Veronica Roy

Festival Coordinator

Veronica (they/them) is an arts administrator and event manager, specializing in festivals and experiential events. Veronica brings to the table over a decade of experience coordinating events and projects in the nonprofit sector, and a great enthusiasm for local arts and culture. In their spare time, Veronica can be found checking out live entertainment all over the city.

You can reach Veronica at FestivalCoordinator@digi60.org.

jacob (Jake) nevins

Festival Assistant

Jacob (Jake) Nevins (he/him) is an artist, administrator, and one-time haunted house ghoul who is thrilled to be joining the Digi60 team for the first time. Coming from the world of live theatre, Jake has now participated in over a dozen of Ottawa's different arts and cultural festivals as a staff member, volunteer, and artist, and visited countless more as a patron. Outside of Digi60, he empowers young theatre artists as the General Manager of the Youth Infringement Festival, supports academic symposia and other events as the Technical Director at theatreagora.ca, and builds new layers for his worm farm.

You can reach Jake at FestivalAssistant@digi60.org.

rafael maia

Social Media and Communications Assistant

A first-generation Latino immigrant, Rafael (he/him) is a communications and digital marketing professional who has worked for many years behind the scenes of award-winning TV series and soap operas in Brazil before writing the greatest plot twist of his life: heading up to the cold North. In Ottawa since 2018, he has collaborated with organizations such as Apartment613, DARC and RogersTV, and has been a regular volunteer with theatre companies such as Orpheus Musical Theatre and Ottawa Little Theatre. When not working backstage, he can be seen attending one of his husband’s music gigs. 

You can reach Rafael at communications@digi60.org.

Emily Ramsay

Chair of the Board

Emily (she/her) is a producer who loves telling stories about Ottawa. She started her filmmaking journey with Digi60 so it was natural to transition to join the Board in 2015 to help bring more professional development opportunities to new and emerging filmmakers. She recently became the Executive Director of the Digital Arts Resource Centre, Ottawa’s premiere artist-run media arts centre. Emily’s artistic practice focuses on intersectional documentaries that highlight community storytelling as a co-founder of Obscura Creative, a collective of film professionals where she produces docu-series and lifestyle content about Ottawa. Emily has worked in disability media for severals years, is a graduate of the Algonquin College Scriptwriting Program, an alumni of WIFT Corus Media Management Accelerator, a recipient of the City of Ottawa Youth in Culture grant and the CMPA Ontario Production Mentorship grant. Her work can be seen on AMI-tv, CBC Gem, Bell Fibe TV1 and Fite TV.

You can reach Emily at emily_ramsay@digi60.org.

Kevin Burton

Festival President

Kevin (he/him) has been at the helm of Digi60 since 2009, growing the festival from a handful of participants to many handfuls, adding professional development and growing partnerships. He has worked with several television and media outlets in the Ottawa area, and is a live event videographer for the Ottawa Senators, Ottawa Redblacks and the Ottawa 67’s, Kevin is also an educator at Algonquin College teaching the next generation of film and media professionals.

You can reach Kevin at info@digi60.org.

Maissa Houri

Director of Equity Initatives

Maissa (she/her) is an Arab-Canadian award-winning independent filmmaker and actor. Due to misrepresentation of Arabs and Muslims on TV and in film, Maissa started creating her own work in order to properly represent her culture. Currently she is working on a new series based on Arab-Canadians, producing short films for emerging BIPOC directors and a new Instagram Live segment titled Moms After Dark, where she interviews mothers working in the creative industries.

You can reach Maissa at equity@digi60.org

Hingman Leung

Director of Partnerships

Hingman (she/her) is a multiple award-winning director and Digi60 alumni, with her most recent short film, Curbside Pickup, reaching top three on CBC's Short Film Face Off. Her work has appeared on CBC, Apartment613, and Rogers TV, collaborating with a variety of local arts and culture organizations as a videographer and editor. In 2020, she was named by CBC as one of ten Trailblazers in Ottawa for her work in representation in media. By day, she works on addressing systemic racism in the health research field.

You can reach Hingman at partnerships@digi60.org

SPARROW MCGOWAN

Director of Communications

Sparrow (she/her) is a writer and communications consultant with 20 years of experience across multiple sectors, including education, film and sustainability. She has worked with both the nonprofit and private sectors, advising national and international organizations on strategic communications, branding, marketing, events and social media. Active in the Canadian film community for over a decade, she wrote and directed her first film for Ottawa’s Digi60 Film Festival in 2010 and later attended Vancouver’s Langara College Film Arts, specializing in the writing stream. She has written multiple produced short films and recently served on the board of directors for Film PEI.

Derek Price

Technical Director

Derek (he/him) is a creative storyteller with extensive experience producing, directing and editing documentary and lifestyle narratives, as well scripted content for film, TV, web and brands. He is a mix of both technical and talent director, combining his love of technology with his people skills. He has over 100 hours of broadcast directing, and over 150 hours of broadcast editing. He is a Content Producer at Ross Video and is a member of Obscura Creative, a collective of film and TV pros committed to local grassroots production in Ottawa. You can see his work on CTV Life, Crave, CBC Gem, Fite TV and Fibe TV1.

You can reach Derek at derek_price@digi60.org.