On what`s coming up

Transcription

On what`s coming up

34502 Performers
4/22/04
12:40 PM
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34502 Performers
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ACTRA Toronto Council
WHO’S WHO
FYI — ACTRAStuffYouShoudKnowNow
President’s Message
Drama Brewing
involved deserves congratulation. First we
recognize the actors who joined us in our
days of demonstrations, our press briefings
and countless meetings with ministers, legislators and senior bureaucrats in Ottawa.
Thanks go to Julie Stewart, Fiona Reid and
Sonja Smits; to Wendy Crewson, R.H.
Thomson and Leah Pinsent; to Rick
Mercer, Nicholas Campbell and Peter
Keleghan; to our godfather, Gordon
Pinsent, and to the guy who kick-started our
campaign at the June 2002 Members’
Conference, Paul Gross.
In the days leading up to the tabling of the
federal budget in late March, over 500 of
our performers nationwide sent emails urging Finance Minister Ralph Goodale to
keep the promise and commit to serious
support of the Canadian Television Fund, an
essential instrument of “seed money” that
has to be the starting point if there is to be
any chance of a vitalized dramatic television
industry in Canada.
Apparently our government listened. The
pledge to the CTF is $100 million this year
and again next. They kept the commitment
that Prime Minister Paul Martin made to a
vanguard of our prominent members who
took it upon themselves to join the campaign that ACTRA Toronto initiated with
our national union. In our crusade we forged
strong partnerships with the guilds of
directors and writers, the technical unions
and the association of producers.
Without question, this is a major victory. It
provides the stability and encouragement
that our producers need, and everyone
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PRESIDENT
Richard Hardacre (1, 2) rhardacre@actra.ca, ext: 6780
A C T R A TO R O N TO P E R F O R M E R S
VICE-PRESIDENT, COMMUNICATIONS
Heather Allin (1, 2 ) hallin@council.actratoronto.com, ext: 6610
VICE-PRESIDENT, EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
Christie MacFadyen (1, 2)
cmacfadyen@council.actratoronto.com, ext: 6609
VICE-PRESIDENT, INTERNAL AFFAIRS
Elizabeth McCallum (2)
emccallum@council.actratoronto.com, ext: 6608
VICE-PRESIDENT, MEMBER SERVICES
Eric Murphy (2) emurphy@council.actratoronto.com, ext: 6606
VICE-PRESIDENT, FINANCE
Austin Schatz (1, 2) aschatz@council.actratoronto.com, ext: 6607
EXECUTIVE MEMBER-AT-LARGE
Karl Pruner (1, 2) kpruner@council.actratoronto.com, ext: 6611
PAST PRESIDENT
Robert Collins (1, 2) rcollins@council.actratoronto.com
With all of them we brought prominence to
our fight for a Canadian industry, and the
many ambitious and proud members who
wrote and kept up the pressure fueled the
campaign. Thank you.
Aidan Devine (1, 2) adevine@council.actratoronto.com
Now our eye is on the real prize. We have to
get the regulators who permit and define
broadcasting (the CRTC) to not only smell
the coffee (they do: we went calling already,
and their chair came to talk to us), we need
them to roast a new brew, to re-write the
regs of 1999 and to oblige the private network broadcasters to make slots available in
their schedules of cheap reality shows and
simulcast U.S. hit series. Those immensely
profitable genres allowed the broadcasters
to double their profits over the past two
years. We recognize that industry must
prosper, but when it does so without even
the faintest attempt to foster Canadian
drama, we view this as an abandonment of
responsibility to the nation’s viewers, and to
our culture in general.
Don Lamoreux (2) dlamoreux@council.actratoronto.com
The CRTC knows about this responsibility.
Not only can they create the regulatory
environment that will encourage Canadian
stories to be produced, performed, and
aired, we believe, and strongly hold, that the
audience is there to give these broadcasters
the revenue they require.
Cheryl Hancock, ACTRA Apprentice Secretary
chancock@actratoronto.com, ext. 6617
We are going to need you, our thousands of
performers, to join and remain with our
Campaign for Canadian Programming. It is
vital, and, as we have demonstrated, it is
now winnable.
Ferne Downey (1, 2) fdowney@council.actratoronto.com
Toni Ellwand (2) tellwand@council.actratoronto.com
Dom Fiore (2) dfiore@council.actratoronto.com
Lyn Mason Green (1, 2) lmgreen@council.actratoronto.com
David Macniven (1, 2) dmacniven@council.actratoronto.com
Julie McLeod (2) jmcleod@council.actratoronto.com
Frank McAnulty (2) fmcanulty@council.actratoronto.com
Sean Mulcahy (1, 2)
Chris Owens (2) cowens@council.actratoronto.com
Stephen Graham Simpson (2) enochinc@rogers.com.com
Theresa Tova (1, 2) ttova@actratoronto.com
Anne Marie Scheffler (2) amscheffler@council.actratoronto.com
Rhonda Lee Stephenson (2)
rstephenson@council.actratoronto.com
Ron White (2) rwhite@council.actratoronto.com
Legend: 1-ACTRA National Councillor;
2-ACTRA Toronto Councillor
James Finnerty, ACTRA Apprentice Chair
jfinnerty@actratoronto.com, ext. 6615
Shereen Airth, ACTRA Apprentice Vice-Chair
sairth@actratoronto.com, ext. 6621
David Farquhar, Apprentice Executive Member-at-Large
dfarquhar@actratoronto.com, ext. 6616
Wayne McMahon, ACTRA Extra Caucus Chair
wmcmahon@actratoronto.com ext. 6620
Katherine Bignell, ACTRA Extra Vice-Chair
kbignell@actratoronto.com, ext. 6613
Ismay Pascall, ACTRA Extra Secretary
ipascall@actratoronto.com, ext. 6622
Philip Cairns, ACTRA Extra Member-at-Large
pcairns@actratoronto.com, ext. 6625
David Riess, ACTRA Extra Member-at-Large
driess@actratoronto.com, ext. 6627
Heather Thompson, ACTRA Extra Member-at-Large
hthompson@actratoronto.com, ext. 6628
Theresa Tova, Children's Advocate
ttova@actratoronto.com, ext. 6605
Priya Rao, Diversity Chair & Advocate
prao@actratoronto.com, ext. 6618
Stephen Graham Simpson, Diversity Vice-Chair
enochinc@rogers.com
Leesa Levinson, Diversity Advocate
llevinson@actratoronto.com, ext 6619
Shawn Lawrence, Ombudsman
slawrence@actratoronto.com, ext. 6604
Richard Hardacre, President
Visit the ACTRA Toronto website at
www.actratoronto.com!
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performers
Contents
The magazine from ACTRA Toronto
Summer 2004
PUBLISHER
Heather Allin
hallin@council.actratoronto.com
EDITOR
Brad Borbridge
Page 4
Letters to the Editor &
Who you gonna call
editor@actratoronto.com
EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
Heather Allin, Brad Borbridge, Richard Hardacre,
Dan Mackenzie, David Macniven, Carol Taverner, Brian Topp
DESIGN&LAYOUT
Page 5
Kicks & Kudos
Page 6
Meet your Ombudsman
Erick Querci
creativeprocess@sympatico.ca
ADVERTISING SALES
Page 8
The ACTRA Awards in Toronto!
Karen Cowitz
kcowitz@rocketmail.com
416-461-4627
Page 11
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Award of Excellence Winner
Heather Allin • Brad Borbridge • Ferne Downey
Todd Dulmage • Richard Hardacre • Kim Hume
Chris Owens • Karl Pruner • Priya Rao
Page 12
We reserve the right to edit or omit any material for length,
style, content or possible legal ramifications.
Outstanding Performance Winner
Sonja Smits -
Diane D’Aquila –
Page 13
PLEASE ADDRESS EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE TO:
Brent Carver -
Performers Magazine
c/o ACTRA Toronto Performers
625 Church Street
Toronto, ON M4Y 2G1
Fax: (416) 928-2852
Outstanding Performance Winner
Page 14
Casting Directors on How to Get Cast
editor@actratoronto.com
JOIN THE TEAM
If you’re an ACTRA Toronto member or apprentice and want to
write an article, contribute original cartoons, artwork or photos
– we’d love to hear from you! Send us an email.
Page 16
Meet FilmOntario
Page 18
Who’s doing what for you at ACTRA Toronto
THE NEXT COPY DEADLINE IS
September 1, 2004
The magazine invites members to submit notices of births,
marriages, obituaries, and letters to the editor. Article submissions
MUST be sent via e-mail (editor@actratoronto.com) or on disk
with accompanying hard copy.
Performers magazine is published three times a
year by ACTRA Toronto Performers. The views
expressed in unsolicited and solicited articles
are not necessarily the views of ACTRA Toronto
Performers, its Council or this Committee.
www.actratoronto.com
Cover Photography Credit:
Page 19
ACTRA 101
Page 20
Feature Article:
This is (Canada’s) Wonderland
Page 26
Members’ News
Page 30
Next Conference
Sonja Smits, photo credit, Carol Racicot
Brent Carver and Diane D’Aquila
in CBC’s Elizabeth Rex.
ACTRA Awards statue sculptor : Adrienne Alison
SUM M ER 20 0 4
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Dear Editor:
I have, once again,
been put through
the wringer trying
to get pre-approved
for a mortgage. I
went through the
same thing four
years ago when I
bought my little loft
home; however, this
time it’s different. I
am a very fortunate actress making an
obscene amount of money (thank-you,
Canadian Tire) and I’m still being treated like a second-class citizen. I have 25%
down. I have no debt. My credit rating is
stellar. I pay my taxes. I’ve prepaid a ton
on my current mortgage. None of this
seems to matter. Most mortgage managers
view us as three-headed monsters – they
simply do not understand the selfemployed, let alone the self-employed
artist – and therefore they fear us. The
better ones know how to massage the
numbers, but those individuals are few
and far between.
ware for calculating whether any given
self-employed person is a good risk or
not. I’m curious to know how long the
existing formula has been in place (I’ll
betcha 20 bucks it’s in DOS). The days
when everyone worked at the same
company for 50 years and then retired
with a pension are long gone.
If I’m having such a tough time with this
issue, what is the rest of the membership
going through? Is this an issue that
ACTRA might want to pursue?
Gloria Slade
ACTRA Toronto Staff
ACTRA TORONTO PERFORMERS
GENERAL CONTACT INFORMATION
Tel: 416-928-2278 or toll-free 1-877-913-2278
email: info@actratoronto.com
625 Church Street, 1st floor, Toronto, ON M4Y 2G1
COMMERCIAL AGREEMENT INTERPRETATIONS
Judy Barefoot (Manager)
Tel: 416-642-6705, email: jbarefoot@actratoronto.com
Kelly Davis (Steward)
Tel: 416-642-6707, email: kdavis@actratoronto.com
Cathy Wendt (Steward)
Tel: 416-642-6714, email: cwendt@actratoronto.com
COMMERCIAL AUDITION CALLBACK INQUIRIES
Claudette Allen
Tel: 416-642-6750, email: callen@actratoronto.com
Like you, I voted for David Miller and,
like you, I am a longtime ACTRA member. It was also my pleasure to work within the arts sector of Mayor Miller’s
campaign. The film-studio threat posed
by the ill-conceived, greed-driven island
airport was a key component of my work,
and of the Mayor’s concerns. During the
campaign, the National Post did a lengthy
article, quoting sound man David Lee
(who spearheaded these concerns),
filmmaker Atom Egoyan (whose letter of
concern I solicited) and myself. I also
highlighted the film-studio concerns in
meetings with CommunityAIR, one of
the most vocal and effective support
groups of the Miller campaign. Just
wanted you to know that ACTRA
members were, and will remain ‘on the
case’... and were sometimes even heard!
In solidarity,
Gale Zoe Garnett
We welcome letters from readers. To allow for as many letters as possible,
please limit your letter to 300 words or less. Letters may be edited. Please
direct all editorial inquiries and letters to the editor:
editor@actratoronto.com The views expressed in the “Letters to the
Editor” are not necessarily the views of ACTRA Toronto
Performers, its Council or the Editorial Committee.
Frankly, I think bankers need to come up
with an entirely different formula/soft-
Who You
Gonna Call?
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Dear Editor:
COMMERCIAL CHEQUE INQUIRIES
Brenda Blacoe (Examiner)
Tel: 416-642-6729 , email: bblacoe@actratoronto.com
Tammy Boyer (Examiner)
Tel: 416-642-6739 , email: tboyer@actratoronto.com
Lyn Franklin (Examiner)
Tel: 416-642-6730, email: lfranklin@actratoronto.com
COMMERCIAL PAYMENT INQUIRIES
Patricia McCutcheon (Coordinator)
Tel: 416-642-6731, email: pmccutcheon@actratoronto.com
Laura McKelvey (Coordinator)
Tel: 416-642-6728 , email: lmckelvey@actratoronto.com
COMMUNICATIONS AND ORGANIZING
Dan Mackenzie (Manager)
Tel: 416-644-1506, email: danmackenzie@actra.ca
Kim Hume (Public Relations Officer)
Tel: 416-642-6710, email: khume@actratoronto.com
Carol Taverner (Public Relations Officer)
Tel: 416-642-6751, email: ctaverner@actratoronto.com
Joy Corion (Web Communications Coordinator)
Tel: 416-642-6747, email: webwiz@actratoronto.com
FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION
Karen Ritson (Director)
GORDON PINSENT STUDIO BOOKINGS
Stephanie Stevenson (Administration Assistant)
Tel: 416-642-6735, email: sstevenson@actratoronto.com
INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION AGREEMENT (IPA),
CBC TV & RADIO, CTV, CITY-TV, GLOBAL & TVO AGREEMENTS
Eda Zimler (Manager)
Tel: 416-642-6717, email: ezimler@actratoronto.com
Indra Escobar (Senior Advisor)
Tel: 416-642-6702, email: iescobar@actratoronto.com
DJ Anderson (Steward, IPA & TVO)
Tel: 416-642-6708, email: djanderson@actratoronto.com
Cor Hambleton (Steward, CBC & IPA)
Tel: 416-642-6711, email: chambleton@actratoronto.com
Barbara Larose (Steward, IPA, Co-op, Student Films)
Tel: 416-642-6712, email: blarose@actratoronto.com
Richard Todd (Steward, CTV & IPA)
Tel: 416-642-6716, email: rtodd@actratoronto.com
MEMBER TRAINING INTENSIVE
Stephanie Stevenson (Administration Assistant)
Tel: 416-642-6735, email: sstevenson@actratoronto.com
MEMBERSHIP QUESTIONS
DUES & PERMIT PAYMENTS, AND THE ACTRA
TORONTO APPRENTICE TRAINING PROGRAM
Contact: Membership Department
Tel: 416-928-2278
Dan Mackenzie (Manager)
TORONTO INDIE PRODUCTIONS (TIP)
Tasso Lakas (TIP Coordinator)
Tel: 416-642-6733, email: tip@actratoronto.com
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Kudos
to PM Paul Martin for keeping his
promise – the CTF was restored to
$100,000,000 for two years!! (Mind you,
we would have had to challenge him to a
duel had he betrayed our trust). We met
with the PM before he was the PM – just
a leadership hopeful – pitched our case,
convincingly, he agreed with us and then
we put his photo with Paul Gross and
Gordon Pinsent on the cover of our
national mag and quoted him! Didn’t
leave him much wiggle room.
to the First Weekend Club (www.firstweekendclub.ca) dedicated to getting
audiences on the all important first weekend
a Canadian film hits the theatres. It’s one
of the best initiatives to cross the Rockies.
Began in Van, growing in TO.
Kicks
to big banks who still don’t get the
economic reality of the self-employed.
We fall outside the box and they seem to
hate to let us qualify for mortgages – still.
Even when we’re over-qualified!
to agent Colin Armstrong. He ran a
number of agencies in Toronto including
Kool Kidz and APA Management, both
of which went bankrupt. Kool Kidz went
bankrupt three years ago and APA went
bankrupt this past winter leaving many
performers high and dry. Two bankruptcies? Then leaves the country and heads
to Hollywood? So much for respecting
his models, kids and actors. He owes
them money, and an apology.
Kudos
Kudos
to the innovative marketing of the
Canadian film Love, Sex & Eating The
Bones. A $6 off the price of admission
coupon to any screening of the film
before April 2 kept bums in seats. And
good word of mouth a-buzzing.
to ACTRA activists who kept the heat
on Finance Minister Ralph Goodale. In
the last blitz more than 500 letters were
sent urging the government to restore
the CTF from ACTRA Toronto's website. It is a huge victory for our industry,
and for performers who helped lead the
charge.
Kicks
Kudos
to Keifer Sutherland, 2004 SAG
Awards Winner, Best Performance by a
Male in Dramatic TV for his work on 24.
Kicks
to CAB, the Canadian Association of
Broadcasters, who doubled their profits
among private TV stations last year.
Profits rose from $96.6 million in 2002
to $189.8 million in 2003. No wonder
they're so addicted to simulcasting, it’s
lucrative – and they love lucre.
Kudos
Kudos
to Toronto’s own Eugene Levy, who won
a 2004 Grammy, Best Song Written For A
Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual.
Kicks
to Korean car maker KIA for producing a
non-union commercial with children
performers between the ages of eight and
12 performing stunts. For shame.
Kudos
to Genie Awards 2004 nominees:
Remy Girard, Barry Pepper, Rebecca Jenkins,
Molly Parker , Sarah Polley, Karine Vanasse,
Benoit Brière, Roy Dupuis, Christopher
Plummer, Marie-Josée Croze, Emily
Hampshire, and Meredith McGeachie.
Kicks
to Telefilm’s Richard Stursberg for
using taxpayer’s money to retain a big U.S.
agency to help set up talent and financing
packages for Canadian films.
SUM M ER 20 0 4
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Shawn Lawrence
ACTRA Ombudsman:
YOUR FRIEND AND PROBLEM SOLVER
by Karl Pruner
For the last two years, ACTRA
members in Toronto have been able to
call on the deep knowledge and long
experience of their
own ombudsman,
Shawn Lawrence.
To get an ombudsman’s-eye-view of
ACTRA, we quizzed
him about the job
over coffee.
Has the job changed since you’ve been
ombudsman?
SL:
Yes. The original mandate was to solve
problems passed on to me by council, but
now members generally contact me
directly and often before they have spoken to anybody else. I think the word is
out among the members. I’m like a dog
with a bone. If fairness has not been
delivered, I won’t stop trying to put
things right.
KP:
KP:
How would you describe the ACTRA
Toronto Ombudsman’s job?
SL:
To explain, educate, mediate, admonish
and sometimes comfort. I have dealt
with sexual harassment, black-listing,
death benefits, auto insurance issues,
additional health benefits for seniors,
copyright issues, agent contract disputes
and casting agents’ treatment of members. I’ve even provided marriage counselling!
KP:
How do you stay on top of all those
issues?
SL:
Ten years as a councillor on Toronto and
national councils have given me a good
knowledge of the structure and operations of ACTRA. If I can’t answer a
member’s question, I usually have a pretty good idea who can.
KP:
How do you get along with council
members and staff?
SL:
I’m proud of the sense of trust and
mutual respect that has developed. I
receive exemplary access and guidance
and, as a result, we get satisfactory resolutions 90% of the time.
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KP:
We’ve actually heard that you’ve been
trying to put things right before they go
wrong. How does that work?
SL:
The idea is to be proactive and prevent
problems through educational outreach.
For example, I talked to senior arts students at George Brown, Humber and
Ryerson, to give them an idea of what to
expect in the professional world and
some tips on how to survive and grow as
a working actor. It’s the same with the
members. I hear things at auditions and
I pass out cards and suggest that people
give me a call if I think I can help.
KP:
We’re getting the impression that you
like this job.
SL:
Love it. I get to work with the members
and use all my abilities to solve and mediate on their behalf. It is very fulfilling.
This job has become my most satisfying
contribution to our organization.
KP:
How can members contact you?
SL:
Email me at slawrence@actratoronto.com
but I generally respond more quickly if
you leave a voice message at ACTRA at
416-928-2278 ext. 6604 or if you call me
at home at 416-422-4554.
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Gold
Sponsors
ACTRA National • CTV Inc. • Don Carmody Productions and Zero Hour Entertainment • Directors Guild of Canada - Ontario
Goodmans LLP • NABET 700 • Pebblehut Too Inc. • Command Post & Transfer Corp. (alphacine / TOYBOX)
Silver
Sponsors
PAGE, ARNOLD LLP
Barristers & Solicitors
Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. • Muse Entertainment Enterprises & Indian Grove Productions
Shaftesbury Films • Sutton Place Hotel
• Page Arnold LLP
AWARDS — ACTRAAwardsInToronto 2004
Many thanks to the generous sponsors
of The ACTRA Awards in Toronto 2004
Bronze
Sponsors
Actra Fraternal Benefit Society (AFBS) • Barna-Alper Productions • Breakthrough Film and Television Inc.
City of Toronto Economic Development Office • Dufferin Gate/Temple Street Productions • Grant Thornton LLP
IATSE 667 • IATSE 873 • Lions Gate Television Corp. • KBSH Capital Management • Videoscope
Supporters
E ye s Po st G ro u p
• Fo u r S e a s o n s H o t e l To ro n t o • o s c a rs a b ra m s z i m e l + a s s o c i a t e s i n c .
P L AY B AC K • P re s i d e n t i a l G o u r m e t • R B C R oya l B a n k
R i co c h e t Wa t e r • W r i t e rs G u i l d o f C a n a d a
Friends
A M I A r t i st M a n a g e m e n t
•
K . G . Ta le n t
SUM M ER 20 0 4
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Awards photographer: Carol Racicot. Sarah Polley photo by Joe Warmington.
34502 Performers
Gordon Pinsent and Sonja Smits ham it up for the cameras at the ACTRA Awards Gala.
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1. Justin Lovell, Natasha Semone Vassell and Terra Vnesa 2.Awards host Peter Keleghan and Awards Chair Jackie Laidlaw 3. ACTRA Toronto President Richard Hardace kicked off the awards ceremony 4. Award of Excellence recipient Sonja Smits
5. Jayne Eastwood and Rick Howland 6. Teresa Pavlinek 7. Waneta Storms, Matthew B. Gordon, Jeff Seymour, Sonja Smits, Noam Jenkins 8. Wilbert Headley and Austin Schatz 9. Wayne Robson and Lynn Woodman
1.
2.
A great time was had by all at
The ACTRA Awards in Toronto at
The Carlu on February 20. The
exciting awards gala evening event
was hosted by Peter Keleghan.
Gordon Pinsent, who received
ACTRA Toronto’s inaugural Award
of Excellence in 2003, presented
this year’s Award of Excellence to
Sonja Smits. Adrian Truss was the
scriptwriter, and the awards show
featured the music of ACTRA
member Eliza Jane Scott.
Sculptor Adrienne Alison designed
the new ACTRA Award statuette.
Diane D’Aquila won the
Outstanding Performance - Female
award (see page 12) and
Brent Carver won the Outstanding
Performance - Male award
(see page 13).
Canadian star Sonja Smits received
ACTRA Toronto’s 2004 Award of
Excellence. Well known to
audiences for her roles in Street Legal
and Traders, she currently stars in
the acclaimed TV series The
Eleventh Hour. A Gemini Awardwinning performer, Ms. Smits has
been working with ACTRA
Toronto’s Campaign for Canadian
Programming, lobbying federal
politicians and cabinet ministers to
reverse the decline in Canadian
television drama.
3.
7.
8.
6.
4.
9.
5.
SUM M ER 20 0 4
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11.
The annual ACTRA Awards in Toronto recognize outstanding
performances by ACTRA Toronto members and
celebrate accomplishment and excellence in our industry. The
ACTRA Awards were re-instituted in 2003 as
part of ACTRA’s 60th Anniversary.
12.
14.
15.
10
13.
10.
16.
17.
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10. Sarah Polley holds the evening’s programme 11. Priya Rao 12. Colin Mochrie and Leah Pinsent 13. Mimi Kuzyk enjoying the evening 14. Nominees Mark Rendall and Sophie Traub
15. Brooke Johnson and nominee David Fox 16. Attending for nominee Wendy Crewson, daughter Maggie and husband Michael Murphy 17. Nominee Michael Riley and ACTRA’s National President Thor Bishopric
ACTRA Toronto’s Award of Excellence Recipient
Interview by Todd Dulmage
Thoughts on the
award:
If she could play
any role:
It was a great honour. It just made me
aware of how important it is for us to
celebrate our own, in that kind of environment. I guess, as with anything in
life, if you give recognition to it then
people realize that it is important.
Louise Arbour, the Canadian Supreme
Justice who ran the UN war tribunal
and is now the UN high commissioner.
I think she is fascinating. What she’s
seen and what she knows. Oh God, it’s
too much to play with, but I would if
that meant finding out. I’d love to find
out what really happened, all the
behind-the-scenes stuff, you know?
Routine on set:
Always have a nap, because the days
are so long. Even if it’s 10 minutes at
lunch time. I always think that it’s
almost like a meditation, to take that
little bit of time. Even when I do theatre I have a bath and take that half
hour. Its like a conscious opting out. I
know that I don’t socialize as much on
set as when I was young, I know I need
more time for myself, and that I guard
my time, energy and focus better than
when I was younger. I need my private
time.
Volunteerism:
I try to be generally more selective,
focus more on a few issues rather than
spread myself all over. The world is
full of needs and requests. When I am
shooting I do a lot less. My parents
raised me with the sense that you
have an obligation to be involved in
the world around you, and have a certain amount of social awareness. You
have to speak up and make your voice
heard. I was doing demonstrations in
Ottawa when I was 16 on Parliament
Hill. I can thank my parents for giving
me an awareness of the big picture
and the responsibility to participate
in society. I don’t like to call it volunteering so much as participating in
your community.
On how she sees
herself:
In many ways I am a simple Canadian
actress who does everything. The
only thing I don’t do anymore, which
I did when I was younger, is commercials. I’ve done it all. I’ve done small
theatres and big theatres. I’ve done
feature films. I ended up doing series
but its not something I set out to do
at all.
Sonja Smits
On what’s coming up:
Owning Mahoney is nominated for a
Genie Award and I am proud of my
work in it and it was fun to do. I just
finished an independent feature called
Siblings with Tom McCamus and Sarah
Polley. I’m playing a fun little supporting role in it as an evil stepmother.
The kids kill me off, to the audience’s
great joy. It was a lot of fun.
On Canadian actors:
The level of talent has gone through
the roof. So we have a responsibility to
give them some place to land.
“It is an honour, an absolute true honour to be an actor, to be in the company of the amazing
actors in this country. I am constantly humbled by the nerve that it takes us to do our work.
I know as an industry and as artists and creators we’ve all grown so much. I want to help
ACTRA with trying to provide more opportunities and to continue to grow so that we
have a place – because we are all magnificent. Here’s to everyone.”
– Sonja Smits on accepting the award
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Diane D’Aquila
Page 12
ACTRA Toronto Awards
Outstanding Performance Winner - Female
written by Chris Owens
In a recent interview, Michael Caine
said he was taught that “the rehearsal
is the work and the performance is the
relaxation. That’s the supreme advice
for a movie actor.” But with so little
rehearsal time in film, the actor must
“rehearse yourself at home. You’re your
own director most of the time.” In the
case of stage veteran Diane D’Aquila,
recipient of Toronto’s 2004 ACTRA
Award for Outstanding Performance,
‘rehearsal’ for the film version of
Timothy Findley’s Elizabeth Rex meant
performing the demanding role of
Queen Elizabeth, night after night,
during Stratford’s 2000 season – even
going so far as to shave her head and
eyebrows.
“It’s the first time that I’ve truly
enjoyed working in front of a camera.
They always say for the camera ‘you’ve
got to keep it small’ but, it’s not that –
you’ve got to keep it truthful because
the camera doesn’t lie. It isn’t the size
so much as it’s the truthfulness within
the size.”
This farm girl from Iowa, now a proud
Canadian citizen, knew she wanted to
be an actor from an early age. “My
mother had been an actress and I saw
her do a production of Macbeth. I
would’ve been about nine and that was
that… I knew I was hooked.” Though
she was hooked on Shakespeare,
D’Aquila spent the first 10 years of
her career performing early George F.
Walker plays and acting in new works
at Toronto Free Theatre. She loves to
rehearse and thoroughly enjoys the
challenge and discipline of being in a
repertory company.
Now in her 32nd year as a professional
actor, and her 12th season at Stratford,
she is still looking for challenges.
“Right now, I’m assistant directing
Macbeth with John Wood – this is the
third time I’ve assisted here at the
Festival. I love it. I learn a great deal
about acting… I get to reconnect with
the fundamentals. It keeps everything
fresh.”
The experience of working on Elizabeth
Rex was “incredibly collaborative… we
really felt like a family. Of course, I was
lucky because I had Brent. I don’t
know how many actors, not just in
Canada but anywhere in the English
speaking world, could bring to the part
what he did.”
D’Aquila was honoured and “rather
shocked” to win the award. “It’s a beautiful statue… she’s lost weight and gotten
quite long and elegant – just like we
hope all of us do!”
12
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Page 13
written by Chris Owens
Spitting out dialogue, his face turning
crimson, cowboy boots in the air,
Brent Carver is walking across the
stage – on his hands. Howling like a
caged animal, he comes to his feet,
grabs a length of rope, spins it over his
head and lassos a nearby bedpost. It is
1984. I am watching a production of
Sam Shepard’s Fool for Love at the
Toronto Free Theatre. Carver, of
course, is playing Eddie. Twenty years
later, I still recall the power of his commitment and energy. As this year’s
winner of the ACTRA Award for
Outstanding Performance (male),
Carver continues to enthrall audiences
with his mesmerizing talents.
Cyrano de Bergerac and Soulpepper
Theatre’s founding production of Don
Carlos. He has received Gemini Awards
for his performances in Young At Heart,
One Night Stand, Crossbar, Due South,
and Street Legal: Last Rites and he also
played the lead in Lilies, the 1996
Genie Award winner for Best Motion
Picture.
in film. “You have to give up control of
everything. The elements are just the
elements and you just have to surrender to them – plan a lot and don’t plan
at all, you know.”
Currently, Brent Carver is playing
Edgar at the Lincoln Center Theater,
opposite Christopher Plummer as
King Lear.
“I just think it's the most glorious
medium to play,” says Carver of acting
In Timothy Findley’s Elizabeth Rex,
opposite the formidable Diane
D’Aquila and supported by a first-rate
cast, Brent Carver brings to the part of
Ned Lowenscroft (a part literally written for him) a lifetime of love for the
theatre. As a dying actor who specializes in performing female roles in
Shakespeare’s company, The Lord
Chamberlain’s Men, he moves us with
his combination of strength and vulnerability, sensitivity and humour.
Brent Carver
ACTRA Toronto Awards
Outstanding Performance Winner - Male
Born in Cranbrook, British Columbia,
Carver’s stage, film and television work
has been greatly admired and celebrated. Original plays, classics, dramas,
comedies, musicals – he continually
finds new ways to express his farreaching gifts. His performance as
Molina in the musical of Kiss of the
Spider Woman (Toronto, New York and
London) made him the toast of
Broadway and earned him a number of
accolades including a Tony Award, a
New York Drama Desk Award, a Dora
Mavor Moore Award and an Olivier
Award nomination. In 1998, he was
again lauded by the New York critics
for his performance in Parade, winning
a second Drama Desk Award for
Outstanding Actor in a Musical and a
Tony Award nomination. Carver’s
extensive theatre credits, include the
title roles in Hamlet, Richard III,
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Page 14
Februar y 20
th
m e mb e rs ' c o n fe re n c e
ACTRA members Bob Collins, Anne Marie Scheffler and Aidan Devine with the panelists from the casting directors’ workshop
(L-R): Bob, Anne Marie, Sharon Forrest, Ross Clydesdale, Marissa Richmond, Jon Comerford, Clare Walker and Aidan.
Photo: John Ly
Casting Directors On Casting
Jon Comerford:
When you come in and audition for us
we are very much on your side.
tion the same day. There’s no more
Fedex.
Sometimes to make the wrong choice is
not necessarily a bad thing, if it’s a strong
choice.
Rod Holcomb, who did the two-hour
pilot for ER, said “You know, if I can get
the actors to have a conversation with
themselves, then I can just record it with
film.”
I like the actors to be off book, but it’s
perfectly OK to have your sides right
here.
In cinema it’s not what you say, it’s what
you don’t say.
A reaction shot’s as important as a speaking shot.
We audition you and an hour later it’s in
a network casting director’s or producer’s
computer and he’s watching that audi-
14
Sharon Forrest:
If you are not instantaneously recognizable to the audience as the character you
are playing in that episode, then there’s a
chance that they may click or be confused.
You are really playing yourself.
Come in with a positive attitude. Start
off by walking in the room and think
‘“I’m going to get that job and I’m happy
to be there.”
If you don’t feel comfortable about what
you did, you can ask and say, “Can I try it
again?” If they say, “No, we like what
we’ve seen,” don’t argue the point.
I don’t like gum chewing in auditions and
I don’t like food eating. It’s too busy
If you get too busy with asking questions,
it makes the director nervous.
Make sure you get your agent to give you
your breakdown, the character breakdown, the storyline.
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Page 15
Ross Clydesdale:
If you get an audition, you are wanted in
that room.
The Catch 22 for me is that I do like
actors who take a risk. But guaranteed,
every time that actor takes a risk, the
director is looking for what was written
on the page!
If you can’t totally prepare for the audition, for me anyway, it’s better not to
come.
It’s very, very important to keep your
audition as simple as possible.
I think reality TV has had a big influence
on the producers, they keep yelling over
the phone, “I want them to come in and
be real just like reality TV.”
If you have ever been on a set with people who we call movie stars and you watch
them do the scene and you go, “they’re
doing absolutely nothing.” Then you
look back at it when it is in 35 mm and
you go, “They were doing way more than
I thought they were.” It think that’s what
makes a movie star.
Start to look around the room and say, “I
know exactly what they are going to do,
so I’m going to deliver this maybe in a
different way.”
I honestly think now that the business
has changed. Years ago when I started I
was looking for actors and now I’m finding that I hire more and more people
who I think are non-actors, but they are
a personality.
Marissa Richmond:
You have to make a choice at that
moment, and if you are redirected then
really try to do everything you can to
absorb the direction and alter what you
did.
One line could lead to a lot more. You
can do a great job and then walk away
and they’ll say, “You know what? Let’s
read him for something bigger.”
When you come into the room, please
come to the audition feeling comfortable
with yourself. If you screw up, you screw
up! Go for whatever you can go for.
My biggest pet peeve is actors who don’t
look at this as a job. If you’re auditioning
for a show that is actually on the air, take
one night and watch the show.
th
Even if it is written in the script to do
something, don’t do exactly what the
writer describes – use your imagination.
It’s the person who makes the most
interesting choices that gets the job.
I am pulling your personality to read the
lines for me. I’m not asking you to come
in and act for me. Just do the lines.
Februar y 20
Clare Walker:
If the casting director is giving you a
direction that is contrary to what is in
the script, it may be that they have some
information that the character has
changed.
The essence of who you are and your
own education level, your body language,
how articulate you are; all of that informs
the kinds of characters that you’re going
to play.
Come in with a positive
attitude. Start off by
walking in the room and
think “I’m going to get
that job and I’m happy
to be there.”
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Page 16
from the February 20th members' conference plenary
Three years ago, production in Toronto started to tank. To fight this trend,
ACTRA Toronto instigated workers who make their living from film and television to get
together and form FilmOntario. Representatives from the various organizations that
make up FilmOntario spoke to us at our last conference. Here are excerpts from what they said.
Please go to www.actratoronto.com for a complete transcript of the speeches.
Februar y 20
th
The FilmOntario keynote address
MIMI WOLCH:
RICK PEROTTO:
MARCUS HANDMAN:
International Vice-President of the
International Alliance of Theatrical
Stage Employees (IATSE) local 873
Business Agent for IATSE local 667
Executive Director of the Directors
Guild of Canada – Ontario
“Why production has decreased:
Locations issues: Toronto started to
become a more expensive and less filmfriendly place to produce.
Competing tax incentives from other
districts.
The collapse of the MOW business.
“We approached the Government of
Ontario and the City of Toronto, and we
told them we thought a better job needed to be done marketing Ontario and
Toronto as a film and television production centre. And to show them how serious we are about it, we offered to help
pay for a new and renewed effort.
On January 1 of this year, a new full-time
Toronto and Ontario marketing office
opened its doors in Los Angeles.
Competition – from everywhere.
The collapse of Canadian production.
The federal government’s mindless,
destructive and discriminatory regional
bonus program – which directly and
explicitly targets the City of Toronto.
And then there was the year we just had:
SARS and the rising dollar.”
16
We need to re-brand Toronto. We need
to get a lot better at framing and selling
EVERYTHING this town has to offer.”
“I think it would be fair to say that City
Hall under Mayor Lastman struggled to
do a good job of helping to build our
industry.
The Film Industry Liaison Committee
(FLIC) is no longer the responsive body
it needs to be to address the ever changing challenges of shooting here.
The Toronto Film and Television Office
is supposedly in charge of industry issues,
but is virtually toothless in its current
form.
A series wanting to shoot in four locations
for each episode could require approvals
from more than 50 city officials.
Local businesses, associations and citizen
groups often request a ‘donation’ for permission to film in their neighbourhood.”
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Page 17
Business Agent for NABET 700
“Ontario has the lowest, least-attractive
package of film incentives of any
province in Canada.
Budget by budget, other Canadian
provinces stepped up to the plate to challenge us for domestic and foreign work,
and budget by budget, the previous
Ontario government decided it didn’t
care.
Ontario-based Canadian producers have
moved over $700 million worth of
domestic Canadian production to other
provinces in recent years.”
YOU CAN HAVE
CONTROL!
ROSS LESLIE:
Deep in the bowels of the federal public
service there is a team of officials hard at
work discussing proposals to permit foreign ownership of Canada’s telecommunications companies, cable companies,
and broadcasters. How’s that for a
reform to the broadcasting system?
Selling it.
If we’re going to get Toronto’s film and
television industry back on its feet, it will
be built on the foundation of a strong
and healthy domestic Canadian industry.
That means fair rules for
Toronto; a strong and
properly-financed
Canadian Television
Fund; stronger and
better broadcast
regulations; and a
Canadian-owned
industry.”
th
As we speak, the CRTC is talking to
itself about what to do about broadcast
regulations. Hopefully they’ll propose
that broadcasters finally be held responsible to meet their obligations under the
Broadcast Act.
Many of us believe that an issue fundamental to Canada shouldn’t be quietly
discussed in grey little offices in Ottawa.
Februar y 20
This year, the federal government is no
longer going to pay producers to leave
Toronto. Instead, through a murky
funding ‘envelope’ system, they’re going
to pay the BROADCASTERS to leave
Toronto instead.
Visit our clinic to help you:
• Improve Performance
• Release Anxiety
• Release Phobias
• Release Stress
BRIAN TOPP:
Executive Director of ACTRA Toronto
“The federal government does indeed
pay productions to NOT produce in
Toronto.
Last year Ottawa paid producers an extra
5% from the Canadian Television Fund if
they’d agree to NOT produce in
Toronto. That policy was a big part of
the reason why so many Canadian series
shot elsewhere.
For more information call:
416-489-0333
www.ont-hypnosis-centre.com
Ontario Hypnosis Centre
School & Clinic
(A government accredited education facility)
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Who’sdoingwhatforyou
at ACTRA Toronto
The following is a list of who is working for you and what they are doing.
Follow the ACTRA Toronto Committee web links at www.actratoronto.com/committees.htm
to find contact information and comprehensive reports on the goings on of the committees.
ACTRA Extras
Wayne McMahon, Chair
This caucus represents the interests of
ACTRA Extras. Go to the website for the
March election updates.
AFBS Working Committee
Karl Pruner, Chair
Please see the announcement of this new
committee on page 29 in Members’ News. Go
to the website to contact the committee
directly.
Agents
Theresa Tova, Chair
Over the last few years the Agent Committee
has gathered input from actors and agents in
both town hall meetings and an independent
in-depth study. We are now ready to undertake
a member education program built around a
standardized Agent/Actor agreement.
Apprentice
James Finnerty, Chair
The Apprentice Caucus has created a mandate that sets out to inform Apprentice members about the acting industry. Find out how
you can get involved!
Awards
Jackie Laidlaw, Chair
We had an overwhelmingly successful second
annual ACTRA Awards celebration on
February 20th at the CARLU, with over 700
attendees. Remember to go online soon and
start submitting performers that you see
throughout the year for considering in 2005.
Casting Directors
Karl Pruner, Chair
A new IPA joint “Committee of Enquiry into
Casting Directors and the Casting Process”
has been formed that brings actors, agents,
casting directors and producers to the table
with a mandate to resolve issues and recommend new language for the IPA. To contact
the committee directly go to the website.
Child Performers
Theresa Tova, Advocate
As your children's advocate I spend much of
my time helping new parents understand the
ins and outs of the biz, and to this end will
shortly publish a new simplified Parents
Guide. I want to hear from you.
18
Conference
Heather Allin, Chair
The Conference Committee seeks to bring
you the information you need to better practice
your business of performing. Please see the
spread at the back of this magazine for the
upcoming June 1st conference details.
Remember, ACTRA Toronto’s website is
updated regularly, and has the latest information
about the conference. Register now.
Co-op
Anne Marie Scheffler, Chair
Over the last four years, the Co-op Committee
has been working to streamline the co-op
agreement to make it more user friendly without
compromising member’s hard won minimums. The committee is in its final stages of
an updated version for ACTRA members
nationwide.
Daycare Feasibility
Elizabeth McCallum, Chair
This new committee’s purpose is to investigate
the possibility of providing access to daycare
for ACTRA members when they have an audition.
Discipline
Chris Owens, Chair
The Discipline Committee is composed of
ACTRA members. The basic job of the committee is to uphold ACTRA’s Constitution
and By-Laws.
Diversity
Priya Rao, Chair
The goal of the Diversity Committee is to
reflect the visible makeup of Canada
onscreen. We are extremely excited to launch
an updated version of Into The Mainstream, so
send in your photos and résumés!
Finance
Austin Schatz, Chair
Our fiscal year end came to a close on
February 29th with a balanced budget. We
are now awaiting the audited financial report.
Once completed it will appear in the next
edition of Performers Magazine.
Member Training Intensive
Elizabeth McCallum, Chair
A 15-hour weekend course that focuses on the
business of show business, and contains lots of
useful information about surviving as an actor
in this city. Highly recommended for all members, there are limited places so book now!
Ombudsman
Shawn Lawrence
As Ombudsman, Shawn Lawrence works as a mediator and problem solver. Call him if you have any professional problems that fall under ACTRA’s jurisdiction. Go to page 6 for more information.
Picnic Committee
Todd Dulmage, Chair
The FilmOntario Summer Picnic Committee
will pick up where the ACTRA Summer
Picnic left off, encouraging all industry partners to come out and celebrate our industry
together. Go to page 26 for the details.
Political Action
Christie MacFadyen, Chair
Your Toronto Political Action Committee
speaks out on issues that affect actors and other
artists at all levels of government and ACTRA
has now become a leader in arts advocacy in
Canada. Please go to the ACTRA Toronto website for our latest report. We want to hear from
you – find out how you can get involved!
Professional Reputation
Eric Murphy, Chair
This committee has the responsibility of
determining admittance to our membership
under Professional Reputation. The standard
for gaining admittance to membership this
way is extremely high.
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Page 19
Q:
When crew call is later than the call
time for the cast and a nondeductable first meal is provided,
when will the next meal period be
served – from cast or crew call?
$
A:
The producer may at its option call
for a non-deductible first meal for
performers whose call time is prior
to that of the crew, in which case
the next meal break will be six
hours from the general crew call.
(Article 1401)
Q:
additional payment if she/he appeared in 50% or more of the
episodes in the series cycle. If the actor appeared in less than 50%
of the episodes then the performer would receive 5% of the
performer’s contracted daily fee for each episode in which the
performer does not otherwise appear.
Q:
If a background performer receives an on-set upgrade, does s/he
require a contract, or is it sufficient to mark the “upgrade” box
on the background voucher?
A:
Yes, a contract must be issued. When a background performer
by virtue of an individual characterization or the addition of
dialogue is upgraded to principal actor or actor, the performer
shall be contracted and receive payment in accordance with the
fees and rates for the higher category. (Article A2101)
If I worked as a background performer on a television series and
find that I appear in the opening scene in each episode what am
I paid?
A:
When appearing in an opening montage a background performer
does not receive any further payment. An actor would not receive
ACTRA 101 Independent Production Agreement Q & A’s
Commercial Q & A s:
Q:
How much should I be paid if I work on more than one
commercial in a single day?
A:
Each performer shall be compensated no less than a minimum
session fee for each commercial in which the performer’s services were utilized, or the total number of days that the performer worked, whichever is the greater. (Article 1202)
Q:
If I disagree with what’s on my contract, what should I do?
A:
Before signing, a polite, professional and brief inquiry of the
producer is appropriate. If both parties are still not in agreement, sign off but mark the “disagree” box and initial where
indicated. Please attach a note to the ACTRA copy of the contract before sending into the office outlining the circumstances
and reason(s) for disagreeing.
Q:
I got an edit out letter but I saw myself in the commercial...
what can I do?
A:
$
If you have received an edit out letter but you still appear in
the commercial – call a commercial steward. She/he will
request a copy of the spot for review and will probably call
you in to identify yourself. Once identified, the steward will
request that the engager reinstate your performance to the
“applicable” category.
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Feature Story
34502 Performers
THIS IS
(CANADA’S)
Who would have thought that a casual
walk through Old City Hall would
spawn a TV series?
With This Is Wonderland,
that’s how it all began…
by Priya Rao
20
A few years ago, George F. Walker and Dani Romain moved into
their new office across from College Park. Spending some time in
the old courthouse, Walker felt an intense energy within its hallways. Almost 100,000 cases go through those courts annually, and
while none are murder cases, the stakes are just as high for the
people involved. Here was a world that is never depicted on television, full of moments in which great tragedy is interspersed with
sparks of absurdist comedy. It was a story they wanted to tell. As
co-creator Bernard Zukerman recalls, “I became more and more
fascinated as he’d describe it. But you’ve got this court system,
how do you turn it into a series?”
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Page 21
In February 2003, the breakdown went
out, and 300 women across Canada
answered the call. Here was yet another
‘how’; how do you narrow a field of hundreds to find that one, right actor?
Casting director Marsha Chesley says
they saw many wonderful auditions
“…but it’s a question of the right fit for
the part.” And in this case the right fit
meant someone who had charisma –
people had to look at her and believe
that she really cared for her clients, they
had to think, ‘what a nice girl’. Alice has
a certain naïveté and quirkiness, but with
an underlying intelligence.
angst-free character. The other aspect of
Elliot he enjoys is that he is a character
with no subtext – whatever he’s thinking
comes out, there’s no filter.
Siu Ta was extremely nervous at her first
audition but had them laughing at her
interpretation of Nancy Dao. According
to her research, Nancy has a lot more
attitude than your average articling student but to Ta the writing was so clear
that Nancy’s a woman who “knows what
she wants and is going to work very hard
to get it… she’s very strong and naïve but
you forgive her ‘cause she’s so young.”
Back to our heroine, Pifko raves about
Alice, who she describes as “feisty, driven… a female character unlike we often
see in that she’s strong, well-spoken but
vulnerable.” So often, she says, females
are written as either the ‘tough bitch’ or
the ‘young ingenue’ but George and Dani
“don’t take for granted that you can be
strong and vulnerable at the same time.
This is what you’re in this business for,
every scene is wrought with conflict.”
Playing Alice, she says, is a gift.
It’s a sentiment echoed by her co-stars,
both of whom have high praise for the
writing. Riley likens reading his scripts to
“opening a present every day… it’s rare to
see this calibre of writing on TV.” For
Pifko, when you shoot out of order “it
can be hard to know where I’m coming
from at any given time but the writing is
so complete that everything I need to
prepare for a scene is written into the
text… if I just relax and trust the writing,
I’m always in the right place.”
By all accounts it’s a set with no egos and
no competition. Everyone involved is
happy to be there. For relative newcomer
Feature Story
‘How’ was the question. For starters,
there are several courtroom-based shows
on TV, how do you distinguish this one
from Law and Order or Judging Amy? The
answer was to tell the story from the
viewpoint of young, new lawyer, Alice De
Raey. Secondly, how do you make people
want to watch a show about characters
charged with everything from petty theft
to assault? Romain says they felt a
responsibility to make people care. One
way of accomplishing this was to discard
the concept of hero vs. villain. As Walker
explains, “There are no villains in this
story, there are just lots of people who
disagree with each other.” The other way
was through Alice; if people wouldn’t
care about the defendants, maybe they’d
care about how much she cared about
them.
The talented Wonderland cast:
Cara Pifko, Micheal Riley, Siu Ta
and Michael Murphy.
Chesley narrowed it down to 30 actors for
executive producer Bernard Zukerman
and that list was whittled to only four. At
that point Chesley says, “It was just so
clear, Cara (Pifko)… embodied everything they were looking for.” Walker,
Romain and Zukerman, who were all
actively involved in the casting process,
agreed, “She was the one.” And so,
Wonderland had found its Alice.
After that, the rest of the cast came
together relatively quickly. Says Zukerman;
“Michael Riley came in and blew us
away” as criminal defense lawyer, Elliot
Sacks. He spent two weeks at Old City
Hall to see the type of people Elliot
works with and to get a quick education
in how the court system works. Riley
describes his character as having ADD
(Attention Deficit Disorder), someone
you’d look at and say ‘who is that guy and
what’s wrong with him?’ It’s a project
unlike anything Riley’s done before and
he admits it’s a nice change to play an
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Feature Story
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Page 22
In February 2003, the breakdown went out, and 300 women
across Canada answered the
call. Here was yet another ‘how’;
how do you narrow a field of
hundreds to find that one, right
actor? Casting director Marsha
Chesley says they saw many
wonderful auditions “…but it’s a
question of the right fit for the
part.” And in this case the right
fit meant someone who had
charisma.
“Michael Riley came in and blew us away” as criminal defence lawyer, Elliot Sacks. He spent two weeks at Old City Hall to see
the type of people Elliot works with and to get a quick education in how the court system works.
Ta, it’s been wonderful working with the
more experienced actors such as Pifko
(who is just as “nice in person so she’s
great to work with”) and the often highprofile guest stars. “It’s amazing,” she
says, “I get to learn from people I’ve read
about.”
In fact, the calibre of the regular cast and
guest stars has been so high that
Zukerman has found himself at odds
with the Geminis; they’re limited in how
many actors they can nominate and he’s
been struggling with the decisions
because they have so many choices. It’s
been a privilege, he says, “to give so many
talented, underused actors the opportunity to work.”
Speaking of underused actors, This is
Wonderland has been praised for its
onscreen diversity, but was it difficult to
find actors to fill all those roles? Casting
director, Marsha Chesley says “in some
cases yes, in some cases no.” The show
reflects the ethnic makeup of the city so
she always tapped the professional acting
22
community first, and if she couldn’t find
what she was looking for there she
turned to community theatre groups.
However, sometimes the search didn’t
stop there. For example, in one episode
there was a female character in her 60’s
who spoke Tagalo. In this instance
Chesley went to nannies and caregiver
groups and found a wonderful talent.
Creative casting indeed.
Rarely do you see so many ‘visible
minorities’ on one show. The percentage
of ethnic actors was so unusually high
that it makes one wonder whether the
creators feared how this would affect the
show. For Zukerman any fears he had
were allayed when the CBC came on
board almost immediately. For the writing team, it was never a concern at all.
Walker puts it this way, “We’re not
frightened by any of that stuff, it’s just
who we are ‘cause we don’t care that
much about that stuff. We care about the
story.” For Romain the fact that people
may or may not watch because of the
diverse element was topic for conversa-
tion, “People have to talk about it in
order for things to change.”
Detractors may argue that many of the
roles are racial stereotypes. Says Walker,
“We try to tell the story, the clichés wash
away even if they coincide with the
truth. If you see a young black drug-dealer, we try to tell the story of that young,
black drug-dealer, not the generic young,
black drug-dealer.”
In Zukerman’s words the creators “wanted a vehicle to show Toronto in a way
that all of us who live in this city recognize and love about it – its cosmopolitan
and diverse nature. It was frustrating
that here is the biggest city in the country, interesting on a world level and our
broadcasters do virtually nothing to
reflect it. I loved the idea of showing all
that.” The actors agree. Riley credits
Chesley with a casting coup by “dipping
into pools of talent not accessed before.”
Walker and Romain have similar words
of admiration for Chesley. They some-
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Feature Story
“It was just so clear, Cara (Pifko)…
embodied everything they were looking
for.” Walker, Romain and Zukerman, who
were all actively involved in the casting
process, agreed, “She was the one.”
And so, Wonderland had found it’s Alice.
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23
Feature Story
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Page 24
Rarely do you see so many ‘visible minorities’ on one show. The percentage of ethnic actors was so unusually high that it makes one
wonder whether the creators feared how this would affect the show.
times saw over 100 actors a day and were
astounded by the number of good,
undiscovered talent in the various ethnic
communities. It wasn’t easy but it was
worth the effort. Walker sums it up this
way, “It’s like, up ‘til now we’ve had this
party and they haven’t been invited so
they just stopped knocking on the door.”
The response from viewers has been
extraordinary, perhaps partly because a
certain segment of viewers were waiting for something that reflected the
society we live in. It’s proof that “if you
can do something original and interesting, people will want to see it. That’s
the only way we can really compete in
Canada” says Zukerman. We can’t compete in terms of budget so we have to
be “much more selective and inventive
on what we do and how we do it.
Networks are realizing that original
voices are good.” Ta, a filmmaker herself, is proud of the show being “so multicultural, and not just to have it for the
sake of funding but to actually have it
and do it well.”
24
Getting Cast in Wonderland
Some actors enjoy the audition process
while others dread it. Pifko’s take on
auditioning is this: “It may be my only
chance to play that character so I enjoy
being her for that little while, instead of
‘here’s my 5 minutes to impress the people in the room, ‘cause you don’t know
what they want.’” It’s the actor’s job to
figure out what is the best interpretation
of that character from their point of view
with everything they have. Anything
beyond that, says Pifko, “is out of my
control, there’s nothing I can do if they
wanted something different.”
sometimes it’s just a “look” they’re after.
For This is Wonderland, Walker and
Romain look for “people who can deal
with the language and the emotion, who
can dig in and bleed onscreen… (actors
who) take risks.”
Zuckerman concurs, saying about casting
in general that it’s amazing “how quickly
you know if someone’s right for the part,
it’s not always about the best actor,
So here are some tips on what she’s looking for in the audition room:
Chesley always brings in the best actors
for the part, often to the point where
she’ll call in actors of different ethnic
backgrounds or genders even if the
breakdown doesn’t specify to. “From my
point of view, it doesn’t matter if they ask
for it or not, we’re going to do it anyway.”
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Acting is a tough career wrought with
rejection and I often feel like we are gluttons for punishment. As Pifko says
“there’s something that clicks inside an
actor’s head that makes them choose this
ridiculous profession.” The dry spells
between gigs or when you’re starting out
are hard and you can’t help but wonder
what you did wrong, and what you could
have done to give yourself an edge. But
that is a self-defeatist attitude says Pifko,
“When you feel desperate it comes into
the audition room… it was taking me
down the wrong path.” Her advice is to
think of acting as a long road, “If you’re
thinking long term, it makes the short
term not so bad.”
Marsha Chesley
Look for her new book,
YOU’VE GOT THE PART,
coming in fall 2004.
Cara Pifko
Will be seen in Soulpepper’s
Nathan the Wise this summer.
Siu Ta
Will be seen in Newline Cinema’s
Harold and Kumar.
Michael Riley
Is doing the film Saving Samantha
for Lifetime.
Feature Story
ing worse than being wishy-washy” says
Chesley. Don’t have enough information?
MAKE IT UP! If you’ve made a wrong
choice that’s okay, “it’s better to be bad
than boring.” So take a chance, commit!
SPEED UP! Most auditions are too slow
says Chesley. And while she doesn’t mean
that you can’t have pauses in your read,
she does mean to imbue your audition
with more energy which in turn will help
to pick up the pace.
Be off book! Those actors who aren’t off
the script start off 50% behind in
Chesley’s mind. (But make sure to keep
your script in your hand or nearby, just in
case you get nervous.) Being off book
gives the directors and producers confidence that you’ve done your homework.
Speaking of homework, make sure you do
yours – that is, make choices and stick
with them. Create a backstory for your
character and commit to it, there’s “noth-
SUM M ER 20 0 4
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MN — ACTRATorontoMembers’News
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Don’t miss the
(Really Big)
Summer Picnic!
Bring your family and friends to Trinity
Bellwoods Park and join your peers from
the other film guilds, unions, businesses and
industry partners for a day of fun and
frivolity. There will be games for all ages,
including a baseball tournament, games for
the kids, the always-popular bocce, and lots
and lots and lots of fun. BYO picnic,
blanket and baseball equipment.
ACTRA Toronto’s new Actor’s Gym
to be called The Gordon Pinsent Studio
ACTRA Toronto Performers is now hosting an on-site video recording studio in our offices for members to use FREE to record auditions
or rehearse on camera.
The studio includes a digital video camera, a VCR to record on, and
a monitor to view your work.
HOW TO BOOK THE GORDON PINSENT STUDIO
The studio is available Monday to Friday for 1/2 hour slots.
The first booking is at 9:30 a.m.
The last booking of the day is at 3:15 p.m.
To book, you must be a member in good standing of ACTRA
Toronto Performers. MINORS MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY A
PARENT. To book, contact Stephanie Stevenson at 416-642-6735 or
by email sstevenson@actratoronto.com.
Located on the Dundas and Queen streetcar lines, three blocks from the Bathurst or
Ossington buslines, or easily accessible
from Lakeshore by car, Trinity Bellwoods
Park is equipped with a kiddie wading pool
and playground, tennis courts and leash-free dog area.
Check the website for details, or call the Picnic Hotline at
416-928-2278 ext. 6608
Come one, come all!
Mark your calendars now for the
ANNUAL
LABOUR DAY PARADE
Monday, September 6
Watch www.actratoronto.com for our meeting time and location.
ACTRA joins Our Canada Project
With a federal election looming, ACTRA is joining together
with 25 civil society organizations including environmental,
women’s, labour, student, arts and social justice groups who
are concerned about Canada’s deeper integration with the
U.S. – culturally, economically, environmentally. We have
come together to appeal to Canadians of every political stripe
to be a voice for the Canada we want.
Heather Allin spoke for ACTRA at the
Our Canada Project launch in March at
Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto.
View the Our Canada Project statement at www.actratoronto.com
in the What’s New section.
26
Heather Allin spoke for
ACTRA at the Our
Canada Project launch in
March at Nathan Phillips
Square in Toronto.
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Alex Barris • Mervin “Butch” Blake • Earl Cameron • John Cavall • Arthur Cole • Patrick Crean • Wally Crouter
Jack Donohue • Jason Edmonds • Paul Brian Harding • Frank Hogg • JW Hunter • Barry Ivor • Betty Kennedy
Allan Stevenson • Allen Stuart • Carolyn Tweedle • Daryl Wells • Billy E Williams • Austin Willis • Helene Winston
Jack Creley’s acting career spanned
more than five decades. He appeared in
more than 2,000 television shows and
800 plays. Jack’s friends frequently called
for him to appear with them. Paul
Scofield demanded he come to Broadway
as Cardinal Wolsey in A Man For All
Seasons and Peter Sellers insisted on his
participation in the film Dr. Strangelove.
The Stratford Festival was frequently the
scene of Jack’s activity and in Toronto he
could be found performing in shows
such as Oh, Coward! and Equal Time. He
leaves his partner David Smith of 49
years, and many friends. In lieu of flowers, friends are encouraged to make contributions to the Performing Arts Lodge.
Farewell to Eugene Kash, former musical director of the National Film Board
and conductor of the Ottawa Philharmonic.
After performing as a soloist with the
Toronto Symphony, he became the music
director of the National Film Board in
1942. In 1950, Eugene began a seven-year
stint as the conductor of the Ottawa
Philharmonic. He married celebrated
Canadian contralto Maureen Forrester in
1957 and they eventually had five children. Eugene was awarded the Queen's
Silver Jubilee Medal for his contributions
to the field of Canadian music. He will be
greatly missed.
In memory of Laura Press
The thing I miss most about her is the
laugh. Somewhere between a cackle and
a guffaw, her laugh exploded deep from
within. This was not a laugh for the
timid. It was sometimes a disquieting
laugh, that could embarrass people, a
clear-the-room laugh, a passionate, curious, earthy laugh that only a woman, a
dame, a real broad could own. Laura had
her share of hard knocks and tough
breaks but she was always gracious,
philosophical and ready to move on
because, you see, she was first and foremost a lady – elegant and beautiful. A
laugh like a hyena with the legs of a
gazelle. We all envied her marriage to
Steven Hawkins. They were not just husband and wife, or lovers, or even soulmates but truly each other’s best friend.
Rest in peace Laura.
In Memoriam
We share our sadness at the passing of the following ACTRA Toronto members
Respectfully submitted by Diane D’Aqulia.
With great sadness, we announce the
final act of Eric Smith House’s life on
March 21. His siblings, Miriam
Sanderson, Peter (deceased), Grace
Ounjian, Pamela Hatch, and 17 nieces
and nephews are left with many happy
memories. Eric was an original member
of ACTRA and performed for Shaw,
Stratford, CBC radio and television,
movies, and other theatres in the U.S.,
England and Canada, who all benefited
from Eric’s talent. Many thanks for the
loving care given to Eric at Providence
Healthcare. Any donations in memory of
Eric may be made to the Performing Arts
Lodge Toronto or The Lung Association.
One of Canada’s most beloved actors,
Claire Crawford, made a brief but
valiant stand against cancer then quietly
left us on February 21. Originally from
Paisley, Scotland, Claire gave many memorable performances on stage as well as
some fine appearances in film and TV.
These include The Women of Windsor,
Road to Avonlea, The Gospel of Mary, Street
Legal, Kids in the Hall and The Great
Defender. She is lovingly remembered and
sadly missed by her husband, Toronto
musician Donald Guinn and a multitude
of extended family and friends. “The
Highland hills I’ve wander’d wide, And
o’er the Lowlands I hae been; But Claire
was sure the blythest lass That ever trode
the dewy green.”…[from Blythe Was She
by Robert Burns.]
Respectfully submitted by Robert Latimer.
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4/22/04
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34502 Performers
Annual “Big Swing”
Golf Tournament set for June 26
Get out your clubs for the 8th annual Big Swing golf tournament on June 26
at the Lionhead Golf Club in Brampton. The event is presented by the
Actors’ Fund of Canada and DGC Ontario and features a 1:00 p.m. shotgun
tee-off, great prizes, raffles and a banquet. Event sponsors include ACTRA
Toronto Performers, Alliance Atlantis, Canadian Actors’ Equity, Deluxe
Laboratories, Dufferin Gate & Temple Street Productions, Heenan Blaikie
LLP, I.A.T.S.E. locals 873 & 667, Kodak, NABET 700, William F. White,
Brian Levy Casting and many others.
Tickets are $165 – a super deal to play one of Canada’s finest golf courses. Call
1-877-399-8392 or visit www.actorsfund.ca to register.
Welcome New Members:
Don’t miss
PAL Toronto’s
ANNUAL SUMMER
COURTYARD SALE
SATURDAY, JUNE 12
8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
(rain date, June 19th)
Ephraim Ellis
Debra Felstead
Vern Festing
Shelly Findlay
Dean Friesen
Serge Gallinaro
Jaye Garner
Alberto Gatbonton
Shawn B Goldberg
Philip Graeme
Conor Green
Gunn
Ted Hallett
Cheriana Hansen
Skylar Helm
Jeanette E Hlinka
Lucie Idlout
Sophia Jackson
Ceciley Jenkins
Alicia Johnston
Amanda Jovanoski
Glen Kydd
Sarah Lori Kanter
Jason James Lamont
Kevin Luckman
Ken Macdougall
Toby Malone
Tony Marra
Ryan Mcdermott
Adele Mclain
David Mesiano
Danielle Miller
Derrick Paul Miller
Sylvia Mina
Rory Moy
Linda Nguyen
Annelise Noronha
Leilene Ondrade
Vida Peric
Robert Perrault
Hunter Phoenix
James Quigley
Jason O Rouse
Mark C Russom
Tara L Sales
Adam Schurman
Sandra Segovic
Jason Sermonia
Steven Skurka
Lucille A Southern
Robert Squire
Heather Stewart
Jo Swain
Lorraine Tao
Jim Gordon Taylor
Vincent Tong
Kristopher Turner
Alana Upcraft
Dale A Whibley
Cherisse Woonsam
Beatriz Yuste
collectibles, edibles,
unique items & objects d'art
at bargain prices
ACTRA GETS IT RIGHT
The Performing Arts
Lodge is located at
110 The Esplanade,
beside the south
St. Lawrence Market
and is a volunteer project
of PAL Toronto
Residents’ Association.
“ACTRA… got all actorly. The ACTRA release said it ‘applauds’ Prime Minister
Paul Martin. Then, ACTRA added a dose of common sense, saying, ‘Now it’s time
for private broadcasters to step up to the plate and reinvest some of their millions
in profits back into funding Canadian TV drama.’ Count on the actors to get in a
zinger. However, they’re right.”
- John Doyle, Globe and Mail TV columnist, March 25, 2004
For information contact:
416-363-0049
28
Ryan Justin Allen
Robert Andrews
Zachary Bangma
Taylor Barber
Jonah Birenbaum
Melissa E Bray
Gary L Brownlie
Kimberlee Bryan
Rod J.C. Campbell
Yoli Chisholm
Cecilia Chiu
Evan Christensen
Donna-Marie Christie
Brett A Christopher
James Collins
Joe Cornacchia
Monica Correa
Anselmo Desousa
Tosha Doiron
Melissa L Eaton
Jeff Elliott
John Doyle, reporting on the happy news that the federal budget included
restored Canadian Television Fund monies, had this to say:
Many thanks to the hundreds of you who sent emails and letters to Finance
Minister Ralph Goodale reminding him to keep Prime Minister Paul Martin’s
CTF promise. The fund has been restored to $100 million for this year and next.
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The Apprentice Member Training Program formerly operated out of Equity Showcase is now here at ACTRA
Toronto Performers – new and improved – and now known as the Member Training Intensive! Please contact
Stephanie Stevenson at (416) 642-6735 or sstevenson@actratoronto.com or visit our website at www.actratoronto.com
for all the details.
Projections Film Festival
June 4 - 6, 2004
Toronto's first-ever
International Disability Film Festival
Disability film festivals have met with great success in
London (England), New York, California, and in our
very own Canadian city of Calgary. They have become
an integral part of the disability art and cultural
movement.
Projections will present an international treasure trove of films and videos that
are produced, directed or written by person(s) with a disability and/or those
films that focus on aspects of disability culture. Toronto audiences will also be
given an opportunity to view some of the exciting new works by Canadian
filmmakers with disabilities.
For more information go to: www.enablelink.org/abilitiesfestival
ACTRA
AFBS
Working Group
Introducing ACTRA Toronto’s new Member Training Intensive
As a result of changes to fraternal policies in
the past two years and a number of new
charges and fees, many members have been
excluded from coverage. The confidence
members once had in AFBS has been shaken
and replaced with a sense of frustration and
growing dissatisfaction.
To clear the air, ACTRA has set up the AFBS Working Group to:
• research members’ issues
• report its findings
• recommend options
The research phase is now underway and members can help. If you have unanswered
concerns about current AFBS plans, policies or practices, the Working Group needs to
hear from you. To contact the committee directly email afbsgroup@actra.ca.
SUM M ER 20 0 4
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MC — ACTRATorontoMembers’Conference
ACTRA TORONTO’SMEMBERS’ CONFERENCE
Registration and Breakfast 9:00 a.m. at Victoria College, U of T (building foyer behind Isabel Bader Theatre, 93 Charles St. W.)
WORKSHOPS
Learn from others in a large-class
lecture format. These workshops
are often hosted by a number of
panelists who will discuss the topic
at hand.
NEW MASTER CLASS
SESSION FORMAT!!
To create a more intensive class,
we’re offering this new MASTER
CLASS format series. These classes
will include selected ACTIVE
PARTICIPANTS and AUDITORS.
A small number of PARTICIPANTS
will be chosen through an application
process to work with the Master
Class industry professional. When
you register at www.actratoronto.com,
indicate if you want to be considered
as a participant. You must submit a
picture and résumé to be considered
as a participant (or complete other
specified requirements as detailed in
the application). AUDITORS will
have the opportunity to watch and
learn from an audience perspective.
OTHER SESSIONS
Want to see some films? Find out
more about your union? Sessions
for this conference include:
2 State of the Industry: AFBS
7 Co-op Film Screenings - and
how to make them.
Face to Face Online:
(not a workshop session)
Bring your photos and résumés for
addition to your Face to Face portfolio. Forgot your password? Don't
have one? You can get one at the
conference and learn how to update
your skills and credits. Staff available
throughout the day for demos and
assistance.
12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
LUNCH: AT BURWASH HALL
All ACTRA members registered
for the conference are invited to
lunch.
Courtesy of ACTRA Toronto Performers
1:15 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.
PLENARY:
Guest Speaker
PAUL GROSS
on What’s Next for
Canadian Broadcasting?
ACTRA Toronto Council
Report with Q&A
Morning Workshops
10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
1 WORKSHOP
Who makes the rules?
Diversity onscreen
Tired of waiting for our screens to
reflect our city’s diversity? Meet the
people who make the decisions. Find
out what’s being done, what you can
do and how it’s going to affect your
career. Guests include NFB’s
Jacques Bensimon and Fireweed
Media Production’s Don Peuramaki.
2
SESSION
State of the Industry: AFBS
Bob Underwood, President and
CEO of AFBS will get you up to
speed on everything Fraternal.
Explore the somewhat complex and
often misunderstood tax issues relating to AFBS insurance and retirement plans. Find out about the
changes being made to Fraternal’s
investment management structure
and understand the strategy behind
them. Get the information you need
to make informed choices about
your AFBS plans and policies. With
Philip Nafekh (CFO) and Jane
Nelson (Director, Member Services).
Hosted by Karl Pruner.
3 WORKSHOP
Auditions: How to prepare
Drawing on 30 years of experience
as an actor, Ron White shares his
understanding of what directors
want to see in the audition process.
Ron leads a discussion and answers
questions on how to prepare and
present yourself to maximize your
chances of winning the role. Note:
this workshop was also offered at
the February conference.
4
WORKSHOP
American Accents: Learning
to sound “south of the border”
(register early – limit of 60)
This workshop is for the working
actor who gets called in for
American productions. It’s for
those with an excellent command
of English who need work on
regional American accents: with
clues for playing and sounding
American. This is not a replacement for dialect work. It is a
taste of Canadian/American differences and a tuning of the ear
to notice what these differences
sound like/speak like. With John
Nelles, Eric Armstrong Julia
Lenardon, Rae-Ellen Bodie
and Jay Miller and moderated
by Marium Carvell.
Afternoon Workshops
3:30 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.
8 WORKSHOP
CASTING DIRECTORS
ACTRA Toronto’s highly successful
series of moderated panel discussions with leading casting directors
is back by popular demand. Marsha
Chesley, Robin Cook, Coral
Walker and Millie Tom come out
from behind the table to share their
knowledge and answer your questions. Moderated by Karl Pruner.
9 WORKSHOP
10 WORKSHOP
Sound Strategies:
Voice Industry Panel of Experts
Voice work offers performers a new
world of opportunities for the performer to explore; radio and television commercials, documentary and
industrial film narration, feature film
and television looping and animation. From advice on getting in the
door to analysis of current trends in
the industry, our panel of experts has
a wealth of information on the art of
being heard but not seen. With Kim
Hurdon (voice casting director),
Edna Khubyar (voice agent),
Mike Kirby (announcer, narrator,
instructor), Terry O’Reilly (writer,
producer, director) and Merle
Anne Ridley (animation voice
director) Moderated by Julie
Lemieux.
Working Background
Background performers – this
workshop is for you. Come prepared with your questions. How
many agents do you need? How
does casting work? What is a real
upgrade? Learn about set etiquette, vouchers and registration
fees. On hand will be ACTRA
Stewards from both the IPA and
Commercials departments, background casting directors Donna
Dupere and Anne Marie
Stewart, an agent specializing in
background work, and ACTRA
members Brian Kaulback and
Julie McLeod. Moderated by
Stephen Graham Simpson.
COME AND HEAR PAUL GROSS, FAB FILIPPO,
ROBIN COOK, CORAL WALKER, JACQUES BENSIMON, KIM HURDON,
EDNA KHUBYAR, TERRY O’REILLY, GERALD PACKER, JENNIFER PODEMSKI,
30
RON WHITE, JOHN NELLES, ERIC ARMSTRONG, JULIA LENARDON, DONNA DUPERE, ANNE MARIE STEWART,
S
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Tuesday, June 1, 2004
actors
HOW TO REGISTER
6 MASTER CLASS
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
What can you do to maximize
the Actor/DOP relationship?
This is your opportunity to build
knowledge on the technical
aspects of performing on set.
Gerald Packer, Director of
Photography for This is Wonderland,
and Twist, will work with 6 selected
participants on how to work with
the camera and the camera “man”.
Hosted by ACTRA member Nick
de Kruyff. LIMIT of 6 PARTICIPANTS. Audience limit: 50. See the
MASTER CLASS details on the
sidebar for how to be chosen as a
participant. You will be asked to
come with your sides prepared, and
ready to shoot, as if you’d been cast.
KEYNOTE
SPEAKER:
PAUL GROSS
CO-OP Film Screening
See some films made under
ACTRA’s Co-op agreement. Actors
will be on hand to discuss their
work. Plus, learn how to do your
own Co-op film. Hosted by ACTRA
Toronto Co-op film Steward
Barbara Larose.
13 MASTER CLASS
Crossing Over:
Transition to Directing
Want to expand your career in a
different direction? Actors share
their stories about shifting their
careers to behind the camera and
directing. Guests include Fab
Filippo and Jennifer Podemski.
Moderated by Linda Kash.
DIRECTING
A star director to be announced will
give individual direction to participants in a scene, and comment on
how to build a professional working
relationship with a director on set.
LIMIT of 6 PARTICIPANTS.
Audience limit: 50 See the MASTER
CLASS details at left sidebar for
how to be chosen as a participant.
You will be asked to come with your
sides prepared, and ready to shoot,
as if you’d been cast.
MAKEUP
Expert makeup artist Sheila
Victor shows participants what
they can do with makeup for different effects. Get expert advise
on how to modify your look to
support your character choices.
Participants will be selected from
the audience. Limit of 50. Hosted
by Toni Ellwand.
All workshops subject to change.
Check for conference updates at www.actratorotno.com.
Please register before Tuesday, May 25, 2004.
7 SESSION
11 WORKSHOP
12 MASTER CLASS
THE FASTEST WAY TO REGISTER
ANDREW MOODIE, MARSHA CHESLEY,
Two years ago Paul Gross
kicked off our Campaign
for Canadian Programming
at the ACTRA Toronto
members’ conference. Since
then he and ACTRA have
stormed The Hill, met with
the Finance Committee, the
CRTC, MPs and the Prime
Minister. Come out and hear...
Photo credit: Jake Wright.
5
WORKSHOP
Taking Acting to Writing
The actor’s process for creating
written work. This workshop will
give actors a taste of how to
approach writing, using the actor’s
starting point as the point of entry.
Hear from actors who are working
through the process of getting it on
the page and using their acting as a
root source, integral to the process.
Listen to the different forms of
approaches taken and get the
inside scoop on what it takes to put
pen to paper. Guests include
Andrew Moodie and Tony
Nardi.
* online at www.actratoronto.com
* by fax (416) 928-0699
* or drop off your workshop choices at ACTRA Toronto at
625 Church St., 2nd floor.
To register, we require your name, membership and telephone
numbers, email address and the workshops you would like to
attend. To qualify to attend, please have your dues up-to-date
and bring your member card.
MC — ACTRATorontoMembers’Conference
* 9:00 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.
Your chance to share and build
on the experiences of fellow
professional
What’s Next for
Canadian Broadcasting?
Getting there
Victoria College, U of T
(building behind Isabel Bader Theatre, 93 Charles St. W.)
Post-conference meet & greet at Gabby’s 6:00 p.m. at 194 Bloor St. West.
MERLE ANNE RIDLEY, MIKE KIRBY,
MILLIE TOM, TONY NARDI, DON PEURAMAKI,
SHEILA VICTOR, LINDA KASH, JAY MILLER, RAE-ELLEN BODIE.
SUM M ER 20 0 4
31
34502 Performers
4/22/04
12:42 PM
Page 32
TUESDAY,
JUNE 1, 2004
Your chance to share and build on the
experiences of fellow professional actors.
FREE for ACTRA Toronto members
9:00 a.m.
Registration and Breakfast
Victoria College - 93 Charles St. W.
(behind Isabel Bader Theatre)
Lots of daytime workshops to choose from
Keynote: Paul Gross
speaking on What’s Next for Canadian Broadcasting?
Afternoon Plenary
Remember to register at www.actratoronto.com
You must register by Tuesday May 25
ACTRA Toronto Performers
625 Church Street, 2nd floor
Toronto,ON
M4Y 2G1
Printed in Canada
ALSO
Fab Filippo, Jacques Bensimon,
Toronto casting directors and more!
(See page 30 for more information)
C a n a d a Po s t C o r p o r a t i o n
Publication Mail Agreement No.
400691 34

On what`s coming up

Transcription

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