WIND SUN SKY SPOTLIGHT: ANNA FORSYTH

Hi, my name is Anna Forsyth and my pronouns are she/her. 

How did you get started at WSS?

I’m originally from London, UK but after spending a semester abroad in Vancouver in 2011 and falling in love with the city, I moved here in 2016 for film school. My career has been in a few different industries includinga large non-profit, Property Development, Visual Effects and at a Literaary agent. 

But I started at WSS just over over three years ago as an Executive Assistant and then moved into People & Operations after about 9 months. In January of this year I moved up to the APM role.

Tell us, what’s the best part of your job?

 I’m kind of across all projects… but also on none of them. So it’s fun to get to see what everyone in the studio is working on, whether it’s at one of our monthly all-staff presentations, or when content is shared on Slack. 

The most satisfying part of my job is when an employee gets something out of an event I’ve organized or resources I have put together. Even an informational post I have researched, particularly if they have learnt something that helps create a better, more supportive work environment. The DE&I outings we have had in the last few years (The Really Gay History Walk in 2023, Talaysay Indigenous History Tour in 2024 and most recently the Chinatown Storytelling Centre visit 2025) were particularly rewarding and employees were really engaged in them.

and the most important part?

My job is to make sure everyone can do their jobs to the best of their ability so whether I am trying to hire a new team member, organize a social event to give everyone a much-needed break, provide DE&I enrichment or create the best working environment, I always try to keep that top-of-mind.

Can you share a favourite workplace memory?

I’ve loved all the socials and DE&I outings we have done – I particularly loved the Really Gay History Walk and the summer outing to the Canadians baseball game last year. All the organizing ahead of time pays off when you see everyone having fun – and you get to have fun too!

WSS is doing some really interesting and exciting projects so it’s fun to see what people are creating for those. In terms of employee engagement, we have a pretty busy summer with social outings, DE&I enrichment and doing some performance management stuff too, so definitely no ‘summer-slowdown’ on my end!

At work you’re known as the sports person

Why yes! I am a big sports fan, from cricket, football, ice hockey and more. Although I mainly spend my spare time yelling at the various terrible teams I’m unfortunate enough to support.

I also co-host of the longest-running Vancouver Canucks podcast, C4 Canucks Hockey Podcast; we call ourselves the best mediocre podcast and aim for a “two friends talking puck at a bar” type of vibe, while still tackling some of the serious issues in the game. I also write screenplays in my spare time, mainly ensemble comedies about dysfunctional friend groups.

Funnily enough, although I live in a part of the world with world-reknown outdoors: I hate the outdoors and any hiking or camping based activities. But I do love looking at the mountains while sipping a drink on a patio…

Last question: Any words of advice for someone looking to get into your field?

At a previous job, I started making fun, bite-sized instructional videos to keep people engaged during the pandemic. When I joined WSS, I leaned into writing DE&I resources and jumped in to support recruitment too. I’ve kind of carved out my role by saying yes to the stuff I’m genuinely curious about.

If I had one piece of advice, it’d be this: don’t be shy about what excites you. Your manager wants to help you grow, but they won’t know how unless you speak up. And my final words of wisdom: Listen. I’ve learned the best ideas come from really hearing what people need to make their work life better. Practise your active listening skills, it’s better than assuming.