Best of both worlds

ears of musical theatre experience

Yhave this Lakeland College performing arts alumnus seeking a behind-the-scenes career.

Justin Marmulak’s artist-centric values began at Lakeland. He received voice lessons from instructor Kathryn Edwards, participated in summer theatre camps, and performed in Seussical: The Musical then as Gaston in Beauty and the Beast. “I remember from Seussical: The Musical, I was surprised at how well I remembered the lyrics. I usually had a terrible memory, but theatre clicked. I also loved Beauty and the Beast because I got to sing in a baritone voice, which is not natural for me. Being an older member, I also helped mentor a lot of the younger members. I have many good memories at Lakeland,” says Marmulak.

While Marmulak enjoyed musical theatre, he says a career in business felt more secure. Marmulak enrolled in the University of British Columbia (UBC) to earn a bachelor of commerce degree with a specialization in human resources (he’s also minoring in psychology out of interest). At UBC, however, Marmulak discovered that he could mix business with pleasure – his extracurricular activities saturated with the world of entertainment.

His Lakeland performing arts experience earned him a place in a musical theatre troupe for three years, after which he joined a film society – he and a close friend also worked together to create a short film. To top it off, Marmulak volunteered for Spark CG Society, an entertainment company based in Vancouver.

“I decided to volunteer with Spark CG to boost my involvement with the entertainment industry. This company creates networking opportunities by organizing and hosting industry events. Since I started with them in 2018, I’ve met the director of Disney’s Tarzan and the animator of the Little Mermaid and Tangled.” During one of Spark’s industry events, Marmulak got his foot through the door. He introduced himself to company representatives as an applicant interested in being on the other side of the desk in entertainment.

“I talked to a company called WildBrain Studios about my intention

of a career in human resources in the entertainment industry. They gave me some recommendations on what I should do to and took my card. A couple of months after that, they emailed me about an internship they created that aligned with my career goal,” says Marmulak, who interned for the Canadian media production company, who own Teletubbies, Degrassi, Caillou, Inspector Gadget and more, during the summer of 2019.

“They said I was the only person that they were looking at for the internship because not only did I want to work in the industry, but I cared about the art. I believe the business side only works when production is at its best, and that comes from artists who care about where they work and what they’re doing,” he explains. Marmulak accepted a fulltime coordinator position with WildBrain.

When asked about how Lakeland made an impact on his career goals, Marmulak recalls understanding the importance of supporting artists behind-the-scenes early on.

“I learned about Ikigai, which is a Japanese term that roughly translates to ‘reason for being.’ This concept made me evaluate my life and the things I love: animation, art and performance. I never thought about what I was passionate about, but I assumed a career in business would be secure. It was this concept that made me realize I could do both.”