It’s been a wild, wild year. So much joy and heartbreak and bewilderment and connection. Lots of feelings co-existing at the same time. One big highlight that has yet to make the grid was winning the DGC Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Family Series for Odd Squad: Mobile Unit. Grateful to the whole OSMU team. And so very cool to tie with the Fraggle Rock team. My bow jumpsuit was pretty cool too, from beloved @fitzroyrentals of course. Big love to Neil and my family/friends for all their support. Lots of sacrifices found in a career in the arts, for me and for them. Appreciate all those who’ve kept me steady in the waters all these years.
Happy holidays y’all. May they be merry and bright. ❤️🎄✨
WHAT A NIGHT! ❤️🎬🎉✨Trying to find the words to express the gratitude and exhilaration I feel for winning Best Director of a TV Movie at the Canadian Screen Awards for my beloved Under the Christmas Tree. This movie is so special and a true celebration of queer joy and I’m so stoked to see it recognized. A best director award is amazing, but everyone knows that it takes a team to make a movie come to life. And what a team we had! True collaborators and creative heroes, in the cast and crew. Thank you @wishingfloorfilms , @1dept , @neshamaent , @lifetimetv , and @ctvdrama . Also thanks to my friends and family and beloved @electronicneil for supporting me behind the scenes for many, many, many years. The road to get here has been long and winding and hopefully stretches ahead around the bend and beyond. ❤️🎉✨🎬
PS. Got to hug and high-five so many awesome people. Big love to all the winners, nominees, and people working their butts off to bring Canadian art to life. I’m always cheerleading for you!
👗: @fitzroyrentals (shoutout to @jules.fitzroy and @ange.fitzroy for making my night even sweeter with the great chat!)
#cdnscreenawards
#dgctalent
#itsawonderfullifetime
It’s a great sign when you don’t want your coffee meeting to end! Collaboration, creation and making bold plans.
Producer/filmmaker Becky Parsons @nofearfilms_atlantic , director @lisarosesnow and I this morning.
DGC Ontario AGM, celebrating @ablondebullitt and her amazing/inspiring/transformative tenure as Chair, and welcoming Jason Washington as our new chair at @ontariodgc . We said sad farewell and thanks to some friends on the board and welcomed some new faces. I’ve got one term left before I reach my limit as Director Caucus Rep. It’s been such a wild and rewarding journey serving in this position during the past five (!) years. Excited to see what can be done over the next twelve months. If you’re ever interested in getting more involved in the Guild reach out and let’s connect. Also got this great pic of me and some of my fav directors and for some reason when I saved it created a mini us sticker on top of the photo which makes me love it even more.
A few fun events recently and proof that I leave my house every once in a while!
CFC Gala, which was roots themed so I did my best hair and makeup attempt to give those woodland fairy vibes. And we clearly had no fun in the photo booth. @cfccreates was honouring the king himself, the effervescent @gdtreal . Honoured to even be in the same room as him.
Making some magic with @hilo_entertainment , even if I can’t share what we did yet!
Celebrating 20 years of the amazing Canadian Film Festival, of which I’m a proud alumni. I was delighted to present the @canfilmfest Best Director Award.
Here’s to all who keep making art and keeping trying despite it all, or perhaps because of it all.
Happy champagne birthday to our Fin!! 13 years young!! What a joy this old soul has brought to our lives. He’s got the energy of a puppy, is so loving and wise, and is the best big brother to a Puff. We are so lucky he found his way to us two years ago, as it was always meant to be. ❤️🍾✨
PS. Thank you Auntie Laura for taking such good care of him and throwing him the best birthday ever!! We love you!!
I wrote a movie and it airs tomorrow on CW Network, CTV Life, and Crave! Ordinarily Girl in a Tiara has been a joyful wild ride. I was commissioned to adapt the novel of the same name, and we took the spirit and theme of the original book, and flipped it on its head to make it queer and fashion focused. I started writing in January 2024, and like the good little creative baby it was, nine months later handed in the final production draft. Then off it went to camera, under the compassionate and creative eye of director @meeshelleneal . And now, here we are, almost a year and a half later with our big premiere date!! As is often the case when you are hired to write for big networks, I haven’t seen the final film. So I am tuning in tomorrow with joyful anticipation to see how the story that swirled in my head for so long has come alive on the screen. I’m so excited!! Telling stories of queer joy is essential, and I’m so honoured to be a part of this one!
Endless gratitude to so many, including @mrcegielski , @instamcq , @bethmillerla , @mackinlaymedia , @mitchgeddes and all the team at @neshamaent and @centinelmedia for trusting me with this project, for accepting my adaptation pitch with such enthusiasm, for the notes, phone calls, brainstorms, and encouragement that got us exactly where we needed to be.
Also thanks to my grade ten English teacher for pulling me aside one day after I wrote a poem for class, and telling me that writing was a path she encouraged me to pursue. That same teacher was a substitute for my sweet niece last month, who was able to tell her that I did, in fact, keep writing.
Keep dreaming friends. Tell people things you love about them or notice about them. You never know what seed you may be planting and how it can blossom. 🌹✨
#OrdinaryGirlInATiara
Ten years to the day we met, Neil and I returned to the place where the magic began. A full circle moment to come back to Iceland, retrace our steps, and share a meal at the Apotek Hotel where we said our first hellos. After an amazing day in Reykjavik, we rented a car and headed off to the Western Fjord region to began a new adventure. Forever my favourite human, travel buddy, bestest of friend, and soulmate. Here’s to the next ten years 🧡✨
I’m fascinated by all the hats you have to wear as a director, which sometimes includes graphic design! Looking forward to chatting with these superstars about all things lookbooks across film/tv/mows/docs.
🎬❤️✨
The picture that started it all 🥹 Almost a year ago, our neighbour locked herself out of the house. Neil, being the gentleman he is, offered to drive her to her mom’s to pick up her spare key. On the way, she told him how a bonded pair of dogs came into the rescue centre she worked for, in desperate need of a home and fast - we didn’t happen to want two dogs, did we? Neil said we had been thinking of getting one, but probably not interested in two. That night, around 10:30, Neil’s phone pinged with a text. He responded “oh no!” I was immediately worried, a late night “oh no” text can never be good, right? He turned the phone to me and there was this picture. I immediately started ugly crying, visceral tears that sprang from nowhere. I knew in that second that I had two new babies. Puff, a four year old toy poodle, and Fin, a 12 year old morkie. Puff Fin. My sweet little soulmates who made our lil family complete and who are long overdue for a place on the grid ❤️✨
