Asterix Media is a new non-profit organization dedicated to amplifying stories
and voices of marginalized communities through filmmaking and other artistic
practices. The majority of our work is centred on two main objectives - the
creation of new media, and involving members of marginalized communities in
discussions, creative process, and dissemination. With an emphasis on
2SLGBTQ+ people and their communities, Asterix Media looks to partner and
collaborate as much as possible. Asterix Media is made up of two queer
Haligonians, Steph Young and Jake Ivany, each bringing to the table almost 10
years of experience in facilitating the arts.
www.asterix.media/g-e-r-a-a-s-p
Instagram: @asterix.media | Facebook: AsterixMediaNS | Vimeo: asterixmedia
Steph Young is an award-winning filmmaker, visual artist, and drag performer
based in Halifax, NS. In 2013, she received her BFA in Film from Nova Scotia
College of Art and Design University. Her work is heavily influenced by issues
facing her as an active member of both the queer and mental health
communities and have screened at film festivals across the globe. In addition
to her personal work, she currently works with RADAR, a Canadian collective of
filmmakers and academics who facilitate participatory video sessions and
research with individuals who live with mental illness.
www.stephanieyoungart.ca | Instagram: @stephyoungfilm
Jake Ivany is a producer, filmmaker and experienced coordinator with a
background in youth facilitation and digital media arts. A graduate of NSCC’s
Screen Arts program, he has been based in Halifax, Nova Scotia for most of his
live, but travels across the country when projects require it. His personal work
is centered around lived experiences of being queer and empowering
marginalized and underrepresented communities to reclaim their own
narratives through digital media. Currently sitting on the board of the 1588
Barrington Preservation Society, a representative on the HRM Youth Advisory
Committee Currently, and connections with several other arts non-profits in the
city, he works as a festival director for an arts festival dedicated to persons
with disabilities.
For each project Asterix Media is involved in, they try to bring together other
artists and partners with lived experience to assist in the event or workshop.
www.jakeivany.com | Instagram: @jakeivany
Brad Jones has worked with Asterix Media as a co-facilitator in past workshops
and they have agreed to assist in this workshop as well. Brad is a Two-Spirit
Anishinaabe interdisciplinary artist whose work examines and critiques notions
of colonialism, sexuality and gender. Their work is embodied as the drag
persona Jennifer Dafuque. Utilizing drag as an access point, performances
become the embodiment of lived experiences that seek to present
contemporary queer Indigenous experiences.
Instagram: @jenniferdafuque