Writer – ESA Alumni Community

Mouna Traoré

Posted on May 25, 2015March 16, 2017 by maestra

Currently an Actor, Model, Writer and Producer based in Toronto.

Since graduating from ESA, Mouna completed her bachelors of Arts and Science at The University of Toronto, while also pursuing a career as an Actor and Model. Mouna has starred in productions such as Carrie (MGM), Rookie Blue (Global), and The Book of Negroes (CBC/BET). Most recently Mouna has been working on recurring roles in Hemlock Grove (Netflix) and Shadowhunters (ABC).

In 2013 Mouna and fellow ESA alumna Elizabeth Melanson founded The Mini Films, a small independent film production company. She made her screenwriting debut in their first short film ‘All of Me’ (2014), which has played at 5 film festivals in Canada and the U.S. ‘All of Me’ (2014) will also be featured on CBC’s shorts television series ‘Canadian Reflections’ as well as on the programs website as of June 1st.

www.theminifilms.com
vimeo.com/94702934

Ally Rom Colthoff

Posted on May 22, 2015March 16, 2017 by maestra

I completed a Bachelor of Fine Art at NSCAD University and a Certificate of Computer Animation at Sheridan College. I now work at Guru Studio in Toronto as a surfacing artist on television shows, including BBC’s BAFTA-nominated cartoon Dinopaws. In December 2014 I crowd-funded the publication of my first graphic novel, Chirault, and illustrated an entry in the Toronto Comics Anthology. I’m an incorrigible cat person, and a brush-pen and marker enthusiast.

See: http://sevensmith.net

Francesca Smita Soni

Posted on May 20, 2015March 16, 2017 by maestra

I am a volunteer personality host & script writer with York university’s radio station on their music show. In addition, I am pursuing all my interests (music, theatre, French, English, etc.) at University.

Mark Correia

Posted on February 27, 2015March 16, 2017 by maestra

Mark Correia is a magician and world record holder. Astounding audiences with his magic since the age of 6, Mark is a professional entertainer in every sense of the word. After specializing in comedy at Etobicoke School of the Arts, he auditioned for the National Theatre School of Canada and was accepted as one of only 6 males in his year, majoring in Acting. He is currently in his third year.

When he’s not away at school, he’s usual playing on one of Toronto’s stages (Tarragon, Passe Muraille, Factory). If not on stage, you’ll spot him on television with a few tricks up his sleeves, performing at private parties, or planning his next stunt. Mark was featured on every Canadian broadcasting network last year.

Along with his chosen executive team, Mark is the brains and talent behind Escaping Parkinson’s – a stunt supported by The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, and Michael J. Fox himself – raising over $16,000 in one summer. For fourteen days Mark lived (s)trapped inside a straitjacket – no tricks, and no breaks. On the fourteenth day he escaped on live television. He garnered international attention with this stunt, and set a world record for “Longest Amount of Time Wearing a Straitjacket”.

Mark has performed all around Canada and the United States, going as far as Paris both as a solo magician, and as a cast member of a variety of productions. Mark is the winner of the SEARS “Best Actor” award, and was nominated for a MyTheatre “Best Supporting Actor” award, and Summerworks “Best Upcoming Performer” award. He was also nominated for a “Best Magician Award” from A1 Radio.

Mark is currently completing his Acting Degree at the National Theatre School of Canada, writing a book about his experience in the straitjacket, and working on next summer’s project.

For more information, see markcorreia.ca

Adebe DeRango-Adem

Posted on May 22, 2015March 16, 2017 by maestra

Adebe DeRango-Adem is a writer and doctoral student at the University of Pennsylvania. Her work has been published in various North American sources, including Descant, CV2, Canadian Woman Studies and the Toronto Star. She won the Toronto Poetry Competition in 2005 to become Toronto’s first Junior Poet Laureate. In 2008, she attended the summer writing program at Naropa University, where she mentored with Anne Waldman and the late Amiri Baraka. Her debut poetry collection, Ex Nihilo (Frontenac House, 2010) was longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize, the world’s largest prize for writers under thirty. Her second full-length poetry collection, Terra Incognita, will be published May 2015. Titled after the Latin term for “unknown land”—a cartographical expression referring to regions that have not yet been mapped or documented—Terra Incognita is a collection of poems that creatively explores various racial discourses and interracial crossings buried in history’s grand narratives.

See: www.adebe.wordpress.com