Julian Carrington is Managing Director of the Toronto-based Racial Equity Media Collective (REMC), a national not-for-profit organization committed to equity for Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) creators in Canada’s film, television, and digital media industries. Julian leads the organization’s research and advocacy initiatives, which aim to remove structural barriers faced by BIPOC creators. Previously, he served as Senior Industry Manager at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival. In that capacity, he supported the administration of the Hot Docs portfolio of funds, Including the Hot Docs Blue Ice Docs Fund, the Hot Docs CrossCurrents Doc Funds, and the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Fund. Julian also oversaw the Festival’s Distribution Rendezvous pitch program and the Doc Shop sales platform. In addition, he is the founder of For Viola, the Hot Docs Cinema’s BIPOC-focused community screening series, named in honour of Viola Desmond. Prior to joining Hot Docs, Julian was an associate programmer at the Toronto International Film Festival, and a distribution consultant with the Documentary Organization of Canada. Julian is a graduate of the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law and brings a commitment to social justice to all his professional endeavours.

For over 20 years, Lalita Krishna has been producing and directing documentaries through her company, In Sync Media. Her work has been featured on all major networks and showcased at film festivals worldwide. Lalita’s documentaries have received acclaim for highlighting important issues and often serve as a catalyst for social change. Lalita is the writer and producer of Bangla Surf Girls, which had its world premiere at the Hot Docs International Film Festival and has been screened at over 50 international festivals, winning 18 international awards. Her documentary Fear of Dancing, a co-production between Quebec and Ontario, follows a chorophobe as he travels the globe confronting his worst nightmare; it premiered on the Documentary Channel and CBC’s Gem. Additionally, she produced Untying the Knot, which chronicles the journey of a survivor of a brutal domestic assault and premiered on CBC’s Documentary Channel. In addition to multiple awards for her productions, Lalita is also the winner of the 2021 Don Haig award given by Hot Docs to a producer who has made significant contribution through their body of work, received the 2013 Crystal Award for mentorship given by WIFT (Women in Film and Television), and the Trailblazer (2012) award given by the Reel World Film Festival and is the recipient of the Dream Catcher award given by the Hope and Dreams Festival NJ, for using her craft to better humanity.  Lalita is a passionate advocate for diversity and representation in media. In addition to serving as Chair of the CISF, she was a long-time board member of Hot Docs as well as DOC Ontario, which operates the DOC Institute.

With over 25 years of advocacy experience, Barbara has significantly increased opportunities for Canadian racialized artists in mainstream media by creating an ecosystem to nurture, incubate, showcase and advance careers. Under the umbrella of the Vancouver Asian Film Festival (VAFF), Canada’s oldest Asian Film festival, Barbara also founded Elimin8Hate.org, an international award winning anti-Asian advocacy program, Asians in Movies, Music and Media (AIM3), a professional development program and co-founded the Mighty Asian Moviemaking Marathon (MAMM), a talent incubator and mentorship program. Barbara is also a writer/director/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 was selected for the 2004 National Film Board’s Reel Diversity Program. In 2023 Barbara created and launched the East by Northwest (EXNW) Global Summit under RESO to create greater opportunities for Canadian racialized diaspora content to be shared with the world.

Tony Merzetti is the Executive Director of the New Brunswick Filmmakers’ Co-operative, a position he held since 1986. He is a sessional film production instructor in the Department of Media Arts and Culture at UNB since 2000. In 2005, he received the Award of Excellence in Community Cultural Development from the NB Arts Board and in 2012 received the Caisses populaires acadiennes Arts and Cultural Management Award from the NB Foundation for the Arts. In the community he has served on various film and arts related boards over the past 3 decades and is currently the treasurer of the Canadian Independent Screen Fund. Besides being a mentor to emerging filmmakers and a cinematographer, he has made several fiction and documentary films focusing on historical, cultural and regional topics including Gruff and Ready: The Mazzuca’s Story, Francis Sherman: When All is Said and Done, and Bliss Carman: Divine Force of Nature.

Sobaz Benjamin is an award-winning filmmaker, the Founder and Executive Director of In My Own Voice (iMOVe) Arts Association: a film production company and multi- purpose film training lab, Centre Stage Community Development Co-operative Ltd. and In My Own Voice (iMOVe) Media Production and Learning Co-operative Ltd. Sobaz is a filmmaker and social entrepreneur, community worker, advocate, mentor, program facilitator and educator. In 2009, he partnered with the Nova Scotia Justice Department to deliver his Life Story program: the (Kintsugi Monologues). Sobaz, currently in partnership with NSCAD University, is a director of a film production training program called Free Film School and the Community Media Mobile Lab.

He has also received a Humans Rights Award for his work with youth, a Multicultural Award in education, a Crime Prevention Award from the Provincial Government and film directing awards from the National Film Board and the Canadian Academy of Cinema and Television. Sobaz has certificates in Compassionate Listening, Community Based Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding (from the Coady Institute at St Francis Xavier University and the Compassionate Listening Project in Indianola, Washington), and Diversity and Restorative Justice training and facilitation. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Mass Communication from York University in Toronto and a BFA in Film and Video Production from York.

Haydn Wazelle is a Vancouver-based media & entertainment producer and software developer. In addition to the CISF board, he also sits on the boards of the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) and the Black Screen Office (BSO). Along with extensive film & TV producer-side production experience for senior production companies and under his own shingle, Tabula Dada, he has 10+ years in SaaS designing UX for media production workflow through his company ZedDrive. He produced the feature films ALONE (2010), HELLO DESTROYER (2016) and VIOLENTIA (2018), the CBC documentary DADS (2013), and the critically acclaimed video game EON ALTAR (2016). In 2017 HELLO DESTROYER was nominated for 4 CSA’s, including best picture, and named to TIFF Canada’s Top 10 list. More recently, he produced CAN I GET A WITNESS (2024) which had 5 wins at the 2025 Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards and was also named to TIFF Canada’s Top 10.