- UBCP/ACTRA

International Women’s Day 2021 Honourees

Sabrina Prada and Zandara Kennedy

Sabrina Prada has been volunteering for years in service to UBCP/ACTRA with both the Women’s Committee and with the BC Federation of Labour. She has been persistently working towards dismantling the sexism and misogyny that continues to be an issue for women in the workplace, and specifically in our industry.

As a stunt coordinator, Zandara Kennedy has been instrumental in helping to clear the path for women in the stunt community, a field in which women are largely underrepresented. She had a key role in organizing a successful stunt driving course that gave Indigenous women, Black women, and women of colour, valuable skills to help them succeed in this field. As a stunt coordinator, she ensures that more women are hired in stunts, thus expanding their career options and potential.

It is an honour to name Zandara Kennedy and Sabrina Prada as UBCP/ACTRA International Women’s Day Honorees for 2021.

International Women’s Day Honouree 2021 Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers

Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Kainai First Nation and Sámi from Norway, is an award-winning actor, producer, director and film-maker. She won the Best Lead Actress Canadian Screen Award and the VWIFF UBCP/ACTRA award for her role in On the Farm. Elle-Máijá co-wrote, co-directed, and co-starred in her inaugural narrative feature film (with Kathleen Hepburn) The Body Remembers When The World Broke Open. Following a critically acclaimed festival tour, it was distributed by Ava DuVernay’s company ARRAY, and recently won the Toronto Film Critics Association 2019 Rogers Best Canadian Film Award. Quoted in Vogue, Elle-Máijá says about her film: “With stories that speak about Indigenous women, so often we’re framed within this victim narrative. We’re trapped within the confines of the trauma from that history and the ongoing reality of settler colonialism. But this film is an act of resistance, a means of speaking to the sovereignty of the body for Indigenous women.

UBCP/ACTRA Women’s Committee Mission Statement

We are in the process of updating our Mission Statement as we deepen our understanding of gender diversity and gender inclusion. Please check back for updates.

To celebrate, honour and promote our female Members.
To initiate, advance and support more work opportunities for our female Members.
To educate and inform our Industry about issues related to gender equality.
To advocate for gender equality activism locally and globally by addressing and/or supporting and/or participating in various gender equality issues, as determined by committee and resources.
To encourage, educate and support female members to participate in political leadership roles.

**Enid-Raye Adams** Chair of the UBCP/ACTRA Women’s Committee

**Angela Moore**
Co-Chair of the UBCP/ACTRA Women’s Committee

**Retreat 2018**
Left to Right: Top Row – Justine Warrington, Jane Craven, Angela Moore, Enid-Raye Adams, Alison Wandzura, Caroline Cave, Natasha Vasiluk, Irina Zeleniuok, Dale Willman, Michelle Brezinski, Winnie Hung, Kyla Wise, Selina Williams
**Middle Row – Christine Willes, Margaret Reely, Carrie Anne Fleming, Jaclyn Robbins, Joyce Robbins, Kandake I Kheyla, Bonnie Hay, Alexis Ioannidis**
**Bottom Row – Sabrina Prada, Maja Aro**

UBCP/ACTRA Women’s Committee Strategic Priorities 2018-2020

Maintain current initiatives and alliances:
International Women’s Day, Lorena Gale Woman of Distinction, Gender Equality Checklist, Family Care Project, ACTRA National Women’s Committee, Canadian Unions for Equality on Screen (CUES), Women in Film & Television Vancouver, Women in View, BC Federation of Labour, Please Adjust Your Set, Women of Steel, West Coast Women in Entertainment (WE).
Budget:
Secure an annual budget for committee activities from the UBCP/ACTRA Executive Board.
Pursue Legislation and Policy that supports Gender Equality in hiring practices:
Continue to apply the strategies of Record and Report, and Mainstreaming the Gender Equality discussion in all committee work, and pursue legislative change to tax credits provincially to encourage diversity, inclusion and gender equality, particularly through our alliance with WE.
Document:
Write to casting directors regularly to inspire consideration of diversity, inclusion and gender equality in Vancouver-shot projects, as well as develop and produce video project(s) for archival (member history), advocacy, and career training purposes.
Labour Movement Participation
Participate annually in at least 1 provincial and 1 national or international labour convention.
Leadership & Education:
Improve outreach both internally and externally through more frequent communication & attract more participation from specific populations of UBCP/ACTRA membership. Plan workshops and retreats for the committee members to develop leadership and labour literacy.

UBCP/ACTRA members launch of the Equity Film Incentive BC Campaign!

Did you know racialized workers make up 29% of BC’s labour force but only 15% of workers in BC’s thriving film and TV industry? That Indigenous and differently-abled workers are also seriously underrepresented in BC Film? And that for over a decade women have been stuck at just 32% of all work in our industry, despite making up 48% of the provincial work force?

More than half of UBCP/ACTRA members are seriously impacted by current unfair hiring practices in our industry. Like many jurisdictions, your union wants to change this reality. We propose modernizing BC’s successful tax credit system with the Equity Film Incentive BC.

Treasurer Ellie Harvie moderated a panel of members including Tricia Collins, Dhirendra Miyanger, Maja Aro, Lorne Cardinal, Winnie Hung, Darby Steeves and Trevor Lerner hearing how their careers have been impacted by lack of opportunity, and what a difference a tax credit incentive would make.

Click the link below to hear the panel:

https://ubcpactra.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Members-Launch-of-the-Equity-Fil.mp3

Lorena Gale Award Recipients and Women’s Day Honourees

Lesley Ewen’s Lorena Gale Woman of Distinction Award Speech 2019