Board, Staff, Advisors

Devon is a filmmaker and educator from Halifax Nova Scotia. Her films explore the stories, language and lessons found within the natural world, the human condition, and the interconnectedness of all of us. Devon has a deep admiration for plants and fungi, and that is reflected in her art practice. She also has passion and experience with teaching, as she sees the value of creativity and wants to share that with others.

Devon graduated from the Screen Arts Program at NSCC, and completed a video practicum at the Banff Center for Arts and Creativity, before returning to school in 2016 to complete her BFA at NSCAD University, majoring in film.  She will be returning to NSCAD in the fall to complete her MFA.

First things first: Grace Kimpinski was bestowed the ‘Mouth of a Sailor’ award when she was in university, and it was well-deserved. Thankfully, she has a decent filter and a good 10-second delay, which has managed to keep her out of too much trouble…and for that, she is thankful.

Grace was born and raised on PEI and spent most of her 20s living off and on and off and on the Island while she explored herself and other cities in Canada. Once settling back in Charlottetown, Grace soon realized that she thrives under the pressure that the ‘behind the scenes’ has to offer and has become an active member of the Arts and Culture scene on PEI.

She is the Executive Director of the Charlottetown Film Society and Festival Manager for the Charlottetown Film Festival, as well as the Festival Director of the Island Fringe Festival. She has a significant history in the PEI non-profit sector, and extensive experience in project management, event coordination, and communications.

Jillian Acreman has been making films since 2009, with her feature Queen of the Andes winning Best Canadian First Feature at the Victoria Film Festival in 2021. She is the NB Film Co-op’s new President, and an instructor at the NB College of Craft and Design. She is based in Fredericton.

Joanne comes to WIFT-AT from a varied background that encompasses strategic leadership, filmmaking, communications and marketing, change management, and non-profit governance.

Joanne has led, volunteered, and worked for many Atlantic Canadian artist-run centres and arts organizations, including the Khyber Centre for the Arts, Linda Joy Media Arts Society, Moving Images Group, and the Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative. She has also enjoyed many positions in public service business transformation, most recently leading the Avalon Sexual Assault Centre in organizational renewal as their Interim Executive Director. Social justice, inclusion, and healing are at the heart of her engagements.

Growing up, I was fortunate to have both of my parents working in the film industry. It provided me with the unique opportunity to see how productions worked behind the camera and not just the finished product like most people see. I would visit my parents on set and sometimes I even got to do background work. Whether it was a small or large production, I was able to see all the moving parts — all the crew members working in tandem to complete a singular goal— and it fascinated me, even though I did not completely understand what they were doing through my young eyes. I believe my drive came from swimming competitively, which I did twice a day, five days a week, between ages 9 and 17. It taught me discipline and work ethic, which I have carried into my career in film production today.

Since graduating from the NSCC Screen Arts Program, I have been actively involved in the film industry, working on television and feature film productions including BOOK OF NEGROES, MR. D., and all three seasons of DIGGSTOWN (Season 3 currently in production). I’ve also been actively involved with WIFT-AT over the years, both as a member and a volunteer in the capacity of volunteer coordinator.

Kelsey Power was trained to work in television and took courses related to the history and presentation of cinema through her undergraduate education at the University of King’s College, where she obtained a Bachelor of Journalism (Honours). She wrote about documentary filmmaking in Canada for her honours project. 

She participated in New Waves in 2016, and became WIFT-AT’s programming and conference coordinator for 2017/18. Following this she has sat on the board and is now Co-Chair of the Communications Committee. 

Kelsey has been the production coordinator for John Walker Productions Ltd., since 2018. She was the production and post production coordinator of Assholes: A Theory. She completed a CMPA Nova Scotia Production Mentorship Program with Vertical Productions Inc., from October 2019 to March 2020. Since October 2020, Kelsey has acted as production coordinator, researcher, and writer for the productions of Firefly Digital Media – Half Speed Adventures, Maritime Made, and Wild Spaces. After completing the 2020/2021 WIFT-AT Mentor Match program with McLean Media in January 2021, Kelsey has been production managing its latest episode of The Nature of Things.  

Kelsey has also worked as a background actor, movement performer, videographer, camera assistant trainee, camera assistant, production assistant, assistant animator, assistant set dresser, IATSE 667 camera trainee, director, producer, publicist, juror, and production consultant.

Koumbie is an award-winning director, writer, and actor. In front of the camera they have appeared in a number of local productions with reoccurring roles on shows including CBC productions; Mr. D, Diggstown and Addison, as well as the final season of Outtv’s Sex & Violence.

Since going behind the camera, Koumbie has directed a number of award-winning short films including the Short Film Face-Off winner Hustle & Heart, a 1k wave film, Ariyah & Tristan’s Inevitable Break-Up, and an episode of the Screen Nova Scotia ‘Best Series’ winner Studio Black. In 2016 she was named a “One to Watch” by Sea & Be Scene, in 2018 she was selected as a Five in Focus: Atlantic Director and in the same year won a Telefilm Talent to Watch Grant.

Currently working on their first feature film B y s t a n d e r s, Koumbie is drawn to stories that feature new voices and perspectives.

Melānie Mendez Munden immigrated to Canada, Nova Scotia 36 years ago from the Philippines. She graduated in Montreal at College LaSalle from Fashion Design and came home to Nova Scotia to pursue her career in Fashion and opened her studio Mekizo Designs at the former CN building on Barrington St. She was on the board of Shakespeare by the Sea, started fashion shows for charity Manna for Health, Aids Coalition and Coverdale.

With dreams in tow, Melānie travelled back to the Philippines to reconnect with her roots for 6 months and pursue manufacturing. Due to lack of capital she decided to plant trees instead to save her family’s land.

Melānie’s entrepreneurial spirit has led her to move to Toronto and opened a humble cafe on Yonge and Eglinton at 26 where she sold her paintings, Zen gardens and catered events and architect firms.

Melānie joined her family in Vancouver after selling her business in Toronto and continued to work on her painting skills and work with local artists in the area while she built a family of her own.

Melānie now resides in Queensland, Nova Scotia with her teenagers, husband and pets. Melānie owns and runs Cleveland Beach Cottage and frequently runs events, nuptials and fundraisers in the area. She is the Vice Chair of HABA Hubbards and Area Business association. 

Melānie has been the Vice President of interiorsurfaces.ca since 2010 with her life partner. She designs area rugs and carpet for the hospitality industry and private residences around North America and Asia. 

During the pandemic she explored her love of films, movie making and interest in writing, attending workshops at AFCOOP and being selected into the FILM 5 2020 program with the short film Maid, about a Filipino Migrant worker. This film showed at FIN Atlantic international Film Festival and has now been in16 festivals around the world and won 5 awards.

Nicole Steeves is an award-winning Writer/Director/Actor/Producer. She produced Tara Thorne’s debut feature film Compulsus, and the pair are currently in pre-production for Thorne’s second feature film, Lakeview.

Her first feature Head Space, which she also produced, was made possible through the 1K WAVE Atlantic program created by WIFT-AT and Ingrid Veninger of pUNK Films. Her most recent feature, Aliens with Knives (Co-Directed with Struan Sutherland) was created in partnership with Cinema 902 and Eastlink Television and had an award-winning festival run.

Nicole is one of the five winners of the 2017 national screenwriting competition From Our Dark Side. She was also the winner of the 2015 WIFT Pitch Competition for her project Getaway and is an alumni of the Women in the Director’s Chair mentoring program.

Along with co-writer Struan Sutherland and producer Andre Pettigrew, Nicole became one of the CineCoup Top 15 finalists in Canada with their concept for Namas-DIE. Gnaw, a short film created for Cinecoup was picked by Telefilms Not Short On Talent Program and screened at Clermont Ferrand short film market.

Tracey is a queer writer, director, and producer based in Fredericton, New Brunswick. They won the 2020 CBC WIFT-AT Pitch Competition at the Women Making Waves Conference for their short film script “Travelog”. Her first feature screenplay, the queer coming-of-age drama Glitter, received an honourable mention in the FIN Atlantic Film Festival Pitch Competition in 2020, and has been selected by WIFT-AT for consideration of the 2022 Telefilm Talent to Watch program. In October 2022, Tracey is taking Glitter to Iceland for the Reykjavik International Film Festival Talent Lab.