in lainey gossip’s latest #everyday brilliance profile with dominique bisson, find out how the fashion grad has connected her love of travel and lifetime on tv sets to her budding career behind the scenes at the cbc.
dominique bisson, 22
born: toronto, on
talent coordinator and assistant, communications department, cbc
lainey:
tell me about your background and education.
dominique:
after high school i took a year off to travel, to figure out what i wanted to do. i wanted to take my time. i didn’t want to make a rush decision. when i came home, i enrolled at the academy of design for fashion marketing and merchandising. i graduated in june 2012. but i really wanted to travel more. so i spent another year seeing the world. when i got back, i joined the communications department at the cbc. and i really love my job.
lainey:
what is the difference that your travels have made in your life? what impact has it had?
dominique:
it’s interesting because i feel like i went to school and i learned and it was so important in that it made me open-minded to experience new challenges, new experiences. and that’s what travelling is. i’ve spent a good amount of time in paris, and new york, the heart of fashion, and not just as a tourist, and i was able to relate it to what i was studying in fashion marketing and merchandising, relate it to what i studied, practically, it just adds so much to it.
lainey:
how has all of this experience come together in your current role?
dominique:
i work in the cbc communications department. i’m managing the talent schedules. i’m making sure they’re prepared for promotion. it’s important for them to be able to present the shows they’re on in the best way. so i feel like i’m contributing to that in a positive way. i’m making call sheets, arranging transportation, accompanying the cast members to interviews, taking them to where they have to be. right now, i’m scheduling for the toronto international film festival. it’s busy and exciting and it’s given me so much confidence and helped me grow up so much, feeling that i’m a part of this team, feeling helpful.
we also have cbc live now and so i’m writing a column called murdoch insider for murdoch mysteries, answering fan questions, and giving insight on the show. it launches in september.
lainey:
so what’s it like being responsible for your own column?
dominique:
writing is hard! (laughs) i don’t think people really understand that. they know it, but i don’t think they understand it. i have to keep it on topic, and not too long, and get everything straight, and in the right order, and make it interesting, and fresh. i’m nervous about it. but i’m really into the challenge of it.
lainey:
your father is an actor. he’s the star of murdoch mysteries, yannick bisson. you also did a little acting when you were young. so…what’s your response when people say you have had advantages from your family?
dominique:
that’s a good question. if you have grown up in the business, you have a unique knowledge of the reality of being an actor. what people see is just the upside. you never see when people aren’t acting, on the tv or the movies. there are a lot of months where people go without work. it’s not the best industry to get into, and when you grow up in it, you have seen some of the uglier side of it. on the outside, you only see the glamour. but in reality, after you’ve seen it, not everybody wants to be that person in front of the camera, even with the advantages. he might be my dad, but i’m also the one making copies, arranging cars, i’m a member of the team and i feel like i’m contributing. i’m professional, you have to keep it work-related. ultimately i don’t want to be treated as special.
but also, for people who haven’t grown up on a set, when you watch your favourite show you can be enchanted by something entirely new without any previous knowledge, but if you’ve been around, and you’ve seen how the actual set works, that the set for the morgue has a pool table off to the side, for example, things start to take the magic out of it.
lainey:
let’s talk about growing up on set then. how has it informed your column, your work?
dominique:
for some people, what goes on on set is a mystery but i grew up on a set, and i feel like i have a unique twist on what it’s like, and i feel like in answering the questions people have about the show in my column, i can add a different perspective.
not only have i grown up on set i’ve also done a bit of acting – it was always a big part of my life. so i get it, the way a set runs, so it also helps because a set was my playground growing up. and i think it’s going to be an interesting way to put het information out there for people.
lainey:
what’s it like for you off set then?
dominique:
i’m a homebody. i read a lot. i like spending time with my family. i’m not a super wild 22 year old but i do go to a lot of concerts because i take my little sister – she’s 16 – to them.
lainey:
ok, name your last 5 concerts.
dominique:
(laughs) remember, i took my teenage sister! so let’s see…
one direction
taylor swift
justin bieber
osheaga
fleetwood mac
lainey:
how was one direction?
dominique:
they put on a really good show! they’re full of energy and they’re happy to be there. they really are having a good time, loving what they do. so … i got really carried away and caught up in it, like i was 10 years old, so i blew harry styles a kiss at the end of the night because we were close to the stage. and he smiled and did it back. i thought like i was going to pass out and my little sister punched me! hard! because she saw what happened – she’s a harry girl, he’s her favourite. and she said she was never going to a one direction concert with me again.
my older sister who’s 24 really hopes harry saw that. he woulda been like, oh a couple of crazy girls, same sh-t, different day. that’s my favourite part of the story about one direction: my little sister punching over harry styles.
lainey:
what’s on repeat on your ipod?
dominique:
i’m obsessed with ellie goulding’s new song burn. tegan & sarah’s album, heartthrob, i really love it. and jay-z’s new album and song part 2 with beyonce.
lainey:
movie you’ve watched over and over again?
dominique:
dirty dancing and crazy stupid love i could just watch every single day. i just watched it in bed last night with my cousin.
lainey:
what celebrity would play you in the movie of your life?
dominique:
much to my horror, people would say anne hathaway because they say i look like her but i want someone more badass, like… amanda bynes. just to see what she comes up with.