Winter 2022
Dean's Message
Happy New Year! I realize it is February already, but with this being the first newsletter of the year and the first opportunity for me to connect with our students, graduates, faculty and staff, I felt I couldn't let the opportunity pass.
I am excited for the year ahead. The past two years have been full of ups and downs, but it has been a time of learning, reflection and growth for us as a school. It is hard to believe that we will enter year three of the global pandemic next month. Our plans to welcome more students back to campus were stalled recently, but as I write this, it appears we will soon be able to lift some restrictions and provide more in-person learning once again. The College, from day one, has been focused on the safety of our community, and I want to assure everyone that they will continue to lead us forward with safety as the guiding principle.
This edition of Storyteller, like all of the others before it, brings a big smile to my face. We have been doing this for long enough that I shouldn't be surprised by the accomplishments of our graduates and students, but each issue highlights so many new stories that I can't help but be amazed.
We have many outstanding graduates. This issue has incredible graduate stories that continue our terrific "Where Are They Now" series. It is exciting to read about Chaeyeon Lee's success in the Animation industry working at Pixar and Emmy-nominated Children's Media graduate Brandon Lane's success as a producer. Public Relations graduate Justine Jones is working for the Toronto Raptors and Jaclyn Desforges, whose latest poetry collection landed on CBC Book's Best Canadian Poetry of 2021 list.
It is not just our graduates that impress though. We also feature some excellent student and faculty news, including Jennifer McIlroy winning a prestigious college award, a Music student starring in a new TV series, a graphic design student winning an RGD award and Broadcasting program coordinator Karen Shopsowitz's documentary about Elwy Yost premiering on TVO.
I hope you all enjoy this edition and find some inspiration in these articles as I did. I am, as always, proud to be a part of the School of Communications, Media, Arts and Design community.
Nate Horowitz
Dean, School of Communications, Media, Arts and Design, Centennial College
Join us virtually for Black History Month 2022 celebrations throughout the month of February!
Centennial College is proud to celebrate Black History Month. With a variety of events lined up for the month, we encourage you to join us as we celebrate, learn, and reflect through the variety of interactive sessions, panels, conversations, and experiences that honour this year's theme - The Time is now: Reflecting on and Revitalizing Black Power.
Music Performance Student Stars in New Sci-Fi TV Series: "Astrid & Lilly Save the World"
Samantha Aucoin, a student in the Music Industry Arts and Performance program, co-stars in the new science fiction TV series, Astrid & Lilly Save the World, that premiered on January 26th.
The first episode aired in Canada on CTV’s Sci-Fi channel and is also streaming on NBC’s Peacock service and Crave.
Broadcasting Student's Sketch, "No, You" Wins Best Comedy at the Western Canadian International Film Festival
Ricky Babcock, a current student in the Broadcasting – Film, Television, Digital Media and Radio program, wrote, directed, and edited a comedy sketch titled No, You that recently won Best Comedy at the Western Canadian International Film Festival.
“Comedy is especially hard because you are always your hardest critic, so to have a festival reinforce the idea that this is what I’m supposed to be doing means everything to me.”
Graphic Design Student Wins "Hey RGD" Award
Congratulations to Kenneth Reaume for winning the Presentation Prize for the Association of Registered Graphic Designers (RGD) #heyRGD "Line" challenge. Kenneth is a student in the Graphic Design program.
You can see some of Kenneth's work on his Instagram page.
Image Credits: @rdgcanada / Instagram
Film and Television – Business student Alicia Ramdeo selected for this year's Reelworld Producer Program
We are thrilled to announce that Alicia Ramdeo, a student in our Film and Television – Business program, has been selected for this year's Reelworld Producer Program - a year-long curriculum that provides mentoring and learning opportunities to help candidates build a career in the television industry. With the guidance of a mentor, Alicia will get the chance to carry out a project of her choosing, and learn valuable skills along the way.
Advertising Students Win Silver at National Advertising Challenge
The National Advertising Challenge is a competition where students enrolled in an advertising, design or marketing course at any Canadian college or university can submit a campaign idea based on a creative brief created by some of the top brands. This year's brief was provided by the popular retailer RW&CO.
We are proud to announce that students in our Advertising - Creative & Digital program, Mohammed Omer and Anurag Arya, took home silver for their campaign idea and designs!
Post-grad Diaries : Choosing a Post-grad in a Pandemic
Professional Writing - Communications student, Cassandra Mair, takes you through her journey of what led to her enrolling at Centennial, and why choosing a post-grad program was the right fit for her career goals.
"Thankful" Music Video Filmed by Broadcasting Graduates
A group of graduates from our Broadcasting – Radio, Television, Film & Digital Media program (Kenesha, Juliana, Sam, Ferd, Julie, and Hakan) make up the production team for a new music video titled Thankful by The Canadian Remembrance Torch.
The music video is a chance to express gratitude to our military for the gift of peace and freedom, and the team is looking for submissions from Canadian veterans and young Canadians to complete it.
Samantha Chung Sang, who will be editing the video, shares, "I'm excited to see the different submissions we receive for the Thankful music video. They're going to add so much colour and depth to our expression of gratitude."
Save the Date - Arts Ahead is Back!
The Arts Management program is pleased to present this year's Arts Ahead Symposium on February 16 and 17!
This year's theme is "REAWAKENINGS: Art as a Catalyst" and is the program's second fully digital symposium.
The College in Close Up: Graduate Pandemic Documentary
A group of Broadcasting - Film, Television, Digital Media and Radio graduates put together a documentary about how Centennial College responded to and managed, the COVID-19 pandemic.
The idea of the documentary came from Nate Horowitz, Dean of the School of Communications, Media, Arts and Design. With the help of Broadcasting Professor, Karen Shopsowitz, the idea came to fruition. Filmed both on Zoom and on campus, the documentary spotlights some of Centennial's individual programs and how the pandemic has impacted current students.
Broadcasting Professor, Karen Shopsowitz, Directs a TVO Original Documentary "Magic Shadows, Elwy Yost: A Life in Movies"
On November 27, 2021, TVO released Magic Shadows, Elwy Yost: A Life in Movies – a documentary that spotlights beloved Canadian television host, Elwy Yost.
As the host of TVO’s hit weekly series, Saturday Night at the Movies, for over two decades, Elwy presented a range of movies across all genres and conducted interviews with a number of individuals who helped create the films that were presented.
Hear from Broadcasting Professor and director, Karen Shopsowitz, about Elwy's monumental impact and her experience directing the documentary.
“Elwy was unique. He was special. He was so important in terms of the influence he had on so many filmmakers, actors, directors, writers, and people who developed their love of movies because of the films he showed every Saturday night."
Watch the full documentary below
Diane Fagel Support Staff Excellence Award Presented to Jennifer McIlroy
Sending a big congratulations to Jennifer McIlroy, the 2021 recipient of the Diane Fagel Support Staff Excellence Award. This award is presented to a support staff member in recognition of their support to teaching and learning excellence at the College.
Jennifer is the Storyworks Coordinator at the School of Communications, Media, Arts and Design, and leads several other initiatives on campus.
Where Are They Now? Storyteller Edition
Catching up with our grads for our Where Are They Now? series created an outstanding digital space to discuss different industries and what roles within each industry might look like on a day to day basis. The series also unlocked the opportunity for our grads to give advice to those interested in following similar career paths as them. This has been an invaluable addition that we are thrilled current and prospective students can turn to.
While the series is set to start back up soon, we want to share a bunch of amazing grad stories with you in the meantime. In each profile you will find out more about each grad, what led them to their program here at the Story Arts Centre, and their advice for those in their field.
Be sure to follow our Instagram @storyartscentre to follow along with our series!
Tannaz Keshavarz
Emerging Film Director
Tannaz is a 2017 graduate of the Advanced Television and Film program, and became a finalist in the Regent Park Film Festival for her film: 2035.
Not only did Tannaz get to take part in the festival, but all finalists had the opportunity to pitch an original web series for a chance to win a development deal with CBC Gem.
"One piece of advice I would give to people who are just starting out or coming out of college is to keep that drive... keep that passion alive because at the end of the day, you're in this for a reason."
Brandon Lane
Emmy Nominated Producer
Brandon is a 2010 graduate of the Children's Media program, has taken meaningful strides in this industry as a Development Producer for a a global children’s entertainment company, and as the Showrunner, Writer, and Lead Director on the Daytime-Emmy nominated pre-school series, Miss Persona.
"The Children's Media program prepares individuals with a very solid bird's eye view of the industry as a whole, and each class tackles a different section of the industry that you will encounter in your roles as you enter the industry. Grads leave with an understanding of the different aspects of the industry and how all those different pieces fit together as a whole."
Justine Jones
Toronto Raptors
Justine is a 2021 graduate of the Sports Journalism program and has recently announced that she has joined the Toronto Raptors Basketball Communications and Public Relations staff this season as a Media Relations Coordinator.
"Just keep learning. Every experience is important and you can take something from everything. Whether it's a class, an internship, or you're volunteering at a one day event, every experience is important and just keep persevering because eventually you'll be able to get where you want to go."
Chaeyeon Lee
Pixar Studios
Chaeyeon is a 2015 graduate of the Animation – 3D program, and has worked with the likes of Sony Pictures Imageworks and Pixar.
What does Chaeyeon enjoy most about her industry? “It never gets boring. There are always new projects, and awesome opportunities are almost everywhere in the world. It’s inspiring to meet great artists, fulfilling to see my name on the ending credits, and most of all, it’s fun!”
Marel Alemany
"Tope Tope" Creator
Marel is a 2021 graduate of the Children's Media program, and is the creator of Tope Tope - an educational show on YouTube for children 3 to 7 years old.
"Creating for kids requires a great deal of passion for the industry. After the program, you need to stay immersed in it. Writing, making connections, and getting a job that allows you to continue developing a unique language: the language of children.”
STEPHANIE LA BRIE
Senior Communications Advisor
Stephanie graduated from the Public Relations program in 2014 and has fully immersed herself in the industry ever since.
“The hands-on, real-world experiences within the program are exceptional. I gained more usable work skills in the eight months of programming (and internship) at Centennial College than I did in any other education program,” she shares.
JACLYN DESFORGES
Author of "Danger Flower" & "Why Are You So Quiet?"
Jaclyn is a 2011 graduate of the Journalism program, and has made great strides in her career as a published author.
It was recently announced that Jaclyn's latest poetry collection, Danger Flower, made CBC's Best Canadian Poetry of 2021 list!
"The thing about creative writing is that there's so much to learn... so don't worry if you feel like you're not necessarily taking a direct path to whatever it is you really want to write. I've learned so much from writing news articles... and for different magazines, and I think the good thing about creative writing is there's always more to learn, there's always more to to play with, and you can always try out a different genre. I would say just take advantage of every opportunity."
NELSON PÉREZ ESIS
Founder of Hispanic Sports Media
Nelson is a 2015 graduate of the Sports Journalism program, and founded Hispanic Sports Media after he saw an opportunity to have the only Hispanic media outlet dedicated to sports in Canada.
"Don't wait until somebody knocks on your door - try to find opportunities and create them. There's no excuse now, especially with the amount of resources and tools we have at our disposal online."
MITCHELL DANIELS
Bata Shoe Museum
Mitchell is a 2021 graduate of the Museum and Cultural Management program and has already started to successfully make his mark within the industry through his experience at the Bata Shoe Museum and Heritage Toronto.
“My time in the Museum and Cultural Management program allowed me to further build on the skills that I had learned in the workplace and develop several additional skills which have helped me greatly in my work in the sector.”
Mitchell's story of his introduction to the workforce within this industry has been featured on TVO's Employable Me, as well as on a CBC Toronto segment.
Credits:
Created with an image by NickyPe - "branches snow winter"