From ‘Schitt’s Creek’ to Toronto Film School: Karen Robinson and Andrew Barnsley Celebrate 2024 TFS Graduates

When Toronto Film School President Andrew Barnsley stepped up to the podium to act as master of ceremonies at TFS’s 2024 Graduation earlier this month, it marked his first return to the Meridian Hall stage since he and the team behind Schitt’s Creek accepted the Canadian Screen Award for Best Comedy Series there in 2019.

On both occasions, the award-winning executive producer shared the stage with Karen Robinson (aka ‘Ronnie’ on all six seasons of the hit CBC comedy), who was chosen to deliver this year’s keynote address to TFS’s Class of 2024 as the ceremony’s Distinguished Speaker.

“I am thrilled to be here at Meridian Hall with you today. It feels so great to be gathered here in person in this space,” Barnsley told the 400+ grads and their loved ones in attendance at the November 15 ceremony in downtown Toronto.

“On a personal note, this is a very special place for me…as I stood on the stage earlier today, I realized that the last time I stood here was when Karen and I were on this stage accepting our Canadian Screen Award.”

Barnsley, who also won a 2020 Emmy and 2021 Golden Globe for Schitt’s Creek, also took his opportunity at the podium to congratulate graduates on their special “day of celebration” – and inspire them to aspire to one day walk in his and Robinson’s award-winning footsteps.

“The programs you completed are formidable. They challenge both your creativity and competency. They are designed to help you realize your potential and reach your dreams, and today you are one step further along that path,” he said.

“Be proud of what you’ve accomplished here. Look around at your fellow graduates. These classmates are now your colleagues, and the friendships you’ve made here will be every bit as valuable as what you’ve learned.”

Distinguished Guest Speaker Karen Robinson

For Robinson, who admitted the request to speak to TFS’s graduating class initially left her “shook”, the occasion also marked her first convocation address since delivering the valedictory speech at her own high school graduation in Jamaica back in 1984.

“Before you clap too much, it was not because I was top of my class – because I definitely was not – but because the higher ups knew that I was comfortable in front of a crowd and that I could actually tell a good story,” laughed the Screen Actors Guild and NAACP Award-winning performer.

“Speaking of stories, I don’t think we’re anything without them. I don’t think we’ve ever existed as a species without stories. They permeate every aspect of our lives…and they document who we are, where we are, who we’re with, who we’re against, what came before us and what’s to come.”

As our “Next Gen Storytellers”, Robinson took her opportunity at the podium to give all the grads in attendance – be they aspiring filmmakers, actors, screenwriters, graphic designers, or video game designers – a few pieces of advice she herself has benefitted from over the course of her 30 years in the storytelling business.

“You don’t have to heed what I say,” she said, “except to floss, do your taxes, and vote. And, as a matter of fact, much of what I tell you today may not even sink in right away, but if it’s right for you, at some point it will.”

1. You Have to Do the Work

“I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that talent and good fortune aren’t all it takes. I actually work really hard. For instance, I don’t simply memorize lines, I figure out what the thought is behind each of my lines…I learn my lines with those thoughts, get the words in my body, and make them second nature.”

2. Goals are Cosmic Carrots

“We all have goals, that’s why you’re here: you want to be an actor, a writer, a graphic designer, a film producer, a video game creator. But I came across this idea courtesy of Kute Blackson and it stuck with me: that the goal is just the cosmic carrot, forcing you on the journey towards it. And it is the journey that is what’s actually most important. All that work I put into roles I didn’t get taught me about myself and how to become more myself – more resilient, more compassionate, how to process disappointment, how to forgive myself, how to budget…not to mention that the sheer repetition made me a better actor.”

3. Put Down Your Phones and Pay Attention

“Life, stories, are happening all around you – normal, everyday, banal, surprising, sobering, joyful, maddening, depressing, amusing…Pay attention to them on your journey. Don’t miss the angels and warnings and experiences that are put in your path as you go for that cosmic carrot, that goal. You will need them to keep telling your, our, the world’s stories. Those stories are how we know who we are as families, communities, societies, a global nation.”

Robinson’s last piece of advice was reserved not for the graduates, but for the families, friends and loved ones in the crowd – particularly those parents and guardians who wished their grads had chosen a different, perhaps safer, career path than the creative arts.

“Even my own very Jamaican mother said to me, ‘Yuh should go learn typing. Give yuh sum’n fi fall back pon.’ And she said it because she loved the bones off of me and she just wanted me to be okay,” Robinson recalled.

“But here’s what I think: Especially these days, nothing is guaranteed…So your loved ones may as well do what makes them happy and what allows them to walk their journeys with purpose and passion. I promise you that if they’re supposed to be doing something else, that will become clear in time. This is meant to lead to that. This is just another part of their journey.”

TFS Online Student Graduation Speaker Olivia-Autumn Rennie

For Class of 2024 TFSO alumnus Olivia-Autumn Rennie, life’s journey thus far has been an academically intense one.

Not only is the newly minted Writing for Film & Television Associate grad currently studying towards her Video Production diploma at TFSO and her Bachelor of Creative Arts degree at TFS affiliate Yorkville University, but she’s also a fourth year MD-PhD student at the University of Toronto.

Rennie kicked off her address to her fellow graduates with a quote from Pablo Picasso: “Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”

“My friends, today what I want you to get out of this speech is simple, but powerful. And that is the knowledge that creativity can and will save the world, and each and every one of you are part of this revolution,” she said.

As a filmmaker and Emergency physician in training, Rennie said her two years at TFS equipped her with the tools, memories and connections needed to wield that creativity within herself, and urged her fellow graduates to do the same.

“Creativity – in all its forms – enables us to think outside the box, to learn the rules, and then break them, and very importantly, to bring human beings together through genuine connection and shared understanding,” she said.

Echoing Robinson’s sentiments, Rennie also reiterated that, regardless of what path her classmates go on to pursue – be it formal work as filmmakers, video game and graphic designers, actors, animators and writers, or a completely different career – she and her fellow graduates now have all it takes to become rule-breaking creatives.

“We can do this through any type of career, at any point in life, in any place, and through actions big and small…I encourage you to embrace all the skills you’ve picked up over your program and see them as applicable in every single corner of your life,” she said.

“I also encourage you not to forget the responsibility we all have to use our creativity – wherever it might take us – to continue bringing light into this difficult, but beautiful world that we live in.”

TFS On-Campus Student Graduation Speaker Natasha Bartholomew

Acting for Film, TV & the Theatre grad Natasha Bartholomew kicked off her address to TFS’s Class of 2024 by urging her classmates to take a look around the room at all who made the unconventional and courageous choice to follow their passions into the creative industries.

“We are not only sitting among faculty who chose to follow their dreams, but you are also sitting beside the next generation of artists,” said the 28-year-old actor, who’s now represented by Star Talent Inc.

“You are sitting next to future creators – be they directors, writers, actors, producers, animators, gaffers, camera operators, or graphic and game designers. We are in a room with a group of people that can make a difference in the world of storytelling. And what a privilege it is to be able to say that’s what you aspire to do.”

For Bartholomew, who worked as a community support worker and addictions treatment professional for four years before returning to her childhood acting vocation in 2023, it was seeing Dirty Dancing on Broadway in 2009 that first inspired that leap of faith to pursue acting as a career.

Fifteen years later, she said, she experienced a full circle moment when one of the show’s cast members directed her in her theatre debut.

“We all embarked on our educational journeys at Toronto Film School because we were inspired by something or someone to join forces with like-minded people to create life-changing art,” she told her fellow grads.

“Today officially marks the beginning of our journey toward making the next generation feel the way we did growing up…

“So, to all my fellow creators: keep being your own version of ‘too much.’ Write that script, create that short film, animate that cartoon. I am so lucky to have found my people, and I think we can all look forward to staying in touch and creating together for many years to come.”

Awards Presentations:

President’s Award for Teaching Excellence Recipient Bruno Lyra

TFS’s newly launched President’s Award for Teaching Excellence was presented to Film Production instructor Bruno Lyra, who, in addition to teaching Copyright/Contracts in Film and Film Financing, was also just named Director of TFS Student Strategy.

A former corporate tax lawyer who decided to pursue his passion for filmmaking in 2017, Lyra took his opportunity at the podium to thank all the graduates in attendance for “being so inspiring.”

“I know viscerally how daunting a creative career can be, and I got a front row seat to how much passion, how much grit, how much moral fibre each and every one of you put into your dreams,” he said in his acceptance speech.

“I want to say that it truly is the honour of a lifetime to play even the smallest part in your stories.”

TFS Program Awards

– Best Actor Award, sponsored by Jolt 390 Photography – Grant Moore

– Best Actress Award, sponsored by Jolt 390 Photography – Emma Logan

– Film Production Creative Trailblazer Award, sponsored by Canada Film Equipment – Mauricio Tamez Rodriguez

– Video Production Online Award for Technical Excellence, sponsored by Vistek – Sebastian Ramirez Cruz

– Award for Achievement in Writing – Olivia-Autumn Rennie & Tulsa Williams

– Designing for Fashion Most Creative Collection Award – Yasmany Hechavarria Almeida

– Graphic Design Creativity in Design Award, sponsored by Adobe – Stephanie Amaya & Esther Kestle

– Video Game Design & Animation Creative Achievement Award, sponsored by Ubisoft – Austin Check

– Best Video Game Developer, sponsored by Ubisoft – Matyas Dudas

– Scott McSkimming Award, sponsored by the McSkimming Family – Xanthe Van der Gulik

TFS President’s Awards (Given to grads with the highest CGPA in each program):

Toronto Film School Online: 

– Designing for Fashion – Karyn Suen Fa

– Graphic Design & Interactive Media – Alexandra Buffone

– Interior Decorating Associate – Sana Rasheed

– Video Game Design & Animation Associate – Malia R. Berthaudin

– Video Production – Sebastian Ramirez Cruz

– Visual Effects for Film & TV – Shannon M. Erickson

– Writing for Film & Television Associate – Olivia-Autumn Rennie

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 Toronto Film School On-Campus: 

– Acting for Film, TV & the Theatre – Cobourn Sands

– Film Production – Emery D. Woods

– Graphic Design & Interactive Media – Heather D. Fiolleau

– Video Game Design & Animation – Brody E. Armstrong

– Video Game Design & Development – Matyas Dudas & Juan Esteban Zuluaga Castano

– Writing for Film & Television – Daniel R. Wilson

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