PRODUCER
BRACKEN BURNS
Bracken is the co-founder of Blahzay Creative and production powerhouse responsible for the creative realization and the healthy budgets of our stories.
Growing up in a small town in Northern Canada, Bracken champions under represented groups and prioritizes diverse allyship.
Whether it's a musical comedy or a controversial documentary, Bracken tells stories for a living and is grateful to work alongside some incredibly talented creatives.
PRODUCER
KAT MCDERMOTT
Kathleen McDermott is a proud Bigstone Cree Nation Member from treaty 8 territory. Raised in treaty 6 territory on the territory of Saddle Lake Cree Nation.
It was in treaty 6 territory, Kat was blessed with many teachings and stories about cree culture.
Growing up nechi, art is a primary tool for growth and development. Utilizing all opportunity for growth, Kat ventured to Vancouver to get her film degree.
With a focus on youth facilitation and program development, Kat went back home to share her teachings with the youth in her community willing to learn.
Wakohtowin - we are all connected, we are all family, is a foundational teaching Kat lives by; and any opportunity to learn is an opportunity for her community to learn.
Together we succeed, Thank you all for the opportunities to allow us to learn and share that knowledge with our home fires.
DIRECTOR/PRODUCER
AJ SIMMONS
Hailing from the nowhere land of middle-England, AJ went to the arts by way of a performer. While performing across many mediums and four continents, for companies like: MGM+, PARAMOUNT, SHUDDER, AMAZON PRIME, Channel 4, and various independent outfits, he craved creating cinema and narrative projects of his own. Learning from some of the industry’s finest, AJ has gone on to create work that has won awards, screened internationally and theatrically.
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR
SAMIYA HASSAN
Samiya is a director, producer, filmmaker & digital native.
Born & raised in Vancouver, it all started when Samiya's older sister called her “bossy” for making her follow a script while playing Barbies.
Since then, I have grown to love collaboration and have gotten the chance to work with incredibly talented teams around the globe in Vancouver, Toronto, London & New York.
Assistant to Bracken Burns
JANE ASTER ROE
Jane is passionate about storytelling as a form of radical empathy and strongly believes in the power of art and media as a vehicle for societal change. Jane’s colourful brain is made up of autism, anxiety disorders, depression, and PTSD; and she embraces the motto of "seeking kinship in madness and meaning making."
When she's not answering emails, and running Bracken's calendar, she's a writer, producer and storyteller.
Jane has studied at the school of the New York Times and Sundance Collab, and is driven by her own experiences, and an innate curiosity about life and human nature. Through her work Jane strives to tell untold stories and examine familiar stories through new lenses.