GILLIAN MCKERCHER, Writer and Director

Gillian McKercher is a Canadian writer, director, producer, and co-founder of Kino Sum Productions. Gillian’s first feature film as writer/director, Circle of Steel, won an Audience Award at the 2018 Calgary International Film Festival. She developed her sophomore feature film, Lucky Star, while a director resident at the Canadian Film Centre and with the additional support of the CFC/Netflix Project Development Accelerator and Harold Greenberg Fund. Orphaned, a documentary on oil well cleanup which she wrote, directed, and stars in, is streaming on CBC Gem.

Through Kino Sum, she has produced numerous short films, music videos, and documentaries for other filmmakers, premiering at festivals like Fantastic Fest, Vancouver International Film Festival, and imagineNative Film + Media Arts Festival. Commercially, she has worked with clients like Bytedance, Telus, and Karhu Shoes. Gillian’s work often explores family, labour, and the intersection of energy and the

environment. She has a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Calgary and was awarded a Young Artist Prize from the Alberta Foundation from the Arts when she was an emerging filmmaker.