Ok, so I’m an actor in the process of moving from Vancouver to Toronto and one of the first things I had to do to make the transition a smooth one was find an agent to represent me in Toronto. I have a decent resume, nothing humongous but I have been fortunate enough to work on some very good projects with excellent people. Getting the meetings was easier for me than it would be for someone just starting out but there were some things that occurred in these meetings that were huge eye openers for me. The entire process was an exact opposite of what I expected.

I looked at the list of agencies in Toronto and asked some colleagues and friend to make recommendations. I targeted a number of different agents as my ultimate wish list and then I chose some smaller boutique agencies as back-ups just in case I got the proverbial door slammed in my face. I know that times are tough right now, and many agents are cutting their rosters, not looking for new clients, so I proceeded humbly expecting it to be difficult to find a good agent.

My top choices were:

Larry Goldhar at Characters

Penny Noble at N.C.A.

Brad Garrick at Goddard

Perry Zimel at O.A.Z.

And my back ups will remain anonymous because I don’t want to get into any trouble for bad mouthing anyone. (It’s a small world after all!)

I expected the big guys to be very busy and unavailable and the smaller agencies to be more accessible. I was wrong. The bigger, more powerful agents were ready to meet with me at the drop of the hat and the boutique guys were almost insulted that I had the nerve to assume that they had the time to meet with me. I do have to mention that I did meet with Kevin Jensen at Fountainhead, which is a smaller more boutique style agency, and he was a solid guy. Kevin took the time to really chat with me and find out what I was looking for. So he is exempt when I refer to the smaller agents.

When I spoke with some of these smaller agents in Toronto I truly felt like I was interrupting their busy V.I.P. day and that I “should be so lucky” to have them even look at me. The bigger agencies were excited at the idea of a fresh face and came across as people who really enjoy their job and want to be a part of my career. I was shocked and confused. When I hear people talk about the bigger agents I always heard them say things like -they are like factories, churning out performers like Reebok does shoes in China. I was delighted to have been completely misled on this fact. Each large agency divides the clients up and in some cases will represent another agents client if necessary.

The other fear that I had was that my amazing agent in Vancouver would be cut out of my career by a bigger agency because they would demand full control of my career. This misconception was destroyed and I now see things in a new light. The smaller agencies flat out refused to share me with another agent in Canada and the big guys share clients as a policy. The stronger agencies saw my agent, Jayson Marshall (Howard Hill), as an extension of my team in a region that they did not cover. Even The Characters who have an agency in Vancouver were glad to split commissions with someone else, if it meant establishing a stronger position across the country. Some of the smaller agents were surprised and a little insulted that I even wanted to have another agent in “their country.”

All in all, I was surprised by the openness of the more powerful agencies in Canada and disappointed that the smaller ones felt the need to pretend to be more than they are. I guess that’s why “The Characters” of the world know the secret to success and most of the little guys will always just scrape by.

I am pleased to announce that I have signed with Larry Goldhar at Characters and I look forward to starting work with him.

Keep an open mind and dream big. Also don’t listen to anyone’s advice. If you have a question about something, go find out for yourself, you might be surprised at what you’ll find out.

This is something that I will never understand about the unions. There are union members who want to work on this film because they like the concept and see the intentions I have with it. Basically, they get it. I appreciate this. However, the union forces you to pay not only union actors $50.00, but the non union ones too. This obviously will drive up the budget. So now what? A challenge. A problem that is easily solved. It just means that there are more executives to add to the list. Get my point? It’s not a genius plan, just a plan. You’ll have to watch the making of “Monbella and the Curse of 1809”.

On a brighter note, equipment rental houses and their peeps, like Corey Lambert at PS lighting and Dion and Jasen Hamilton at Trew Audio have stepped up to the plate and offered great deals on lighting and sound packages. Corey Lambert is a long time friend who works for PS lighting as manager for their Rental Equipment. They have offered me a lighting package for a great price to help the cause. Then there is Dion and Jasen at Trew Audio who have also given me a great price on sound equipment. Well done guys.

I only wish the union would see the value in promoting indie film. As an actor and knowing many actors in this city, we all strive to find bigger roles with substance. Indie film has always offered this. Hopefully one day the union will see to assist in building a sustainable industry, they must become advocates of the little guys… it makes sense. One day the indie guys will be making bigger films. If the union is careful it may come back to haunt them. Ever hear of the Independent Union of Actors?

Sounds good to me.

My goal with this film is to shoot the first 9 pages and have it look like a movie. When the character Brad agrees to let the girls film the renovations, that’s when the film will be shot as a documentary. Sharing this with Craig he basically told me to keep the lighting simple and just create some sort of ambience with lighting that is rigged to the ceiling. We decided to use Kino’s for many reasons. They are a softer light and seem like they would be easier to control. He told me to rig them in the four corners of the restaurant and slightly angle them to create a nice soft texture to help light the actors faces. I do know that he said the better the lighting = the better you can see the actors eyes = the nicer a film will be. This is a learning curve for me because I have never understood or lit a show. I usually would say go with my instincts however I am glad I have someone helping with more experience.

All in all it was a good day and Craig’s input helped to build my confidence and confirm that it’s alright to let the documentary part of the film look rough and dark at times. He said just have fun doing it. So tomorrow Fraser and I will be filming the first part of 5 spoofs with Brad. Wayne Doyle will be going down to the restaurant to help Brad with some of the renovations.

Stay tuned for up coming videos!

We met for coffee at my friends Ron Downy and Andrew O’Bray’s cafe which is currently called Luna Cafe (Soon to be called Smart Mouth). Ron is going to let me use the cafe after hours to shoot a few scenes for the film. Everything is coming together slowly but surely, I will be spending time shooting 30 skits with Brad at the restaurant to post on www.urbandiner.ca and other video sites. So now begins pre-Production of Creative Playgrounds first feature called Monbella and the Curse of 1809…

Stay tuned for more!