Laurie Maher has a degree in fashion design and has worked in the fashion and film industries in Toronto, London and Prague. Her first film role was in the comedy short How Audley, which she co-wrote and co-directed. She also starred in the feature length film, Sleep Always, which was awarded the best feature at the 2005 New Jersey International Film Festival. Her latest project, Madame Tutli Putli, has won awards at Cannes and the Toronto Internation Festival of Short Films. Laurie was born in Montreal, raised in rural Nova Scotia, and now lives in Toronto.

My aunt has been a huge inspiration to me. Rosemary Sullivan is a distinguished Canadian author, poet, biographer and scholar, famous for her books on Margaret Atwood and the poets Elizabeth Smart and Gwendolyn MacEwen. Her latest book, Villa Air-Bel is a masterful study of Varian Fry and his clandestine efforts to smuggle artists and intellectuals out of Vichy France during World War II.