She sold cookies as a teenager to pay for film school

Now she’s back in Toronto for her feature film debut

- JOSHUA CHONG

Susie Yankou’s journey from Toronto to Los Angeles (and back again) is a story of big dreams, dogged determination and cookies. Hundreds and hundreds of cookies.

In her final year of high school, the filmmaker spent her spare time at farmers’ markets across the city, where she would sell her delectable confections. Cookie by cookie — she would offer a trio for $5 — Yankou raised thousands of dollars to fund her dream of attending a prestigious screenwriting program at the University of Southern California.

Her story attracted significant attention — it was even covered by the Star — and Yankou ultimately reached her fundraising goal. It covered part of her $55,000 tuition for the first year of university and helped Yankou realize her dream of moving to Los Angeles, where she lives to this day.

But now, the 29-year-old is back in her hometown of Toronto, perhaps fittingly, to celebrate her feature film debut. Her indie comedy “Sisters” is to premiere Saturday as part of the LGBTQ-focused Inside Out Festival at the TIFF Lightbox, a venue where she fell in love with filmmaking as a teenager.