Stanley Papulkas is executive producer of OMNI Television.
Stanley Papulkas was destined to be a storyteller.
As a youngster, he would sit on his great-grandfather’s knee listening to tales about Greece, his family’s homeland. When his great-grandfather died, Papulkas assumed the role of narrator to an audience of siblings, friends and anyone else who sauntered by the Papulkas’ front porch.
In high school, Papulkas thrived in English and theatre arts, and was encouraged by his guidance counsellor to pursue a career in journalism or television broadcasting.
Equipped with a sense of purpose, 18-year-old Papulkas produced a program about a high school pantomime group for Scarborough Cable TV. Mime ’79 was a hit and was syndicated to cable stations across North America.
That same year, Papulkas enrolled in Centennial College’s broadcasting and film program where his co-op placement led to a full-time job offer from CFMT, Toronto’s newly established multicultural television station.
Aside from a brief detour to work as an assignment editor for The Sports Network in 1985, Papulkas has been at CFMT ever since he graduated from Centennial in 1981.
“Immigrants have stories to tell, and I was going to be their storyteller,” says Papulkas, who found a stoop for storytelling at what is now OMNI Television.
He has progressed through the ranks from producer and senior producer to his current post as the executive producer and visionary behind all of OMNI’s diversity programming.
Papulkas has created a medium through which Canadian immigrants can tell their stories. The shows take you into their homes and neighbourhoods for interviews, success stories and debates.
His commitment to multiculturalism transcends his career. His idea for a multicultural hockey league finally took shape in two years ago when the newly established Canadian Multicultural Hockey League (www.cmhl.ca) fielded 16 ethnic teams — including the Finnishers and the Kremlins — vying for the Canadian Cup.
As more new Canadians land here, the storytelling continues at OMNI Television and Papulkas is content in his role as narrator.
For more information visit www.centennialcollege.ca.
Metro Toronto News Service
