Meet Em Koopman, a multi-talented creative hailing from British Columbia’s west coast. With over 10 screenwriting awards under her belt, including a first-place win at the Las Vegas Film Festival in 2015, Em’s writing has been selected for over 30 festivals and continues to captivate audiences. Her own “Once Upon a Time” began at 12 years old when she was invited backstage to a taping of a Disney TV show. It was there she was given a script for an episode and realized the power of combining her love for writing with the visual medium of film and television. It’s no surprise that she went on to graduate from the Vancouver Film School.

An early philanthropist and nature lover, Em has a deep connection to the environment and often draws inspiration for her writing from the world around her. With a passion for environmentalism, her stories often explore themes of conservation, preservation, and the impact of human actions on the planet. At the young age of 6, Em organized a bake sale to benefit The Vancouver Island Marmot Recovery Foundation, and at 16, single-handedly planned a benefit concert for Plan Canada which raised over 10 times what she did as a first-grader.

In her spare time, Em is a talented photographer who has found success capturing travel, wildlife, and live events. She was even embraced by Vancouver’s drag community and could often be found frequenting drag shows around the city. A frequent traveller, Em has visited Africa, the Middle East, South America, and Europe, gathering inspiration for her creative endeavours.

With the desire to create meaningful stories, it doesn’t matter whether she’s writing about the world’s issues, capturing its beauty through her lens, or using her voice for good: Em Koopman is a force to be reckoned with. Regardless of if she’s in Los Angeles hoping to catch her big break, snorkelling alongside marine iguanas in the Galápagos, or back in her beloved Vancouver — Em’s love for writing and the visual medium shines through in everything she does.