Film Training Manitoba (FTM) wishes to extend its deepest thanks to Andrew Yankiwski for his exceptional service on FTM’s Board of Directors. Due to FTM’s term limits, Andrew has concluded his board service after serving as Vice-Chair, Chairperson, and Past Chairperson.
Andrew caught the audio production bug as a hobbyist in 1992. When the drummer in his Grindcore band moved out of province, he quickly learned to program a drum machine before recording an EP in a local studio. This led to early experiments in Industrial Metal, followed by Techno, Deep House, Downtempo, and Drum and Bass. By 1996, he had begun releasing music independently and performing at raves, warehouse parties, and club nights as one half of the FLFK duo.
Andrew co-founded Precursor Productions in 2000 to address the need for a dedicated studio for his own music projects, but it quickly attracted clients and students. Naturally drawn to boundary-pushing music across genres, he created innovative studio workflows that infused Precursor’s audio production services with this spirit. Andrew also developed Precursor’s audio production courses from the ground up in response to the limitations of traditional audio production training. He holds an undergraduate arts degree (History major, English minor) and a law degree from the University of Manitoba.
Career highlights include recording Liam Neeson’s ADR for the movie The Marksman, dubbing Mark Hamill for episodes of The Sandman series, recording Natalia Dyer’s ADR for episodes of Stranger Things Season 4, recording Dan Bakkedahl’s ADR for the final episode of Veep, and recording Hilary Swank’s narration for the documentary Becoming Annika.
“Andrew’s professional experience, ethics, fiscal acumen, and film industry know-how have been invaluable. Under Andrew’s excellent leadership, FTM has experienced significant growth,” said FTM Chairperson Ellen Rutter.
Andrew agreed to continue serving FTM as Co-Chair of the newly created Post-Production and New Technology Committee.
“FTM’s award-winning Canada’s Supporting Women in Film Trades (SWIFT) Conference received its start through the strong advocacy of board executives Andrew Yankiwski and Terence Fuller, who urged a major investment and renewed focus on training and supporting women film workers,” said FTM Executive Director Adam Smoluk.
He added, “Those landmark discussions and efforts would not have occurred without their important leadership. Andrew’s commitment to strengthening Manitoba’s film industry has had a lasting impact on our organization and the broader screen sector.”
FTM is a non-for-profit charity and member of the Province of Manitoba’s Sector Council program funded through the Economic Development, Investment, Trade and Natural Resources. FTM builds a highly skilled and adaptable film industry workforce to support the activities of Manitoba production companies. FTM collaborates and partners with members of the film industry to identify training needs to support workforce development.