Shifter Outstanding Black Women in Canada 2023

If you’ve spent time in the Canadian film and television industry, you’ve most likely heard the name Jennifer Holness. The Jamaican-born film and television director, producer and screenwriter is easily one of the leading film and TV producers in Canada and a champion for Black content who has helped launch the careers of some prominent Canadian talent, including Scarborough native turned Hollywood actor, Stephan James.

She currently sits on the Board of Directors of The Black Academy and helped to found the Black Screen Office which not only exists to help dismantle anti-Black racism in Canada’s screen industries but empowers Black Canadians working in the industry.

Through her company Hungry Eyes Media Inc., which she operates alongside her husband and business partner and Sudz Sutherland, she’s produced a number of titles, including BLK: An Original Story, a four-part docuseries that looks beyond the Underground Railroad to explore the untold stories of Black Canadians from the 1600s to the present.

She was recently announced as a nominee for a 2023 Canadian Screen Award for Best Direction, Documentary Series for the series. But despite her own personal success, she continues to find time to executive produce projects from the next generation of young filmmakers.

Source: Shifter Magazine