From U of T Scarborough to the Oscars, alum Nana Frimpong talks about her journey in film

U of T Scarborough alum Nana Frimpong is an associate producer on the Oscar-winning documentary The Last Repair Shop

Nana Frimpong (BA 2018 UTSC) never intended to study film, but as she told a packed house of students and alumni earlier this spring, “you don’t know how it all adds up.” 

After graduating in 2018, Frimpong returned to her alma mater this year for a screening of The Last Repair Shop, an Oscar-winning short documentary she produced with her company Breakwater Studios. In addition to being a producer, Frimpong also helmed the movie's months-long Oscar campaign.

Originally a business major at U of T Scarborough, Frimpong transferred to the English program after exploring courses in both fields. After taking several film classes at U of T Scarborough, she successfully applied to the Masters of Film and TV Production at the University of Southern California (USC), earning the prestigious George Lucas Scholarship while she was a student. 

While Frimpong has more than proved herself, she had no qualms about sharing her earlier experiences with students.

“I got into film school and I was just overwhelmed. It was the best time of my life and the hardest. I knew I was supposed to be there, but I had never made a film before. And I had never seen a screenplay before, but I worked really hard and I asked a lot of questions and I was really serious, and it served me well.”

The road to the Oscars

Frimpong’s hard work and dedication paid off and she was able to start working with Breakwater Studios after graduation. Run by a fellow Canadian, the studio focuses on creating documentaries with a humanist storytelling style.

Their latest film, The Last Repair Shop, won the 2024 Oscar for Best Documentary Short. It tells the story of the Los Angeles Unified School District's (LAUSD) Musical Instrument Repair Shop and the people within it – both those who rely on the shop and those who make it run. Located in a downtown warehouse, LAUSD has been providing free repairs for student instruments since 1959. At present, 11 technicians service about 6,000 instruments for more than 1,300 schools across the city. It's one of the last publicly funded services of its kind in the United States. 

In addition to accolades and awards for the film, Breakwater Studios has also launched a campaign called TUNING TOMORROW set on raising $15 million for the repair shop. Since announcing the campaign, Breakwater has made significant strides in reaching their goal, including hosting an exclusive event at the repair shop with special guest Yo-Yo Ma where the Chuck Lorre Foundation announced a $1 million donation to their efforts.

"It's too hard to do anything with the goal of winning a prestigious award like an Oscar. While an award campaign is an effective tool for getting your cause out to the masses, the larger intention behind it is what will sustain you when things get especially hard."

Encouraging students to pursue what they love

Students in the audience were incredibly eager to learn from such a successful alum, so Frimpong was inevitably asked what advice she would give to current undergraduates. 

“I think it's so easy when you're in the depths of feeling low to think that you're the only one to have ever felt these things before, and that if you articulate them out loud nobody will understand you,” says Frimpong, who received a Gordon Cressy Leadership Award and served as SCSU vice-president equity as an undergrad at U of T Scarborough.  

“Time and time again, that has not been my experience. There were so many days when I didn't think I had the thing within me to show up. And that’s when I’d speak to my parents, I’d phone my sister, send a voice note to my friends.”

She also encouraged students to keep trying, to ask questions and pursue what they love even if they aren’t always sure what direction it will take them.

“Keep going, ask for help, call your mom, and take it easy. It’s going to be okay. It’s okay if it doesn’t add up right now, it will.”

Nana is currently producing Breakwater Studios' first feature documentary about a renowned Ghanaian cinematographer who followed the first president of Ghana's political rise. Students in attendance also got an exclusive sneak peak of the film that will be released in the near future.

Originally published by U of T Scarborough