Rob Heary Wins TFS’s Creative Success Award, Honoring the Legacy of Kurt Huhn
Rob Heary has been announced as the latest winner of Toronto Film School’s Creative Success Award.
Dedicated to the memory of 2019 Video Game Design & Development program grad Kurt Huhn, the quarterly $2,500 bursary is awarded not on academic merit, but rather to first-term gaming students who demonstrate those attributes most admired in Kurt – namely, his passion, potential and creativity.
“I’m so honored to share this award in memory of Kurt Huhn, who sounded like he was an ambitious, talented, hardworking warrior,” said the Nobleton, Ontario-based Video Game Design & Animation student, who goes by Rob Gordon professionally.
“I only hope to walk the same humble path as a student and leave a relatable impression like he did before I graduate.”
Speaking on behalf of his family, Kurt’s father Kevin Huhn said he is “extremely honored” to be able to help Heary follow in his son’s footsteps through the Creative Success Award at TFS.
“The fact that a student who never met Kurt can now benefit from his journey is one of the ways in which we get to see his legacy live on,” said Huhn, himself a Film Production grad who now serves as TFS’s Senior Manager of Student Engagement, Events & Partnership.
“I truly hope it makes a difference in the life of each winner, as that was a character trait of Kurt while he was at TFS – always helping others be their best and giving them the chance to shine.”
The major requirement for the Creative Success Award application is a creative game proposal. Heary’s pitch was for a PS5-exclusive, action-survival adventure game called Jackson Cook’s Chapters of Pain.
The game follows the titular character’s journey after being released from prison following a fight that ended abruptly as a homicide. Upon returning to his hometown only to find that his demons had caught up to him, young Jackson sets off to find peace in a new city – only to start a new chapter of pain.
Intended for mature, 17+ audiences due to its dark undertones, Heary said Chapters of Pain isn’t for the faint of heart, but would appeal to fans of games such as God of War, The Last of Us, Uncharted, and Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, among others.
One of the game’s innovative features is that players can experience the action from both a third- and first-person perspective – with interactivity being key in both cases.
“Is it karma or is it coincidence? These decisions lie in the lands of the controller,” reads Heary’s description of the game’s official synopsis and unique selling points.
“Embark on a journey of emotional decision making that has the potential of completely changing Jackson’s outcome. Burn fast or exhale slow depending on how you smoke it…This single player adventure solo not only puts you in the director’s chair, but also makes you feel like you can smell the gunpowder and taste the blood being the protagonist we weren’t prepared to be.”
As a member of the award’s selection committee, Jean-Paul Amore, director of TFS’s Video Game Design & Development program, commended Heary on the ‘great job’ he did on his game pitch.
“Chapters of Pain stands out for its emotional depth, and decision-making mechanics, which blends third-person exploration with first-person combat for immersive survival moments,” said Amore, who shared selection committee duties with Rob Elsworthy, director of the Video Game Design & Animation program.
“It is a well thought out concept that could be a best seller!”
Born in Toronto, Heary recently relocated to Nobleton, Ontario to take care of his elderly, lung cancer-survivor father, who was just diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia – a condition in which protein deposits develop in nerve cells in the brain, impacting thinking, memory and movement.
“Much like my game pitch, a lot of my passion and pain fuels the direction of my art. I’ve walked a rough road for a long time, and that has finally led me back to exploring the artist inside of me,” said Heary, whose diverse artistic leanings include music, writing, photography, painting, sketching, tattooing, digital design, and video editing.
“After leaving a toxic workplace that was tearing me apart for three years, Toronto Film School has opened a new chapter in my life that I was desperately looking for.”
Heary gives much of the credit for his decision to enroll in the Video Game Design & Animation program at TFS to his Admissions Advisor, Jesse McMullen, who stayed in contact with him even after he initially declined his offer of admission due to his dad’s battle with cancer.
“A year later, Jesse reached out to me asking how my father had been, and I was shocked he even remembered my name or my story. That woke something up inside of me and I was super grateful to hear from him again,” she said.
“I quit my job shortly after Jesse found me and picked me up out of the dirt, and I took a leap of faith without knowing how I was going to make things work. I had a story to tell and something inside of me knew this was going to be the right decision.”
An aspiring concept artist, Heary said it’s his dual passions for storytelling and interactive media, coupled with his “deep-rooted love” for comic superheroes, that have driven him towards a career in the video game industry.
“From a young age, I was captivated by the ability of video games to immerse players in rich, interactive worlds. Unlike other forms of media, video games offer a unique blend of narrative, art, and technology, creating experiences that are both engaging and relatable,” he said.
“As a kid, I always looked up to heroes, but as I got older, I understood the villain, too. A lot of my concepts have been driven from my hardships transformed into artistic expression – and I think a lot of us feel that way.”
While Heary said he can’t put into words what winning the Creative Success Award means to him, he is determined to make the most of this opportunity to live out his dream.
“We are so early into the journey here at TFS and I’m only getting started, but I have high hopes of where my talents will land me after I graduate,” he said.
“My last wish is that my father continues to hang in there with me as I continue forward through this journey, because it would make me happy to see him happy watching me graduate after everything we’ve been through together.”
Applications for this term’s Creative Success Award are now open! Video Game Design & Animation and Video Game Design & Development students who are in their first term are encouraged to apply today at https://mytfs.ca/my-tfs-on-campus/creative-success-award/#
