Heather Blom

Producer, Rethink

Bachelor of Arts (Hons.), Contemporary Studies and Russian, 2010

I couldn't have picked a better education to be prepared for this type of climate.

Heather Blom’s contemporary studies at King’s revealed a natural talent for bridging disciplines and communities.

“Language and art, scientific language and artistic language – in the end, it boils down to communication and how different methods of communication are used to benefit the community. The fact that I had an interdisciplinary education made me so much more prepared.”

Blom’s preparations have brought her to exciting places. From February 2011 to September 2012 she produced the successful “Tutu Project” in celebration of the National Ballet of Canada’s 60th anniversary. This interdisciplinary, interactive art project, engaged groups as diverse as Canada Day visitors in Ottawa, established designers from World Mastercard Fashion Week, revellers at Toronto Pride and children from Toronto’s Regent Park in the creation of 60 original tutus.

In 2012, Heather began working for international creative services firm, Sid Lee. As a broadcast production coordinator, she worked with teams based in Montreal and Toronto in the creation of radio, TV and digital content for campaigns such as Sport Chek’s “What It Takes” for the 2014 Olympics and the Toronto Raptor’s “We The North”. Heather currently works with Rethink where she produces national television, radio, digital and experiential content.

Blom says the skills she learned studying liberal arts help navigate her work’s challenging fluidity.

“Production has reached an interesting frontier”, she says. “Content must be transferable to multiple platforms and teams are spread across the globe. The blurring of boundaries requires a constant interdisciplinary mindset, and the remote management of staff demands extensive management via e-mail. It’s necessary to flex your rhetoric and Wittgensteinian writing skills on a daily basis!”

The job market has been grim since Heather’s graduation, but for Blom the personal development that comes with a liberal arts education has paid off.

“Both FYP and CSP gave me the tools to survive in this time of flux by encouraging me to question or manipulate concepts in order to see which new ideas are possible: this is creative production in essence! I couldn’t have picked a better education to be prepared for this type of climate.”

 

* With lines from Alison Lang (BJ ’07).

Posted June 2018