Michelle Mama

Michelle Mama is a Canadian writer, director, producer, and LGBTQIA+ advocate known for her work in film and television. She directed the episode Fluid: Beyond the Binary for CBC's The Nature of Things and co-founded GAY AGENDA, a Toronto-based production company focused on LGBTQIA+ stories. Mama has been nominated five times for Canadian Screen Awards, including for her work on Lost Car Rescue and Shine True, and won one for Canada’s Drag Race. She has won several industry awards for her documentary and reality television productions.

Mama directed Fluid: Life Beyond the Binary (hosted by Mae Martin), a 2024 episode of CBC’s The Nature of Things that examines gender and sexual fluidity in humans and the natural world.

Background Michelle Mama was born and raised in Canada in Parsi-Zoroastrian Family. Her parents immigrated from Karachi, Pakistan, and her family traces its roots to both India and Pakistan. and is a vocal advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights and representation in the media.

Career Writer and director Mama has worked for over two decades in various roles across the entertainment industry. As a writer, she contributed to Baroness Von Sketch Show (Season 5, IFC/CBC), a series known for its sharp humour and social commentary. She also directed the award-winning documentary 21 Days to Nawroz, a film out the struggles of women in Kurdistan in the north of war-torn Iraq

Mama also produced Your Beautiful Cul de Sac Home, a feature comedy, starring Valerie Buhagiar, Ennis Esmer, Charles Officer, and Matt Gordon.

In addition, she worked on the 2023 series Lost Car Rescue, earning a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Direction in a Factual Program. which was nominated for several awards at the 2019 Canadian Screen Awards and Summer Qamp (executive producer),a documentary that follows LGBTQIA+ youth attending Camp fYrefly in rural Alberta for a week of queer joy and discovery. She is also the showrunner, series producer, and director for the Shine True documentary series, which received recognition for its focus on LGBTQIA+ fashion and beauty.

Advocacy and cultural impact Her work often highlights issues of identity, belonging, and culture, with a special focus on the intersection of queer narratives. This includes directing the documentary Antidiva: The Carole Pope Confessions, which delves into the life of Canadian rock icon Carole Pope.

Mama is an outspoken advocate for increased LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC representation in Canadian film and television. She has commented on the structural barriers faced by queer creators, noting:

“From the beginning of producing I’ve always believed … if it’s queer content, and you have queer people in the room, it’s better.”

She was named in Toronto Life’s Most Influential People list for 2024.

Entrepreneurship and GAY AGENDA In 2023, she founded GAY AGENDA, a queer-owned production company based in Toronto, focused on telling stories by, for, and about queer communities. GAY AGENDA was nominated as Top Emerging Indie by realscreen magazine.

GAY AGENDA, has multiple documentary and scripted projects in development, including an untitled documentary about queer elders for TVO and the factual series Your Grandma Loves Me, featuring comedian Brandon Ash-Mohammed.

Views and Opinions She has spoken about the importance of involving LGBTQIA+ and gender-diverse individuals in all stages of production, arguing that inclusion behind the camera leads to more truthful and resonant work.

Awards and nominations Executive ProducerSpecial Jury MentionPeople's Choice Award - TIFF '23 Audience AwardFirst Runner-Up