Board & Staff

Maribeth Gotell is an entertainment executive with more than twenty years in leadership positions in the Canadian television industry. Holding various senior roles at notable companies such as Scott Brothers Entertainment (Property Brothers franchise) and Primevista (Sarah Richardson) she has spearheaded production and business affairs, significantly contributing to hundreds of hours of prime time television produced in Canada and the United States. Maribeth combines creative, business and operational expertise with a collaborative leadership style. She is passionate about the Canadian screen industry and about building strong, inclusive communities and opportunities for the people who work within it.

Martina Kelades is a multi-talented artist based in Halifax, NS. She is recognized as a professional storyteller and works as a screen actor and mental health and wellness speaker. She is also the host of the Life Out Loud Podcast, as part of the creative branch of her business, Life Out Loud Mental Health Consulting & Creatives.

Martina’s business venture in mental health was the avenue that unexpectedly led her back into the film industry in 2020. Since then, she has worked on several commercials and productions in TV and film. Martina was nominated for a 2024 Screen Nova Scotia Award for Outstanding Performance for her role in the Bell Fibe series Trapped. Among a group of talented actors and industry friends, she feels deeply honored to receive this recognition and to be a part of the thriving local film community in Nova Scotia.

As an active member of WIFT-AT, ACTRA Maritimes and Screen Nova Scotia, Martina’s mission is to inspire diverse voices and opportunities within the industry spaces and encourage visibility for underrepresented creatives and their stories. By involving herself in conversations and consultations for BIPOC performers, she actively works to increase fair and equitable representation of Black artists in the industry, fostering a more inclusive and diverse creative space.

Martina’s involvement with WIFT-AT is a testament to her intentional commitment to elevating the voices of underrepresented artists and achieving greater representation within the local film community. Her vision is to engage and incorporate more diverse stories into scripts, casting choices, and overall production and distribution systems. Additionally, Martina is passionate about integrating her expertise in mental health and wellness to develop distinctive and impactful forms of storytelling.

Vanessa King is a producer, director, screenwriter, story editor, and screenwriting educator with more than 20 years experience working behind the scenes in the film and television industry across Canada and the US. A Vanity Fair Downtown 100 honouree and a Forbes magazine Industry Thought Leader, she is founder of New Brunswick-based production company Cart Before Horse Media. She is a CMPA and WIFT-AT member, serves on the executive board of Media NB, and is a member-mentor of the NB Film Co-op.

Melissa Laverdure is the founder of The Archival Agent, a professional archival producer working in film and TV, based in Halifax. She specializes in sourcing rare and compelling visual material—from photographs and footage to supplemental documents.  After finding them she negotiates the rights for their use with extra discounts. With a talent for uncovering content, Melissa supports filmmakers in building unique narratives. She has worked with major broadcasters and festivals including APTN, CBC, The History Channel, Hot Docs, and the Canadian Screen Awards, as well as many independent producers across Canada and beyond.

Tracey Lavigne (she/they) is a queer writer/director/producer from rural New Brunswick. She is an alumnus of the Reykjavik International Film Festival Talent Lab, the FIN Atlantic Film Festival Script Development Program, and a past winner of the CBC WIFT-Atlantic Pitch Competition. Tracey is the producer of the fantasy drama feature film Further Than The Eye Can See. Tracey’s short films exploring themes of identity, isolation, and connection have screened at festivals across Canada and beyond.

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Stacey Moser is a Nova Scotia-based media and creative professional with more than 25 years’ experience in business development and sales, complemented by hands-on experience in television and film production since 2021. She has worked as a Production Coordinator and Production Manager on Atlantic productions including Eastlink’s Locally Owned, Ocean Playground, Style East, Maritime Museums, Women Now and more. A military family upbringing gave Stacey the opportunity to live all across Canada, building strong connections and an appreciation for community along the way. She retired in Nova Scotia in 2019 and has since embraced a diverse freelance career—still retired, but having fun with it—spanning media, modeling, and acting. She is co-founder of the newly formed Nova Scotia Model Collective and recently completed her Certified Pilates Instructor training. With no signs of slowing down, Stacey brings a strong network, business acumen, organizational skills and a passion for building connections and creating opportunities for women in the Atlantic creative community.

Tara Pollock (she/her) is a Human Resources and Organizational Development leader, a passionate advocate for inclusion, and a queer woman. Raised in Ottawa, Ontario, with summers spent with family in the Maritimes, Tara relocated to Nova Scotia in 2023, deepening a lifelong connection to Atlantic Canada. With more than 15 years’ experience in HR and OD, she partners with leaders to strengthen workplace culture, advance Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging, and support sustainable organizational growth. Her career includes supporting creative teams in an Ottawa-based animation studio and an Atlantic Canadian community television organization, fostering a deep appreciation for the role storytelling plays in building connection and community.

Tara studied Theatre at the University of Ottawa, volunteered as an actor with the Ottawa Little Theatre, and enjoys writing poetry while aspiring to learn the art of screenwriting. Reflecting her commitment to creating more equitable and inclusive communities, she currently serves on Halifax Regional Municipality’s Women and Gender Equity Advisory Committee. Tara brings a people-centered approach to leadership, informed by both professional and lived experience, and is deeply committed to supporting women and gender-diverse voices in the creative sector.

Gina is a creative industry veteran with an extensive and varied career in film, television, digital, gaming, and publishing. She previously held a senior management position with Walt Disney Studios in sales, programming, distribution, and operations strategies across multiple platforms. Currently under the HO11YROCK banner: coproduction, development, sales and distribution expertise, specializing in creative industry trade missions and international markets participation. She is a graduate of York University Osgood Hall Law School (Master of Laws) LLM in Intellectual Property.

Morgan Salter is the manager of Screen Nova Scotia’s Content Creator funding programs which support Nova Scotian creators by providing funding to eligible productions. In this role Morgan enjoys managing relationships with producers, as well as the development, evaluation, and delivery of the Content Creator Fund and the Amplified Voices Development Program.

Prior to joining Screen Nova Scotia, from 2018 – 2022 Morgan helmed FIN Partners, the globally recognized co-production market at the Atlantic International Film Festival. With a background in production, Morgan has produced two short films including Keeper, which was awarded Best Short Film at the Screen Nova Scotia Awards in 2023.  

Tara is an arts admin worker and filmmaker based in north end Halifax. She has worked for the Halifax Indpendent Filmmakers Festival, Atlantic Filmmakers Co-operative, Lunenburg Doc Fest, Screen Nova Scotia, and the Atlantic International Film Festival. Her debut feature Compulsus travelled the festival circuit in 2022 before being released theatrically in Canada by Vortex Media in 2024. Its followup, Lakeview, screened around the world including London, Paris, Sydney, Kyiv, San Francisco, Chicago, and Toronto. She is in development on third feature, Jo & Frankie, with producers Melani Wood and Jenna MacMillan.