MEET THE TEAM

Founder & Board Chair; Creator of EXNW

With over 25 years of advocacy experience, Barbara has significantly increased opportunities for Canadian racialized artists in mainstream media. She is the founder of the Vancouver Asian Film Festival (VAFF), Elimin8Hate.org, Mighty Asian Moviemaking Marathon (MAMM), and Asians in Movies, Music and Media (AIM3). Barbara is also a writer/filmmaker and previously a broadcast journalist. She received the 1998 National Radio and Television News Directors’ Association Award for Best Editorial. Her film Between the Laughter won the 2004 National Film Board’s Reel Diversity Competition.

Writer/Director

Andrew is a Writer/Director based in Toronto. His films, "Ma", "Lovebites", and "White Elephant", have been broadcast on Air Canada, CBC, Fuse, and Super Channel. His short, "Ma", won Best Short at Reel Asian. His feature, "White Elephant", won Best Feature, Director, and Writer at the Reelworld Film Festival and Best Canadian Feature at the Vancouver Asian Film Festival. Andrew is the Co-Founder of the Asian Canadian Film Alliance. His TV series "Killer and Cadet" is in development with Bell.

Filmmaker/Co-Founder, Cinevolution Media Arts Society

Ying is an independent filmmaker based in Richmond, BC. Her feature documentary, The World is Bright, tackles immigration and mental health and won the Sea to Sky Award at VIFF 2019, Emerging Canadian Filmmaker Award at Hot Docs 2020, and was nominated for Best Feature Length Documentary and Best Editing at the 2021 Canadian Screen Awards. While making the documentary, in 2007, Ying co-founded Cinevolution Media Arts Society. Under her leadership, Cinevolution grew into one of the most promising arts organizations in Metro Vancouver.

Product Development Director, Electronic Arts (EA)

Over the past 20 years, Brian has led studio and brand teams to deliver 45+ AAA game titles across popular franchises including FIFA, Madden, NBA, NHL, UFC, Star Wars, and The Sims. Brian is dedicated to uplifting underrepresented talent, stories, and content across interactive entertainment and media spaces. Brian serves as a lead organizer for several community orgs and alliances centered on advancing Asian Canadian/American equity and has been honoured with the 2022 Asian Hustle Network Top 50 Unsung Heroes, 2022 Ascend Vancouver MVP, and 2023 ACE NextGen Community awards for his efforts in these spaces.

Founding Director, Muslims in Media/Les musulmans dans les médias

Ali comes from a background in marketing, IT and nonprofit management. After having worked in various capacities in those industries, such as sports marketing in the NFL, IT for a telecommunications firm and administration for a grassroots nonprofit, he brought together his eclectic skillset to co-found Muslims in Media (MiM) shortly after immigrating to Québec in 2020. Personally and professionally, Ali is an ardent supporter of independent art as a vehicle for acceptance and appreciation between others.

Partner, WeirFoulds LLP

Megan Mah is a lawyer and Partner at WeirFoulds LLP in Toronto. Her law practice focuses on human rights, employment, administrative, and constitutional law. Megan serves on the Board of the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers, and as the Vice-Chair of the Roundtable of Legal Diversity Associations. Megan was the recipient of the 2021 Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers Young Lawyer of the Year Award, and the 2023 Lexpert Rising Stars Award, which recognizes leading lawyers under 40 across Canada.

Founding Partner, Outpost Capital

Ryan Wang is globally acknowledged as a visionary technology futurist and esteemed business executive, specializing in Artificial Intelligence, Spatial Computing, and Frontier Technology sectors. He holds a distinguished position as Co-founder and General Partner of Outpost Capital, a trailblazing cross-border early-stage venture fund established in 2015, with a primary focus on frontier technology investments across the United States and Asia.

Founder, Facing East

Devon is a creative consultant currently based in Hong Kong. From producing her first film as a UBC undergrad, her career has led to a trail of international storytelling adventures, including producing and directing an award-winning documentary series on Singaporean athletes, interviewing typhoon survivors for the UN, and cutting her teeth as a journalist under Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Maria Ressa. She is inspired by the power of working with cross-cultural teams to drive social impact.

Jeff is an active member of the Law Society of British Columbia, Canada and the State Bar of California, USA. He began his thirty-two year legal career in corporate and real estate law. He ultimately focused on intellectual property, new media, sports and entertainment, particularly in film/TV and music. Companies that have received his legal work include Fox Family Channel, the OutTV Network, the Vancouver Whitecaps, Shavick Entertainment, The MBS Group, and the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

Douglas has over 25 years’ experience in corporate finance, business development and governance. He is currently a Vancouver-based Venture Partner focused on ESG projects, actively involved in multiple portfolio companies as strategic advisor and resident executive, and oversees due diligence on all prospective ventures. He is passionate about social impact, racial equity and 2SLGBTQ+ rights.

Current appointments include: Board Member of Aptera Motors; Strategic Leader of SANS, founded by star of Netflix’s Bling Empire; Executive Board Member of Fast Company. Prior to transitioning to VC, he was Chief Auditor for Sands China Ltd., and before that, he was the Global Finance Director of Universal Music Group, and Controller for the Universal Studios Group.

Christian has been the director of VLAFF for the last decade. His first feature length film as a director, SANTUARIO: A PUNK PORTRAIT OF PATY AGUIRRE, was released in 2022. In Mexico, Christian is the Founder of the Festival of New Mexican Cinema in Durango. He has served as a juror in film festivals such as the Havana, Cuba, Valladolid, and Huelva in Spain, Guadalajara and Morelia in Mexico, and many others. He has also served as a peer assessor for Canada Council for the Arts in two occasions. In 2015, the Consulate General of Colombia in Vancouver gave him a Special Recognition for his work in promoting Colombian Cinema in Canada.

Shawn Tse 謝兆龍 (he/him) is a father, filmmaker, and community organizer living in ᐊᒥᐢᑲᐧᒋᐋᐧᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ (amiskwacîwâskahikan / Edmonton). He is passionate about creating and advocating for underrepresented storytelling and building up systemic infrastructure to better reflect diversity in Canada. He is a video director at Fallout Media, creator of the intergenerational cooking show, Seconds, Please!, and the community growth consultant for the CanAsian Arts National Digital Platform.

Connection, community and multiculturalism has always been important to me. Growing up in Vancouver in the early 80s as a mixed race kid with a black mother and white father was challenging. To overcome hate and ignorance, I subconsciously was always trying to connect people of different backgrounds to come together and learn from each other. This approach stuck with me throughout my early adult life which led me to gain experience in putting together different projects while negotiating budgets, resources and services within the marketing and advertising industry for the past 20 years.

I’ve always been acutely aware of how advertising and movies can be very stereotypical in the roles they cast and when I eventually became involved in the industry as a partner in a production company, I noticed how the film crews were not diverse at all. It's now my personal mission to showcase all the diverse talent in the Vancouver film and creative industry, help support each other and drive business to everyone involved.

The Collective Bunch Society is my brainchild and passion project. I’m also currently the executive producer for the Kid Carson Show on Z95.3FM and a partner in Rich&Jay Creative.

Mostafa is an award-winning Iranian-born Canadian Writer, Director, and Producer based in Vancouver. Mostafa has over 100 awards and nominations including a Golden Sheaf Award, 5 Leo nominations, and 4 Cannes Film Festival short corner selections. His films mainly explore social issues and diversity, and have been featured in The NY Times, Hollywood Reporter, The Guardian, TIMES, BBC, CBC, etc. His last feature CORONA on Xenophobia was acclaimed as the world's first COVID-19 film. As the president of BC Minorities for Film and TV Society, Mostafa is also a member of DGC's BIPOC committee where he advocates for diversity and inclusion in the film industry.