A  trio made up of filmmakers, producers and activists have formed Above the Palace, a Toronto-based production company focused on scripted and unscripted series and films.

The company is led by Rodney Diverlus and Sandy Hudson, co-founders of Black Lives Matter Canada and Toronto’s Wildseed Centre for Art & Activism, as well as filmmaker Anubha Momin, whose short film Aftercare is about to make its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September. Hudson is also a co-executive producer on the CBC docuseries Black Life: Untold Stories — led by showrunner Leslie Norville and produced by Studio 112, Northwood Entertainment, and Ugly Duck Productions — which will world bow in TIFF’s Primetime programme.

Above the Palace has launched with a number of projects in development, including two created by Momin – the 8 x 30-minute series Queen City, about a Millennial Bangladeshi woman who moves back in with her mother following a divorce and losing her job; and the feature-length rom-com Come by Seldom, about a Bangladeshi chef who falls for a fisherwoman while at a placement at a Newfoundland and Labrador-based inn. Come by Seldom is a coproduction with Jenna MacMillan’s P.E.I-based banner Club Red Productions.

The company is also in development on a weekly current affairs series called The Parallel, an extension of the Instagram account known as the On Canada Project, which dives into cultural and political issues tailored to a Gen Z and Millennial audience.

Hudson tells Playback Daily that the push to form Above the Palace – a nod to the Dance Cave, a nightclub located above Toronto concert venue Lee’s Palace – came from wanting to highlight issues of equity and stories about underrepresented communities “in a more effective way.”

She had worked with Diverlus for roughly 15 years, and had known Momin for two decades, and saw an opportunity to merge their creative talents. “We thought, ‘We can put our talents together and have a disruptive impact on the entertainment space in a way that tells really meaningful, important stories that push forward the way that we think about particular issues,'” she says.

The producers are currently seeking international partners for Come by Seldom, which Hudson, Momin and MacMillan brought to the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. The multilingual film is based in France and Canada and features dialogue in English, Bengali and French. Diverlus says they’re already in talks with a potential U.S. partner.

Hudson says the team is also in talks with various broadcasters about putting their other projects into development, and hopes to “solidify some of those conversations and some of those potential partnerships” while at TIFF.

Another goal for the producers at TIFF is to attract not only coproduction partners, but additional investors to support their goals.

“We believe that, particularly with a startup like ours, a multi-pronged strategy is going to be the most effective in leveraging the public resources that exist, our existing networks through our own outside work, and targeting and soliciting key angel investors,” says Diverlus.

The company is also focused on creating a more inclusive space behind the camera. For Aftercare — about a woman who is unexpectedly reunited with a now-adult individual she used to babysit — Diverlus says the team was able to support below-the-line staff in a number of ways. The prodco provided mentorship opportunities for entry-level workers, promoted BIPOC workers to more senior production roles, accommodated child care for performers, and offered “at scale or above” compensation.

“We want to create a space in which people’s creative visions are being supported,” says Diverlus, noting that the concept of “paying your dues” with reduced or zero compensation is a significant barrier for members of underrepresented communities. “We did not come into this business wanting to duplicate some of the biggest harms and ills that exist in this industry.”

Photos courtesy of Above the Palace; pictured (L-R): Sandy Hudson, Rodney Diverlus, Anubha Momin