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…from Matthew Harrison – Teacher, Parent, and Actor.

THE INDUSTRY

Donʼt listen to the ʻHYPEʼ produced by ʻTMZ, US mag etc etcʼ if you stick to the art,
and craft and keep your head away from the trappings of the biz (red carpets et al -
addictive silliness and hollow shallow emptiness) you realize thatʼs not actually what
this is about, and the kind of people you end up working with are kind, artful, generous,
masters of a beautiful craft.

AUDITIONING

Remove the expectation of booking and making auditions job interviews to get on set
and instill the love of acting itself and make auditioning a joyful experience. Donʼt forget
the point is to enjoy playing. So often, parents teens to succeed and book as opposed
to making it a joyful and artistic experience. Those parents need to know that it is
indeed a business, but that to succeed at this business, the acting must be first and
acting is a fun-filled art form.

At the auditions themselves, young actors need to know itʼs a collaborative experience -
youʼre collaborating and co-striving and creating a community with other young actors.
They ARE NOT COMPETING AGAINST OTHER ACTORS.

Acting is not a competitive sport, itʼs a collaborative art-form.

ART

Young teen actors need to learn that acting is not about presenting a character or
pretending. Itʼs an art about ʻbeingʼ so the exciting aspect of this craft or art for teens is
that itʼs an art form of healthy self exploration and healthy exploration is exactly the
prescription for what every teen needs.

Many parents push teens to succeed are (for very good reasons) actually End up
hurting them. If you take the fun approach it becomes an incredibly healthy conduit of
teen energy – meaning it will lead into healthy and productive life choices. i.e. if you do it badly you can pressure your kids, but if you do it right, itʼs a healthy alternative to
drugs and video games. Itʼs a dangerous line because if you push it to the business
side you can fracture a kid – the key is to always make it about the art, communication
and self exploration and make believe, then it becomes one of the most powerful and
joyful things a young person can be immersed in.

BUSINESS

Parents tend to look at Tom Cruise and Julia Roberts and think ʻthereʼs no wayʼ theyʼre
probably right. but for every movie star there are hundreds and hundreds of people making very good livings in a thriving industry full of work.

When you do this right itʼs a wonderful fun thing to do, but when you do it wrong it can
turn ugly quickly. The business is beautiful, not ugly. The people who are really
succeeding are actually kind and generous; the stories you hear about the ugliness sells magazines, but are actually quite rare. For every ʻproblem actorʼ there are HUNDREDS of working actors who are finding joy in this exploration of life, which is what we do.

SUMMING IT UP

Both the art and the business can be fun and fulfilling, though itʼs sold sometimes as a
negative business and and art, it does not have to be that way and through discipline to
the craft, a compassionate collaborative point of view, and a healthy understanding of
how the business works thereʼs no reason this canʼt be a beautiful beautiful thing to do
for your life.

a case for bi-coast-ality by Matthew Harrison

Not long ago, actors would talk of the gap between Toronto and Vancouver. The Rocky Mountain divide separating two different cities not just by geography, but in business and culture as well. Both producing Canadian and American film and television. Neither connected to the other in any real way.

Recently, however, there has been a very noticeable and monumental change in the practical way these two great acting cities work together. More and more, I have been seeing actors that I teach and coach booking guest stars and leads in Toronto, often from tape. Often from tape shot at the Foundry Films studio. From Flashpoint to Highland Gardens, The Listener to Nikita…Vancouver actors are booking in Toronto.

And more and more, I hear Vancouver agents talking about representing their actors in both cities, and looking outside the GVRD for projects for their actors. The agents I’ve spoken to have all said that an imperative of late is solidifying their relationships with Toronto casting.

Meantime, I’m just back from Toronto where I was teaching an intensive workshop, and where I took several meetings with Toronto agents and casting. Agents there also speak of setting stronger relationships with Vancouver casting, looking to the Pacific for their actors, and how many of their clients are booking Vancouver projects. And Toronto casting say it’s an imperative to meet and learn about Vancouver actors, to increase their actor resources and range, to help them cast the best people for their projects.

Times have changed. The gap is closing, The Rockies have fallen.

The reasons are obvious:

In the digital age, “taping” is an anachronism. VHS tapes by courier (followed by a fax memo) are dinosauric. Links are immediate to send and easy to use. With one click, a casting director can see your work. Why wouldn’t they?

In a highly competitive age, actors need to broaden their horizons and get seen outside a shrunken market. So agents are much more persistent and proactive about getting “tapings” across the internet.

And in an age where production is spread out, no longer as centralized in separate urban centres, the very notion of being a “Vancouver actor” or “Toronto actor”, or for that matter “Los Angeles actor” or “New York actor” is no longer sensible. An “actor” is all you need to be to book.

Here’s how: ability, specificity, and — very importantly — relationships.

Implied in this changing multi-city environment is this: yes…you have more opportunity to book by knowing the casting people in Toronto and sending them material in this easy digital age. But then again, so does everyone else. Meaning: the competition is greater, the greater the market opens up.

But this shouldn’t faze you in the least…that is, if you are extremely able. In fact, all it should do is put a flame under you to work harder, build your skill set, raise your experience…to not rest on the laurels and successes you’ve had, and not succumb to complacency…but discipline yourself to the sharpest.

Next, it means you must learn to be specific, have the self-knowledge to know who you are and how you are cast. To know what makes you marketable. To be a specific brand and not a general commodity. Casting will look over the Rockies and book Vancouver actors because they can…they can look for that specific and particular kind of person they need for a part. So be sure to be specific and clear in your acting.

The latest Actor’s Foundry successes – of lead bookings of Vancouver actors in Toronto projects – were actors with smaller resumes, but with chops and self-knowledge.

And, in the end, it’s all about relationships. There’s only so much a casting director can do without actually knowing you and working with you, hands on, in a room.

Pacific Artists agent Russ Mortensen says:

“I’ve seen many times, that after a lukewarm response to seeing Actor X on tape 20 times for various things, that the actor then will get flown out to test, or Toronto casting will come out here and do the callbacks in person, and then the feedback becomes “Wow, now I get why that guy (gal) works so much out here”….when they can finally soak up all the intangibles that can’t come across from a tape.  There’s the huge value in bringing Toronto casting out here.”

Meet the casting people, show them your high level skill set, your personality, your intelligence and passion. Let them see you as an asset worth remembering when the right role comes down the pipe.

To be fair…The Rocky Mountain divide still exists in one way: in the form of tax credits. Toronto production saves money hiring local actors, and Vancouver production saves money hiring local as well. So for actor roles and smaller parts, coast to coast searches don’t happen. Locally is where you will book the starting roles and day player parts to broaden your experience and lengthen your resume.

BUT, in this new digital world, there is now built into production budgets and the mindsets of casting an absolute new ethic: that for the bigger roles, lead roles, and specific casting…there is no divide.

Meaning now is the time to get the casting putting a face to your name…before pilot season and the new year, before you and your agent start making tapes to send across the continent. Do the opposite of “Actor X”, and get them to understand that specific intangible quality of yours before you send twenty audition tapes.

Widen your range…think outside the box. Push yourself into that top tier of actor by setting relationships with Toronto casting. Teach them who you are and what you bring to characters. Get known…hurdle yourself over the gap…and book.