Board of Directors

The CineCentral Filmmakers Society is lead by a passionate and dedicated Board of Directors comprising individuals variously involved in filmmaking and the local community. The CineCentral board of directors is the governance and decision making body of the society.

President - Zachary Tannar

With our beautiful locations and growing talent, Zach believes in the potential of filmmaking here on Vancouver Island. Born and raised in Nanaimo, Zach's passion for filmmaking developed from writing stories as a child and picking up a camera at the age of fifteen. Looking for filmmaking collaborators motivated Zach to start the Hub City Cinema Society, and it has been thrilling to see how our creative and supportive filmmaking community continues to develop.
His short film "Framed" was accepted into the 2014 Victoria Film Festival, and "Princess Syndrome" premiered at the 2018 Vancouver Island Short Film Festival.

Vice-President - Toby Watson

Toby has a BFA from CCS Detroit in Fine Arts and Digital Media. As a Senior Visual Effects Artist, with 11 years of experience in Film and Television, he has worked on projects like Godzilla, Black Panther, and Game Of Thrones. He looks forward to sharing his experience and knowledge and being a part of this creative community.

Treasurer - Merideth Bisiker

For the past 25 years, Merideth has been working in banking, finance and accounting…and loves it! When she’s not balancing the books, Merideth pursues her own creative endeavours as a film producer of a documentary called Lifers: Working Song Title and as a vocalist with a rock cover band. She also loves exploring her beautiful home base of Vancouver Island with her husband and daughters.

Secretary - Annette Jensen-Collett

Annette grew up in Richmond,B.C. & then spent many years in the Fraser Valley. A recent transplant to The Island & new to the film industry, she appreciates all the people she has met thus far in classes, workshops and on set, while she trains as an actor. She hopes that the industry on Vancouver Island will build to rival parts of the mainland and that she can be a part of it.

Director at Large - Jacqui Kaese

With her school Spotlight Academy, for 20 years Jacqui has forged a foundation of opportunity for actors on Vancouver Island in a global industry. She is respected for discovering, mentoring and private coaching.

Director at Large - Jeremiah Patton

As a local business partner at Cinnabar Vista productions, Jeremiah's creative work has won several awards including a LEO nomination for his documentary on the painter E.J. Hughes. He has also had the honour of representing Canada with his short film, "My Dad's Dentist Story," at Telefilm Canada's "Cannes 2019 | NOT SHORT ON TALENT" showcase. He's looking forward to working with a dedicated team to continue fostering the Island's fantastic film scene!

Director at Large - Nicola McTaggart

Nicola’s love of film began at a young age. As a child, she and her friends would make and edit backyard films using old camcorders. In 2012 she received an opportunity to work her way up to a Producer status on a tv pitch project. Since then she has been fortunate to continue in that role on to a number of award winning films. All of which, would not have been created without a hardworking talented team and community support. She is passionate about seeing the Island film industry grow with opportunities and is looking forward to this new position as a board member.

Director at Large - Pierre Simard

Pierre has served on many volunteer boards of artistic non-profit organizations in the last twenty years, mostly ex-officio, in different capacities as either Artistic Director or Music Director - his longest commitment remaining his current position as Artistic Director of the Nanaimo-based Vancouver Island Symphony. Some of these boards include the Orchestre symphonique de Drummondville (in Québec) and the award-winning Calgary-based Spiritus Chamber Choir.
Pierre brings an interesting and fresh perspective to the HCCS Board, in light of his efforts in becoming more professionally involved as a composer for film, but also as a 2-year resident of Nanaimo with connections in the community which go back as far as 2008, the year of his nomination with VIS.