BEE

ANIMATION ARTIST

Jessica Hood (she/they) is a queer, disabled theatre and animation artist. They are a graduate of SFU’s Theatre Performance program and VanArts’ 2D Character Animation program. Recent animation credits include: Grain (a short film by Ilana Zackon and Katherine Stefanska), Eye Blink Projection (BLINK: An Evening of 60-second Performances), and is currently working on their short mixed media animated film, BEE. Guided by compassion, collaboration, and creativity, Jessica’s artistic practice is a fluid integration of theatre and animation, telling stories that are femme, queer, and disability focused and climate conscious.

jessicahoodartist.com

@artsbyjaybird

ANIMATION ARTIST

Via Litz (she/they) is a queer animation artist from the East Kootenays of BC. They moved to Vancouver to study the 2D character animation program at VanArts and graduated in 2023. Via has decided to stay in the city and is thankful to be based on the unceded lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples. Via has collaborated with Jessica before on a pre-show lobby video for Upintheair Theatre's production of Dead Drone. Their art is inspired by nature, animals, cartoons, comics, and their friends and family. Their next goals in the artistic field are to make connections and to break into the animation industry as a professional animator.

@oliero_987

COMPOSITION/FOLEY ARTIST

Cindy Kao is a Taiwanese-Canadian performance artist, (Ketegalan and Siraya Nations) based in Vancouver (Squamish, Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh Nations). She received a degree in Bachelor of Fine Arts for Theatre Performance at Simon Fraser University and is a multi-instrumentalist, classically trained on the violin. During her time in the Theatre Performance Program, Cindy was re-acquainted with music, performing as an actor while being a sound designer in the 2016 Blackbox shows. Since then, most of her work with SFU has allowed her to explore her background as a musician and execute her training as an actor. Her most recent works include “Dear Ocean”, presented by Vines Art Festival 2020, starring in a 2021 short film “A Family Act”, and producing an EP with Aysha Dulong as their duo Sapphire Haze.

@cindykao9

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Pedro Chamale (he/him) was born and raised on Treaty 8 territory, unceded, ancestral and traditional territories of the Treaty 8 Nations. Including Sikanni, Slavey, Beaver (Dunne-za), Cree and Saulteau, colonially known as Chetwynd, BC. He now creates on the unceded and traditional lands of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. He completed the acting program at Douglas College and then received his BFA in Theatre Performance from SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts. He then went on to form rice & beans theatre with Derek Chan for which he is currently the artistic director of. On top of his work with rice & beans he is a freelance Director, Playwright and performer. In 2023 Pedro was a nominee for the BC multicultural and anti-racist “Breaking Boundaries” award for which he is grateful to be recognized for the work he has done both personally and at rice & beans.