Keyword Focus: Canadian female producers
The symbolic sound of breaking glass echoed through the Banff World Media Festival this week, signaling a major cultural shift in the Canadian television industry. This year’s event highlighted efforts to dismantle longstanding barriers for Canadian female producers striving to advance their careers in a male-dominated media landscape.
At the forefront of this movement are actors-turned-producers Chelsea Hobbs and Jovanna Burke, who launched their own production company, Grand Boulevard Entertainment, during the festival. Their mission is clear: to create better roles for women and empower Canadian talent to write, produce, and tell their own stories.
“It’s a fierce industry. It’s very competitive. Jovanna and I are focused on creating more opportunities for Canadian actors, writers, and producers—especially women,” Hobbs told The Hollywood Reporter. Her acting credits include UnREAL and Make It or Break It.
Their upcoming projects include Puck Bunnies, a mockumentary exploring the lives of hockey moms, and The Sandwich Generation, a comedic take on parenting. Burke, known for roles in Supernatural and The Flash, emphasized the importance of creating authentic, complex female leads.
“We’ve always wanted to tell stories that center on female characters—stories we never saw in scripts. We want to establish a creative base in Vancouver for narratives driven by underrepresented voices,” Burke explained.
The festival also hosted 25 women-led production companies through the Banff Spark Accelerator for Women in Media, backed by Paramount+ Canada. This program supports gender equity in media, with a strong focus on Indigenous and BIPOC creators.
Among the notable participants was Debra Kouri, founder of Montreal-based Poutine Studios. A veteran of the industry, Kouri is now mentoring emerging BIPOC producers while continuing to pitch her own slate. Her recent projects include Poutine & Punchlines, a comedic travel series, and The Syrian Detective, a historical crime drama set in 1920s Montreal.
“Even after 25 years, it’s still a hustle. I never had someone to open doors for me, so I’m trying to do that for others,” Kouri shared.
Danielle Sturk, a Franco-Manitoban producer from Winnipeg, also leveraged the Spark program to reach global French-speaking markets, including France, Switzerland, and Belgium. As the Canadian industry shifts away from U.S. funding due to ongoing trade tensions, producers like Sturk are embracing European partnerships.
“European cultural aesthetics resonate more with how I see storytelling. And thanks to the accelerator, I now have a strong network of women producers for future collaboration,” Sturk said.
Veteran filmmaker Ric Bienstock echoed this need for growth infrastructure. While currently directing a film, she aims to transition her indie studio toward handling multiple projects simultaneously by securing pre-sales and partners.
“It’s time to move from project-to-project survival to building a fully capitalized company,” Bienstock remarked.
Despite the progress in gender representation, industry data show slower advances for Black and Indigenous women. The Spark accelerator is part of a broader effort to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion across Canadian film and television.
Recent successes by female filmmakers include Beans by Tracey Deer, The Broken Hearts Gallery by Natalie Krinsky, and Monkey Beach by Loretta Todd. These titles reflect a growing appetite for stories with powerful female perspectives.
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SEO Title: Canadian Female Producers Break Industry Barriers at Banff Festival
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