Baker Albach
Baker is a writer, actor, and game designer. He has been a Company Member of the Regent Park Project since 2016 as a writer and actor, and has also completed an internship on the set of Kim’s Convenience through the Live It to Learn It program. He is interested in learning and expanding his art to new mediums. Baker is currently studying Game Design at Sheridan College, and has worked on multiple projects as a game designer and writer. He is currently working on ‘Shattered’, a game in development, as the lead designer and co-writer.
Abdullahi Ali
Abdullahi’s love for storytelling has been a lifelong passion, and he finds joy in expressing creativity through many different mediums. Recently, he wrote his first book and co-led the writing for Growing Up Regent, a play in which he also starred as one of the leads. He’s always exploring new ways to share stories, whether it’s through scripts for short films or feature-length projects. Winning the DGC Ontario New Visions Award at the 19th Annual Regent Park Film Festival was a proud moment, but for Abdullahi, creativity is more than just achievement—it’s about connecting with people, sharing truth, and building community through the arts.
Laura Cardeno
Laura Cardeno is a time-based media artist with an interdisciplinary background. She was part of the creative team for Season Two of the Regent Park Project – working as a writer, actor, and acting as Art Director. She has spent several years working with different forms of art such as videography, editing, sound design, and the performing arts. She enjoys developing different ways of expression that involve multiple mediums because she is a strong believer that when you integrate different forms of artistic communication it allows for a more immersive experience for all. Laura knows there is a lot to learn from each medium, just as there is a lot to learn from collaborative work with different individuals. She believes that when we open ourselves up to different perspectives we open ourselves to the joys of creation and what a true creative process entails!
Mandeq Hassan
Mandeq Hassan has spent years working extensively in the film industry. She started her career at TIFF Next Wave as a youth programmer. Mandeq participated in Telluride Film Festival’s Student Symposium in 2018 and became a key member of the Toronto-based distribution company Sisterhood Media in 2019. She has been part of KSA’s Regent Park Project for ten years, and a Company Member for five. Mandeq’s credits include popular works Gay Mean Girls (co-writer), The Regent Park Project (co-writer, actress), and the feature film Being Saffiya (lead-writer). Credits include Diggstown, Run the Burbs, and SloPitch. She has also received the Director’s Guild of Canada New Visions Award. Mandeq most recently was the Production Manager for KSA’s theatre production “Growing Up Regent and a Telefilm funded period-piece set in Jamaica.
Spider Hetherington
Spider Hetherington is an actor and writer, having studied in York’s Screenwriting program. They’ve developed a focus on collaborative storytelling, and how narrative projects can open viewers and creators to new perspectives. He has starred in two seasons of the webseries, The Regent Park Project, and additionally served as script supervisor for the second season. He’s written the short film So You Say, produced in 2019. Spider was also a lead writer for Growing Up Regent – a theatrical adaptation of the webseries, which premiered at the 2024 Summerworks Festival. They’re also strikingly open to questions about being named after a bug.
Tajvin Kazi
Tajvin Kazi is a writer and actress from Regent Park, Toronto. She has been a key creative for both seasons of “The Regent Park Project”, a web series that focuses on the lives of young people in her home community. She has been a company member of Kick Start Arts since 2014, and produced an arts and social justice project for KSA, focused on reconciliation. This months long initiative was a partnerships with a Master Canoe Builder and Knowledge Carrier, and resulted in the creation of a traditional birch bark canoe, and a community mural – involving over 40 people ages 6 months to 96 years. Tajvin is also a writer on KSA’s recently incubated feature film, Being Saffiya. Tajvin hopes to inspire other young Muslim women through her art, and aspires to bring the experiences of her community to the forefront of Canadian media.
Tony Le
Tony is a working actor and a company member of Kick Start Arts (KSA). He exclusively plays Jojo, a character he created and co-wrote for the web series, The Regent Park Project, as well as KSA’s theatre production, Growing Up Regent. Tony’s vivid imagination brought him on this journey of content creation, and relishes collaboration with likeminded people. Having graduated from the Acting for Film and Television (AFTV) program at Humber College, Tony continues to work towards making his mark in the entertainment industry. In the meantime, he dabbles in photography, guitar, singing, screenwriting, improv, and food that’s bad for you.
Amanda Pileggi
Amanda is a Producer at Archipelago Productions. She began her career working at arts festivals across Toronto, including the Luminato Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, and the Regent Park Film Festival (RPFF). During her four years managing RPFF, Amanda also became a Company Member of Kick Start Arts, co-writing, performing, and producing two seasons of the web series The Regent Park Project. A short detour took Amanda around Canada organizing citizenship ceremonies, where she was fortunate to hear thousands of stories of immigration and belonging. Amanda has held production and development roles at Temple Street, a division of Boat Rocker Media, assisted with film sales at Celluloid Dreams, and freelanced in various parts of the creative industry. In a past life, she used to sail on tallships around the Great Lakes and finds a similar sense of adventure in the world of production. Amanda devotes herself to the space where art and community intersect, and continues to push for more equitable practices in every facet of her work.
Sheena D. Robertson
Sheena is a theatre and film director/producer, photographer and passionate artist-educator – who long ago decided to forgo work on big budget production, for the life of an independent film-maker – stepping fully into the creation of projects of meaning to her.
She has worked extensively in diverse settings locally, nationally and internationally for over 25 years – most recently in El Salvador. The last seven years have seen her Found and Artistic Direct the development of Kick Start Arts. In addition to running the organization, she is the Show Runner and Director of Season 1 and 2 of KSA’s web series, The Regent Park Project. The throughline of Sheena’s work is connected to social justice, and the power of the arts to create meaning, connection, and equitable opportunities. She is sought after for her ability to create connections, and build collaborative artistic communities where transformative things happen.
Sheena was thrilled to be recognized by her community for her work, as a finalist for the TAC’s Diversity Award.