

Aisling Chin-Yee
Producer/Writer/Director
Aisling Chin-Yee (pronounced Ash-Ling) is a director, writer, producer, and editor who grew up in Nova Scotia and is now based in Montreal. Her parents, both immigrants to Canada, hail from different islands. Her father, Mark, is Jamaican Chinese, and her mother is from Ireland, hence the Gaelic first name and complicated spelling.
At what age did you know you wanted to work in film and television, and what led you to it?
Ever since I was a kid, all I wanted to do was make movies. I loved performing, writing, and making make-believe. But, I do not come from a cinema family, and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, is not quite a cinema town - at least in the 90s. I watched films ravenously and became obsessed with Martin Scorcese, Stanley Kubrick, and Spike Lee. I also started acting in theatre since there were many opportunities to get on the stage or in front of a crowd. When I discovered that there was a job behind the camera called a director, and that that person was responsible for the team that makes the film, I knew that was what I would do with my life. I moved to Montreal to study film and communications at Concordia University and started making films in Quebec.
How did you get your start in the industry?
My first “real” job in film was working as an associate producer at the National Film Board of Canada. I worked with two creative and socially conscious producers, Adam Symansky and Germaine Wong, and got to learn from them and assist in making documentaries and short films.
I love to connect with people, dig down creatively, and find practical solutions for artistic goals. I produced Jeff Barnaby’s first feature, Rhymes for Young Ghouls (2013,) and some other films and documentaries. But I always wanted to focus on writing and directing so after a few short films, I decided to jump into the driver’s seat full-time. My first feature, The Rest of Us, starring Heather Graham, premiered at TIFF in 2019, and I was nominated for the Canadian Cinema Editors’ Award along with my co-editor. Then, the documentary that I co-directed with Chase Joynt, No Ordinary Man, a reclaiming of trans icon Billy Tipton’s legacy, premiered at TIFF 2020. That film went on to win multiple prizes and was named one of the best films of 2021 by The New Yorker. And as editor, I won the Directors’ Guild of Canada award for Best Documentary Editing. In 2022, I directed multiple episodes of the CBC drama Plan B and won the DGC award for Best Achievement for Directing a Limited Series.
What’s the highlight of your career so far or the thing you’re most proud of?
I don’t think that there is one highlight or thing that I am most proud of. I love all my projects, and they are all different children. I am so lucky to have collaborated with talented and hard-working artists who put their hearts and souls into the work. I try to carry myself and the people around me with respect and integrity, and I try to bring out the best work in people. And while we work so hard to make art that we all find meaning in, we have some laughs. And I will also stand up for what I believe is right. I think I am most proud when I achieve this.
Careers are full of ups and downs. Was there ever a low point in your career you could talk about, or a time when you thought you wouldn’t make it in this Industry?
Not one specific event, but here’s a reminder: There will be great periods of doubt from outside forces and within yourself. People will question your value and your authority to tell your story. They will question your expertise. The mental, emotional, and physical toll endured to prove oneself can detract from the work and the art. It can take you away from the collaborators that are standing by you. Those are the moments that I’ve needed to take a beat, go for a run, walk in the woods, and connect with my non-industry folks to ground me and fortify my resolve to find a way through the obstacles to make a meaningful film. Or I see another approach. This work requires us to be vulnerable and honest. So, that is enduring a rollercoaster of highs and lows.
You’ve worked across different genres, across different mediums, and in different fields (as a writer, director and producer). Any advice to emerging artists about how to hone their talents and skills in different areas?
You need a holistic understanding of how film (or TV) is made and how to communicate your vision effectively to others. To be a good writer, you must also think like a director. To be a good director, you need to also think like an editor, and an actor. To be a good director, you must also think like a producer. If you want to be a good producer, you need to know what your director and your team need to execute a project properly. I had an interest in all these jobs, so I learned both on the ground and from mentors as well as my collaborators.