Gloria Mercer, director/producer

Gloria Mercer was born and raised in Vancouver, BC. She has a bachelor’s degree from Simon Fraser University, majoring in film and minoring in gender, sexuality, and women’s studies. She is a recent alumna of the Women in the Director’s Chair. 

Her film Hekademia was supported by the National Film Board of Canada and the Canada Council for the Arts. It won Best Sci-Fi at the Oscar-Qualifying Hollyshorts Film Festival, and garnered two Leo Award nominations. Hekademia is now streaming Canada-wide on CBC Gem. She recently completed Smoke Eater, one of three recipients of the 2021 Harold Greenberg “Shorts to Features” fund, which will stream on CRAVE Canada in 2023. Her film A Safe Distance screened at the Vancouver International Film Festival in 2021, and she is currently developing the feature film version, which received a production grant from the Canada Council for the Arts in 2021. Her short film Bombing screened at over 30 film festivals in North America and Europe, winning best in its category at the Whistler Film Festival, and screening at Geena Davis’ Bentonville Film Festival in 2017. She is a frequent producing partner and collaborator of Aidan West.

View Gloria’s Directing Reel

Aidan West, writer/producer

Aidan West is a writer and filmmaker, born and raised in the small-town suburbs of British Columbia. He is an alumnus of the SFU undergraduate film program and a recent graduate of the MFA screenwriting program at UCLA’s School of Theatre, Film, and TV. He wrote and produced Smoke Eater, a short film funded through the Harold Greenberg “Shorts to Features” fund. He was awarded the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation screenwriting fellowship for She Sells Seashells, his script about the life of Mary Anning. His screenplays have placed in the top 10% of the Nicholls fellowship and the second round of Austin Film Festival. He was a quarterfinalist in the Final Draft Big Break screenplay competition, the Blue Cat screenplay competition, the Fresh Voices screenplay competition, and a finalist at the UCLA screenwriting showcase. He wrote and produced the short film A Safe Distance which premiered at the Vancouver International Film Festival in 2021. The feature film version of A Safe Distance has received production funding from the Canada Council for the Arts and is set to begin filming early 2023. Aidan West is a co-founder of See Horse Films alongside his partner and frequent creative collaborator, Gloria Mercer.

BRITTANY ALLEN

“Alex”

Brittany Allen is an Emmy winning actor, composer, and producer, best known for her work in What Keeps You Alive, It Stains the Sands Red and The Boys. Originally from Canada, she now lives in LA, splitting her time between composing and acting. Her first score for What Keeps You Alive was released through Lakeshore Records, and she has recently completed the score for Shudder’s Z.

TYLER JOHNSTON

“MATT”

Tyler Johnston is best known for his role as Stewart on the comedy series Letterkenny and Danny Lubbe in Less Than Kind. Johnston was nominated in the Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category for Less Than Kind at both the 1st Canadian Screen Awards and the 2nd Canadian Screen Awards. In 2014, he was also nominated in the Best Lead Actor in a Television Film or Miniseries category for The Phantoms. In 2016, he was nominated by the Montreal International Wreath Film Festival Awards in the Best Actor category for his role as Edward K. Wehling, Jr. in the short film 2BR02B: To Be or Naught to Be, based on the story of the same name by Kurt Vonnegut.