The Quebec English-language Production Council (QEPC) has revealed the latest cohort of its annual Producers Mentorship Program.

Now in its fourth year, the initiative provides emerging and mid-career producers with a hybrid program of hands-on mentorship and targeted training sessions as they develop their English-language projects. Running from September through to January 2026, the course will cover such areas as budgeting, financial planning, tax credits, international coproductions, legal frameworks, pitching strategies and market access.

Mentorship will be provided by members of QEPC — which includes some of the province’s top producers of English-language scripted and unscripted content — as well as ACTRA Montreal. The program is supported by the Canada Media Fund’s (CMF) Sector Development Program and SODEC’s Mission Assistance Program.

The 2025 cohort is more than twice as large as the seven-member group that took part in the program’s previous edition, comprising 17 producers across scripted, documentary and animation.

Emerging talent selected for the program include playwright and performer Anna Burkholder, who is currently adapting her debut play Caravan for television; Anne Kmetyko, a Montreal-based filmmaker developing her first feature, shorts and a web series; and Romanian-born filmmaker Emilia Sorina Jurca, who is developing her first feature after completing three independent shorts.

Representing the non-fiction space are Athens-born, Montréal-based filmmaker Christina Katsiadakis, who specializes in documentary and new media; Erin Ashley Singer, a documentary director, producer and lawyer with over 20 years of experience in non-fiction storytelling; and Rebecca Rowley, founder of Kimchi Productions, which focuses on both narrative and doc storytelling.

On the animation and new media side are Anne Koizumi, a Montreal-based writer, director, and producer of award-winning animated and experimental films; Mark Van Ee, an Emmy-winning producer who is currently producing the animated series AstroNots; Nyambura M. Waruingi, who leads cross-continental multimedia productions and XR storytelling initiatives; and Keith G. Yard, a Montreal-based producer and art director with extensive animation experience.

Comedy specialists selected for this year’s cohort are Meghan Gabruch, an actor and producer with over a decade of experience; and screenwriter, performer and creator Elly Pond, co-founder of sketch troupe Tongues.

Rounding out the 2025 cohort are writer, director and producer Patty “Spark” Keach, co-founder of Mad Angel Productions; actor, writer and teacher Darragh Mondoux; director and producer Julian Stamboulieh, creator of the award-winning digital series LARPs; Tom Llewellin, a Montreal-based producer who has worked with international productions in Southeast Asia and India; and multidisciplinary artist, screenwriter and producer Mario Pierre-Canel.

QEPC has confirmed the mentors for each section of the program to Playback Daily. Poutine Studios president Debra Kouri, who is also a member QEPC’s board of directors, will be overseeing the program this year. She will also serve as a mentor for the development and delivery component, alongside screenwriter and producer Philip Kalin-Hajdu and post producer and supervisor Elissa Lewis.

Mentors for the content and showrunning section will be Anthony Q. Farrell, a creator and showrunner with Canfro Productions; and writer, director and producer Stacey Tenebaum of H2L Productions.

The program’s industry & Cancon mentors will be Muse Entertainment founder and executive chairman Michael Prupas, and PMA Productions president Kenneth Hirsch. Finally, the mentors for legal & business affairs will be Me. Joe Sisto, Me. Stéphane Moraille, and producer Elisabeth Gimber of Filmo Bandito.

“Our mentorship program has become a cornerstone of QEPC’s work,” said QEPC executive director Kirwan Cox in a statement. “By guiding talented producers at a critical stage of their careers, we’re building the foundation for more sustainable English-language production in Quebec, and ensuring those emerging and mid-career producers can make their mark both at home and across Canada.”

Image courtesy of QEPC