MISSING CHAPTERS

Wilson Wong

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Wilson Wong moved to Canada from Hong Kong when he was a young boy. Unlike many young immigrants, his parents were not able to join him on the journey to Canada. Instead, Wong and his brother were raised by relatives in Calgary. Finding his identity and dealing with bullies were some of the challenges Wong faced. His childhood years were a time of culture shock, loneliness and uncertainty.

After high school, Wong decided to develop his creative gifts by enrolling at the Alberta College of Art and Design, even though his relatives didn’t view art as a viable career path. After graduating from ACAD in 1999 he became involved with CalgaryMovies.com, a new and popular movie listing website, one of the first of its kind. The site offered comprehensive movie listings from all the big theaters in Calgary, which was a unique alternative to audiences in an era where most people still got their movie listings from local newspapers. Since Wong was interested in film, the arts and digital design, working on the website was a perfect combination of his passions.

Wong helped design the second and third incarnations of CalgaryMovies.com, while developing a successful career in advertising design at several local agencies. In 2006 Wong and a friend were able to purchase CalgaryMovies.com and steer it in the direction he wanted. In addition to leading the fourth design overhaul of the site, he ensured the site continued to cover art house screenings, film festivals and other local film projects. Wong cares about the local arts and entertainment scene and is proud to support it.

Today Wong is VP of Creative Services at Everbrave, a full-service marketing agency with deep Calgary roots. He has worked for numerous big-name clients over the years, winning several awards and accolades for his work and his contributions to the local arts community. Though he experienced challenges making his way as a young Chinese-Canadian, he now finds his cultural background and unique perspective to be an asset in the world of marketing. He has overcome adversity and enjoyed success like so many other Asian Canadians who now call Canada home. Wong is thankful to be living in Calgary, a place of openness, pluralism and opportunity.

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