While Mr. Orfanidis went into advertising after graduation, he found the work unappealing. Even so, he was hesitant when a friend working in commercial production asked him to come out and be a production assistant.
“I wasn’t really interested at first, but he begged me,” Mr. Orfanidis said. “I went out that first day and was in awe with what was unfolding. I never looked back. I started calling everyone to hire me.”
From there, Mr. Orfanidis went on to work as a production manager on shows like Hannibal, Star Trek: Discovery and 12 Monkeys prior to joining Schitt’s Creek in Season 5. He’s now a unit production manager on a television series for Amazon.
“I’m the guy who facilitates the means for the production,” he said. “I’m the eyes and ears of all elements of the show, and I’m constantly trying to blend the creative with the practical. I do whatever it takes to enable what we can achieve by always putting the smartest people in the room to hash out any challenges.”
As for his recipe for success, Mr. Orfanidis’s advice is to “listen to the specialists you’ve hired in those specific fields and trust them.”
“It was the same recipe when I was student at Seneca,” he said. “The Creative Advertising program was all about collaboration and working in teams and recognizing that there will be people with characteristics and traits that make them better suited to certain projects. You don’t need to take everything on yourself.”