The organizers of Canada’s acclaimed Women In the Director’s Chair (WIDC) program are delighted to announce that recent WIDC alum, Tricia Black is the recipient of the 2026 WIDC Advantage Award for her debut feature film, The B-Side: Dusk. The prize includes a one-year mentorship for Black, a director spot in WIDC’s flagship program Story & Leadership and WIDC’s Industry partner nomination for the 2026 Telefilm Canada Talent to Watch program.

Gaining significant career traction as a CSA-winning actor and comedian, Tricia Black (Band Ladies, Stories from My Gay Grandparents) is turning her considerable talents to writing and directing. Her debut feature film The B-Side Dusk will be a blend of comedy-horror with character-driven storytelling, drawing from Black’s Maritime roots and her understanding of performance and impeccable comedic timing.

“For me, comedy, horror, and music all run on the same muscle,” says Tricia Black. “Timing, feel, rhythm, knowing when to hold for tension and when to really let’er loose.”

Co-written by and co-starring Black as true crime obsessed Dylan Hart who is searching for answers to her rock star aunts’ mysterious disappearance while they were playing a concert in Northern Ontario in 1999.

The B-Side: Dusk is being produced by CSA winner Kate Fenton (Band Ladies). Fenton also produced the IPF-funded concept short of the same name, co-written by Caitlin English, and co-stars Danielle Leger as a hapless conspiracy theorist and Black’s on screen cousin and BFF, Janis Hart.

The WIDC Advantage Award will be presented June 5, 2026, at WIDC’s Annual Launch Event on Zoom, where Tricia will be one of the guests of honour.

About the Director:

Tricia Black (she/they) is a queer actor, comedian, songwriter, and filmmaker. They are a three-time Canadian Screen Award winner and six-time nominee, a two-time Canadian Comedy Award winner, and a TO WebFest Best Ensemble Cast winner. Tricia serves as Creative Director of Tweed & Company Theatre, where they write, compose, and produce original Canadian musicals and directed the 2023 Joni Mitchell theatrical concert Both Sides Now. They co-wrote the musical feature film Fight The Moonlight with Caitlin English (Highball TV). Second City Mainstage Revues: 84th Revue (Ashley Botting), If I Could #Throwback Time (Rob Baker), Welcome Back To The Future (Paloma Nunez). Second City Theatrical: She The People (Carly Heffernan; also at Mirvish Theatre). Film & TV: Pretty Hard Cases (CBC), What We Do in the Shadows (FX), Wayward (Netflix), The Miniature Wife (Peacock/NBC), Starfleet Academy (Paramount+/CBS), Small Achievable Goals (CBC), Band Ladies (Highball TV). Black is an alum of the 2026 WIDC Career Advancement Module.

About WIDC: 

Women In the Director’s Chair (WIDC) is a national career development initiative launched in June 1996 at the BANFF World Media Festival as an initial collaboration among ACTRA, the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and GEMS Vancouver (formerly Women In Film and Television Vancouver). Since its 1997 pilot workshop specially designed for mid-career women and non-binary directors, more than 380 director alumni across Canada have gone on to create 1000’s of hours of quality screen entertainment. They consistently garner 100’s of awards and nominations annually. https://www.widc.ca/directory/

Presented with major support from Telefilm Canada, Warner Bros. Discovery Access Canada, and with the participation of Creative BC, UBCP/ACTRA, Actra Fraternal Benefit Society, ACTRA National, and the Independent Production Fund; WIDC community collaborations include Directors Guild of Canada, GEMFest (formerly VIWFF), Female Eye Film Festival, St John’s International Women’s Film Festival, Reelworld Screen Institute, Summit & Film Festival, Crazy 8’s, TIFF, VIFF, Whistler Film Festival, and the BANFF World Media Festival. WIDC Feature Film Award sponsors include MELS, Keslow Camera, Panavision Canada, Raw Camera, MTL Grande, Sunbelt Rentals Film & TV, SlyKid, Pseudodragon Productions, Delirium, Distillery Visual Effects, Rocket Science VFX,  Company 3, CR Audio, Jeremy Corriveau, Elemental Post Production, North Shore Studios, The Bridge Studios, Vancouver Film Studios, The Research House Clearance Services Inc., Front Row Insurance, Descriptive Video Works, EP Canada, Portable Electric, National Captioning Canada, and Line 21, Champ & Pepper, and GAT PR.