From Lawyer to Film & TV Producer | Bruno S. Lyra’s Cool Career

From corporate lawyer to successful film and television producer, screenwriter, teacher and consultant – Bruno S. Lyra is the latest alumnus to share their professional journey for Toronto Film School’s latest installment of My Cool Career.

A Class of 2018 Film Production graduate, the Rio de Janeiro, Brazil native took an “unconventional path” to fulfil his filmmaking dreams.

“I was first a corporate lawyer for just over a decade before making my switch to film. Unlike what most people think, I didn’t hate my legal career. Quite the opposite, I got to work interesting cases, I got to work with great people, and I travelled the world,” explained Lyra, who was one of the youngest senior partners in the history of his 60+ year firm.

“The only thing was, I wanted to know what it was like to live the life of a filmmaker, to be a filmmaker. So, I pivoted ever so slightly.”

At the tender age of 32, Lyra walked out of the courtroom and straight into the classroom at Toronto Film School, where he graduated first in his class of 200 + students and was chosen as campus valedictorian.

“The experience at TFS was phenomenal,” he said. “In addition to making dear friends, I got to learn a little bit about virtually every aspect of filmmaking, which allowed me to hone in on exactly what I wanted to do professionally.”

Since graduating, Lyra has served as producer/executive producer on several projects, including the multiple award-winning feature film The Sounding, the Canadian indie The Intersection, and First Person, a web series for the Globe & Mail.

“I produce feature films – one of which was sold to HBO in over 20 territories – as well as TV shows, web series…and just a variety of different productions that I’m involved with,” he said.

In addition to his producing efforts, Lyra is also a consultant and a professor at TFS, where he teaches Contracts & Copyright and sometimes Film Finance.

“I also write. I absolutely love writing. It’s the activity I’m most focused on right now and it’s also the one I’m most excited about,” he said.

“In the past 12 months or so, I’ve sold two feature film scripts to well-established Canadian production companies, I’ve been under a development deal with a major production company for a TV show I created, and I’m currently working on a number of different projects on that front.”