Heartbreak to Art,
Wounds become the medium; pain recut as art.
Client
CBC Arts
Project
TiKA Simone
Role
Direction, Cinematography, Post Supervision
CBC Arts
Client
Tika Simone
Project
Conceived as a ten‑film anthology, Heartbreak to Art set out to prove that creative practice isn’t just catharsis; it’s architecture for survival. Each spot was treated as an impressionistic portrait: floaty handheld, a powerful soundtrack and a restrained voice‑over that lets confession breathe. The brief was simple: show the exact moment pain turns into process, then capture the result of that alchemy.
From pre‑interviews to color grade, the production rhythm mirrored therapy. Shoots were previsualized around the artists’ actual creative rituals, so we could embed ourselves as much as possible into their process.
The series was released in tandem on CBCArts.ca and the network's 200k+ subscriber YouTube channel. Beyond the metrics, the real win is cultural durability: schools and youth‑services organizations requested clips for wellness programming, proving that these short‑form, elevated-documentary-style portraits can be both art and an actionable resource.
Tika Simone,
Multi-hyphenate singer-composer and cultural producer TiKA Simone distills vulnerability into lush, ’80s-washed R&B, left-field pop and cinematic scores.
Her 2021 debut LP Anywhere But Here, hailed by critics as an exuberant celebration of Black queer love, arrived after years spent curating the showcase The Known Unknown, an incubator that first spotlighted Daniel Caesar and Jessie Reyez.
TiKA’s pen quickly leapt to the screen: she co-wrote the Canadian Screen Award-winning ballad “And Then We Don’t” for Learn to Swim, co-scored the TV caper Faith Heist and contributed the soaring “Blue Sky” to Warren Miller’s 75th-anniversary ski film Alpine Rhapsody.
Off-stage she champions body-positivity—staging unapologetic photo shoots that centre fat Black women—while her latest single “Rescue Me” signals the next chapter of soulful candour.
Director
First Last
Cinematographer
First Last
Color
Company
First Last
Online
Company
First Last
Audio
Company
First Last
Edit
Company
First Last
Production Company
Company
Conceived as a ten‑film anthology, Heartbreak to Art set out to prove that creative practice isn’t just catharsis; it’s architecture for survival. Each spot was treated as an impressionistic portrait: floaty handheld, a powerful soundtrack and a restrained voice‑over that lets confession breathe. The unified brief was simple: show the exact moment pain turns into process, then capture the result of that alchemy.
From pre‑interviews to color grade, the production rhythm mirrored therapy. Shoots were previsualized around the artists’ actual creative rituals, so we could embed ourselves as much as possible into their process.
The series was released in tandem on CBCArts.ca and the network's 200k+ subscriber YouTube channel. Beyond the metrics, the real win is cultural durability: schools and youth‑services organizations requested clips for wellness programming, proving that these short‑form, elevated-documentary-style portraits can be both art and an actionable resource.
Tika Simone,
Multi-hyphenate singer-composer and cultural producer TiKA Simone distills vulnerability into lush, ’80s-washed R&B, left-field pop and cinematic scores.
Her 2021 debut LP Anywhere But Here, hailed by critics as an exuberant celebration of Black queer love, arrived after years spent curating the showcase The Known Unknown, an incubator that first spotlighted Daniel Caesar and Jessie Reyez.
TiKA’s pen quickly leapt to the screen: she co-wrote the Canadian Screen Award-winning ballad “And Then We Don’t” for Learn to Swim, co-scored the TV caper Faith Heist and contributed the soaring “Blue Sky” to Warren Miller’s 75th-anniversary ski film Alpine Rhapsody.
Off-stage she champions body-positivity—staging unapologetic photo shoots that centre fat Black women—while her latest single “Rescue Me” signals the next chapter of soulful candour.
Director
First Last
Cinematographer
First Last
Color
Company
First Last
Online
Company
First Last
Audio
Company
First Last
Edit
Company
First Last
Production Company
Company
Director
First Last
Cinematographer
First Last
Color
Company
First Last
Online
Company
First Last
Audio
Company
First Last
Edit
Company
First Last
Production Company
Company