"[1] He was twelve years old when he purchased a used Pentax K1000 SLR camera from a neighborhood garage sale and began learning about lighting and photography.

In high school, he became interested in playwriting, and after graduation studied theatre on scholarship at the British American Drama Academy at Oxford University.

[7] He was awarded a Royal Bank of Canada scholarship to attend governance training with the Rotman School of Management and the Institute of Corporate Directors.

[21] Smoluk was awarded selection by an international jury to attend the eQuinoxe Europe screenwriting development program in Lindau, Germany in October 2016.

[23] At the time of his appointment, he was the youngest senior executive in the province of Manitoba's Department of Economic Development's Sector Council Program.

[24] Economic Development Winnipeg profiled Smoluk's FTM and ACTRA Manitoba's inaugural BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour) Performers Training Initiative.

The CBC and BET+ series, The Porter, which started shooting in Winnipeg in May 2021, was a catalyst for FTM to create five virtual courses specifically targeting BIPOC talent.

That’s always a challenge, but we have some companies that have been doing so well with attracting productions and working collaboratively with the community.”[29] In the fall of 2021, Smoluk announced the creation of the Summit for Women in Film Trades (SWIFT), which was the first major conference to take place at Red River College Polytechnic's new Innovation Centre in January 2022.

“It does have potential economic challenges for industry because when you want to carry out large-scale film productions, there’s a cost to bring people from out of province to fill those labour voids,” said Smoluk.

And if you’re not attracting underrepresented workers, you’re not growing your industry.”[31] With the delivery of a major national event, former Governor General of Canada Michaëlle Jean was announced as the keynote speaker of SWIFT 2023.

Smoluk also announced the selection of Manitoba crown attorney Chantal Boutin and Winnipeg's first women mayor Susan Thompson as distinguished SWIFT speakers.

“Rory Kennedy is an outstanding and tenacious filmmaker, and Film Training Manitoba and our partners are so honoured to be working with her to deliver this important workforce development initiative,” Said Smoluk.

Smoluk partnered with the Ukrainian Canadian Congress(UCC) and among the panelists there was a representative from ACTRA and staff from FRANK Digital, a Winnipeg-based video production company.