Season One

Suzanne Jolly
Director & Producer
(First & Second Season)

Suzanne Jolly crafts stories as a means of exploring the world and creating connection. With a graduate degree in Education and a Bachelors in Communications, she has spent the last two decades as a professional writer, instructor, multimedia strategist, and administrator in higher education. She has a love of people and their fantastic tales, as well as dogs and their wagging tails. If you find her not chatting with someone or teaching yoga, you’ll likely not be able to find her at all: she’s often riding on her adventure motorbike in the backcountry or paddling with her husband in their ocean kayaks. She loves being on the ocean and is the stepdaughter of a tugboat captain. She lives in Campbell River, BC where she met many who work on the water, as she previously ran marine safety training at North Island College.

Dominic Bakota
Camera Operator & Junior Editor (Second Season)

Dominic was introduced to film-making in his freshman year of high school where he became enchanted with the magic and creativity of the art form. Now a recent graduate of Carihi he is pursuing opportunities to build his skills and experience with an eye to future post-secondary education in film production. Growing up on Quadra Island, Dominic has a life-long appreciation for our oceans and the natural beauty of British Columbia. You can often find him, camera in hand, trying to capture all the wondrous sights our home has to offer. While Dominic is an avid narrative short filmmaker, lately he has developed an interest in documentary and telling the personal stories of real people with intimate relationships with the land and environment around them, especially here in BC.

Andrea Humphreys (photo to come)
Underwater Camera Operator
(Second Season, Episode 1)

Andrea has always been a passionate educator off and on the water: she began first teaching children swimming lessons and now is a learning support teacher in Campbell River. She has been a recreational diver for over 12 years, in both cold water on the west coast and a variety of tropical destinations.
She does photography and cinematography simply because she loves to share the beauty of the world, both above and below the water’s surface. You can see her underwater photos & footage on Instagram & Youtube: @reallifemermaidphotography

Jeff Baxter
Consultant (Second Season)
Executive Producer (First Season)

Jeff Baxter has a background in instructional design, injury prevention, and teaching. He has experience working in education in both Canada and Sweden. During his time in the forestry industry, he was delighted to spend time clinging to boom boats and tugs around the coast. He is currently an instructional designer and enjoys various creative pursuits, including photography and writing. He finds much of his inspiration when active in the outdoors, particularly in coastal environments as an avid surfer. His connection to the ocean and his love of documentaries drew him to this project.  Jeff lives in Metchosin, BC.

Jenna Shelley
Production Assistant & Grip
(Second Season)

Jenna Shelley grew up wanting to be a photographer but was inspired by film-making two years ago at Carihi High School. Since then, she’s been directing and producing narrative short films focused on social issues and one of her first narrative shorts, “Walking Home in the Dark” won best overall film in the Carihi High School short film contest.  Having grown up on Vancouver Island, where her family owns and operates a guided fishing charter, and previously owned and operated a fishing lodge on the northwest coast, Jenna fits into the crew as she’s used to being on the water.  She aspires to take film studies at Capilano University after finishing high school next year.

Stan Novotny
Director of Photography
(First & Second Season)

Stan Novotny has been an active photographer since 2003 and has current videography projects in the tourism industry. After hosting wildlife photography workshops, he found an interest in movement and began delving into videography. He found himself inspired seeing a living, moving, and breathing animal walking through the water foraging as opposed to seeing it in just a still image. Stan enjoys all aspects of photography and videography, but more recently has been inspired capturing aerial footage with the use of his drone. Stan is also a Captain and Marine Naturalist for an ecotourism company in Campbell River, BC, where he lives with his wife and daughter.

Jake Lee
Underwater Camera Operator
(Second Season, Episode 1)

Jake is an avid free diver in Campbell River who found his passion for filming underwater when he started diving around Vancouver Island. He loves to share the strange and colourful creatures he sees just hidden below the surface (as you’ll see if you check out his insta account @jacobillion).

He wears many different hats & has worked throughout BC in silviculture, archaeology, and biological consulting. He has a Bachelors in Anthropology and is currently working towards another in Environmental Management.