An alum of the Canadian Film Centre, Thyrone Tommy has proven himself to be an exciting and fresh voice in Canadian cinema. His short film Mariner (2016) premiered at the 2016 Toronto Film Festival and was selected for the festival’s Canada Top Ten list, which is a yearly celebration of the best works in Canadian film. The short’s strong point of view also won the Tommy the Lindalee Tracey Award which celebrates emerging filmmakers who display a values of social justice and distinct voice.
In 2021, Tommy’s debut feature film, Learn to Swim, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film was also selected for the Canada’s Top Ten List and was picked up by Ava DuVernay’s distribution company ARRAY, who released the film on Netflix’s in America. He has also taken part in a short film anthology to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the NBA and directed episodes of the web series Revenge of the Black Best Friend (2022), Murdoch Mysteries (2022), and the docuseries Black Life: Untold Stories (2023).
In 2024, he was the recipient of the “pay it forward” component of the Toronto Film Critics Association’s Company 3 TFCA Luminary Award which was bestowed posthumously to the late Charles Officer. Selected by Officer’s business partner Jake Yanowski, Tommy awarded a 50K grant in production equipment as the “pay it forward” recipient.
Films:
Liar, Cheater, Whore (2012)
Seed of a Deadbeat (2012)
Avalanche (2014)
Mariner (2016)
“Draft Day” from NBA Films for Fans (2021)
Learn to Swim (2021)