By Henna Mann,
Special to The Post

It had long been a dream for Kashif Pasta to be a filmmaker. Since graduating from high school in the Lower Mainland, Pasta and his creative partner, Shyam Valera had been actively generating ideas and making them into independent content.

Over time they honed their skills in the trade and attained the technical chops to actually storyboard and create short films. But where Pasta and his partner fell short was in knowing how to break into the film industry.

And that’s when, at that pivotal moment, TELUS STORYHIVE and Pasta ‘met’.

“We had this idea for a show but didn’t know how to get it off the ground,” said Pasta, now in his early thirties, in a recent interview. “We created a 20-page pitch document for this series and took it to my first film industry event - it was actually like a CRTC regulatory meeting, I truly had no idea where and how to access the ‘film industry’.”

At that event, Pasta met Prem Gill, the CEO of Creative BC.

“I built up the courage to talk to the one other South Asian person there and it turned out to be Prem Gill who encouraged us to apply to STORYHIVE. That encouragement pushed us to put together a campaign and submit our project, and it all came together from there.”

TELUS STORYHIVE has been supporting underrepresented storytellers in British Columbia and Alberta for over a decade, and now it’s announcing the launch of its latest focused Edition, the TELUS STORYHIVE Pan-Asian Storyteller Edition.

This new intake is an exceptional opportunity for new and emerging filmmakers of Pan-Asian heritage to bring their unique stories to the big screen. The program aims to showcase Pan-Asian Canadian perspectives that have often been excluded or misrepresented throughout history, creating a platform for filmmakers to take the lead in telling the authentic stories from their own communities.

For Pasta and his partner, STORYHIVE turned out to be a key launching pad for his career in filmmaking.

“We had heard of STORYHIVE, but we had never made a budget before, had never applied for real funding - it just seemed like something for other people,” explained Pasta. “But something about Prem believing in us and being encouraging made it feel more possible. I think there was less than a week before the deadline at that point, but we hustled to get our pitch video and documents together and were really fortunate to be selected.”

“STORYHIVE is one of the few programs that not only funds diverse voices but also provides real mentorship and industry support.”

With the support of STORYHIVE, Pasta co-created a romantic comedy series Welcome to Surrey, about a graduate of medical school who is sent to work in the one place she’s trying to avoid: back home to the suburban town of Surrey, Canada.

The series, which was funded through a past STORYHIVE Edition, inspired Pasta and his co-creator Shyam Valera to establish their production company, Dunya.

Curious to learn more? Next week, join STORYHIVE for an insightful hour-long online session, where they will address as many questions as possible.

The STORYHIVE Editions team will be online for an hour-long Ask Us Anything webinar on Thursday, April 10, 2025 at 11am PT / 12pm MT to take your questions. Please submit your questions at the provided link during the session. Register for the event here.

TELUS STORYHIVE’s latest Edition, the Pan-Asian Storyteller Edition is now open for applications. The selected applicants will receive $20,000 in production funding, training and professional mentorship (in partnership with the National Screen Institute) to produce a narrative short film or documentary.

Once the films are completed, they will be featured across TELUS platforms, including TELUS Optik TV with over one million viewers, Stream+ and STORYHIVE’s YouTube channel.

With the generous support of Creative BC, the B.C.-based filmmakers will also receive top-up funding.

This call for applications is open not only to new filmmakers but also to past applicants and STORYHIVE alumni who identify as part of the Pan-Asian heritage. STORYHIVE’s goal is to honour and celebrate stories across the Pan-Asian diaspora and to give filmmakers a platform to share their community’s stories while making their mark in the Canadian film industry.

If you are a filmmaker with a story to tell, don’t miss the opportunity to apply for the TELUS STORYHIVE Pan-Asian Storyteller Edition by May 8th, 2025. For more details and to apply, visit storyhive.com/apply.