Board of Directors Election
Voting Starts March 15th at 9am and ends March 20th at 6pm
*** You must be an OSIF Member to vote ***.
If you are not on our Crew List, you are not an OSIF Member. Sign up to become a member Here.
OSIF Members will vote in Four people to join the three existing 2nd-year term board members, to serve on the 2024/25 Board of Directors. See the Nominee's Bios Below
Board of Directors Nominees
Choose 4 of the following nominees to represent OSIF in 2024/25 & 2025/26
Board of Director Terms are for 2 Years.
Matt Brown
| **Incumbent Board Member and current OSIF Vice-President About I have served on the OSIF board since 2020. My passion for our film community and bringing meaningful programs, events and networking is an asset to the development of OSIF. I have been an actor/producer/director for over two decades and have a grassroots base. What would you like to see the OSIF Board achieve in the 2024/25 Session? To further the progress accumulated in the last three years and become more involved in our community with communication, opportunity and relationships. What is your long term vision for OSIF? That OSIF is set up for longevity throughout the landscape of the Okanagan's future and that it becomes a beacon synonymous with support, community and opportunity for the film industry in the Okanagan. |
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Kimberly Billinton
| **Incumbent Board Member and current OSIF Secretary About I have served on the OSIF Board for the past two years in the role of secretary. During my time, due to my marketing background, I have taken the reigns on most of the digital marketing for the organization. In my previous connections with the Snakebite Festival, having had a film there in 2019, I was able to bring both of the organizations together where we introduced the 5 Day Film Competition and secured funding for future filmmaking competitions. What would you like to see the OSIF Board achieve in the 2024/25 Session? In the 2024/2025 season I would really like to see OSIF build off the momentum that it's already gained. I would like to see OSIF partner with even more organizations as we have done with Snakebite, to provide more funding for filmmakers in our community and more opportunity for their work to be seen. I would also like to see the implementation of committees to allow OSIF members more of a say in the inner workings. I think it's also important that OSIF put on more workshops in the coming year to teach those interested more technical skills to increase the quality of independent productions in our area (which, don't get me wrong, are already great). What is your long term vision for OSIF? I want to see OSIF as a household name and even more of a leader in our community. I would love for OSIF to be able to facilitate more frequent workshops and events. It would be great for OSIF to be able to fund more independent projects and provide even more resources to bringing those stories to life. As OSIF continues to grow, I want to see it get to the point where it has its own office/facility to work out of and better serve the community. |
Lyndsey Wong
| **Incumbent OSIF Board Member About Born and raised in the exotic land of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Lyndsey grew up studying Violin, Piano, Voice and Polynesian Dancing - with her real love being musical theatre. She then spent many more years being cold while attending the University of Alberta (B.Sc. - Minor in Classical Voice, M.D.) before moving to Kelowna to continue her training as a physician. After a decade-long hiatus from performing she returned to the stage in 2013 and has performed in, or been Music Director for, over a dozen local mainstage theatre productions. What would you like to see the OSIF Board achieve in the 2024/25 Session? I would like us to continue growing our funding in order to host more workshops, create more competitions, subsidies and scholarships for our members as well as hold more screening and networking events bringing people into our community. We know there is room for growth, and I support our plan to create more relationships with other film societies in BC and beyond. I would like us to keep improving upon our larger events like HorrorFest and the Okanagan Screen Awards, by finding creative ways to make it bigger and better for our members. OSIF is already getting recognition outside the Okanagan, and I hope to keep expanding our network of resources available to our members. What is your long term vision for OSIF? My long-term vision is for OSIF to continue to be a strong pillar of the film industry, by fostering the ever-growing film community in the Okanagan. OSIF would automatically be the first place all aspiring filmmakers go, serving as the launchpad for all independent films. The network of members and external resources would reach far and wide, providing all kinds of learning and creative opportunities for our members. |
Karsen Lavigne
| About I love creating content! Getting in front or behind a camera is a passion of mine. I have my own kit like my camera, gimbal, mics etc What would you like to see the OSIF Board achieve in the 2024/25 Session? Having events like Take2 was big and having more training seminars would be awesome. What is your long term vision for OSIF? OSIF is doing an amazing job with growing the filming industry in the Okanagan. When I first moved here I saw so much potential for Film. |
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Crystal Van Pelt
| About Good Day :) What would you like to see the OSIF Board achieve in the 2024/25 Session? I would love to see and participate with the OSIF Board to create an objective for the 2024/25 session spearheading initiatives focused on fostering holistic personal development within film crews, with a particular emphasis on achieving life balance amidst the chaos of the industry. Recognizing the demanding nature of film production and its toll on individuals, the Board aims to introduce a range of performance-enhancing tools tailored to the unique challenges faced by crew members. What is your long term vision for OSIF? As we embark on this new growth in our industry here in the Okanagan, my primary focus is on empowering each member to achieve personal growth, maintain life balance, and effectively manage chaos in both personal and professional spheres. My commitment lies in fostering a community where self-performance programs, dedicated speakers, and valuable resources converge to guide our members towards a fulfilling and sustainable career. |
Aneil Contractor
| About I’m an Independent filmmaker. What would you like to see the OSIF Board achieve in the 2024/25 Session? Grow our community and encourage new local filmmakers to make short movies and submit in okanagan and every where in this world. What is your long term vision for OSIF? Grow our community to next level and encourage new local filmmakers to make low budget feature movies and submit in okanagan and every where in this world. |
Riley Gaboury
| About I am a writer, Director, producer, and sometimes actor whose only goal is to make movies. Canada has a special place in my heart and I hope to continue to make movies here and have loved to see the industry here grow. I have had experience doing it all on small short films and Assistant directing on larger short films. I believe I have made a ton of connections in Kelowna and can help OSIF by highlighting a younger demographic of filmmakers in the regionWhat would you like to see the OSIF Board achieve in the 2024/25 Session? I would like to see OSIF help smaller more independent filmmakers get movies made by mentoring them and helping them achieve their goals by sponsoring gear and helping find locations. I think this year should all be about growth. There is a lot of talent here that hasn’t reached its full protection because of budgetary and inexperience restraints. I believe OSIF can make a massive difference in the community and by making an environment where young filmmakers can share their films and get people to watch them it will exponentially grow our film community. What is your long term vision for OSIF? I would like to see OSIF lean on the creative independent side of film rather than try and mimic the studio stuff that comes to town. There are plenty of stories to tell and we have story tellers that have 1 of a kind minds that can bring it to life in a way that no one else can. Kelowna will be recognized if we can grow the “underground” side of things. Movies with interesting ideas and unique compositions will be what sets us apart. And of you don’t believe me you can look at any other film movement in the history of cinema as proof |
George Popi  | About I've been an independent filmmaker for the last 8 years. I started my professional career primarily doing corporate video and marketing work for tech startups in Montreal, while doing various comedy sketches on the side. That slowly evolved into starting my current production company, Khaos Labs, which has produced on a few shorts as well as a feature film, and where I've primarily jumped between being an editor, producer and director depending on the project. Given my experience, I'm acutely aware of the business needs that face any independent film project and would love to provide my knowledge and time to the benefit of the members of OSIF.I also bring some event planning experience, as I spent 3 summers during my time at university planning Frosh week. That meant working on organizing events for up to 5000 people over a whole week, and dealing with staffing, budgeting, sponsorship and logistics to make that work. What would you like to see the OSIF Board achieve in the 2024/25 Session? While continuing the success that OSIF achieves with supporting local filmmakers with current events (ex: workshops, meetups, the 5 day film challenge and the OSAs) I would love to see and be apart of laying ground-work for more initiatives geared towards growing local audience interest in independent film within communities who aren’t in the film industry themselves.One idea to achieve this could be to organize regular screenings in partnership with some of the independent film theatres around the Okanagan. Those screenings could exhibit both local films as well as invite other independent filmmakers, to screen and speak/facilitate a workshop to broaden our communities network and reach. What is your long term vision for OSIF? I want to see OSIF continue to expand its impact and ability to support our local independent film industry. I would love to see OSIF be an entity that can nurture and help our members grow their own skills, as well as be a key connecter between members, a broader audience, the broader independent film community and funding sources (both individuals and funding bodies) to bring more resources and opportunity to the Okanagan independent film scene as a whole. |
Mandolin Flowers
| About I am 26 years old lover of film and the process of filmmaking, I grew up in Washington State and moved to Canada around 7 years ago. I enjoy independent filmmaking in the Okanagan particularly because I get the opportunity to be SO proud of these local creatives and follow their journey. I have experience as a film fest judge, including your recent Horrorfest and Okanagan Screen Awards and I am currently attending Okanagan College to pursue an Arts Degree with emphasis in Creative Writing to further develop and improve my writing skills. In the meantime, I would like to do whatever I can to participate in, expand, and support this community. I am a very self-motivated and supportive team-player with a creative drive. I have been a local cafe general manager for about 8 years now: this included duties such as coordinating events, overseeing a team, advertising, social media management, as well as other skills that would assist me in serving OSIF. I have loved this job for years but am retiring from this career path in April to direct more of my attention to my education and passion in film. I am a Big White Resort year-round resident and because of such, I believe that I have the opportunity to broaden the OSIF community; there are many cinephiles and filmmakers up here! Big White also serves as a great location and is used almost annually as a filming location for networks like Hallmark. I believe my experience as a general manager and my location will assist in my serving OSIF with the attention it deserves- Specifically with networking, decision making, and the organizing of events. Actively involving myself in OSIF will be a priority as I want to see OSIF succeed and grow. I very excited when I discovered this community and want to ensure everyone interested in film has the same opportunity for excitement and is given the best experience.What would you like to see the OSIF Board achieve in the 2024/25 Session? I would like to see the OSIF Board achieve more community engagement through partnerships, strategic promotions, events, and creative initiatives. I would also like to see OSIF continue to seek funding and grant opportunities to support independent filmmaking in the Okanagan as well as being able to use all of the above to encourage the youth of this community to pursue their creative filmmaking goals.What is your long term vision for OSIF? My long term vision for OSIF is establishing it as a local (maybe even regional?!) household name for those interested in participating in or supporting local independent filmmaking. I would like to see the screenings in particular have much more public engagement and excitement that encourages an audience as well as the creatives. |
Jesse Nelson
| About I was born and raised in Kelowna, and have spent my life in pursuit of film education.I have spent the last 8 years working as an Assistant Director in the Okanagan, and in doing so have been close at hand during high level budgetary conversations and problem solving with production managers and producers on projects of various sizes. For the past ten years, I have also produced a 24hr charity broadcast benefitting BC Children’s Hospital and raised over $86,000 for the foundation. Lastly, as a co-founder of Metric Entertainment, I have produced, AD’d and directed several music video and short films all using Okanagan locations, crew and creatives. What would you like to see the OSIF Board achieve in the 2024/25 Session? I think the board has the potential to strengthen their communication and organizational aspects, to allow a more cohesive board-community relationship.Additionally, I see that there is further growth potential in creative events and contests beyond Horrorfest and OSAs. Two potential ideas I’ve had is a “Oner Contest” and a “Team Project” contest. The Oner Contest would challenge filmmakers to creative their best single take short. The Team Project would be a project where crews are randomly assigned from submissions, to incentivize creatives to branch out from their regular circles What is your long term vision for OSIF? My key goal would be to further cement OSIF as the primary film resource in the Okanagan, and encourage a further growth in the community.There are amazing filmmakers in this region and they all deserve a platform and support, and I believe OSIF should be that. |
Cam Woodman
| About My favourite colour is green, I'm a sucker for Coming of Age films, and I can confirm that carbs truly ARE the enemy!... OH, and I'm a local filmmaker, actor, comedian, writer, voice actor, producer, and founder of Not That Guy Studios. I love making films, teaching people skills, and hanging out with you folks when I'm looking my classiest. I'd love to one day develop a comedy series that films locally, and have been working on some things to get that going. If you select me for Homecoming King...I promise to stock all the vending machines with Mountain Dew: Baha Blast, I'll work diligently with the board to convince The Big P to have at least one dance a semester, and I'll try my darn tootin'est to keep the fun times going by helping open more opportunities for the local film, animation, voice acting, and gaming communities to collaborate on larger scale projects, to continue the growth of Okanagan made productions.What would you like to see the OSIF Board achieve in the 2024/25 Session? I was very happy with what the current board was able to achieve this year, and the high level of quality films at the OSA's showed these strategies have been getting people excited about making films. Some areas where I believe we could continue the positive momentum, would be in looking at opportunities to strengthen the ties within the animation, comedy, voice acting, acting, film, and gaming development communities, so that more collaborative relationships can be made between these similar forms of entertainment locally. Another area I'd like to focus on, would be in dealing with outreach programs designed for youth. When I was younger, working in film never seemed like a reality locally, but that truly isn't the case anymore. I'd enjoy seeing OSIF work at fostering introductions and mentorships into the film industry, for kids who may not otherwise get the opportunity. And finally, I'd be interested to see more training opportunities for understanding the business side of the industry, as strengthening peoples understanding of things like: the ULB Program, Union vs Non Union for Actors, Grants, Film Festival Submissions, Telus Storyhive, Creative BC, and making a Pitch Deck are all things that so many people have questions about, and developing an understanding here would only increase the level of quality films the area continues to put out.....Peace, Love, and Taco Grease! - CamWhat is your long term vision for OSIF? OSIF, should one day turn into a self sustaining film making machine! An organization that funds projects locally, ensuring everyone is paid fairly, where they're able to maintain creative control of there work, and any profits made in distribution would filter back into the film fund to start the next round of films made in the area...thus continuing the growth of film in the Okanagan! |
2nd-Year Term Board Members
These members are not being voted in, they will carry over for their 2nd year in 2024/25
Chelsea McEvoy
| Nina Bournival
| Zach Jones
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