Evaluation Juries

Claire Dion held strategic positions in the development of the film/tv and digital industries in Quebec for 30 years. She was the associate director of the Independent Production Fund (IPF) in Quebec, dedicated to the development and funding of webseries, for 15 years. She was also central to the interactive innovation and creative processes at Bell Fund as its Quebec Director. As a manager of these Funds, she fostered the emergence of new talents throughout her career. She holds a Master’s degree in film studies from USC (university of Southern California).

She is retired from the Funds and now acts as a consultant and mentor for emerging talents.

Kate Green is an award-winning director and producer. As a female leader in entertainment, Kate is committed to making vibrant, engaging content by and for women.

Kate is the creator, director and producer of NarcoLeap a sci-fi web series which first aired on TELUS OptikTV, CBC Gem. Season one of NarcoLeap garnered a Canadian Screen Award nomination, a Writers’ Guild of Canada nomination, and three Leo Award nominations and won “Best Sci-Fi” at Miami Web Fest, Baltimore Next Media Web Fest and the Asia Web Awards. With over 300k channel views and a 2.3 million social media reach the series was green-lit for a second season. It was released on Highball TV to enthusiastic audiences and was also nominated for its 2nd Canadian Screen Award for Best Web Program or Series and six Leo Award nominations winning Best Web Series, Male and Female Performances.

Kate has also worked on numerous programs in lifestyle and factual television as a producer or director. Her work has aired on various networks such as Oxygen Network, HGTV, W Network, CBC, History, Discovery, Fuel TV, and Slice. Her latest short film, a zombie western titled Murphy’s Law recently aired on CBC and CBC GEM and won “Best Horror Thriller” at the Wild Bunch Film Festival.

Kate is a proud Alumna of Vancouver Island University, University of British Columbia, Women in the Director’s Chair Story & Leadership Program, the National Screen Institute of Canada, and the Reykjavík International Film Festival Talent Lab—where she got to meet the president of Iceland and Bjork!

Louiselle Roy is a consultant and specialist in multiplatform digital strategy / development for the fields of culture, entertainment and education. She has worked for over twenty-five years in the television and digital media industries. Louiselle began her career in digital media in 1997 at BCE Media and collaborated on innovative projects such as the Red Wich web series and the Insectia game. She continued her professional career and acts as director of business development and producer for various firms, thus contributing to the financing and production of numerous digital projects, in particular, Misogynie2.0, Défi Santé, La guerre des tuques 3D, Apocalypse 14- 18, The Children of TV and Sex Around the World I and II. Several of these projects have been selected or received various awards (Gemini, Webby Award, Rocky Awards, NHK Japan and Boomerang). In 2006, at Télé-Québec, as head of the new media department and supervised the overhaul of the channel portal and the production of digital projects. Previously, she was director of the education sector, at MediaSmart, and developed awareness and education tools on Internet-related issues. At the start of her career, at TFO, she produced more than 500 edutainment programs for the youth sector. From 2010-2016 Louiselle sat on the board of directors of the Regroupement des producteurs d´expérations Numeriques (Xn Quebec) and of Women in Cinema, Television and Digital Media (FCTMN).

Argentinian-Canadian Mara Gourd-Mercado is a cultural manager specializing in film, television, and digital media. For over a decade she put her expertise and energy to work as a publicist, promoting Quebec films around the world. In 2011, she moved into the advertising sector as communications manager at one of Canada’s leading agencies. She returned to the cultural sector in 2014, joining the RIDM team as communications director and then executive director from 2015 to 2020. Mara is currently executive director of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television’s Quebec Division.