What began as a source of entertainment has become a path to a career behind the video lens for a Foothills Composite High School graduand.
A passion for film is leading Josh Sim to a future in advertising and video.
By his own admission, Sim’s first forays into film and video were made out of boredom. However, it wasn’t long before he discovered a talent behind the lens and a love of catching candid moments that can’t be recreated.
“I can’t draw and I can’t sing and I can’t make music, but I feel like my art is showing the feelings and emotions that I do on screen,” said Sim. “I love capturing those moments and those feelings and showing them to people.”
He plans to use his film background in communications and advertising. Eventually, Sim hopes to partner with his brother, Joseph, to go into business for themselves.
“My dream would be to film weddings and do photo shoots and do advertising on the side as well,” he said. “As a career, I’d love to get into advertising and working with people.”
Sim started out with his brother playing with a video camera at home when their mother was at work.
“My brother and I were bored so we thought, why don’t we just film something,” he said. “We made this funny little video. Now that I look at it, it’s so bad but it’s funny.”
Sim was 10 years old at the time, and his brother was 15. Their early videos were shot and edited to create a twin for his older brother and to highlight their antics.
The two brothers started taking their films more seriously when they moved to Okotoks. His brother bought a nicer camera and they brought friends in to work on the videos with them. They went on to create a YouTube channel and over time Sim realized he wanted to do it professionally.
“When I got into high school, that’s when I knew that I did want to do this as some sort of career,” he said. “I did want to do this as something after high school.”
While many expect his love of film to lead him to movies or TV, he has different plans. He said it’s a difficult business to get into and he wants security to know he will be able to provide for a family.
Sim has chosen the commercial and advertising side to have more stability.
He’s not going into university right away. He is serving a church mission for two years before going on to attend Brigham Young University where he plans to study communications, with a focus on advertising.
Sim said he would likely start out working for an advertising agency, but he eventually wants to work with his brother to form their own business.
His dream is to run an advertising agency, while also running a videography business as a side arm of the overall agency.
Sim said he’s gained valuable experience at the Comp, which has professional quality equipment for students to learn and train on.
He was the original brainchild behind a program at the school bringing together students in different classes to film a five-episode web series. It became Project L, a dystopian tale of a group of students on lock down in a school with no information about what’s happening in the outside world.
Sim pitched the idea to Comm Tech teacher Benjamin Stevens.
“I’m always thinking about different stories, different things that would be interesting to show,” he said.
“I was talking to Mr. Stevens, having a chat and I mentioned this to him and he said it sounds like a really good idea.”
Stevens said Sim has a passion for film and creating on video.
“He’s certainly been one of the most prominent young filmmakers we’ve had come out of the program,” he said.
Stevens said Sim borrows equipment to work on individual projects on his own and has clearly helped him train and hone his skills.
He said Sim doesn’t have to go into film and TV to be successful and he could achieve his goals in advertising and communications.
“I think Joshua will be able to be successful at whatever he puts his mind to, he’s that kind of individual, he’s very capable,” said Stevens.
