How Renuka Jeyapalan built her directing career in Canadian television
The Toronto-based filmmaker has worked consistently on hit series after getting her big break on Murdoch Mysteries.
In some ways, Renuka Jeyapalan’s career follows a trajectory that will seem familiar to many aspiring Canadian directors — a chance class at university that sparked the possibility of film as a career path, night school film production classes, a stint at the Canadian Film Centre (CFC). But her post-CFC life was anything but predictable.
With CFC project Big Girl under her belt — the 2005 short film played Berlin, Tribeca and TIFF — and the romantic notion that she was a feature filmmaker at heart, Jeyapalan never considered that she may need an entry-level role like production assistant to break into the industry.
With her sights set on writing and directing a feature project right out of the gate, she took on a day job — assistant at a Bay Street investment bank — and woke up at 5:30 am every day to work on her feature script. What was meant to be just a six-month gig turned into six years, with crazy hours that pulled her away from what she really wanted to do.
“So, I quit,” she recalls. “I moved back in with my mom. I got rid of my apartment. No expenses. And I was just writing and trying to get my features made. It was about five, six years of really hard struggling. And then I got a break.”
Getting her big break
Jeyapalan’s agent had been nudging her to consider TV work, but since she had never directed anything she hadn’t written, she figured nobody would take a chance on her. So, she pitched a show inspired by her years on Bay Street to CBC and got a development deal. The project was never made but it gave Jeyapalan the opportunity to get to know the executives at CBC, and when she landed an interview with the team behind Murdoch Mysteries (a CBC and Shaftesbury co-production) she was given a shadowing opportunity.
That position led to an offer to direct her own episode, and the rest is history.
She’s since worked on hit series like Workin’ Moms, Kim’s Convenience, Sort Of and North of North. Over the past eight years there have been significant moments that felt like big steps forward in her career. Her debut feature film Stay the Night, which premiered to critical acclaim at SXSW in 2022, was one of them. So was working on the Netflix show Ginny & Georgia in 2021.
“That was definitely a big step at the time,” she says. “The crew was massive. I had never seen so many [people] in the hair and makeup department on one series. But I had the most positive experience on that show. I loved the material, the cast, the crew, and I felt connected to my episodes. I prepped hard, but I also found myself working a lot on instinct as a director and it was nice to feel like I was in line with what that first season was.”
Joining the team
Jeyapalan enjoys joining a series in the first season, as she did with North of North, and being a part of the team figuring out what the show will be.
“North of North was an amazing experience,” she says, referring to the Netflix, CBC and APTN co-production filmed mainly in Nunavut. “I usually pull a lot of film and art references [for a project] but I didn't do that as much on this show. The land, the people, the spirit and the joy that the series features required a different approach.”
She directed episode five of that first season, which features the cast playing an elaborate game called Walrus Dick Baseball. Most of the episode’s run-time is the game, which was shot almost entirely outdoors on an icy beach.
“There were a lot of pieces to juggle,” recalls Jeyapalan. “Changing weather, multi-day exterior shooting, a fast-paced sports storyline, stunts, kids, crowds. We shot directionally so that we could maximize all the production elements. One day we're shooting the gameplay towards the sea ice, the next day it's the crowd reactions towards the hillside rocks, then the next it's capturing the big winning moment where we see everyone.
“You're hopscotching all over the script and block-shooting various pieces. I had storyboarded the sports sequences, so I knew all the beats, but it was still a challenge. We were also shooting on a beautiful part of the beach that the community uses regularly for transport. Every now and then we had to pause so that a qamutik [a traditional Inuit sled] could pass through.”
Next, audiences will see Jeyapalan’s work on two episodes of Mae Martin’s upcoming Netflix show Wayward, about a school for troubled teens, which stars Toni Collette, Sarah Gadon and Martin. The show marks another significant step in Jeyapalan’s career since it tackles a new style for her. “I was looking for something different than what I'd done before. It's not necessarily a comedy; there’s a different, darker, insidious tone to it. I feel very lucky that I got to be a part of that show and I'm excited to see what audiences will think of it.”
Creating your own opportunities
As someone who has worked consistently on hit episodic series for nearly a decade, Jeyapalan has some advice for aspiring directors.
“One, know your voice, your perspective, and what you do best. We’re all different storytellers. Seek out shows that resonate with you and bring what only you can bring to that project.
“And second, to quote Mark Duplass, ‘the cavalry is not coming.’ Keep making your own projects. Don't expect anyone to give you that break off the bat. Create your own opportunities, work on your craft. Then maybe one day when you do get that break, you're ready.”
