Broadcasting Peace: Harnarayan Singh & The Mosaic Institute

The Challenge: Reframing “Peace Work”

When The Mosaic Institute—a platform dedicated to dismantling prejudice—named Harnarayan Singh their 2021 Peace Patron, it was a groundbreaking choice. Past recipients included UN commissioners and Supreme Court justices. Singh was a hockey broadcaster for Hockey Night in Canada.

The Mosaic Institute’s goal was to launch their new focus on diversity and anti-racism in sports. Our assignment was to produce the centerpiece video for this campaign.

The creative challenge was translation: We needed to prove to donors, stakeholders, and the public that a sports broadcaster qualifies as a peace-builder. We had to take abstract concepts—systemic racism, diversity, and representation—and turn them into a tangible, emotional, and visually compelling documentary.

Furthermore, we had to balance the tone. Singh’s story involves enduring blunt racism and discrimination in the hockey world. The video needed to honor that painful reality without becoming a tragedy. It had to be a story of triumph, legacy, and hope.

The Strategy: The Universal Languages

During pre-production interviews, Singh gave us the thesis for the film: “Sports and music are these two blessings we have in the world where it can bring us together.”

We decided to build our entire visual strategy around that quote. We wouldn’t just tell the audience about his broadcast career; we would show the intersection of his Punjabi heritage and his Canadian identity to prove that the two not only coexist, but enrich each other.

1. The Interview Setup: Elevating the Subject

To visually establish Singh’s authority and align him with the prestige of the Peace Patron award, we carefully designed the A-roll interview.

The Look: We chose a bright, elevated, modern setting with soft natural window light.
The Wardrobe: Dressed in a sharp suit and his turban, the framing is deliberate—professional, distinguished, and optimistic. We intentionally avoided dark, moody, or “gritty” documentary lighting, ensuring the visual tone remained aspirational even when he was discussing heavy topics like discrimination.

2. The Lifestyle B-Roll: Filming the Legacy

To show why Singh’s work matters, we shifted the focus to his children. Advocacy is ultimately about the next generation.

The Driveway Scene: We filmed his kids playing street hockey wearing Team Canada gear, juxtaposed with Singh wearing a custom “SINGH 19” hockey jersey. It’s a classic, recognizable Canadian visual, updated to reflect the true diversity of the country.
The Tabla Scene: To capture the “music” aspect of his quote, we filmed intimate verité moments of Singh playing the tabla (traditional Indian drums) in his living room while his children watched.
The Strategy: By cutting between the rhythmic striking of the tabla drums and the slaps of a hockey stick on a driveway, we created a visual and auditory bridge. We showed the audience that teaching his kids to be proud of their faith and proud of their sport is, at its core, an act of peace-building.

3. Archival Integration: Scale and Credibility

A key production hurdle was establishing the sheer scale of Singh’s platform. We seamlessly integrated high-energy archival broadcast footage from Sportsnet and the NHL.

By flashing between his iconic “Bonino!” goal call during the Stanley Cup Finals and him sitting at the Hockey Night in Canada desk with Jason York, we grounded the emotional family story in massive, undeniable professional credibility. It proved he wasn’t just a participant in the sport; he was shaping its culture on a national stage.

The Value & Result

The documentary premiered as the anchor of the 2021 Peace Patron Award ceremony and immediately became a core educational asset for The Mosaic Institute.

1. Validating a Strategic Pivot: For The Mosaic Institute, this video successfully bridged the gap between their traditional diplomatic work and their new focus on sports advocacy. It provided a clear, emotional “Why” that donors and stakeholders could easily understand and rally behind.

2. A Scalable Educational Asset: Because we balanced the heavy themes of racism with a joyful, family-focused narrative, the video functions beautifully as a teaching tool. It is accessible to youth programs and schools, doing the heavy lifting of explaining why representation matters by showing it in action.

3. Amplifying the Message: The video provided high-end, shareable content that capitalized on Singh’s growing national profile (coinciding with the release of his memoir). It gave The Mosaic Institute a premium piece of media to drive engagement across their social and digital channels.