Emilija Davidovic Brings TFS Grads to the Olympic Stage with Kleenex Commercial
When Emilija Davidovic signed on as line producer for a series of social Kleenex commercials timed to the Olympic Games this winter, she didn’t need a casting directory. Afterall, the shoot was in Toronto, the brief called for young, emerging talent, and she just so happens to run the Film Production program at Toronto Film School.
The project had TFS talent written all over it from the start.
“From what I understand, the entire cast for this Kleenex commercial was TFS students and grads,” said Davidovic, who’s been producing social commercials for Viral Nation for the last year – work that has taken her across Canada and the United States for clients including Uber, Amazon, and New York Fashion Week.
“It was just such a great win-win situation. I was very excited to create a little collab between Viral Nation and TFS, in some indirect way.”
For the Kleenex campaign, she reached out directly to TFS Acting for Film, TV & the Theatre graduates, and also coordinated with that program’s director, Hart Massey, as well as Madison Martin, TFS’s Employer Engagement & Partnership Specialist, to fill out the rest of the roster.
The result was a set stacked with TFS talent. The full cast – Alejandro C. Campomanes, Frank Anthony McMahan, Brooklyn Evans, Shereen Mala, and Subo Ranatunga – were all TFS students or graduates. And behind the scenes, production designer Natali Trivuncic, gaffer Romanesh Reynoso, and key production assistant Nick Gregory were also TFS alumni.
Some of the connections ran deeper than a casting call for Davidovic, who graduated from the Film Production program she now runs in 2015.
“Subo was my classmate when we were both at TFS, and then he did an amazing panel last year for TFS at the FanExpo, and now this,” she said. “And I also knew Shereen from my time at TFS. We worked on a very messy, low-budget feature together, and she later decided to come to TFS and study acting, so it was amazing to reconnect.”
For those who showed up on set, the experience was equally meaningful.
“It was a nice surprise arriving to set and discovering that many of us were TFS graduates,” said Campomanes, a Class of 2019 Film Production grad. “It made me happy seeing the fruits of dedicated people and their passion for storytelling now working together at a professional level.”
Mala, who graduated from the Acting for Film, TV & the Theatre program in 2023, likewise reported having an “incredible time” shooting the commercial amongst so many of her fellow TFS alums.
“From start to finish, the energy on set was amazing and the team was beyond kind and welcoming. I met such talented people who I’m so grateful to now call friends,” she said.
“Seeing all of us featured in social media commercials for the Olympic Games was honestly shocking in the best way. Being part of something so big and representing a brand like Kleenex felt surreal and so, so cool. I’m incredibly thankful for the entire experience.”
Watch the commercials at the links below:
