Booker Sim Email & Phone Number

Toronto, On, Ca

Toronto

Current researcher, strategist and advisory board member for fandom startup Biom.studio, founded by two former Jam3 colleagues and the head of digital gaming studio ZeMind, builders of the Biom platform, which provides an elegant solution to web3’s UX/UI problem.Concurrently with Biom, I provide strategy and production for premier ZeMind client work, like an app in support of the Unit9-produced launch of Meta’s Quest 3 VR headset with the WALKING DEAD and GHOSTBUSTERS franchises and a case study video that helped a VR human trafficking awareness game clinch 2024 Webby and Canadian Screen Award nominations. See links to both projects below.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

In 2020, I was invited to design and teach a course on transmedia storytelling and interactive documentary for the filmmaker-led Documentary and Non-Fiction Media (DNM) program at Seneca Polytechnic. I combined post-structuralist philosophy of technology I studied at McGill with the latest theory and practice from MIT’s Open Documentary Lab and Co-Creation Studio, along with proto-metaverse technologies like XR, world building and worlding, games for change, co-creating with (and content about) artificial intelligence and natural systems, transmedia and fandom theory. Former colleagues then join me to offer students a behind-the-scenes look at the interactive documentaries we made together at Jam3.

Toronto, Canada Area

In 2018, I started a long stint freelancing for Sumit Ajwani, who I met while filming in Ghana for Cadbury’s Fair Trade and Bicycle Factory initiatives – as one of the OG members of his fast-growing Makers.to commercial producer resourcing company. It turned into a great opportunity to broaden my integrated production experience, for clients like Volkswagen, Corona, MaRS, DDB, Anomaly, Can-Am BRP, Roots, Mosaic, MaRS and Common Citizen. Besides learning to produce photoshoots, broadcast commercials, XM and getting to flex my creative/production chops by putting out fires, I brought in innovative early stage startup clients, and found strategic partners for innovative passion projects – like the University of Waterloo for a Makers X Habitat for Humanity collab. This transdisciplinary approach earned me the official title of “special projects and innovations” lead, but unofficially I was known as the Makers mascot, with my Swiss Army approach and philosophical mindset embodying the ethos of a team that aspires to be able to make just about anything.Makers gave me the flexibility to pursue other projects, from developing series bibles with leading Hollywood prod cos like Bunim/Murray, to field producing documentaries for Netflix Originals, shooting Microsoft brand docs around the world, teaching interactive documentary and transmedia storytelling at Seneca Polytechnic and consulting as a strategist on several innovative startups.

Accra, Rotterdam, Salt Lake City, Manchester

2023 saw the release of a Microsoft 365 brand doc series I wrote, directed, produced and provided content strategy for alongside friend Aaron A, featuring users in four countries on three continents, sharing how Microsoft products address their local needs. My former Jam3 colleague Heather Phenix, EP on my NUCLEAR DISSENT interactive documentary, got me the gig through her new employer, Superf.ly. One of the most compelling stories was shot in Ghana, where I was reunited with friends from two Cadbury social good campaigns. My close friend Mexican DP Jano Meija took a break from lensing award-winning films to shoot our little campaign – largely because of the promise to visit Ghana. Along with the hero videos for Accra, Salt Lake City, Manchester and Rotterdam (links below), Aaron and I delivered 48 short social media videos and lifestyle photos, as well as interview selects and story beats to make the blog writer’s job easier. Below you'll also find a link to the Microsoft project page on my site, with links to other Microsoft campaign videos I wrote and produced while at Jam3, which gave me the opportunity to embed myself on the Microsoft campus – interacting with developers, product leads and their in-house agency, getting a behind-the-scenes look at the company’s culture and process.

Toronto, Canada Area

While at Jam3 I co-led interactive documentaries SONS OF GALLIPOLI, CHANGE GOUT and NUCLEAR DISSENT, among the company’s most awarded projects – bringing in several Webbys, OneShows, D&AD Pencils, Cannes Lions, AWWWards, ADCCs and a Banff World Media Festival Award and a Canadian Screen Award. See my LinkedIn projects or my bookersim.com Selected Work portfolio for more details.During my four years at the company I also worked as a creative, strategist and producer for clients Google, Microsoft, Mozilla, Success Academy, Disney, Snoop Dogg's Merry Jane, the CBC, the NFB and Visa. I also wrote and directed the majority of Jam3’s case studies, making often implicit, iterative strategy explicit after the fact – in under two minutes – helping bring in lots of business, press and awards, telling the Jam3 story in the process. I used the same storytelling approach for Google ZOO, Disney, CBC and Jam3 prototype videos, most of which I wrote myself. To do so, I dialogued with in-house developers, visual and UX designers and creative technologists to map out clear and concise user journeys, always keeping the “why” and “for and by whom” of a project front and center. This is all part of the act of “co-creation” that brings digital experiences to life in the real world – something I now practice as a strategist and teach at Seneca’s documentary filmmaker-led DNM program, where we study Jam3 i-docs from BEAR 71 to NUCLEAR DISSENT, along with the R&D work at MIT’s Open Documentary Lab and Co-Creation Studio.

Brooklyn, New York

I co-founded music-tech startup Legitmix with serial startup entrepreneur Omid McDonald, who came up with a tech solution to a problem I encountered while making my TRAGEDY hip-hop documentary: music clearance. I supported him in investor pitches that led to over $3 million in financing, led by the Purple Angels and Canadian startup incubator MaRS (with whom I created an education series in 2020).As CMO I put together a comprehensive strategy and recruited industry-leading PR agent Kathryn Frazier of Biz3, ego trip co-founder Sacha Jenkins (who went on to lead Mass Appeal with Nas), former Ecko Unltd music director DJ Neil Nice and Noah Rubin, who served as editor-in-chief for both Mass Appeal and Snoop Dogg’s Merry Jane. We garnered loads of positive press in Billboard, MIT's Tech Review, QZ, Pitchfork, Complex, launched at SXSW with Diplo and released PR projects with El-P, Pusha T, Danny Brown, Fools Gold, Turntable Lab and DJ Earworm. While our tech was eclipsed by the streaming revolution, I learned a tremendous amount about fundraising, startup strategy, product development, UX and UI, marketing, PR and user acquisition.

Toronto, Europe, California

After producing Cervélo’s 2008 commercials and filming the Carlos Sastre win the the Tour de France Yellow Jersey on a Cervélo, I co-created, wrote, directed and produced BEYOND THE PELOTON (BTP), a groundbreaking branded web series about the Tour de France Green Jersey winning Cervelo TestTeam. I produced and co-wrote and co-directed all Cervelo's video content and commercials until summer 2011, shortly before company co-founder Gerard Vroomen left Cervelo to start Open Cycles. I continued to work with Gerard and my BTP co-creator Joe Finkleman at Open. (See Gerard's reference letter below). This was just the beginning of my direct-to-client work as a digital content creator and strategist.BEYOND THE PELOTON, affectionately known to fans as “BTP”, started with the story of the Cervélo TestTeam’s remarkable first season on the pro-cycling peloton, featuring 2009 Tour de France Green Jersey winner Thor Hushovd and 2008 Tour de France Yellow Jersey winner Carlos Sastre. Considered the benchmark in pro-cycling fan access, it helped Cervélo capture some 50% of the social media limelight during the 2009 Tour – and ran for 3 seasons. Rhye front-man Milosh composed the music for the series. Many consider it the precursor to Netflix’s TOUR DE FRANCE: UNCHAINED.

Montreal, New York, West Africa, The Balkans, The Middle East

Since 2000, Alexandre Trudeau and I have worked intermittently together under his JuJu Films banner on numerous geopolitical conflict docs for Canada’s premier current affairs programs The National (CBC) and W5 (CTV), including:THE NEW GREAT GAME – a docuseries about pirates, pariahs and world powers competing for strategic global waterways (CBC’s The National). SECURE FREEDOM – a documentary about terror suspects being held without trial in Canada’s “Guantanamo light” (CTV’s W5), seen by over 600,000 viewers on its primetime broadcast premiere.BELGRADE: ONE YEAR AFTER – a documentary about activist youth in Serbia who helped overthrow the Milosevic regime (CBC’s The National Magazine). EMBEDDED IN IRAQ – Alexandre Trudeau embeds himself with a Baghdad family during the “Shock and Awe” campaign (CTV’s W5), seen by over 1.5 million viewers on its primetime broadcast premiere.I also researched and co-produced a three-part radio documentary with Trudeau for CBC Radio’s The Current about the legacy of Canadian peacekeeping, featuring interviews with Gen. Roméo Dallaire, Louise Arbour and Michael Ignatieff.Also for the CBC (but not JuJu Films), I wrote and directed the video content for the AFTER MUNICH interactive documentary with Friends & Enemies: https://aftermunich.com I continue to support Alexandre as a story and production consultant, most recently on his forthcoming HAIR OF THE BEAR feature film.

Between 2002 and 2006, Alexandre Trudeau and I worked closely together on geopolitical documentaries for CTV’S W5, Canada’s most-watched current affairs and documentary program, including:EMBEDDED IN BAGHDAD – Trudeau embeds himself with a family in Baghdad during the 2003 “Shock and Awe” bombing campaign, seen by over 1.5 million viewers on its primetime TV premiere.SECURE FREEDOM – a documentary about terror suspects being held without trial in Canada’s “Guantanamo light,” which aired on the 5th anniversary of 9/11 to over 600,000 viewers.Here’s a quote from SECURE FREEDOM's Wikipedia entry: "In June 2005, Trudeau focused attention on what he said were the implications for civil liberties in the Canadian government's use of security certificates to detain indefinitely, without trial, suspected terrorists based on secret evidence. His appearance in court in support of Almrei resulted in front-page coverage in the Toronto Star and National Post and major media attention being given to the security certificate issue for the first time. Trudeau's efforts were chronicled in his documentary Secure Freedom. On December 14, 2009, Almrei was released."And here’s what CTV News executive producer Gordon Henderson had to say about my involvement:“I worked with Booker on several projects, including SECURE FREEDOM, a documentary hosted by Alexandre Trudeau for CTV’s premier current affairs program, W5 – which aired primetime for the 5th anniversary of 9/11.Booker proved himself to be a very versatile producer, from providing in-depth political research and analysis, to securing interviews with jailed terror suspects and spies, to producing shoots and post production, to providing detailed story notes – and even doing sound and b-camera when needed.Booker is also a great writer with creative ideas, having brought me various show concepts he developed. I might also add, he's a fun guy to work with, and brings positive energy to the team.”

Between 2000 and 2012, Alexandre Trudeau and I worked intermittently together on geopolitical conflict documentaries that aired prime time on CBC Television’s premier current affairs news program The National and CBC Radio One’s The Current, including:BELGRADE: ONE YEAR AFTER (2000) – a documentary about activist youth in Serbia who helped defeat the Milošević regime at the polls (CBC’s The National Magazine).THE NEW GREAT GAME (2012) – a docuseries about pirates, pariahs and world powers competing for strategic global waterways, featuring interviews with Robert Kaplan and Noam Chomsky (CBC’s The National). OUR THIRD CHANCE (2005) a three-part radio documentary hosted by Trudeau about Canada’s peacekeeping legacy, featuring interviews with Gen. Roméo Dallaire and Louise Arbour (CBC Radio One’s The Current).Also for the CBC (but without Trudeau), I wrote and directed the video content for the AFTER MUNICH (2019) interactive documentary with Friends & Enemies.