WHO WE ARE

We tell stories that centre the experiences of people whose voices and bodies are still under-represented in the mainstream media landscape.

Laughing Cat Productions is an award-winning independent Canadian studio making queer media + merch + magic that entertains and inspires global audiences. Our bold and transformative original works are created by and for all the unapologetically rebellious heroines out there who are doing their best to thrive in this late stage capitalist hellscape.

Our company is a proud alumnus of industry labs and mentorships including the Banff Spark Accelerator for Women, the Canadian Film Centre’s Media Lab, the Disability Screen Office Prime Time delegation, and Transmedia Zone. We are also incredibly grateful to our industry supporters to date, including Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Creates, Panavision, Sunbelt, Ontario Arts Council, and Workman Arts. As we continue to grow, we have created and co-collaborated on a number of short and feature films, digital series, live events, and more. You can check out some of our existing titles and co-productions via our IMDB listing.

We believe that everyone deserves a seat at the table, that all bodies deserve to be substantially represented in media, and that all voices deserve to be equally heard. AUTHENTIC diversity and inclusion is what we’re here for… that, and satisfying our insatiable curiosity and sense of play that infuses every production from tip to tail. (You know what they say about cats, curiosity, and satisfaction, right?)

Most importantly, we’ve devoted at least several of our nine lives to championing our fellow underdogs and challenging outdated & harmful mainstream media norms and practices. We’re changemakers who believe an equitable film industry is not only achievable but incredibly necessary in order to build a successful future.

We work with a roster of incredibly talented creatives in all areas of production, and we’re always open to making new connections.

Laughing Cat Productions was founded to create social impact-generating original stories – as lensed through a highly-inclusive, women-focused, intersectional feminist viewpoint.

We are proudly the first (and so far only) known production company in Canada who has committed to making body diversity and intersectional inclusion an integral part of our casting and hiring processes for EVERY project we undertake.

We believe that how we see people represented in media is how we learn to respond to them in the real world, and that is a power that must be used for the right reasons.

We also believe in centering sustainability: infusing our work with an ethos of care, integrity – and personal, professional, social, and environmental accountability – along with boundless creativity, inclusive working environments, and our unique brand of magic. Our slow and careful approach to company growth reflects our overall commitment to sustainable practices.

For actors and other industry professionals who also believe in authentic representation on-screen, we’ve founded two online casting groups:

Thank you to Andy Wright for the BTS and set stills!

Our feral Founder and Creatrix in Chief, Emily Schooley, is an award-winning actor, filmmaker, entrepreneur, and wearer of many hats who hasn’t had time to be bored since the late 1900s. She has worked extensively across stage and screen media, with projects ranging from small, intimate sets to large-scale feature productions. Emily has played numerous roles on all sides of production, from sultry leading lady to hapless production manager slash toilet unclogger*.
(*Yes, that’s a real and and hilarious story. Buy her a shot of tequila and she’ll tell you all about it.)

Within Canada and in the United States, Emily has led guest workshops and lectures on the practices of independent filmmaking and performance. She has also appeared as an on-camera expert in several documentaries, including A Big Set of Lungs (examining the horror genre) and MeAfterToo (discussing the MeToo movement). In 2020, Emily was selected as one of the first 100 participants for Banff Spark, a development accelerator for women in media.

Emily strongly supports gender equity and women escaping abusive situations, is an avid watchdog against police misconduct, and frequently speaks out for LGBTQ+ rights and equal representation in media. She fosters with Team Cat Rescue, an organization that focuses on saving cats from high-kill shelters.

In the rare moments when she’s not actively working, Emily is probably nerding out to genre films or travelling the globe to find her newest sources of creative inspiration.

You can get exclusive updates and help support the advancement of our original film projects by becoming one of Emily’s Cats over on Patreon.