Patrick O'Hearn, who started at Cinéfest as an intern, was given the top job as executive director last December.
His success comes after 17 years as managing director of Sudbury's annual international film festival.
“In his many years as managing director, Patrick has brought a determined work ethic, eye for innovation, and a knack for team building," said Marett McCulloch, chair of Cinéfest at the time of the announcement.
At the same time, O'Hearn was named associate executive director of Cultural Industries Ontario North (CION).
"CION is an organization that works to promote and expand the film and music industries in Northern Ontario," says O'Hearn. "It used to be called Music and Film in Motion."
CION helps film producers find local actors and crews. Since 2001, there has been more than 400 film and television productions shot in Northern Ontario.
Music and film production is estimated to generate $155 million in economic benefits and create more than 5,000 jobs in the region annually.
O'Hearn, 44, is a homegrown talent and a graduate of the performing arts program at Sudbury Secondary School.
"I loved Sudbury Secondary,” he said. “When I was there, there was a great roster of teachers. It was a school where students wanted to excel in the arts. It was a very inspirational arts environment.”
At Sudbury Secondary, he had a supporting role as the nerdy neighbour's son, Bernard, in the stage production of "Death of a Salesman," and as the comic server, Peter, in "Romeo and Juliet."
O'Hearn hoped to have a career in theatre. Not a starring role but perhaps a supporting one.
In Toronto, he did a short stint as a royalty clerk with Samuel French Ltd., a company that publishes plays, represents authors and licenses scripts for production.
"The office was in the basement of the former Second City Comedy building (Lombard Street) that had originally been a fire station. My office was in the morgue," says O'Hearn. "There were no windows.”
So much for a career on the Canadian great white way. He took Highway 69 north back to Sudbury to finish his studies at Laurentian University.
He landed an internship at Cinéfest and then took on various supporting roles. When his boss, Tammy Frick, left after 27 years with the festival to become the chief executive officer of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, O'Hearn became the lead player.
He has what sounds like a dream job; watching movies all day then mingling with stars, directors, producers and artsy types at gala parties.
It is not all glamour.
There's finding sponsors, writing government grant proposals, and attending lots of meetings.
He prefers staying in the background except at festival time when he often works up to 16 hours a day to make sure the audience as well as the industry guests have a good time.
There is no long profile on his LinkedIn page and the walls of his downtown office are not covered with photographs taken with the celebrities he has met. He remains very modest about his success.
The 35th annual film festival opens Sept. 16 and runs to Sept. 24. The film schedule is expected to be announced shortly.
Unlike the previous three festivals, there will be no virtual film showings this year. Before 2020, as many as 35,000 seats were filled at SilverCity Cinema over the course of the festival.
Every night of the festival there is a gala film scheduled followed by a party with food and entertainment.
"It is important to get a lot of rest (during the festival), so you are always ready to smile and deal with any challenges," he says.
One of those challenges, post pandemic, is recruiting volunteers. About 150 friends of the festival are needed to keep things running smoothly.
"Success is being passionate about what you do … loving what you do," says O'Hearn.
"If you had asked me in my teenage years, I would not have pictured doing this job. Sometimes life takes a turn and you end up somewhere you did not expect."
When O'Hearn was in high school, Cinéfest was in its infancy. The thought of Sudbury having a thriving film and television industry was a silly notion.
"I love my job from a programming position because it is a snapshot of time...the art form is always changing,” he said.
Films reflect what is going on in the world — art imitates life — whether it is war in Ukraine, the conflict in Syria or the push for diversity to reflect audiences, he says.
In his new position, O' Hearn estimates he sees several hundred films a year, and always watches them to the credits roll.
In his spare time, he watches baseball, basketball and hockey on television.
"I love sports," he says.
Vicki Gilhula is a freelancer writer. Success is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.
