ABOUT | chara

Chara is a photographer, filmmaker, designer, and creative entrepreneur.

Chara Ho is a photographer, filmmaker, digital artist, and creative entrepreneur dedicated to telling meaningful stories that uplift culture and community.

She is the co-founder of Zesty Nobody Studios, a creative production company dedicated to telling meaningful stories while amplifying diasporic Asian voices with authenticity and nuance through cinema, digital media, and interactive/immersive experiences.

Chara is also a Canon FUTURES Creator, one of twenty creatives selected from hundreds across Canada to join Canon’s inaugural mentorship program for creatives. She is also a mentee in Soho House Toronto’s mentorship program through the Creative Futures Collective.

With 7+ years of industry experience, Chara’s portfolio includes partnerships with Warner Brothers Discovery, Canon, MLSE (Toronto Raptors, Toronto Maple Leafs, TFC.), the Academy of Canadian Cinema & TV, and more.

She earned a B.A from Toronto Metropolitan University’s RTA School of Media, as well as an Associate Diploma (ARCT) in Piano Performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music.

Values & Mission

Chara believes that everyone is worthy of feeling seen and understood by the stories we see on screen. Fuelled by lived experiences as an Asian Canadian storyteller, Chara's artistic expression aims at pushing the boundaries of what, and how stories are told.

Through her diverse artistry and visual signature, Chara’s work spotlights beauty in the ordinary and the unseen. Themes of identity, belonging, and connection are prevalent, often bridging the greatness of imagination with intimate explorations of what’s within.

She believes that we deserve radical empathy for ourselves and for each other.

Testimonials

“We engaged Chara to design a screenwriter lookbook for media executives, and the end product hugely impressed our audience and made a valuable first impression for our project. From the start of our engagement, Chara was a clear communicator, very organized and mindful of our timeline. Even when requirements and deadlines changed on our end, she smoothly adapted to our needs. I love how easygoing and collaborative it is to work with her on a project. She is full of creative ideas, and was able to push our project to a new level of excitement and excellence. I would highly recommend working with Chara.”

-- Nancy, Sr Coordinator, Talent Development Programs, Canadian Academy

Chara is a creative genius. She has been working with my team for over a year and made an impact the minute she walked through the door. Clients rave above her work and I truly believe it's because of her attention to detail during the consultation process. Chara takes her time to study each project and asks our clients very thoughtful questions. As a result, she exceeds expectations each and every time. It's been a joy to work with Chara. I am so proud of her growth here at WritersBlok and I highly recommend her services.

-- Pauleanna Reid, Celebrity Ghostwriter, CEO at TheWritersBlok

I had the pleasure of working with Chara and her team in the last year at Zesty Nobody, collaborating on several projects. I was particularly impressed by Chara's ability to handle even the toughest requests effortlessly. She also made sure to check in every week on deliverables and ensure it was up to brand standard. Zesty Nobody always delivers assets way before the deadline to give the team and myself, time to review and request any edits. I would highly recommend her for any big campaign projects you need a creative spin on.

-- Febe Asaad, Digital Marketing Specialist, Cadillac Fairview

I couldn't be more satisfied with the work that Chara did for my project. After going through 4 different artists, I felt hopeless that my idea would never come to life the way I had hoped. From the beginning, Chara was by far the most organized, thorough, and detail-oriented artist I had worked with on this project. She managed to bring every idea I had to fruition in a timely manner. I can't thank her enough. I truly believe the hard work she put into this deck will have a long-lasting effect on the success of this project. Thanks so much for going 110% on this :)

-- Taylor Patterson, Video Journalist, blogTO

Chara delivers, with a congenial attitude and impressive skill. We admittedly gave her very limited time and resources to pull off a short-form web content series, and she was still responsive, punctual and communicative throughout the process. Chara has a keen eye for visual storytelling, the technical skill to execute tasks quickly and correctly, and was very open and generous during the notes process. Hoping to work with Chara again very soon!

-- Senior Manager, Prism Prize & MVP Project @ The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television

Working with Chara is such a pleasure. We have worked together as freelancers on several client projects and she always brings creativity and professionalism. Chara has great attention to detail and makes the creative process easy by bringing great ideas and critical thinking. She is a great collaborator and creative, and she will enhance any project or team she is a part of.

-- Chantelle Hartle, Founder, Hartle Designs

We were so thrilled with Chara's work. She listened to our needs and created beautiful images for our website. She collaborated effectively with us to adjust images accordingly and completed the work quickly to help us meet our deadline. She was always responsive. When I looked at our graphics for the first time, I felt an incredible sense of zen. I felt like I could take a deep breath for the first time in weeks. This was exactly what we want for our users. I would recommend her to everyone!

-- Shelley Vaisburg, Co-Founder, Brainbot

Working with Chara is an absolute pleasure. Our organization has been working with Chara for the past few years and she has the uncanny ability to know the exact design that we are looking for with very little instruction. She is not only incredibly talented but she is an excellent communicator and always willing and able to do whatever she can do to make sure that we have everything we need. Even when items were asked for at the very last minute, she was able to help accommodate. I highly recommend working with Chara.

-- Andrea Waserman, Managing Director at CAAIF

Awards.

Don Marren Memorial Award (2018)
FCAD Student Choice TARA Award (2018)
Johnny Lombardi Creative Endowment Award (2019)
Hire Higher Grant Finalist
Sony THU Talent League Semi-Finalist
Reel Asian So You Think You Can Pitch! Top 10 Shortlist

Features.

Kaleidoscope Publication (Issue No. 1)
2020 Official Selection: Lift-Off Global Network Sessions
2020 Official Selection: Feminysta
2019 RTA School of Media, The Space Between Exhibition

Digital Artist

Where surrealism meets whimsy, Chara mixes illustration, design, and photography into her compositions, using art as a way to elevate the ordinary with imaginative dreamscapes. She is open to commissions and branded partnerships to help tell culturally and emotionally impactful stories.

Filmmaker

Chara is a writer-director whose work explores themes of identity, family, and belonging, aiming to tell underrepresented stories that help others feel seen and provoke deeper understanding for ourselves and each other.

Photographer

For brands, artists, and organizations who want to stop audiences in their tracks. Through creative direction and cross-disciplinary collaboration as image-makers, I help clients translate ideas into compelling visual experiences.

As someone who is passionate about education and collective empowerment in the creative community, Chara is also open to speaking, mentorship, and consulting opportunities.