For filmmaker and producer Justin Zoras, a career in film and television production started with a camera, a few friends, and a love of movies. Today, Justin has more than 15 years of experience in the screen industry. He has worked on major productions, including the long-running unscripted series The Curse of Oak Island. He is also the founder and creative director of Sink Pictures, and is currently navigating the film festival circuit with his latest documentary, The Bookstore That Never Sleeps.
Before that, Justin was a student in Centennial College’s Broadcasting and Film program, where he gained hands-on film production experience, industry exposure, and key connections that helped launch his career.
Starting a Career in Film and Television
Justin’s interest in filmmaking started early.
"I started at a very young age, watching a lot of movies and TV as a kid," he says. "When we were younger, we got our hands on a camera, and we would just run around in our friends' backyard making movies. So, I sort of knew at a very young age that I wanted to explore telling stories as a career."
By his mid-teens, Justin was gaining experience on professional sets.
"When I was about 15 or 16, I would go out on film sets and just help out, like doing coffee runs, being available, wrangling cable, and whatever else was needed," Justin explains. "I’d be meeting industry folks on set, people who’d say, 'Oh, I've gone to this college or this university.' One of the names that kept coming up was Centennial College. As I dug a little bit deeper into their Broadcasting and Film program, a major factor of interest for me was that the internship acceptance rate was quite high. It meant the program had great co-op placements and connections."
Hands-on Learning at Centennial College
Justin gained plenty of practical production experience throughout his time at Centennial.
"It must have been every day we were learning hands-on at the campus, at the studio space," he says. "You could rent production equipment, and you could rent post-production facilities."
That learning continued outside of scheduled class time. "Once your school day was done, you were off shooting something that night, or poking your head into an editing suite to see what a classmate was working on."
The program also gave Justin a realistic view of the industry landscape.
"I learned so much," he says, "but I think the biggest thing came from the instructors, and that was that it's not an easy industry. What I enjoyed is that they didn't sugarcoat that. Some programs will sugarcoat things to give you a false reality of what the work landscape is, but I really enjoyed how they kept it real and practical. That made us go into classes and projects with the right mindset."
Justin also valued his instructors' active industry involvement.
y had a pulse on the industry and on how much you need to persevere to be successful," he says. "I think that comes from the fact that the college hired instructors who were actively working in the field. That is so important, as opposed to hiring someone who hasn't touched a camera in 30 years."
From Centennial Student to Film Producer
in’s Centennial College experience soon led to an industry internship that proved foundational.
ad my internship through Centennial College with Canadian director Bruce McDonald," Justin says. "I got really great hands-on experience through how he runs his organization, not only as a creative, but as somebody who runs a production company. I interned with them for a few months, and that was the start of a long collaborative working relationship. Once I graduated, I was still getting calls to work on a freelance basis, which was fantastic. I actually almost missed my Centennial College graduation because I was shooting something for them the night before!"
h Centennial," he adds, "not only was the internship very helpful, but keeping a close connection with my instructors led to further success down the line."
s later, one of those connections opened another door.
been doing freelance production work for years since my internship, and then I got an email from a professor at Centennial," he says. "This was years after I graduated. They reached out and asked if I was interested in working at a commercial production house in a full-time role. I applied and got accepted. For a few years, I was doing corporate commercial work."
t was kind of the first 10 years of my career," Justin notes, "freelancing on set and living in the corporate commercial space."
in eventually returned to Centennial College himself, this time as an instructor in the Children’s Media program.
eally enjoyed giving back," he says. "It was a really interesting full-circle moment coming back to campus, wearing an instructor’s lanyard around my neck as opposed to a student lanyard. A lot of students have gone on to do great things within the writing and TV production space, which warms me to see".
A 150-Episode Career Milestone
of Justin’s major production credits is The Curse of Oak Island, where he worked on the series for nearly a decade, logging over 150 episodes.
as a producer on that show, and for the last two years, one of the Co-Executive Producers," he says. "I was part of a huge team, working with seasoned American producers and local Atlantic Canadian talent to capture the world's longest-running treasure hunt. I was very excited to contribute to something bigger than myself."
a television show to persevere that long, it has to have a great story," he adds. "It explores elements of history, science, folklore, and, of course, treasure hunting… When you have a group of people exploring those areas together toward a common goal, it creates the perfect storm to capture lightning in a bottle."
Working in Film and Television Production Today
y, Justin leads Sink Pictures as founder and creative director.
Sink Pictures, I direct and produce unscripted content, finding stories and building worlds for them," Justin says. "Right now, platforms are overlapping in really interesting ways. I'll pitch a documentary intended for a theatrical release, and hear, 'We should adapt this into a limited series or a vertical project.' It's an exciting time to tell stories."
The Bookstore That Never Sleeps
in’s latest documentary grew out of a discovery made while filming The Curse of Oak Island.
as staying in a small town and found a bookstore that was only open at night," he explains. "I stumbled in, because it was the only light spilling out onto the street while the rest of the town was asleep. It drew me in like a moth to a flame. I met the proprietor, learned his story, learned more about the town, and decided to make a documentary about it."
resulting film, The Bookstore That Never Sleeps, explores the unique night-owl bookshop and its community.
ot of people love the idea of an evening bookstore," he says. "You go in with a cup of tea and a blanket and curl up. It's very romantic, highly visual, and people really grasp the concept."
film has generated strong momentum across its festival run - starting with its world premiere in international competition at Doc Edge in New Zealand, an Oscar-qualifying festival. It continued its success across Canadian screenings, taking home both the Best Canadian Short Award and the Audience Choice Award for Best Short at the Lunenburg Doc Fest.
ve had news coverage and great traction on social media," he says, "which was cool to see take off. It’s nice to see so many people rallying behind a small store in a port town they’ve never been to."
Advice for Aspiring Filmmakers
ing back at his path, Justin encourages aspiring creators to say yes to every learning experience.
best advice I can give is to be a sponge," Justin says. "If an opportunity comes up to help someone, learn something new, or just be kind, say yes. Looking back, almost every major door in my career opened with this mindset"
lso urges students to start producing original work early.
live in an age where cameras are everywhere, whether on our phones or our glasses," he says. "Every opportunity to create matters. Whether you're telling a story or sketching on a napkin, as long as it leaves you and the world a little brighter, go for it."
By: Anthony Geremia