From news reporter to host of her own current affairs show, Janette Luu has been in front of the camera for nearly a decade. Although she earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and Latin from the University of Michigan, she pursued a career in broadcasting and began in news as a reporter and weekend anchor at the ABC affiliate in her hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana. In 2006 Janette moved to Canada to host CANOE Live on SUN TV, making her the first Vietnamese TV news anchor in Toronto. During a much-needed hiatus from hosting, Janette graduated from The Second City's improv program after spending a year studying at the Toronto Training Centre. She has since evolved into a multi-platform producer working across television, radio, web and social media. She has contributed stories to CBC Radio, hosted and produced web series for Yahoo! Canada, and led the Twitter campaigns for Sarah Polley's feature films, Stories We Tell and Take This Waltz. Offscreen, Janette has also been a theatre performer, an independent film producer, and a creator of multimedia art events. In 2004 she and Matt Stuart launched a city-wide initiative that highlighted the importance of creativity and innovation to Fort Wayne’s economic growth. Because of her community-building efforts, Janette was chosen as a reader for the audio book, The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It’s Transforming Work, Leisure, Community, and Everyday Life by Richard Florida, who is currently Academic Director of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. Janette’s accomplishments have not gone unnoticed. She was honored as an inaugural member of the Future 40, Northeast Indiana’s forty most dynamic people under the age of 40, and graced the cover of the premiere issue of Fort Wayne Woman magazine. In 2005 she won the $25,000 grand prize in Visa’s Ideas Happen contest, in which she submitted her idea for an immersive experience. CBC Radio’s WireTap with Jonathan Goldstein humorously delved into Janette’s penchant for overachievement in Season 2’s “Mr. Helpful” episode. |
