Program Advisors
Melody Shang
Melody is a producer, actor and owner of Dreameng Studio Ltd, a multicultural award-winning production company based in Toronto Canada.
She has appeared in Hulu’s original TV shows and a Netflix Feature Film as an Actor and worked alongside Hollywood’s top actors. Since 2019, her company has focused on multicultural productions for commercials, documentaries, and films. Melody has been a producer and director of numerous international commercials and short films since then. She works actively to bring more projects to life. Her expertise is in the execution of productions on various budgets and making the best of them. She has been working with filmmakers in Canada and China on their films and has provided them with numerous work opportunities. Melody was a Juror of multiple film festivals such as BIPOC International Film Festival and Asian American International Film Festival.
Justine McCloskey
Justine McCloskey is a filmmaker, photographer, artist, and writer. She graduated with honours from Toronto Metropolitan University's BFA Film Studies program in 2013, specializing in directing and production design. In 2012, she won the prestigious Norman Jewison Award for Innovation in Filmmaking. She was also nominated for the 2013 Dean's Essay Award for her essay "Grete Suffraunce: Dysentery and The Crusades." Justine went on to attend the University of Toronto where she received her MA in Art History while TA-ing media and photography courses with both UofT and OCADu.
Justine is a board member for the 8fest, a devoted analog film community member, and has received an OAC and CCA grant for photography and short film projects, respectively. Her first national commercial has gone live as of mid-October, 2023, and her writing and photography have been published internationally. She can typically be found amidst piles of cookbooks, camera in hand.
Mentors/ Instructors
Timothy Ng
Timothy was trained at the American Musical Dramatic Academy in New York City and has performed in an Off-Broadway show.
He has also appeared on TV/Film in networks such as Netflix, Apple TV, CBC, Global and Paramount+. He is excited to bring his expertise to Filmspace.
Esteban Powell
(Esteban (he/him) is a Mexican-Canadian artist & filmmaker exploring both analog and digital mediums. He is a graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University's Film Studies BFA, with his directorial thesis film 'Vela' in its international festival run. It has been nominated and awarded for various categories, and he is excited for the ongoing festival run and the future of its story. Having an avid passion for writing, he published his first book 'The Search for The Unicorn' as an ongoing fundraiser for CAMH (The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health). He aspires to continue telling genre stories conveying mental health & spirituality, through themes of faith in relationships. Esteban supports and champions like minded artists who want to express themselves and add to these important conversations, all while enjoying the ever expanding and evolving film mediums. His passion for teaching was found while instructing visual arts for youth at the Oakville Arts Studio, and solidified at Workman Arts' youth summer film program as a teaching assistant & mentor. His intuition guides him through his creative practice, and welcomes the growing film community found in Toronto.
Alan Ran Zheng
Alan Ran Zheng is a Toronto-based filmmaker. He was born in Changsha, China; and has split his life across China, rural Minnesota, and Canada. Focusing on themes such as memory, mourning of family members, and generational differences, Alan situates those topics within his sense of belonging and experience as an Asian diaspora in North America.
Alan often incorporates documentary & archival footage into fictional narratives of his work. Alan specializes in hand-processing 16mm film and editing digital videos, aiming to infuse a sense of materiality into his archival materials - sculpting recollections with hand. The results are films that meander between documentary and fiction, recollection and dreams. Alan's passion in teaching has stemmed from his past experiences working as an educational association and as a graduate school tutorial teacher at TMU. He has worked in numerous teaching positions since then, excelling in breaking down complex procedures into easily understandable sections for his students.
Wilex Ly
Wilex Ly is a professional actor who has appeared on a variety of tv shows and films. At the start of his artistic journey, Wilex received his foundational training in music theater where he went through vigorous vocal training. After graduating Wilex has acted on screen in projects such as The Expanse, Kings of Napa, Nurses, Handmaid’s Tale and others. He recently finished recording 41 episodes of Mittens and Pants that you can watch on CBC Gem!
Hanna Gulzar
Hanna Gulzar (they/them) is an emerging Writer, Director and Facilitator, holding a BFA in Film Studies from Toronto Metropolitan University. They intimately weave together conversations surrounding love, disconnect and identity through a diasporic and Queer lens. Hanna’s slate sets itself on the nuances of the mundane, with a hope that their work exudes a celebration of life, living, and people.
Hanna has had selected works screened at Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival, Toronto Youth Shorts Film Festival, Trinity Square Video’s ‘Video Fever’, and has had their recent creative direction project, ‘Camo’ exhibited at the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair. They’ve joyfully spent this past summer supported by LIFT and Workman Arts as one of seven mentees in the annual ‘If You Ask Me’ mentorship program.
Praven Yoganathan
Praven Yoganathan is a highly skilled and experienced professional in the film industry with a strong background in-camera techniques and visual storytelling. He graduated from Video Design and Production at George Brown College in mid-2019, where they also worked as an equipment technician and conducted workshops for students. After graduation, he went on to work as a First Assistant Camera and has since continued to develop their skills and knowledge in the field. Praven has a diverse range of experience working on different film projects and is proficient with multiple camera platforms and a wide variety of lenses and technical camera support equipment. They are known for their attention to detail, hard work, positive attitude, and passion for collaborating with others to bring ideas to life.