About Us

Over the last twenty-five years, Rhys has worked in numerous areas of the film industry – from on set to the corporate boardrooms. Prior to joining Descriptive Video Works, Rhys spent twelve years with Technicolor working in London, Los Angeles and Vancouver leading the Operations and Technology teams for Technicolor’s Digital Cinema and Visual Effects business units. He is excited to have joined the DVW team in November 2019, working alongside this dedicated and passionate group of technicians and artists bringing accessibility to media and entertainment.

Melissa became interested in the described video field when a retinal detachment forced her to lay on her side with her eyes closed for five days; binging audio described Netflix shows kept her entertained and made her fall in love with the art of audio description.

Before joining Descriptive Video Works in June 2019 as an assistant project manager, Melissa managed a coworking space and an organic home delivery company. She is excited to bring her varied experience to the field of entertainment and accessibility.

Kimberly is a writer and communications expert. She has written for Lonely Planet, Disney, ABCmouse.com, Nickelodeon, and Darling Magazine. Her education includes a MA in Creative Writing from the University of London (Roehampton), a BFA from the University of British Columbia, and a certificate in Contextual Theology from St. Mellitus College in London, UK.

Jamie was introduced to Diane Johnson in 2014 through a mutual friend and was excited to officially join the company in 2015.  Before joining DVW he was a freelance editor working in the television and film industry for over 27 years on a variety of different productions from corporate videos to feature films.   Jamie first started in broadcasting at the MuchMusic Network in Toronto and continued to promote local music producing EPKs for musicians in Vancouver.  He has also worked for Global Television and CBC in Vancouver as a freelance editor.  Jamie brings his vast technical experience to the DVW team and is thrilled to be a part of the continued growth of the company.

Susan has 22 years experience working in the film industry with Technicolor where she held many different positions including 14 years as Production Manager. Susan has an entrepreneurial nature and owned a franchise in the fitness industry for 4 years. She is excited to be back in the entertainment industry since joining DVW in June 2021 and is looking forward to building great relationships and playing a part in making content accessible to everyone.

Maddy worked in film distribution at a Montreal-based entertainment company before happily landing at DVW in Spring 2022. She has always been drawn to storytelling and media production in different forms, and is especially thrilled to be combining these interests with her passion for social justice to work toward improving media accessibility. Maddy is excited to continue working with and learning from experts in the field of audio description.

Diane Johnson put her years of broadcast experience, and her passion, to work on leading the charge in making visual media inclusive to all.

In 2003, she founded Descriptive Video Works. Her objective, to break new ground and remove old barriers by using audio description (also known as descriptive video) to make television, film and other visual media accessible to blind and visually-impaired viewers. Today, her company is recognized as the gold standard of quality in audio description and is known internationally.

As a vocal and tireless advocate for people who are blind and visually-impaired, Diane also devotes her time and expertise to maintaining standards of quality in audio description for the industry as a whole. She was the founding member of the Canadian Described Video Broadcast Committee and was instrumental in creating the Guidelines for National Best Practices. These guidelines were adopted by Canada’s broadcast regulatory body (CRTC). Diane also served as a member of the United Nations International Telecommunications Union Focus Group on Audio Visual Media Accessibility. Diane’s extraordinary energy for change has not gone unnoticed. She has received recognition for her outstanding contributions:

• American Council of the Blind – Barry Levine Memorial Award for Career Achievement in Audio Description (2017)
• American Council of the Blind – Audio Description Achievement Award – Media (2014)
• Silver Stevie®Award – Entrepreneur of the Year, Canada (2014)
• Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (2011)
• Profit Magazine’s W100 – Canada’s Top 100 Female Entrepreneurs (2011)
• Finalist, RBC Trailblazer Award for Women Entrepreneur of the Year (2011)

Always humble about her exceptional accomplishments, Diane considers her advocacy for accessibility as her greatest achievement.

Chancey Fleet is a 2018-2019 Data & Society Fellow from Brooklyn, Chancey is a writer, organizer, and advocate that aims to advance public understanding and best practices in accessible technology.

Empish J. Thomas is a freelance writer, blogger and research consultant. She was a diligent and long-time career columnist for 17 years with Dialogue Magazine. She also ventured into broadcast journalism by hosting and producing a radio show called Eye on Blindness with the Georgia Radio Reading Service for 3 years. When Empish is not working, she is writing about her life on her blog at www.empishthomas.com. She is a firm believer in giving back to her community and lens her writing skills to a website for the blind and visually impaired called VisionAware. She is also passionately reading books, listening to podcasts and watching audio described movies.

Shawn Marsolais is the Founder and Executive Director of Blind Beginnings and a registered clinical counsellor. Growing up with a visual impairment, she was personally impacted by the limited support that was available to families raising children who are blind or partially sighted. Shawn is passionate about supporting children who are blind or partially sighted to reach their full potential. 

Shawn has worked with Descriptive Video Works since 2009, working together with focus groups of adults and children that are blind and visually impaired. Shawn is actively advocates for high quality Described Video programming.

To quote Shawn: “We are just the same as you; we just don’t see in the same way.”

Brandon Cole is a creature of many hats. Though primarily he refers to himself as an accessibility consultant, he is also a blogger, podcaster, streamer, youtuber, voice actor, and most recently, audio description narrator. He is totally blind, and has been nearly since birth, but isn’t about to let that stop him. He possesses a passion for bringing more blind accessibility to the world in any way he can. Through his consultation efforts, he has assisted in making AAA titles like The Last of Us Part 2 fully accessible to totally blind players everywhere. He streams both to entertain and to educate on game accessibility, showing both where we are now, and where we could be. He sees audio description narration, too, as a way that he can help provide the blind with access to content they may not otherwise have. Brandon is on the front lines of blind accessibility in gaming, though, and is confident this is only the beginning.

Blinded at a young age, Ross Minor is an accessibility advocate and consultant with a specialty in digital media and video games. He has a Youtube channel where he posts about accessibility and a Twitch where he shows the world how accessibility enriches his gaming experience.

www.RossMinor.com