Donia Kash is an actor, performer, storyteller, and filmmaker whose growing list of credits includes Motherland: Fort Salem, So Help Me Todd, The 100, Snowpiercer, A Million Little Things, Hearts in the Game, and a couple of impressive “firsts”: The Secrets of Bella Vista, which represented the very first time that a Hallmark Movie featured an openly non-binary actor, and The Holiday Sitter, which marked the very first time Hallmark Channel put a gay couple at the centre of one of their films. In this contemplative episode of the YVR Screen Scene Podcast, Donia talks about the joys and challenges of being a “first,” walking the red carpet at the 2023 GLAAD Media Awards (and basking in the presence of Idina Menzel), their short film Ketchup With Me, navigating the film industry as a Persian actor, and why they’ve always wanted to be a Mighty Morphin Power Ranger. Episode sponsor: UBCP/ACTRA