ON GIRLS and by girls: the film was written, directed, shot and edited by women, and the majority of the cast and crew was female.
Kim Nelson
Director
Kim Nelson lives in Windsor, Ontario and has directed several feature length documentaries: Berliner (2010), Metazombie (2011), This is What a Feminist Sounds Like (2012) and 130 Year Road Trip (2015), that have screened at international film festivals including the Rhode Island International Film Festival, Atlanta Docufest and Windsor International Film Festival. She teaches film at the University of Windsor and is currently working on another short documentary and a feature film script. Her films have received funding from the Ontario Arts Council, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and The Windsor Endowment for the Arts. She has a BA in film from the University of British Columbia, an MFA in film from York University. This year Kim is a Fellow at the Cinema Research Institute at NYU in New York City. On Girls is her first fiction film.
Svjetlana Oppen
Director of Photography
Born and raised in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Svjetlana Oppen immigrated to Canada during the 90s Bosnian War. Much of her film work is influenced by her life experiences, and in 2012 Svjetlana created Stagehouse Multimedia, a non-profit designed to develop projects that address the issues of disadvantaged, under-represented and/or at-risk groups in the community. She has a BA in Communications, Media and Film at The University of Windsor and is currently an MFA Candidate in UWindsor’s Film and Media Arts program. She has worked in cinematography on several projects including: On Girls (Short 2016, DOP), The Card (Short 2016, DOP), 130 Year Road Trip (Feature length documentary 2015, second unit camera operator), Through Their Eyes (Feature length documentary 2015, Producer, DOP), What Is Home (Feature length documentary 2012, Producer, DOP). Her commercial work includes television commercials, educational training videos, signed artist music videos, and web series.
Maria Cusumano
Editor, Camera Assistant
Maria Cusumano is an editor, writer, and director based out of Windsor and Southwestern Ontario. Since her graduation from University of Windsor’s Communication, Media, And Film program in 2014 with a specialization in advanced filmmaking, she has worked on films that have screened across Canada and Internationally. In addition to ON GIRLS, Maria has had the opportunity to work as a commercial editor and on several narrative films including Asil Moussa’s upcoming short film THE CARD, and her own forthcoming directorial debut. She’s absolutely thrilled to be a part of bringing On Girls to the screen, and is so proud of the immensely talented cast, crew, and creative team.
Tony Lau
Producer
Tony Lau is a Hong Kong born filmmaker. He has Undergraduate and Graduate Degrees in Communication, Media and Film from the University of Windsor and completed his MFA at York University in 2011. Tony has worked on numerous international films including animations, documentaries, and fictional films on productions that span three continents, and several countries, including: Canada, The United States, Japan, Germany, Korea, and Hong Kong. Films he has worked on include Myth of Dreams (director), Left Behind Woman (director), Dearest Quinn (co-director), and Go For Broke. Tony Lau is currently working on feature film Stand Up Man as the producer with funding from Telefilm and projected completion by July 2016.
Brent Lee
Music
Brent Lee is a Canadian composer, media artist, and educator. He studied at McGill University and later the University of British Columbia, where he completed his doctoral degree in 1999. His compositions range from orchestral to electroacoustic works, and include jazz and incidental music. He has received awards or commissions from CAPAC, SOCAN, the Canada Council, the Ontario Arts Council, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, The Gaudeamus Foundation (The Netherlands), and the Bourges International Electroacoustic Music Competition (France). He served as composer-in-residence with the Windsor Symphony Orchestra from 2003-06, and as artistic advisor to the Windsor Canadian Music Festival from 2003-12. He currently teaches at the University of Windsor, where he is also co-director of the Noiseborder Multimedia Performance Lab. He has been an associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre since 1991.
Monica Sanborn
"Melissa"
Monica Sanborn is a Canadian actor based in NYC, where she is currently studying at the Atlantic Acting Conservatory program. Monica has trained intensively at the Stella Adler Studio in New York and completed one year in the BFA program at the University of Windsor, in her hometown of Windsor, Ontario. She recently finished a collaborative “One Acts” production Turn and Face the Strange in Manhattan. ON GIRLS was her first lead role on screen and she is now at work on the audio book Before True Light, The Awakening, and just completed a second leading role in the short film, Dearest Quinn. Alongside her studies, Monica is busy planning upcoming New York productions with her theater ensemble. Stepping between the worlds of Shakespeare, Chekhov, Pinter, and everything in between, Monica is constantly growing and exploring as an artist.
Elinor Price
"Caroline"
Elinor Price attended Stella Adler Academy of Acting in Los Angels and has been working in theatre, film and television for the past decade. Her film and TV credits include: Murder U, Senior Skip Day, Cry. Her theatre credits include: Jenny's House of Joy with Theatre Ensemble Canada, 100 Saints You Should Know with the Elephant Theatre Company Los Angeles, and she toured to Moscow with a original production called Poetic Bum. She was awarded Best Actress at The Upstate New York Horror Film Festival for her role in Wick in 2015 and is currently working on Sam Shepard's play Fool For Love.
Laura Callingham
"Nurse Sandie"
Laura discovered her love of acting through a chance encounter while attending a corporate communication course. She was hooked for life after her first appearance in a one act community theatre production. Over the next 25 years Laura went on to appear in over 20 stage plays and studied acting with notable teachers, such as, Uta Hagen, Richard Howard and many others at various Theatre Ontario training programs. In addition, she volunteered in many capacities behind the scenes from producing, directing, technical support and various administrative roles. Her favourite stage roles include “Chris Harper” (Calendar Girls), “Ouiser” and “M’Lynn” (Steel Magnolias), “Evy Meara” (The Gingerbread Lady), “Lizzie Borden” (Blood Relations). Recently Laura has gained numerous film credits through appearances in television series, commercials and corporate training videos. Laura was thrilled to be offered the role of “Nurse Sandi” in the short On Girls marks her first film role.
Peter Coady
"Dr. Davison"
Over the past twenty years Peter has been involved in a number of independent film and theatre projects in both the Windsor and Detroit area. He has had leading roles in How I Learned to Drive, Barrymore, Inherit the Wind, Amadeus, Pump Boys and Dinettes, To Kill a Mockingbird and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and was instrumental in the development of the Windsor Theatre Festival. His film credits include Planting Vines, The Rain Chronicles, Saving Grace and Stillwater.