The finalists and runners-up for the fourth edition of the Propelle program, a women-focused content accelerator initiative from partners Everywoman Studios (EWS) and Realscreen, have been chosen.

Created and developed by Everywoman Studios CEO Abby Greensfelder (pictured top) and Realscreen in 2020, the Propelle Content Accelerator program helps women creators gain access to an established production company and a network of industry contacts, while learning how to develop ideas so that they are pitch-ready and sellable. The goal: to bring more women creators into the non-fiction ecosystem and have more diverse voices crafting content.

Joining the program as mentors for this edition are Myiea Coy, senior vice president of television for Confluential Films; Anneka Jones, chief content officer for Left/Right; Laura Palumbo Johnson, co-owner and executive producer at Magilla Entertainment; and Courtney White, president, Butternut.

Each finalist and paired mentor will take the projects from concept to pitch, with Greensfelder overseeing the process and facilitating opportunities for pitches with network executives. EWS will partner with the winning creator to help make their project happen.

This year’s finalists are:

Andrea Wing and Zanny Venner from Well Travelled Collective, for their limited series Room for One.

Andrea Wing (pictured above) has spent the last 15 years directing commercial content and award-winning documentaries. She has worked closely with several major brands, including serving as leading Film Creative at Lululemon, and is currently the Director of Video + Content at Origin, an outdoor-focused agency. Andrea is also a co-founder of Well Travelled Collective, a female-led production company focused on getting more under-represented creatives behind the camera.

Zanny Venner (pictured above) produces commercial films and award-winning documentaries, and is the founder of Wild Butter Productions. As a key creative partner, she loves to collaborate with directors, brands, and production companies to imagine that the “impossible” is maybe possible. She aims to tell stories that matter and motivate people to truly feel — enjoyment, sadness, awe or inspiration.

Christiane MacKenzie of Bronte Commerce Inc., for her unscripted series Matching with Mom.

Inspired early on to pursue a career in broadcast journalism, Christiane MacKenzie (pictured above) has earned extensive experience producing business and international news. Beginning as an intern with CNN at the United Nations in New York City, Christiane moved on to work as a producer and assignment editor with leading news stations in Canada. With a passion for coming up with and executing reality television ideas, Christiane has moved her focus into the unscripted space. For the past four and a half years, she has also worked with the brand team for the global athletic apparel retailer Lululemon, helping to launch large-scale campaigns.

Dara Bratt of DBratt Productions, for her documentary feature Guarding Kings County.

Dara (pictured above) holds her MFA in film from Tisch School of the Arts, NYU. From the jungles of Vietnam to the streets of Brooklyn, she is continuously inspired by the world around her, and is specifically interested in the crossroads of science and film. Collectively, her films have screened all over the world, from the Tribeca Film Festival to SXSW, from Cannes to the Abu Dhabi International Film Festival, and from the Chicago Film Critics Film Festival to ShortShorts Asia in Tokyo, among others. When not making movies, Dara can be found writing and directing commercials, as well as corporate and non-profit videos. Clients include City Harvest, Maybelline, PepsiCo, Millie Travel, Burger King, & Ross University. Born and raised in Montreal, Dara now calls Brooklyn home.

Janelle Wookey of Wookey Films Inc., for her documentary feature The Indian in the Child.

Janelle Wookey (pictured above) is an award-winning Red River Métis writer-producer and co-founder of Wookey Films. She oversees production and development, with one foot in creative and the other in executive affairs. Since Janelle launched the company with her brother, Jérémie, in 2013, Wookey Films has produced over 65 hours of nationally broadcast documentary, factual series and one-offs for Canada’s top broadcasters, including CBC, Radio-Canada and APTN, picking up several Prix Gémeaux nominations, a Banff Rockie Award and a Canadian Screen Award nomination along the way. As an on-air personality, Janelle also covered the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics for APTN, co-hosted its nationally broadcast Indigenous Day Live celebrations in 2017, 2018 and 2020, and most recently performed in the CSA-nominated non-fiction short, A Nation and Her Mother.

Runners-up for this year’s Propelle Content Accelerator program are Alicia Eastes for her documentary feature Liminal Space, and Sara Kenigsberg of HardPin for her documentary feature Not Okay.

This year’s finalists and their paired mentors will workshop the submitted projects between now and June, when they will pitch their projects at Realscreen West in Dana Point, and a Propelle 2023 winner will be announced.