Who We Are
Linda Chang
Linda co-founded Handful of Films with her partner, Niobe Thompson, and manages film festival strategy, web and social media presence, and production coordination for the company. Trained in Anthropology (MA, University of London), she has worked on location with Handful of Films in Greenland, Jordan, South Africa, Siberia and Canada’s Rocky Mountains.
Carolyn Whittaker
Ecologist and science communicator, Carolyn Whittaker is a producer for Handful of Films. As an entrepreneur, ecology researcher and film producer, Carolyn develops stories, builds teams and finds ways for science to have impact particularly to further social justice and conservation. Carolyn’s current work with Handful of Films builds on ten years’ experience as a Founder and Director of Ecology at the Firelight Group where she focused on Indigenous rights and ecological knowledge studies. Before Co-Founding Firelight Carolyn led teams focused on biodiversity, science and media communication for Parks Canada, University of Alberta, University of British Columbia and Rutgers University.
Ryan Wilkes
Ryan has filmed on all seven continents and his cinematography can be seen in many nature and science documentaries made for major networks including CBC, PBS NOVA and ARTE. Most recently Ryan produced, directed and filmed the short documentary, The Bird in My Backyard, for CBC which won the Wildlife & Environment category at the 2024 Jackson Wild Media Awards and Best Short Film at the 2024 Banff Mountain Film Festival. He has been a cinematographer on several of Handful of Films' recent productions including True Survivors, Animal Pride and Hunt for the Oldest DNA. Wilkes is an alumnus of the Jackson Wild Media Lab and the Being Black in Canada filmmaking program, is a member of the Canadian Conservation Photographers Collective and an Associate Member of the Canadian Society of Cinematographers. In 2024 he was recognized with the Jackson Wild Rising Star Award.
Sandra Tober
Sandra Tober has over 15 years of experience in the documentary film industry as a writer, director and producer, and is now Director of Business Affairs for Handful of Films. After graduating from the University of Alberta (B.Sc.), she joined Karvonen Films, where she worked on over 30 nature documentaries, including such award-winning projects as Land of the Ice Bear (1991) – a co-production with the NFB – Ancient Rainforest: Land of Giants (2002), and Circumpolar Bears (2005). Sandra has worked with Niobe Thompson since 2009, and has been Production Manager of all his films since that time.
Ally Barry
Ally Barry is a visionary producer with over a decade of experience in creating compelling stories that captivate audiences through animation and live action. Her remarkable track record includes Emmy Nominated Plum Landing for PBS Kids, internationally acclaimed documentary Sustainable and History Channel’s The Boneyard: With George St. Pierre. In addition to her film, television and over 70 commercial credits, Ally served as technical project manager for IOS apps Sir Bit and A Sweet Story, one of the first interactive children’s books to hit the market. Her exceptional talent led her to join Handful of Films in 2020, where she played a key role in Canadian Screen Award Nominated Carbon - The Unauthorized Biography, an ABC Australia and CBC co-production, Producer on Hunt for the Oldest DNA for Tangled Bank Studios and PBS/NOVA, currently on festival run, and is in post production for Frozen In Time for CBC The Nature of Things slated for release in 2025.
Jillian Wilkes
Jillian Wilkes is a self-taught photographer turned cinematographer and is passionate about documenting compelling stories about humans and nature. Drawing on her background in psychology, she builds trusting relationships that create spaces for authentic narratives to naturally unfold. Her recent cinematography credits include The Bird in My Backyard (CBC), PUSH (Storyhive), and Animal Pride (The Nature of Things). Jillian continues to work on both personal and commissioned projects that educate audiences and shift perspectives through compelling storytelling and imagery.
Athan Merrick
Athan Merrick is an award winning cinematographer with a background in lighting on big Hollywood productions and shooting adventure ski films, from massive studio sets to chasing professional athletes with a 50lb pack on his back in -20C in some of the most remote spots on earth. He was raised in the desert vistas of New Mexico by artist parents and settled well north in the ocean and mountain wonderland of Vancouver Island, Canada. These experiences meld into cinematography that brings souvenirs from the frontier to the screen. Highlights include a CSC (Canadian Society of Cinematographers) Award in 2018 for his work on the art installation, Uninterrupted, as well as a Leo Award in 2018 (BC Film Awards) for his ski film, Numinous.
Danny Cox
Danny's experience as a filmmaker, recovering mechanical engineer and outdoor adventurer creates a versatility in form and technical proficiency, receiving recognition in both documentary and innovative multiscreen installations. Director of Photography for the flagship immersive 360° projection gallery What Makes Us Strong at the Royal Alberta Museum, Danny was recently nominated for a shared AMPIA Rosie (BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER - SCRIPTED UNDER 30 MINUTES) for a multiscreen film at Fort Edmontons' Indigenous Peoples Experience. Working in documentary, Danny was DOP for the multi award winning films Elder in the Making (CBC, 2016) and Fox Chaser (CBC, 2019) which also awarded him an AMPIA Rosie (BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER - NON-FICTION OVER 30 MINUTES). Technically minded and socially nimble, cinematographer Danny Cox works in diverse communities and challenging environments to create award winning films, in traditional and new media formats.
Sarika Cullis-Suzuki
Sarika works in environmentally-themed media in print, film, and audio platforms. She has hosted critically acclaimed documentaries for CBC, including The Nature of Things, and programs for Parks Canada, The National Film Board, Ocean Networks Canada, and Audible. Sarika speaks out often on ocean issues and conservation, from classrooms to panels to media. Trained as a Marine Biologist (PhD, MSc), her research and passion has taken her from the high seas to remote tropical archipelagos to the intertidal zones of her home, British Columbia. Sarika has been named an influential Canadian millennial by The Huffington Post Canada, and in 2020, nominated for Best Host at the World Congress of Science and Factual Producers. She has served on various boards and committees, including those of the David Suzuki Foundation, WWF Canada, and the Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea.
Rio Mitchell
A bright light in a new generation of filmmaking, Rio Mitchell is growing spectacular recognition working agnostically between small-crew documentary, interactive museum installations, theatrical forms, and large-scale immersive media experiences. Her documentary directorial debut Fox Chaser (CBC) was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award, and swept the 2019 Alberta Motion Picture Awards. Across innovative range, she produced 32 films installed in the ambitious new Royal Alberta Museum, co-founded the Indigenous speakers series REDx Talks, and helps design and produce aerial nature films for immersive flying attractions. Notably, she creative produced the content for Edmonton’s Indigenous People’s Experience: an 8000ft’ immersive-media Indigenous cultural centre, which opened in 2021 to outstanding community and critical acclaim.
Darren Fung
Our first collaboration with Darren Fung led to one of the most successful musical scores of 2015, the Canadian Screen Award winner for “Best Original Music”, for the 3-part series The Great Human Odyssey. In 2019, he repeated the trick and won the same award again for the musical score of Equus - Story of the Horse. Alongside filmmaker Niobe Thompson, he is now performing live theatrical versions of both productions with symphony orchestras throughout North America. With over 100 composition credits and now three Canadian Screen Awards for his musical scores, Darren is one of the brightest lights of a new generation of film composers and orchestra conductors. His film scores have been heard at prestigious film festivals around the world, including Toronto, Cannes, and Sundance. In 2020, Darren recorded the orchestral score to A Bee's Diary, which also won him a Canadian Screen Award.
More On Darren
Jonathan Kawchuk
Jonathan Kawchuk is a Canadian composer signed to Paper Bag Records for his work as a recording artist and represented by Evolution Music Partners as a film composer. His credits include films that have premiered at TIFF and Sundance, commissions for Vogue, Dior, and the MUTEK festival, and his debut album North (with over 4.5 million streams). Jonathan was inducted as a voting member of the Recording Academy (Grammy Awards) in 2020.
