Board & Staff List

(he/him)

Email: board@winnipegfilmgroup.com

Ryan Simmons is a filmmaker with deep ties to The Winnipeg Film Group. After taking the Basic Filmmaking Workshop in 2007 he’s maintained a deep connection to the organisation as a projectionist, workshop instructor, board member and volunteer. Through first hand experience he has a true appreciation of how invaluable the Film Group is as a venue to bring people of all backgrounds together through the creation and appreciation of the art of film. He holds a BA (Adv.) in Film Studies from the University of Manitoba, is a member of the Winnipeg Underground Film Festival and serves on the boards of Send+Receive and WNDX.

(he/him)

Fernando Dalayoan is a Filipino-Canadian filmmaker, writer and performer and educator living in Winnipeg. Several of his short films touch on the theme on Asian diaspora, particularly the Filipino-Canadian experience. Dalayoan’s short films have been screened in Canada and internationally. Young Ligaw, which is Dalayoan`s second film to be awarded the National Film Board of Canada Financial Assistance Program, was officially selected at the 12th DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival, 8th Chicago Filipino American Film Festival and International Festival of Films on Art (FIFA) in Montreal. Dalayoan’s most current short film projects include: Ma-Buhay!Musical Broadway Dream (2022) documentary and Regalo (Gift), which received an ACTRA Manitoba MIP Diversity grant award. Both shorts are running in several selected film festivals nationally and internationally.

ODMK (or Oliver Darrius Merrick King) is a Cree 2spirit filmmaker from James Smith Cree Nation currently residing in Treaty 1 Territory (Winnipeg, MB). Born Kenneth Charles Burns, ODMK is a writer, editor, director, producer, actor and animator. He/they go by Olly to family, friends and acquaintances.

(he/him)

Marc Greene is an Indigenous filmmaker and freelance industry professional with over 10 years of experience. Currently residing on Treaty One Territory, Marc’, formal education includes a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and Film from the University of Winnipeg, and he is a recent graduate of the Adam Beach Film Institute. Some recent projects Marc has completed include; his personal short film Heart of the Melt. Which was screened at both the Gimli Film Festival and the Winnipeg Aboriginal Film Festival in 2021. His documentary style series Tilt Pinball has just completed its second season, all episodes of which are currently available to watch on YouTube. In addition to his most recent and ongoing work Marc was nominated for the Indigenous Film Award at the 2019 ManitoAhbee Festival for his short Don’t Waste a Precious Minute.

(she/her)

Brenda Austin-Smith is a professor at the University of Manitoba where she teaches and researches melodrama, cult film, performance, and documentary film, among other topics. Brenda brings to the WFG years of experience on a variety of boards, both institutional and community. Brenda has also been a long-time supporter of various arts groups during her time in Winnipeg.

(he/him)

Cameron Macgowan is a Canadian filmmaker whose eccentric films have explored subjects ranging from Murderous Suburbanites to Erotic Trolls. His work has won awards and garnered critical acclaim at international film festivals across the world including SXSW, Fantasia, and the Toronto International Film Festival. His debut feature film Red Letter Day was distributed by Epic Pictures after a highly successful film festival run and his short film Liebe (Love) screened at 25 film festivals and was selected as a Vimeo Staff Pick. Cameron is also a Lead Programmer with the Calgary Underground Film Festival and the Executive Director of the New University Television Society.

(he/him)

Caelum Vatnsdal was born and raised in Winnipeg, and has always loved watching, writing about, and making films. He has directed shorts, commercials, music videos, documentaries, and features; has worked on movies in various capacities and acted in them; and is the author of three books and innumerable articles on the subject of, you guessed it, film.

(he/him)

Dominique joined the Board of Directors as a film enthusiast, collector and long-time supporter of the Winnipeg Film Group. He has founded and organized various university film clubs, reviewed films for his university newspapers, and run a freelance film review blog. Dominique also serves as the Vice President of the Friends of the Winnipeg Public Library.

(she/her)

Aikaterini Zegeye-Gebrahiwot is an emerging actor born in Harrar, Ethiopia and based in Winnipeg, Treaty 1 Territory by way of Athens, Greece. Zegeye-Gebrahiwot completed an honours degree in fine arts at the University of Manitoba and studies Midwifery at the College of Midwives in Athens, Greece. At the school of Art, she specialized in painting and ceramics while pursuing her passion in theatre as an immigrant woman artist. She has completed extensive training at the Actors Training Centre in Winnipeg and has been developed into an interest in filmmaking leading Zegeye-Gebrahiwot to directing a short film, "the bus stop" after taking film training courses at the Winnipeg Film Group. Currently, she is pursuing a mentorship through MAWA with filmmaker Rhayne Vermette. She is also developing a contemporary one woman show of the monologue "Craps Last Tape" by Samuel Becket.

Farrah Murdock is an Anishinaabe and Nêhiyaw writer and director from Peguis First Nation and Fisher River Cree Nation.

(she/her)

Phone: 204-925-3456 ext 103

Email: leslie@winnipegfilmgroup.com

As Executive Director, Leslie is responsible for managing the overall operations and staff of the Winnipeg Film Group. Leslie serves as the main spokesperson and represents the organization in all professional business capacities.

(he/him)

Phone: 204-925-3456 ext 110

Email: dylan@winnipegfilmgroup.com

Dylan is responsible for overseeing the programs in the Production Centre. He also provides senior-level support to other areas of the Production Department.

(he/him)

Phone: 204-925-3456 ext 101

Email: luke@winnipegfilmgroup.com

Luke is responsible for coordinating equipment and facilities bookings, maintenance and assisting in the administration of production training programs. He works closely with the Production Programs Manager with the rentals and maintenance of production equipment and facilities, workshop set-up and payment processing.

(he/him)

Phone: 204-925-3456

Email: john@winnipegfilmgroup.com

John Seymour is an Ojibwe-Cree filmmaker, actor, and writer from Winnipeg, MB, and a band member of Peguis First Nation. A recent graduate of the National Screen Institute’s CBC New Indigenous Voices program, he gained on-set experience as the Assistant Director for the APTN series REZervations for Two, premiering June 2026. His directorial debut Stay Awhile has screened at festivals across Turtle Island, and he has appeared in the feature film Aberdeen, as well as the television series Acting Good. He is currently the Education & Outreach Coordinator at the Winnipeg Film Group, and the Program Manager for the Winnipeg Indigenous Filmmakers Collective. He develops and coordinates filmmaking workshops, administratively assists in the production office, and supports accessible training opportunities in collaboration with the Production Programs Manager and Technical Coordinator.

(they/she)

Phone: 204-925-3456 ext 105

Email: jillian@winnipegfilmgroup.com

Jillian oversees the artistic, promotional, and business development of the Winnipeg Film Group (WFG)’s Distribution Department as well as looking after departmental finances, human resources, and collections. Additionally, they direct the expansion and development of the Distribution Department through special projects as developed with the Executive Director, including the Archive/Counter-Archive Case Study for the WFG. Jillian Groening is a dance artist, writer, and arts worker of Mennonite descent based on Treaty One Territory in Winnipeg, MB, and is from the community of Lowe Farm, MB. They have spent much of their professional arts career working to sustain artist-run models, particularly through their time at Young Lungs Dance Exchange. Jillian’s work has been presented at A Space gallery (Toronto) and at WNDX - Festival of Moving Image (Winnipeg). They have contributed exhibition texts for Winnipeg galleries including Platform Centre for Photographic & Digital Arts and Martha Street Studio as well as being published through Artspeak (Vancouver), The Dance Current (Toronto), Dance International, and the Journal of Curatorial Studies. Jillian has performed across Canada with Gearshifting Performance Works as well as dancing in choreographic works by Rachel Brown, Jolene Bailie, Marie-Josée Chartier, Jean-Pierre Perreault, and Pablo Bronstein (presented by Plug In ICA, Winnipeg).
Jillian holds a BA(Hons) in Dance from the University of Winnipeg and a Masters in Theatre and Performance Studies from York University, where their SSHRC-funded research is informed by the transmission of liveness through recorded movement and choreographic ephemera. Following their degree, they worked with Freya Björg Olafson transcribing Olafson’s AVATAR (2009) for Canadian Playwrights Press’ 2021 Anthology on Digital Theatre in Canada. Working intimately with the written and AV archives of performance artists has greatly informed their approaches to film distribution and collections management. They are grateful and excited to currently be in Phase One of a multi-year project entitled Records in Motion: Reforming the Winnipeg Film Group’s Accidental Archives.

(she/her)

Phone: 204-925-3456 ext 106

Email: skye@winnipegfilmgroup.com

Skye Callow currently works as the Distribution and Collections Coordinator with the Winnipeg Film Group. She works to ensure the distribution film collection is cared for and effectively managed, and assists in active-distribution. Skye's day to day tasks contribute to the artistic direction and goals of the distribution department and to the Winnipeg Film Group overall. Skye Callow is an artist based on Treaty 1 Territory in Winnipeg, Manitoba, originally from Sandy Hook, Manitoba. Her work investigates formal aesthetics and the ways in which form generates and communicates meaning in images. Callow’s practice considers hierarchies of beauty and value within image-based visual culture, while seeking to disrupt accepted conventions in contemporary photography. She is fascinated by film grain and the digital pixel, and often utilizes both analog and digital photographic processes in her work. She is a constant experimenter, influenced and inspired by the approach of experimental filmmaking, with her practice often shifting between mediums and techniques. Skye holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts Honours Degree from the University of Manitoba's School of Art. Her work has been exhibited in Winnipeg at aceartinc., PLATFORM Centre for Photographic and Digital Arts, and the Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art. She was the recipient of the 2024 PLATFORM Photography Award, with having her first solo exhibition in March 2025. Skye is a member of the Open City Cinema Collective (Winnipeg Underground Film Festival).

(she/her)

Phone: 204-925-3456 ext 104

Email: olivia@winnipegfilmgroup.com

Olivia works collaboratively with the Executive Director and is responsible for providing Dave Barber Cinematheque annual programming, including programming for the Gimme Some Truth Documentary Film Festival. She is involved in a variety of special programming events and film series, including Trash Cult Tuesdays and the Bikini Drive-In screening series. Olivia was initially hired as a part-time Programming Coordinator in April 2021 and promoted to full time in April 2022.

Phone: 204-925-3456 ext 108

Email: boxoffice@winnipegfilmgroup.com

Julianne manages the Cinematheque box office, including the daily operation, customer relations, venue rentals and sponsorships. Contact Julianne to provide feedback on your Cinematheque experience, as well as request for venue rentals and community partnerships.

(he/him)

Phone: 204-925-3456 ext 112

Email: projectionist@winnipegfilmgroup.com

Eric manages all technical aspects of the Cinematheque’s operations, including film format testing and conversion, and maintenance of projection equipment. He also produces original content for the Cinematheque, such as: in-house trailers and ad slides, and helps to create Cinematheque’s original commercials, as well as acting as Head Projectionist. Eric should be contacted with any questions regarding the technical specs and capabilities of the Cinematheque.