Owner of Vandelso Productions, Inc., Vesta Giles is a writer, director, and producer in Kamloops BC.
After writing a MOW for Lifetime, producing numerous commercial projects and writing / directing / producing two Storyhive productions, Vesta was a recipient of a Banff Storyhive Fellowship (2019) and finished writing / directing / producing a documentary on the Dirt Chix – a women’s mountain biking group from Kamloops for Telus Optik. The Dirt Chix: Making Time is now available on Youtube and Telus Optik on Demand. She returned to Banff in 2022 as part of the Banff Spark cohort for Women in Media.
The Test, a documentary about the FireSmart program and the 2021 Tremont Creek wildfire that threatened the town of Logan Lake premiered to a nearly sold out crowd at the Paramount Theatre in Kamloops in April of 2024. It is now available on Youtube and has been viewed in person by nearly 2,000 people at community FireSmart screenings.
Pitches in development
Fire on the Land - Documentary series (development)
Picture a bomb. A fuse, burning slowly, edges closer to detonation. But inside the bomb, instead of dynamite or other explosive materials … there are trees, and houses, and communities like Kamloops, Whistler, Vancouver, and Banff. The world is on fire. Some of that fire is good, but most of it is catastrophic. Fire on the Land follows the changemakers – researchers, innovators, and regular people who are tackling the future of wildfire. A town isn’t saved in the weeks and days when a fire is travelling toward it. It’s saved in years of preparation and planning that came before the fire ever ignited.
Seeds (working title) - web series (development / preproduction)
A healthy forest doesn’t just magically appear. It requires careful planning. It needs nurturing soil, microorganisms, a network of supportive companions, and it needs seeds. But these seeds are in short supply. Angie Kane, Tiffany Traverse, and Sheri Walsh are working to solve the seed problem they face in BC’s interior before it’s too late, but the challenge is enormous.
The Dying Art of Dragon Wrangling - short doc (development)
The Dying Art of Dragon Wrangling is a documentary that tells the story of Nicole Link-Loehr and the woolen mill that nearly killed her. Beneath that, it’s a story of determination, faith, and believing in dreams. Told as an industrial fairy tale with hints of animation, this is a timeless story that will resonate with anyone who ever had a dream that was worth risking everything for.
The Forest of the Future - documentary (development)
The Future of the Forest is a documentary about the reshaping our forests by looking to the past. There are many elements to the wildfire problem, but one of the biggest is how forests have been mismanaged since the time of colonization.
The Confidence of Landon Krentz - Documentary (development)
The AIDS crisis took a catastrophic toll on the world. Landon Krentz, one of Canada’s premiere Deaf performers, is gutted by what could have been. AIDS hit the Deaf community harder and faster than other communities due to an appalling lack of accessible information. Now, young Deaf queer people like Landon are facing a future that is missing the counsel of an important generation. Angry and armed with passion and talent, Landon is using theatre to tell a story that nobody has wanted to hear.