Xavier Georges brings his show-business magic to Newfoundland and Labrador, along with decades of experience, an impressive resume and a deep belief in the power of creative work.
An instructor at College of the North Atlantic’s Paul L. Pope Centre for TV & Film, Georges represents what can happen when passion and persistence come together.
“I joined forces with the group developing the CNA film course from the beginning and created some of the curriculum included in it,” he said. “This led to an offer to teach this content. I accepted, and I am thrilled to now walk this path.”
Georges’ career began in Montreal, where he started working in the television and film industry in 1989. Since then, he has accumulated a long list of credits across television, film, live shows and theatre. His path eventually led him east.
“I moved to Newfoundland and Labrador in 2005 and started working on Republic of Doyle in 2010. The industry was very small at the time, and I spent a lot of time training crew to build an art department team in St. John’s,” he said.
That hands-on work helped lay the foundation for what would become a steadily expanding production community. Alongside teaching, Georges continues to work at the highest levels of the industry, with experience on major productions for some of the world’s largest studios and streaming platforms.
“I was fortunate to be able to work on major productions from various studios, Columbia Pictures, Walt Disney and such,” he said. “This is precious experience that I brought here and that gave me the opportunity to take a leading role with CBC’s Republic of Doyle, Discovery and Netflix’s Frontier, Rogers’ Hudson & Rex, and more.”
Most recently, he accepted a position with a Netflix Canada production filming in St. John’s.
“The knowledge to work, lead a team and develop a network at that level is pretty unique and led me to recently to accept a position with this year’s Netflix Canada production in St. John’s,” he said. “Working on the latter served many purposes. For the production, it meant having a local art director on the team who would be able to bring forward, when making creative decisions, the true potential the province has to offer and the reality of the challenges as well.”
One of the impacts Georges is most proud of is his commitment to mentorship and hiring locally. Through his work, he has hired students from multiple CNA campuses and programs, including the TV and film programs at the Paul L. Pope Centre, architectural technology at Ridge Road campus, carpentry at Carbonear campus and the graphics programs at Prince Philip Drive campus.
Over the years, Georges’ work has earned significant recognition. His accolades include a nomination for best production design at the Canadian Screen Awards for Cast No Shadows and a nomination for best production design at the Directors Guild of Canada Awards for Sweet Angel Baby.
In 2014, Georges and his wife launched their own production company.
“Sibelle Productions is the first French-language production house in the province. Our film projects about Newfoundland and Labrador have been broadcast in 120 countries and 24 languages,” he said. “In this business, versatility will create opportunities, and passionate hard work becomes your job security. Your name is everything.”
For students and aspiring filmmakers, Georges’ advice is direct: big dreams require resilience, patience and effort.
“I started in this industry volunteering on community television. I never stopped believing, despite plenty of ‘friendly’ advice, that I could make a living doing this amazing job,” he said. “I always transformed the last hit I took into the next stone in the foundation of my experience. My career has always depended on how hard I worked and applied my talents to the task.”
For more information about CNA’s television and film programs, visit www.cna.nl.ca.
