Emmy award winning actor and writer, Joanne Vannicola, began her professional career at the age of eight. She made her television debut in her hometown of Montreal and moved to Toronto to study and pursue her career. By the age of seventeen she had written her first play. Credits include Love and Human Remains, directed by Denys Arcand, which earned Vannicola a Genie nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Joanne reunited with Arcand for his film, Stardom. She won an Emmy for her work in Maggie’s Secret, directed by Al Waxman. Joanne was also nominated for a Gemini award for best actress in a continuing role for the CBC series 9B, as well as an ACTRA award nomination for best voice/animation as Toot in the animated series Toot and Puddle. Among her 65 credits in film and television, she can be seen in the second season of Slasher as Renee (2017,) by Aaron Martin, and she just finished shooting Season 3 Slasher, for Netflix (2018). Joanne was also in Sea Change, a Lifetime original movie directed by Chris Grismer, (2017). Her other credits include the feature film Stonewall, directed by Roland Emmerich, which premiered at TIFF, Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce, Slasher (2016), Rookie Blue, Degrassi, Derby, Ultimate Betrayal, PSI Factor, Animal Project, and the hit series, Being Erica, as Doctor Naadiah, by Jana Sinyor and Aaron Martin (streaming on Netflix). Joanne appears as Sam in Street Legal the reboot for CBC, airing in March 2019 (2018/19). Joanne is also a public speaker and has hosted numerous events including the York Film Festival, the METRAC fund-raising campaign to raise awareness about domestic violence, and founded a non-profit to raise awareness about child abuse (2004-2009). Joanne is also passionate about social justice and equity issues, including LGBTQ and women’s rights. She started the new LGBTQ+ committee at ACTRA for queer performers and also serves on the sexual assault adhoc committee. Vannicola’s memoir, All We Knew But Couldn’t Say, is being published by Dundurn Press on June 1st, 2019, in Canada, and June 25th in the U.S.