Five women-led companies are set to participate in a special edition of the Banff World Media Festival’s (BANFF) BANFF Spark Accelerator for Women in the Business of Media.

The 2023 BANFF Spark All Stars program, presented in partnership with Super Channel, will offer five alumni from the program a customized stream of business development opportunities, one-on-one mentoring, and exclusive access to top international media industry professionals during next month’s festival.

The BANFF Spark All Stars revealed Thursday (May 18) include Jennifer Beasley, president of Big Cheese Pictures; Sholeh Alemi Fabbri, producer/founder of Good Measure Productions; Jennifer Pun, producer at Edge Entertainment; Alexandra Roberts, producer and founder of Push Pictures; and Kaitlan Stewart, executive producer at Fenix Film & Television.

A Writers Guild of Canada-nominated writer, Beasley joined Winnipeg-based Buffalo Gal Pictures in 2016 as production executive and went on to become head of development and then VP of development. Since 2020, she’s served as co-chair of On Screen Manitoba’s board of directors, and founded Big Cheese Pictures in 2016.

Alemi Fabbri is a three-time Canadian Screen Award-nominated producer who launched Good Measure Productions in 2021. She was the production manager for the documentary Last of the Right Whales by director/producer Nadine Pequeneza and served as executive producer of Global’s ET Canada for more than seven years.

Pun is a partner and producer prodco Edge Entertainment, and previously held management positions at Heroic Film Company and Capri Films. Her credits include the tween series How to be Indie, Connor Undercover, and the features Fall and The Void.

Roberts has a decade of experience producing stories for film and television, both scripted and documentary. Her credits include Soft, the first feature produced under her company Push Pictures, which premiered at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival and was nominated for a CMPA Indiescreen Award.

Stewart is the executive producer and founder of Fenix Film & Television. She was previously VP of development and business affairs at Mosaic Entertainment. Her credits include season three of the docu-reality series The Liquidator (Anaïd Productions) and season three of comedy series Tiny Plastic Men (Mosaic Entertainment).

BANFF Spark is an annual program designed to empower women of colour, Indigenous women, women with disabilities, LGBTQ2S+ women, and non-binary individuals both domestically and internationally. It offers business guidance and opportunities within the Canadian and global film and television industry through BANFF’s conference and marketplace.

“BANFF Spark has already made measurable progress toward advancing economic parity for women entrepreneurs in our industry. It has generated positive career growth for 200 women participants by helping them form strategic partnerships, hone their business plans, and gain a foothold in the global market,” said Jenn Kuzmyk, executive director, Banff World Media Festival, and VP and publisher of Playback, in a statement.

Super Channel president and CEO Don McDonald noted the network has supported the program since its inception and remains committed to doing it “part to advance the economic security and parity for women in the screen industry.”

The 44th edition of BANFF runs from June 11 to 14 at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Alta.

L-R: Jennifer Beasley, president of Big Cheese Pictures; Sholeh Alemi Fabbri, producer/founder of Good Measure Productions; Jennifer Pun, producer at Edge Entertainment; Alexandra Roberts, producer and founder of Push Pictures; and Kaitlan Stewart, executive producer at Fenix Film & Television.