Industry Day 2
Wednesday, March 25
Scotiabank Theatre Toronto
CFF Industry | Cheers & Chats 1
Small Crews, Big Worlds: Evolving Tools for Indie Filmmakers
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Sponsored by IATSE Local 58 & Screen Arts Institute
Independent filmmaking has always evolved alongside the tools available to creators. Today, emerging production technologies, agile workflows, and creator-driven platforms are expanding what small teams can accomplish – allowing filmmakers to achieve ambitious results without studio-scale resources.
This conversation explores how independent artists are adapting to a rapidly changing landscape, from evolving production pipelines to new opportunities within the creator economy. Panelists will share real-world examples from their own projects and discuss practical strategies for building efficient teams, leveraging new tools, and building sustainable pathways for creative work in today’s evolving media landscape.
Moderator:
Jordan Walker, Founder & CEO, Futurecraft Media House
Featuring:
Tanya Stemberger, Co-CEO of Immersion Room
Jordan Crute, Editor
Navin Ramaswaran, Director | Editor
Chad Archibald, Producer | Founder, Black Fawn Films
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Jordan Walker is an award-winning writer and producer whose work has screened at festivals including Cannes and TIFF, with films released globally across more than 25 countries. His credits include James vs. His Future Self, which earned four Canadian Screen Award nominations, and How to Plan an Orgy in a Small Town, winner of over a dozen international festival awards.
He spent over 16 years teaching film, including 2.5 years as Program Director of the Film Production program at Toronto Film School, where he helped shape the next generation of Canadian filmmakers. Jordan is the founder of FutureCraft Media, where he directs and produces high-end commercial work for brands including Toyota and Samsung using emerging technologies. He is also the founder of Screen Arts Institute, a new kind of film school launching this year to better align education with the rapidly evolving industry.Coming Soon.
Tanya Stemberger, based in Toronto, ON, CA, is currently a Co-CEO at Immersion Room. Tanya Stemberger brings experience from previous roles at Immersion Room, Horizon Blockchain Games Inc., Achievers and Aviso Partners, Inc.. Tanya Stemberger holds a M.Sc. in Computational Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (Invasive Species) @ Simon Fraser University. With a robust skill set that includes Science, Research, Statistics, Biology, Scientific Writing and more.
Jordan Crute is an editor.
It's been that way for twenty years. In that time he has worked on pretty-much every type of project and genre. From feature films to music videos to reality shows to documentaries, you name it and he's worked on it.
https://jordancrute.com/Navin Ramaswaran is a Director and Editor of feature films, TV and commercials. He’s worked with brands such as WestJet, Canada Goose, Volkswagen, Playtex and Under Armour. Features include Chasing Valentine, Late Night Double Feature, and Poor Agnes, which won the coveted Barry Convex Award for Best Canadian Film at the 2017 Fantasia Film Festival
https://www.navinr.com/
Cory Bowles is a Canadian actor, director, dancer, and musician, best known for his role as Cory in the TV series Trailer Park Boys. Beyond acting, Bowles is an accomplished director and choreographer, having created over 70 works and directed acclaimed projects like Black Cop (2017) and episodes of Pretty Hard Cases.
Chad Archibald has had a prolific career producing over 35 feature films, including the critically acclaimed "Vicious Fun" on Shudder and the award-winning thriller "The Oak Room," Chad Archibald has been a force in the Canadian genre film industry. He is also the founder and co-owner of the Canadian production house Black Fawn Films and its distribution arm, Black Fawn Distribution.
Admission: Included with CFF Festival Pass, individual tickets sold separately
CFF Industry | Cheers & Chats 2
Producers Therapy: 20 years of Holding it All Together
1:15 pm - 2:15 pm
Sponsored by IATSE Local 58
Moderator:
Lauren Grant, Clique Pictures
Featuring:
Coral Aiken, Aiken Heart Films
Karen Harnisch, Film Forge
Stephanie Sonny Hooker, Hometeam Films
Sonya Di Rienzo, Hawkeye Pictures
Paula Devonshire, Devonshire Productions
Bringing together leading producers from across CFF’s 20-year history, this candid conversation explores what it really takes to build films – and careers – year after year.
From scrappy early financing and grassroots distribution to today’s complex landscape of international co-productions, streamers, shifting tax credits, distribution models, and constant disruption – how has the producer’s role changed? What hasn't?
Beyond budgets and deal structures, this group of seasoned producers will speak honestly about resilience, reinvention, burnout, risk, and the invisible labour of keeping projects – and teams – moving forward. As CFF marks two decades of Canadian filmmaking, this panel asks: what does sustainable producing look like now – and what will it take to shape the next 20 years?
Consider this a group session for anyone who’s carried a project – and wants to keep building.
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Coming soon.
Admission: Included with CFF Festival Pass, individual tickets sold separately
CFF Industry | Cheers & Chats 3
Indie Pathways - From (Slo) Pitch to Series
2:30 pm - 3:30 pm
Sponsored by IATSE Local 58
One of the most anticipated Canadian comedy television premieres of 2026, the Crave Original Series Slo Pitch (produced by Shaftesbury in association with Boss & Co and PAGEBOY Productions) is already generating buzz.
Featuring CFF alumni and Slo Pitch creators Karen Knox and Gwendolyn Cumyn, alongside Bell Media Executives and prod co Shaftesbury, this conversation explores how an indie comedy idea evolves into a television series.
Using Slo Pitch as a real-world case study, the panel traces the leap from concept to series – developing the idea, building relationships with broadcasters, navigating financing, and stepping into the responsibilities of show-running. Through both creator and broadcaster perspectives, this conversation offers a candid, insider look on how projects move through development, what networks are looking for, and how filmmakers can position their work for long-form television.
A conversation about playing the long game – and what it really takes to go from (Slo) Pitch to series.
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Gwenlyn Cumyn is a writer, actor, and producer based in Toronto. She wrote, showran, and co-directed the CBCGem series, Homeschooled (Austin Film Festival), inspired by her childhood experiences. In 2024, cameras rolled on Gwenlyn’s latest horror feature, Turn It Up (Cannes Frontieres 2025, co-writer/actor), and she produced the MVP Prism Prize-winning music video, Every Time We Turn A Corner. In the short film space, Gwenlyn has written, directed, and/or acted in several notable works, including The Fates (TIFFxInstagram), Cons and Pros (Telefilm/Cannes Not Short on Talent), We Used to Bury Them (World of Film), and the puppet-based film, Mothballs (Sitges Film Festival, 2025). Currently, Gwenlyn is working on the first season of CTV’s Slo Pitch as co-showrunner and creator. Gwenlyn is a 2024 Canadian Film Centre Acting Conservatory alum.
Karen Knox is an actor, writer, director, and showrunner whose work spans film and television. Her films have screened at festivals including TIFF, Slamdance, BFI Flare, Austin, Atlanta, and Inside Out, and her projects have received multiple Canadian Screen Award nominations. She is the showrunner and a star of the upcoming 10-episode half-hour comedy Slo Pitch for Crave.Knox’s feature directing credits include We Forgot to Break Up (winner, DGC Award for Best Director 2024), Adult Adoption (named one of the Globe and Mail’s Best Films of 2022), and the erotic thriller Twin Lies (Tubi). Her short film The Year of Staring at Noses, which she wrote, directed, and stars in, premiered at Slamdance 2024 and was shortlisted for Vimeo Staff Picks’ Best Film of 2024.
As an actor, Knox is a CSA-nominated performer known for playing the villain on the reboot of Wynonna Earp, and has also served as showrunner on Homeschooled (CBC), Barbelle, and the digital series Slo Pitch (IFC/AMC+)
Moderated by:
Aisha Evelyna, Actor|Filmmaker
Featuring:
Karen Knox, Actor|Writer|Director, Boss & Co.
Gwenlyn Cumyn, Actor|Writer|Producer, Boss & Co.
Lauren MacKinlay, Development Executive, Scripted, Original Programming, Bell Media
Admission: Included with CFF Festival Pass, individual tickets sold separately
CFF Industry | Cheers & Chats 3
CFF Legacy Spotlight: 20 Years in Motion
3:45 pm - 4:45 pm
Sponsored by IATSE Local 58
In this candid and forward-looking discussion, our alumni reflect on the realities behind the milestones – the regrets, the reinventions, the pivots, and the breakthroughs. As CFF marks two decades of following Canadian careers in film, this conversation honours the craft, momentum, and community that carry careers forward – and looks ahead to the next 20 with clarity, resilience, and eyes up.
What did they wish they knew 20 years ago? What has the journey actually taught them?
Bringing together leading producers from across CFF’s 20-year history, this candid conversation
explores what it really takes to build films – and careers – year after year.
Moderator:
Warren P. Sonoda, Director, The Trades, Resident Alien, Odd Squad, Things I Do For Money
Panelists:
Gloria Ui Young Kim, Writer | Director, Queen of the Morning Calm, Murdoch Mysteries, Heartland
Jeremy Lalonde, Writer | Director | Editor, James vs His Future Self, Ashgrove, Daniel’s Gotta Die, How to Plan an Orgy in a Small Town
Christopher Yip, Writer | Director, Streams Flow From a River
Audrey Cummings, Director, Place of Bones, Ginny & Georgia, Virgin River
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WARREN P. SONODA - FILMMAKER
BAFTA and CSA-winning, double Emmy-nominated filmmaker Warren P. Sonoda has directed over 120 episodes of television including The Trades (S3 now streaming on Crave), Resident Alien, Odd Squad, Hudson & Rex, and Trailer Park Boys, over 160 music videos and 11 feature films including Things I Do For Money and Coopers Camera, which was heralded by the Globe & Mail in 2023 as one of the 23 Best Canadian Comedies Ever Made. The Hollywood Reporter listed him as one of the Top 25 Dealmakers and Decision-Makers at TIFF 2025, he’s received a medal from the Queen, knocked Martin Scorsese out of the Guinness Book of World Records and in 2020, Japanese Canadian Sonoda was the first person of colour to be elected National President of the Directors Guild of Canada. He also failed Ryerson film school, twice.
Admission: Included with CFF Festival Pass, individual tickets sold separately
