Nick Tablac, a 2024 graduate of Humber Polytechnic’s Film and Media Production bachelor’s program, said he felt empowered through his mentorship with Canada’s Walk of Fame’s Future Storytellers program as a Queer BIPOC filmmaker.
He said this program stood out to him when applying for mentorships because it supports filmmakers in underrepresented communities.
Canada Walk of Fame selected three Humber alumni to participate in its Future Storytellers program in partnership with film brands NBCUniversal, Seeing Red and Cineplex. The filmmakers had the opportunity to direct a short film on a Canada’s Walk of Fame inductee or honouree. The vignettes debuted Jan. 31 on canadaswalkoffame.com and can be seen in Cineplex theatres nationwide during pre-show entertainment.
Yagnam Dhroov, immigrated from India to Canada in 2022. He said moving to Canada helped him thrive as a filmmaker by giving him more opportunities.
“The media industry here is far more developed. I think the cultural values that it holds are far more supportive of art and intellectual creations. I think the Indian media industry, from my experience and even from what a lot of people would say, is a more orthodox conventional industry. It's still an industry that that does not have a lot of diverse voices,” he said.
He graduated from Humber’s Television Writing and Producing program and Film and Multi-Platform Storytelling. Dhroov said he received an email from his professor regarding the Future Storytellers program. “That was a time when all of us were looking for like internships and everything and we weren't getting a lot of like exciting internship opportunities. This one was almost too good to be true because you get to be a director, you get to meet these famous people, interview them and everything,” said Dhroov. “And I was like 'Okay, this is too good to be true, but I'm just gonna try my luck' and pleasantly shocking, but shocking that it worked out for me.”
Dhroov’s film shares the life experiences of Co-creator of Degrassi and 2023 Inductee Linda Schuyler. While preparing to film his vignette he read her memoir and watched every season of Degrassi.
“Slowly, I got a hang of the kind of impact she has had over Canadian teenagers and Canadian culture and TV. At the same time her memoir really allowed me to understand her own personal journey and her connection with Degrassi,” he said. “Somebody who was a teacher once and her own experience as an immigrant child. She has a very deep emotional connection to that experience off being an outsider and a teenager trying to find their identity.”
Anne Hoang began her filmmaking journey in 2019 when her family moved to Canada from Vietnam. She graduated from Humber’s Film and Media Production bachelor's program in 2023.
“I never directed before. So there were many things that I was new to how to be a good leader, work with project management, production manager, cinematographer and all the crew members. Because I used to being a crew member. Thanks to the mentorship during this program, I learned a lot of new leadership skills,” she said.
Hoang’s film focuses on the work of Canada’s Walk of Fame community hero Autumn Peltier, who has been an Indigenous rights and water activist since she was eight years old.
“In a way, you know, it's like I challenged myself, pushed myself to grow. And after the experience, I feel more confident about my capability,” she said. “'I’m not used to, like being seen by a lot of people. I’m proud of myself too, for stepping out of my comfort zone.”
Tablac’s creative journey started when he moved to Canada from the Phillippines with his family. Seeing film sets in front of his home and throughout Toronto sparked his love for film.
“So actually when I first got the opportunity, I wasn't really looking into directing because my ideas always got pushed to the side. It never made it to the past production. So I had a little bit of like self-esteem issues,” he said. “But after this opportunity came, it really motivated me to continue pursuing the director's chair or if not, then the writer's chair because I really love writing stories.”
Tablac’s film focuses on the experiences of Canadian figure skater and Walk of Fame Inductee, Kurt Browning. The Vignette explores the highs of his career, but also the scrutiny he faced being a young male figure skater.
“I feel like that's every filmmaker's dream, in general, just to see their film on screen. And even though it's only for like a split second, I'm speechless by it,” he said. ”I love and truly support this program and what they do for people like me.”
