about empress avenue media

Emrey co-founded Empress with Joseph in 2018, building on over ten years of experience in the entertainment industry as a TV producer, project manager, 1st assistant director, and actor. After mentoring with prolific Canadian producer/director David DeCoteau, Wright’s work has been featured extensively on American networks including Sci-Fi, ION and Lifetime, as well as in festivals and on leading digital platforms worldwide. He’s racked up over a dozen feature producer credits, including recently co-producing comedy caper The Great Salish Heist (2024) starring Graham Greene, and the action movies Viper (2025) and Clear Cut (2024) featuring Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Alec Baldwin, respectively. 

With Empress Avenue Media, Emrey brings his people skills and business savvy to the table to make sure our stories get the telling they deserve. In his downtime, Emery is likely hanging out with his daughter, cruising on a surfboard, or making music.

As co-founder and creative director at Empress Avenue Media, Joseph is accustomed to wearing many hats. His previous film credits include directing, writing, producing, cinematography, editing and graphic design. These days, he primarily works as an online editor and post production supervisor on feature films.

Joseph’s directing credits include documentaries like The Sound of a Pandemic (2025) and Penny Girl (2019), and features like Fragile Seeds (2021). He also worked as 1st AD on Viper (2025) and DP on The Great Salish Heist (2024). An honours graduate of the Vancouver Film School’s Digital Design program, Joseph also worked as a game designer and communications officer before diving headfirst into film. When he’s not behind a camera or in an editing suite, he can usually be found traversing mountains with his dog.

Kate grew up in theatres, finding her love for storytelling at a young age. Since graduating with honours from Capilano University’s Acting for Stage and Screen program, her diverse resume as an actor, stage manager, writer, and production coordinator has given her a unique perspective that she brings to every project at Empress Avenue.

Most recently, Kate worked as the production coordinator on Quiet Storm (2027) and a trainee assistant director on Viper (2026), and is developing a narrative series. As an actor, she can be spotted on shows on NBC, The CW, Global TV, Hallmark, and Lifetime networks and more.

Kate brings her passion for people to managing the wide variety of projects and clients that come through Empress’s doors. When she’s not behind a computer or on set, Kate can be found camping in her 80’s van, wandering the woods with her giant dog, or trying out new recipes.

Born and raised on Vancouver Island, Jamie has been working in the film industry for 20 years. Specializing in post production, VFX, and colour grading, his extensive credits have included My Mother’s Stalker (2019) and Target: My Daughter (2017) starring Bradley Stryker. Jamie has also worn many hats in the world of film. He recently co-wrote and directed the feature film Mcmanus & Sons (2021) with his brother Dan, which is streaming on Apple TV, and runs a filmmaking vlog on YouTube where he shares behind the scenes, tips and tricks on independent filmmaking.

In addition to his film work, Jamie has extensive experience in organic social media marketing. He manages leading entertainment brands on YouTube, and the editing for an automotive channel with over 4 million YouTube subscribers. 

Award winning sound engineer Evan Matthiesen is a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to sound. Since studying Sound Design at Vancouver Film School in 2009, Evan has worked on over 60 films as a sound editor, foley artist, boom operator, re-recording mixer, and everything in between. Throughout his journey he has been privileged to work as the sole post-production sound professional on several feature films and shorts, leading to several award wins, including the Leo Award for Best Sound in Short Drama in 2023 for his work on the short film Boxed. With a long and storied background in performing and recording music, Evan sees sound as a world of boundless creativity, and is endlessly curious of new technologies and techniques that can be used to improve his craft, such as immersive mixing in Dolby Atmos, and advanced noise reduction tools like Izotope RX, all operating on industry standard ProTools software.

SoYoung has a bachelor degree of Fine Art (painting) and Film Production from Dongguk University in South Korea. She moved to Vancouver, Canada in 2016 and achieved a Film production diploma at Vancouver Film School. 15 years of painting expertise has given her a great understanding of colour and strong attention to detail, which she brings to all of her projects. She has a comprehensive understanding of editorial, online, VFX, colour and delivery formats thanks to years of experience in post production. SoYoung’s recent colour grading credits include the period short Newtown Boys (2026) which was shot on location in Ireland, and the feature Viper (2026) starring Peter Facinelli and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. 

Aixa rules the roost at Empress Avenue Media. She might seem a bit reserved at first, but give her a belly rub and you’ll be under her spell forever.