: The roundtable will be hosted by Kevy from You Made it Peel. It will be composed of the artists who contributed to the Arts Exhibit.

Hi,my name is Kevy Oh and I’m a Social Media and Content Creator and an aspiring Actor and Writer.

What do you make?

I make all kinds of content, especially snackable content for Generation Z – that’s what I’m currently interested in doing. That includes Instagram story videos, very organic videos on TikTok, editing – you name it! My personal platforms? I just went through a rebrand on my YouTube channel. It’s a skin care YouTube channel now, it used to be more about my life but I feel like I’m real passionate about skincare. So make sure you check that out at youtube.com/kevyoh (just oh) and then for my personal Instagram just kevyoh.

​

What was the last thing you made and why did you make it?

The last thing I got to make hands on was a CBC Short Documentary called Juan’s Speech. It was such a fulfilling moment for me because I got to be part of the creative process from beginning to end I got to wear all types of hats including producer to production assistant to continuity assistant and actually the producer! That was super fun! You can check it out on YouTube I’m sure I’ll send you a link but yeah, that’s one of the biggest, happiest things I’ve created.

​

Growing up in high school, definitely in the Peel Region area I did have this natural creative talent to perform but back then there was not that many resources or much hype to pursue those creative tendencies that I had. So I had to get into more of the health studies cause you know that’s what my grandma wanted me to become a doctor. So I pursued that but it just didn’t match and you know, being something more creative was my true calling. So I took a semester off without my family knowing – I know it’s bad but I thought I would come back but I never did which is good – cause I did end up getting to be on the Much Music VJ Search. It was a reality show in 2013. It lasted an entire month, I got to travel across Canada – man, what more of an epiphany do you want? Right? After that I applied for an internship at MTV and the rest was history. I changed schools to Ryerson Radio and Television Arts and yeah, I graduated two years ago and yeah I’m doing OK.

​

What’s the best advice you’ve been given?

I would say the best ultimate life advice I’ve ever received ever is – as corny as it sounds- just be kind. And you know what, I’m going to add to it. Anyone can be kind, just put in the effort to be warm to people. If you have a chance to interact with anyone just take some more time to maybe leave a more positive impact. I think that’s great and I think that ties into networking especially with you and me. I met you when I was 16 and we are still having a great friendship and I get to do this great interview. So I think that is a really good piece of advice to apply to all aspects of your life. Just be warm.

​

How important is it for you to be creative and where do you find you’re most creative?

I would say it’s so super important for me to be creative especially in my day to day work. I get to have that creative aspect as part of my daily duties as the social media associate manager. I feel like I was born to somehow illustrate that I like creating art just for my own satisfaction so it’s definitely very important part of my life. I would say in the wee hours of 1am-3am I find myself the most creative especially while I’m typing away on celtx (the free program) and I like to write lasting sad love songs. That’s when I’m truly at my creative prime.

If you could collaborate with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be and why?

If I had the chance to collaborate with The Sandra Oh – not only because we share the last name- I feel like I’ve been manifesting this all my life. In my head she’s my aunt that’s like third removed. I would love to work with Sandra OH. The way she just approaches her craft is inspiring. I feel like she’s such an amazing actor and yeah that would be amazing. if I could write something for her or just be on set for her and get her coffee.

What would be your dream project?

I would say to be part of the creative process from beginning to end of writing a rom-com film and then having it produced and be adapted into a full on film. That would be amazing!

​

Where do you see the future of Peel Region’s Arts and Culture scene?

Well if I would be honest, I really don’t know what it looks like now, just cause right now I feel like it’s not staring me right in the face. So hopefully we can get some programs out there to really drive some hype that we do have a lot of amazing talents in this area. How many more of us need to be on Netflix for you to realize there’s something out here in the water in Mississauga that makes us really great. So I would like to see more programs, more hubs, more resources for the artists because if I had a hub right now we wouldn’t have these sound issues. Haha. Let me just conclude this with, “we live for arts” you know? We gotta put our money where out mouth is.

​

What’s one question you wished you were asked more often?

I wish somebody asked me about more moments when I felt the most alive or asked me what are the things that really make me happy. I feel like those things are the most overlooked and essential in day to day life. I for one am really happy just doing nothing and just chilling. I feel like we need to do that more. We are so hustle focused, especially in the creative arts where we want to get our visions out there as quickly as possible. It’s ok to spend one, two, three years just living.

​

Is Mississauga the new LA?

Mississauga is definitely the new LA. Not only is our parking lots and city spaces are being booked by huge production companies (trust me I accidentally walked on a few sets by mistake as I was getting my groceries) but there is something in the water here that has a creative zest of talented energy. I feel Toronto gets compared to NY while the suburb next to it mirrors the more chill vibe of LA. I know so many up and coming artists from the peel region looking at their city for support. It’s also very inspiring to see Mississauga talent such as Simu Liu (Kim’s Convenience, Marvel Shang Chi) and Maitreyi Ramakrishnan (Never Have I Ever) soar to global fame. There are such beautiful and diverse stories experienced here in Mississauga that definitely need to be told through art and hopefully one day LA could be the new Mississauga.