Making Waves With... Hudson Williams

Live captioning will be provided for this event.

As part of TIFF Next Wave, our year-round initiative empowering young people through the art of cinema, join us for an intimate conversation with Hudson Williams, one of the stars of the Festival Primetime series YAGA from Kat Sandler. Born and raised in British Columbia, Williams spent his youth balancing the arts and sports — training in theatre, music, and dance while simultaneously playing competitive basketball and practicing mixed martial arts. After graduating from Vancouver's Langara College Film Arts program in 2020, he continued to dive deep into his craft with professional theatre classes. Williams began navigating the Canadian film and television industry while at the same time being a disruptor by writing, directing, producing, and starring in independent short films with a close-knit circle of creative collaborators. His massive breakthrough came when he was cast as Shane Hollander in Jacob Tierney’s award-winning series Heated Rivalry, adapted from the bestselling novels by Rachel Reid. Since its debut in fall 2025, the series has become a global phenomenon, catapulting Williams to international stardom. Williams joins us to discuss his roles in the Crave Original series YAGA and Heated Rivalry, as well as the upcoming independent feature Apparatus. The conversation will explore his cinematic and cultural inspirations and reflect on the early short films, community, and collaborations that helped shape his unique artistic voice.