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Trophy in hand for Canada’s Drag Race: Canada vs the World, executive producer Michelle Mama stated, "It was a total surprise to win the Canadian Screen Award this year. Every single year previously, our show has lost to The Amazing Race.” Competing in the Television category of Best Reality/Competition Program or Series, they were declared winners at the event organized by The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television at the CBC Broadcast Centre in Toronto on May 31, 2024. The four other finalists in this category were The Amazing Race Canada, Best in Miniature, Big Brother Canada and Canada’s Ultimate Challenge. 

"The reason for the show’s soaring popularity is that it showcases a unique performance talent in the queer community that is joyful and fun, and because it’s a franchise that celebrates diversity in all its forms,” commented Mama.

"The original show of our franchise, RuPaul’s Drag Race, has been nominated for 39 Emmys and won 24 — it is one of the most awarded programs in history.  Our Canadian version had big shoes to fill but we managed to assemble an incredible cast for Canada’s Drag Race: Canada vs the World, and even Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appeared in one episode to welcome the international queens!

"My role as executive producer is to oversee and manage hundreds of people and tackle the daily challenges and surprises that come our way,” she conveyed in her email responses to Parsiana. 

The Academy that confers the Canadian Screen Awards is the largest non-profit professional media arts organization in Canada with a membership of more than 4,000 emerging and established industry professionals.  It is "dedicated to developing, recognizing, celebrating, and advocating for Canadian talent in the film, television, and digital media sectors,” notes their website. 

Having found her niche as an award winning documentary filmmaker and factual (non-fictional) producer/director, Mama has been active in the industry for the last 25 years. Among the challenging projects she has handled are as showrunner (person who oversees the writing and production of each episode of a television series and has ultimate managerial and creative control) for Donut Showdown, co-executive producer for 100 and counting, supervising producer for Yours, Mine or Ours, producer of Your beautiful cul-de-sac home.According to her, "Producing is like having multiple pots boiling on a stove and waiting for one to boil over. I once spent 10 years trying to make a film that never happened. Sometimes no amount of hard work can make something happen and sometimes it’s easy.” Series director for Keeping Canada alive and Come dine with me, she is happiest when she is directing. "It is my ‘superpower’ — being able to connect with someone in an authentic way and getting them to open to me and trust me,” revealed Mama who is determined to be an "advocate and aunty” to those who are queer. 

After working as a freelancer for over two decades, Mama has recently launched a production company called Gay Agenda with co-founder Bill Taylor "with a focus on amplifying a new generation of queer storytellers.” Their project on the queer maverick singer-songwriter titled AntiDiva: The Confessions of Carole Pope is scheduled to premiere on CBC’s Documentary Channel next year. As Mama has realized, "I’m used to being the creative who is hired. It requires an entirely new muscle to sell and finance projects. It’s very tough work but we are determined to make a change in the industry and mentor the next generation of creators...We are in the business of creating and sharing queer joy.”

Among her earlier work that has won maximum recognition is the documentary feature film 21 Days to Nawroz. As producer-director she explored the lives of three Kurdish women in the north of Iraq. This film won the Best Documentary at the World Fest Houston, the Mexico International Film Festival, the CINE International in Los Angeles, as also the Best International Documentary at the Baghdad International Film Festival. The spark for this film came during a conversation with her cousin Sherizaan Minwalla who was familiar with the plight of the Kurds since her organization Heartland Alliance worked for women in Iraq. "Together we worked out a way to get me and my cameraperson into Iraq and she was instrumental in facilitating the entire shoot.  At one point, we were at the citadel in Erbil and our guide told us that the mosque we were looking at was built on top of the original fire temple of King Darius! We connected with lots of Kurds on the journey who told us that the ‘Zardosh’ people were their cousins. The Kurds truly felt like family,” recalled Mama.

Although born and raised in Toronto, since Mama’s parents have their roots in Karachi, like many South Asians it was ingrained in the children that "family is so important and everything is family. Sometimes I know that your birth family is not going to give you the support you need in the coming out process… which is an emotional and mental crisis,” she declared in The Anokhi Uncensored Show that is linked to her website.  

However, as she never fails to acknowledge: "I have been incredibly, incredibly lucky with my family.” Mother Nilufer runs a real estate and travel business, father Danny has been supporting this business following his retirement, brother Darius is vice president at Salesforce, a software company. Valuing her loving parents Michelle told Parsiana, "My mother is a complete angel (as anyone will tell you). Yet telling her and my dad was the biggest fear of my life. I was convinced that she was going to have a heart attack and that my father was going to explode. Truthfully, I didn’t give them enough credit. My mother needed some time to process the information before telling my dad but she handled the situation with a grace and level of support I could never have dreamed of.  The big game changer for them was to meet a serious partner — my girlfriend at the time who was studying to be a lawyer! — and they loved her. Suddenly, all the fear melted away and they realized how silly and small-minded these fears are in our day. Now my mum and I both talk to and counsel other families through the process of coming out. It’s part of the reason I try to mentor and give back so fervently.”

Planning to become a lawyer, "like a good Parsi girl,” Michelle was initially a student at the University of Toronto when she started to take film classes and "like a bolt of lightning I knew I had to make a living putting things on screen.” Although deeply involved in theater since her high school days, in her candid style she often jokes that "I had to come out twice — once when I told my family I was gay but the harder time was telling them I wasn’t going to be a lawyer!”

Having participated in the North American Zoroastrian Congress in Toronto in 2007 and winning the Diversity Award at the World Zoroastrian Congress in New York in 2022, to Michelle, "watching the community meet and accept my partners over the years has been heartwarming.  I know that is not a universal experience, and it’s terribly disappointing that some members of the community are still so small-minded when we Parsis are reputed to be sophisticated, educated and modern.” She considers the Diversity Award conferred on her as a sign that "the community is publicly evolving and hope we continue to do so. But the most emotional part was watching the pride on my parents’ faces.”

While she may not observe customs and traditions associated with the community, "I’m fiercely proud of being Parsi. I talk about it all the time with colleagues and I truly think that being Parsi makes me a naturally genial person who can get along with anyone.”