copeland, the first African American principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre; BROOKLYN BOHEME; DISDAIN THE MUNDANE, part of ESPN’s Emmy Award®-winning “30 for 30” shorts series; FINDING THE FUNK, co-executive produced by GRAMMY Award®-winner Questlove; and ANY GIVEN DAY, which premiered at Hot Docs 2021. She is an alumnus of the Sundance Documentary Creative Producing Fellowship. Her forthcoming documentary projects include THE FIRST WAVE for Neon/National Geographic, directed by Academy Award®-nominated and Emmy Award®-winning filmmaker Matthew Heineman, and the eight-part series for CBC, BLACK LIFE: A CANADIAN HISTORY.

Floyd Kane is a graduate of Dalhousie Law School, Floyd Kane articled with Blake, Cassels and Graydon in Toronto before being called to the Ontario Bar in 1998. While serving as Legal Counsel, Salter Street Films Limited, from 1999 to 2004, Floyd also served as Production Executive on numerous projects, notably the Academy Award-winning Bowling For Columbine, Shattered City: The Halifax Explosion, POKO - Cycles I and II and Lexx - Cycle IV.

In 2004 Floyd Kane joined Halifax Film as Vice-President, Creative and Business Affairs, responsible for initiating and pursuing creative properties as well as for all production business and legal affairs for Halifax Film. Floyd has been instrumental in the development of productions based on the award-winning book The Hanging of Angelique by noted Black Canadian scholar Afua Cooper, the international best-seller The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B. by Sandra Gulland, and Alex Caine's critically acclaimed crime memoir Befriend and Betray.

Floyd created and produced the six-pack dramatic series North/South for CBC in 2006, and was one of the co-producers of the feature film Shake Hands with the Devil. He is currently Executive in Charge of Production for The Guard (Canwest) and Executive Producer of Canada's Super Speller (CBC), Soul (VisionTV) and the upcoming sketch comedy series That's So Weird! (YTV).

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This Masterclass Session will be held by Joelle Finnen

Royal Bank of Canada is a global financial institution with a purpose-driven, principles-led approach to delivering leading performance. Our success comes from the 87,000+ employees who leverage their imaginations and insights to bring our vision, values and strategy to life so we can help our clients thrive and communities prosper. As Canada’s biggest bank, and one of the largest in the world based on market capitalization, we have a diversified business model with a focus on innovation and providing exceptional experiences to our 17 million clients in Canada, the U.S. and 27 other countries.

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The insights of film festival and industry leaders in a conversation about funding, pitching, networking and other avenues of support you can take advantage of today.

Special Guests include: Lea Marin, Ayesha Husain, & Safia Abdigir. This will be a moderated discussion by VT Nayani

Deadline to Sign up is June 25th, 2022

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This masterclass will be presented by Canadian Black Chamber of Commerce.

The Canadian Black Chamber of Commerce is a non-profit organization of the cultural Chamber of Commerce. It was created to serve the purpose of Commerce, black-owned businesses, Entrepreneurship and Economic development within the proud Black Communities across Canada.

Masterclass session will be held by Doug Minter

Doug Minter is an Experienced professional in Business Development, Operational Leadership, Innovation and strategy, and with a demonstrated history of working in non-profit organization management within the Chamber of Commerce industry (13 years) in both the USA & Canada. Strong sales professional skilled in Nonprofit Organizations, Negotiation, Government Procurement, Budgeting, and Business Planning. Having spent 6 years in the United States Marine Corps (Desert Storm Veteran) as well as time with the US Forestry Department as an initial attach firefighter. His time as a serial entrepreneur combined with his public service has prepared him as a leader during turbulent times and change. Recently having adapted his skill sets to focus on ecosystem development and entrepreneurial programming. As founder of the Propel Mentor-Protege program and the Propel Mastermind program, Doug has been able to counsel over 1500 entrepreneurs and create over 100 million in economic development and over 1000 jobs.

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