Resolutions, Collaborations and Industry News – Update from the Acting Program
Happy New Year! It’s time to start the Winter Semester for the Acting for Film, TV & Theatre program! This term we have a record-breaking 13 sections with close to 200 students from all over the world who have decided to take a giant step towards becoming a professional actor! This term we will enjoy watching all of your performances which will include two theatrical productions and two classes of graduating films. You will be working with the most passionate and caring faculty and we couldn’t be more excited!
Let’s start with a few new year’s resolutions:
- Commit to the work
- Dive into the characters you create
- Make bold and risky choices in your performances
- Break down all barriers that inhibit your creativity
- Network with as many filmmakers/writers/actors that you can
The cross-collaboration between programs at Toronto Film School has never been more active than now. Some of this term’s Acting program collaborations with other departments include:
- Toronto Film School actors starring and working on Film Production student’s sets
- Film Production students helping to produce our Term 6 Greenlit Films
- Actors’ Voiceovers being used by Video Game designers at Steeles Campus
- Writing Program students assisting our actors on their scripts
- Graphic Design and Interactive Media students from Davisville campus creating more dynamic packages for our Term 5 pitches
To all of our new term 1 students, we will be posting your first camera monologues online, as directed by faculty members Hart Massey and Jonathan Higgins. This way you become part of the Toronto Film School Acting Roster and student film directors from across campus will be able to see your work and potentially cast you in their next film. This is the start of an extraordinarily fulfilling time in your life so take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way and build up that demo reel!
Our graduates are continuing to thrive in the industry and are getting scooped up by the best talent agents in the city. Already we have graduates represented by:
- Noble Kaplan Abrams
- Talent House
- Characters
- Butler Ruston Bell
- Ambition Talent
- AMP Talent
Graduates have gone on to direct/produce/write/and star in several films that have premiered at TIFF, Sundance Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, and Toronto Film School’s Festival of Films. They have also made appearances in both commercials and tv series including Kim’s Convenience, Degrassi, Covert Affairs, Rookie Blue, Hannibal, Odd Squad, Mr. D, Reign, Motives and Murders, Web of Lies, Sensitive Skin and ReBoot. Also look for our seasoned faculty members on stages and TV screens across the country including Catherine McNally in A Handmaid’s Tale and John Tench as T-Bone in the new Ubisoft video game Watchdogs 2.
Ralph Small and Sue Miner are both returning to direct our 5th Term Winter plays. The show titles will be officially announced shortly and will run the week of March 19th during our ever-popular Showcase Week. It will also include 2 separate screening nights of Term 6 films written, produced, and starring our actors! They will be working under the tutelage of Tony Del Rio, Chad Tailor, and James Bond. Do not book flights or trains until the showcase week is over on March 24th. Stay tuned for specific times.
Stay warm and focused, and strive towards bettering yourselves in every possible way. We are honoured to guide you on your journey in the entertainment industry. Break a leg!
Hart Massey and Michael Ayoub are the Program Coordinators of The Acting for Film, TV and Theatre Program at Toronto Film School. Hart is also an actor, writer, and producer, known for his television shows Hart of the Annex (2006) and the Gemini-nominated series The Film Student (2009-2013). Michael is a graduate of the prestigious Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater in New York City, under the brilliant Sanford Meisner. As an actor, director, producer and teacher, Michael has been an active force in the business for more than forty years.
