Sarah Asselin, BA’20

Senior Community Coordinator
Digital Extremes

Sarah Asselin has spent five years working in the video game industry. She holds an Honours BA in MIT from Western University and is currently on the Community Team at Digital Extremes, developers of the online game Warframe (and soon, Soulframe!).

During her time at FIMS, her passion for games transformed into a concrete career direction as she accepted an internship in community management at Digital Extremes. Since then, Sarah has immersed herself in various aspects of game development including community events, live streams, game demos, and more. She serves as a bridge, communicating and advocating for various stakeholders, both within the company and in the expansive gaming community. Sarah’s dedication and expertise with Warframe has seen her rise to the role of leading the community management for Digital Extremes’ highly-anticipated upcoming game, Soulframe. Outside of work, Sarah has a passion for yoga, cooking, and Taylor Swift spin classes.

Matthew Conacher, BA’19

Marketing Manager
L’Oréal

Matthew Conacher became fascinated by consumerism, consumption, and advertising during his time as an MIT student. These interests eventually led him to a post-graduate internship in Montreal with L’Oréal Canada were he gained experience in e-commerce and digital marketing for one of L’Oréal’s professional haircare brands – Kerastase Paris. Matthew would continue learning and evolving and currently he manages the Hair Colour category of Matrix Professional, Canada’s most distributed salon hair colour brand. In his role he has launched countless innovations in the professional colour market, including new toners/demi permanent coloration, new lighteners/bleach, express gray coverage hair, and more. Oh, and he’s also a big (big) FIMS fan!

Kianah Dames, BA’19

Talent Manager/Influencer, Account Manager
Kensington Grey Agency Inc.

Five-year industry veteran, marketer, music industry professional, client solutions expert, Canadian start-up, and now Talent Agent for some of the biggest influencers in the world – including @AliyahsInterlude. Kianah is passionate about working with creatives and bringing their visions to life and has worked on projects including Drake, The Weeknd, Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Doja Cat, Pink Pantheresss, Lizzo & more. She’s also worked with the brands from emerging start ups to the worlds most notable Fortune 500 brands in the beauty, tech, home, media spaces & more!

Michael Gelfand BA’00

Executive Producer
Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment

Michael Gelfand has continued to build a strong career in the film, digital, television and creative industries for over 20 years as an executive producer, producer, director and writer. Michael is an avid storyteller across a wide array of platforms. He has had three films at the Toronto International Film Festival. During his time at Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, Michael has played a key role in the Creative Direction of the organization’s digital, video, broadcast, narrative and advertising content. His contributions have helped MLSE win numerous international awards, including Clio Sports Awards. As Executive Producer at MLSE, Michael oversees several documentary and digital series that focus on the biggest brands in sports: “Open Gym” which chronicles the Toronto Raptors, “The Leaf: Blueprint” which follows the Toronto Maple Leafs and “All for One” which tells the season story of Toronto FC. He is also the Executive Producer of the Toronto Raptors Game Broadcasts, which air on TSN and Sportsnet. Omni-channel digital content strategy is a major part of Michael’s day to day.

Jeremy Goldstein, BA’13

Manager, Solutions Engineering
Slack

Kara MacLean, BA’11

Senior Director – Global Publicity
organic

Kara MacLean is an experienced entertainment publicist based in Los Angeles, who works at the international entertainment PR agency Organic, which is headquartered in London, UK. Originally having grown up in Toronto, she is an avid cinephile and her first job (with a proper paycheck) was working at the Toronto International Film Festival. MacLean has worked for over a decade in entertainment and has represented projects at the top festivals around the world, including Cannes, Berlin, SXSW, Venice, TIFF, Tribeca, Sundance and others. She has worked on the international and domestic campaigns for numerous films and series and has worked with some of the world’s most talented filmmakers – most recently this has included working with Apple on Martin Scorcese’s upcoming film KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON.

Dimple Nakhla, BA’21

Marketing and Tradeshow Associate
Scintica

When participating in a FIMS internship during her last year at Western, Dimple Nakhwal worked for the company Scintica, where she has been the last two years. Dimple started out as a summer intern, and is now an important part of their in-house marketing team here in London, Ontario.

“I definitely can give a nod to the FIMS internship program for where my career has been going towards. At the end of my degree, I chose to take part in the internship where I found Scintica listed as a company hiring students and I applied right away. I did not even know this entire industry existed, and if they had a spot for a person pursuing a marketing career too. The FIMS internship program, in my opinion, is a great resource and experience for students and I do owe a lot of the clarity I’ve found with my career journey to applying and participating in that program.”

Jeff Preston, BA’06, MA’08, PhD’14

Associate Professor, Disabilities Studies
King’s University College, Western University

Jeff Preston, Ph.D., is an associate professor of Disability Studies at King’s University College, where he teaches classes on disability, popular culture and policy. Jeff’s first book, “The Fantasy of Disability”, was just published internationally 2016 and reissued in paper back in 2018 by Routledge. A long-time advocate and committed public intellectual, Jeff is a past professor of Digital Marketing at Fanshawe College, member of the Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee for the Ministry of Community and Social Services, the Committee of Adjustments at London City Hall and vice chair of Easter Seals Ontario board of directors.

Lou Pushelberg, BA’13

Co-Founder
Circuit Stream

In 2015, Lou Pushelberg cofounded Circuit Stream — a leading educational platform focused on future skills. Circuit Stream works with top universities and has provided skill-based programs to thousands of learners around the world. Prior to Circuit Stream, Lou worked in finance and accounting as well as on several startups in the AR/VR and gaming industry. Lou holds a Bachelor’s degree in Media, Information and Technology from Western University and a certificate in New Ventures Leadership from MIT’s Global Entrepreneurship program.

Julian Uzielli, BA’13, MA’15

Producer, Podcast Playlist
CBC/Radio-Canada

Julian is a radio producer at CBC’s Podcast Playlist. He has worked at CBC Radio for eight years across a number of shows, including The Current, As It Happens and Day 6. He is also an active member of his union, the Canadian Media Guild, where he served as director for new members and precarious workers in 2019-20. At Western, he spent several years on staff at The Gazette back when it was still a daily newspaper, including a year as editor-in-chief. He also hosted shows and did newsreading and reporting for CHRW, and wrote for the mitZine. He graduated from FIMS with a BA in Media, Information and Technoculture in 2013 and a MA in Journalism in 2015.