A chat with Yona Strauss before she breaks even more ground as a feature film producer from Toronto [Video]

How does someone end up becoming an experienced producer of movies by age 27? 

Yona Strauss knows, because her work has drawn accolades at multiple festivals, as part of a rapid professional rise from shorts to features in five years.

What her work has in common so far is a focus on younger women like herself. The inspiration of Anne Hathaway in The Princess Diaries, which Strauss first saw at age 9, led her to start thinking about film as a medium in which to address themes like female identity politics and mental health. 

After graduating high school from the Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto (CHAT), her passion was further nurtured by a media production degree from Toronto Metropolitan University (the school formerly known as Ryerson).

And now her credits including Quickening—a coming-of-age story about a young Pakistani immigrant to Canada. Infinity Pool, which she associate-produced for second-generation thriller director Brandon Cronenberg, will further put her …