‘A Mosaic in Constant Motion’: This Director Celebrates the Toronto Tempo by Showcasing the Diversity of the GTA

With the Toronto Tempo slated to tip off in May 2026, excitement around the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) had been rapidly bubbling for some time now. At a time when women’s sports have been on the rise across the country, and the WNBA itself has seen a meteoric surge in popularity across the continent, it’s no surprise that fans from every neighbourhood are eager to root for the players proudly representing their city at the game’s highest level.

In order to amp things up, today, the Toronto Tempo is presenting a project that director Kevan Funk and production company Merchant have created to celebrate the team. Unlike a traditional hype montage featuring player clips and cliché inspirational music, however, this spot, titled ‘The Tempo of Toronto’, takes a more artistic approach to highlighting the squad’s imminent debut. Per the title, the work flips the team’s name on its head, using this moment of anticipation to explore the tempo of the city, with DJ Nino Brown providing her take on what exactly this means.

Masterfully scored and edited, the film takes a ‘show, don’t tell’ approach, exploring the city’s long-standing passion for women’s basketball, and how, in many ways, this runs hand-in-hand with the inherent cultural diversity of the GTA. It’s fun, joyful and rhythmic creative – just like the game itself – and perfectly represents the team’s ambition to, as Nino puts it, show up, move together, and definitely make it ours.

To learn more about the process behind the spot, and what it took to distil this sentiment into a 60-second film, LBB’s Jordan Won Neufeldt sat down with Kevan for a chat.

LBB> Creatively, what made the idea of exploring the tempo of Toronto the right way to promote the team? Where did the inspiration for this story come from?

Kevan> The creative framework for this spot was fuelled by a recognition and awareness of the community that has long existed around women’s basketball in this city. The WNBA coming to Toronto is new, but the roots run deep in the GTA – a sleeping giant, ready to erupt. I remember experiencing a literal distillation of this during the league’s first local game back in 2023. The environment was electric, and it was the best sports crowd I’d ever been a part of in this city.

So, when it came to this project, I really wanted to capture that feeling and scope in a way that felt true. And Nino Brown was the perfect person to channel that narrative through. She’s as passionate a fan as you’re going to find, and that authenticity mattered more than anything. Her being a DJ also provided this incredible narrative device to eloquently articulate the diversity and breadth of the woman’s basketball community, and, frankly, the GTA itself. That element has always been the defining quality of Toronto, and sports – especially women’s sports – animates, illuminates and celebrates this collective spirit of distinct identities in a singular way. That idea is what we anchored every creative decision on throughout the process.

LBB> From here, what were the storyboarding and pre-production processes like? Specifically, what inspired the idea of a ‘show, don’t tell’ visual approach, supported with cool transition shots and stylish editing?

Kevan> Given how vital music was to the personality of this project, it felt very natural to lean into those aesthetics for this spot. From the beginning, I wanted the music to function as a kind of secondary voice over – one that is equally important, and functions to articulate elements that words simply cannot. Making that choice then pushes you into a ‘show, don’t tell’, because you start to search for images that work as a resonant companion to the music, and not the other way around.

This really was a process of discovery. We had limited resources on this project, but we had time, which allowed us to really play and experiment. A tonne of the visual ideas that are in the final cut were things we had specifically planned, but there was always an opportunity to push the creative further because we were so nimble. And that process is reflected in what shows up on screen.

After that, it was just about putting in a lot of time and effort. To me, it’s always been less about material resources – you can always problem-solve those things – and much more about having the time, space and trust to explore.

LBB> What was the casting process like for the extras? How did you ensure everything came together to really capture the love of the game?

Kevan> Casting comes back to community. Like I said, I knew there was this devoted group of people across the GTA who have lived and breathed women’s basketball for years, so it was really important to make sure they were at the heart of this project. They are the grassroots trailblazers who have shaped the landscape and laid the groundwork for the WNBA coming to Toronto. The Toronto Tempo doesn’t exist without this incredible fan base that has been lying in wait.

From the beginning I wanted this to be a celebration of the fans, by the fans. I wanted to make sure that sentiment felt true throughout the process. So, again, it was just about time. We reached out to players and teams across the GTA and invited them to be a part of the process, from community runs to student athletes. Everyone was drawn from that pool, and their genuine passion tangibly helped to shape the final spot. We wanted the community to see themselves on screen, not a bunch of stand-ins.

LBB> How did the shoot itself go? Where did you film, how long did it take, and were there any especially tricky sequences to capture?

Kevan> This was a very unique shoot, and it was a process that I’m super grateful for.

In terms of approach, we actually blew up the regular production process and retrofitted it to be one that matched our ambition. Because we knew the only resource we could truly leverage was time, we shot the spot in small pieces, cobbling together eight shooting days over the course of three months. Thankfully, we had a small but remarkably dedicated team. The crew really loved the concept and went above and beyond to make this modest project feel 20 times bigger than it actually was.

In particular, I have to give a tonne of credit to cinematographer Jonathan Glendon, who really gave this one his all. So much of the production process was a blur, with the two of us racing back and forth across the city. Up at sunrise to catch a magic-hour moment, and shooting through to 2 AM, Jon sandwiched in the middle of a rave dance floor. Each day was pretty relentless, often very run-and-gun, with us inventing ways to ensure things always felt elevated and cinematic. But that super hands-on approach is exciting. It’s tactile filmmaking, and something that has always felt very essential to keeping me feeling inspired.

LBB> Building on this, what was it like working with the athletes? Do you have any anecdotes from the experience?

​Kevan> My first feature was set in the sports world, I grew up playing a lot of sports, and I’m an obsessed sports fan. Sports have always felt very comfortable to me, and I love working with athletes. In fact, I’ve always thought of directing actors through a sports lens. The actor is the athlete, and the director is the coach. As a coach, you can’t just tell a player to go out and score 50 points. I mean, you can… but that’s terrible coaching. Your job is to create an environment and a framework for that athlete to succeed, which is the same as working with actors. You want to put them in a winning situation.

In terms of working with athletes, for me, the most important part is getting a sense of them as people, so that you’re creating a production space that is tailored to their personalities. You want them to be themselves, not someone else. That’s how they’re going to be at their best.

One thing that was really cool about this experience is that the young woman in the gym who is shown throughout is actually Nino’s little cousin. Having that family connection was something that really meant a lot to me, just in terms of the level of detail and authenticity we were able to weave into the fabric of this project.

LBB> Given the central role of music, how did this factor into your process?

Kevan> Sound was something we constantly discussed while shooting – how images would cut to music, and specifically, how moments of sound design could be used as points of punctuation throughout the edit. We knew this was super vital to the transitions and cohesiveness of the spot, since we wanted it to feel like a DJ set in terms of having this enchanting flow and complementary contrast. It was always really important that we had the sound design and music work in a way that was compositional, with diegetic and non-diegetic sound functioning as another instrument of sorts.

Kyle McCrea, who did all the sound design, is also a composer and musician. His inherent musical instincts and taste were a massive part of this project. I had very specific ideas about how I wanted this blended soundscape to articulate one of Nino’s sets, and he brought that to life in an incredibly dynamic way.

LBB> And overall, what equipment did you use to film? Tell us about your decisions!

Kevan> True to the scrappy, hands-on nature of the project, we shot on all sorts of formats. I wanted a collage-like aesthetic for this – another articulation of the diversity of the city, but also a way to visually express the range of a DJ set; full of different moods, vibes and energies, but never messy. We also talked a lot about texture throughout the process, and how we would Toronto’s in both the visual and sonic language of the film.

To do this, we used the Cooke anamorphic lenses throughout, which I love. We shot a mix of 35mm and digital (Arricam LT, Arri Alexa Mini, Arri Alexa 35), along with a sprinkling of Hi8 video and iPhone footage. Here, I have to give a shout-out to the amazing team at ARRI, who went so wildly above and beyond to facilitate so much of this for us. This would have been utterly impossible without their support.

LBB> Did you have a hand in the editing process? What were your main ambitions for aesthetic and colour, and what did it take to make sure that was achieved?

Kevan> I worked closely with Nathan Olszewicki, a super talented young editor at Outsider. Having edited so many of my own music videos over the years, I had a very strong idea of what I wanted to do, and Nathan really channelled that direction in an impressive way. We spent a tonne of time, both in person and online, really dialling that sense of tempo and diversity in. And, just like the shoot, we really took our time. We had so much material; we wanted to maximise every frame and make sure that there was this hypnotic magnetism to the cutting – to make it feel like getting lost in an incredible DJ set.

LBB> What lessons have you learned in the making of this campaign?

Kevan> This project was a really nice reminder of how much process matters. It was a lot of hands-on, hard work. But it was a totally liberating and invigorating creative process. We were singularly concerned with the creative expression and quality of each moment, and it was an absolute luxury to have that freedom and trust. A process that allows space for discovery and ideas to blossom is always special. And here, you get to feel that on the screen.

LBB> Finally, are there any elements of the project you’re particularly proud of? And why?

Kevan> I’m most proud that this project feels like a genuine reflection of the excitement and energy of the grassroots fanbase of the Toronto Tempo. As a diehard women’s basketball fan myself, it was really important this was something that reflected that community in a visceral way. I’m positive that when the team tips off in May, they’re going to hit like a tidal wave across this city, and I wanted to make sure that spirit is at the centre of this spot!