MANITOBA

News 203-245 McDermot Avenue Winnipeg MB R3B 0S6

(204) 339-9750 manitoba@actra.ca

FALL 2011

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

By Talia Pura

As the provincial election draws near, please remember how im-

portant it is for you to cast your ballot. Every vote counts! Please check out

www.workingfamiliesmanitoba.ca to follow the issues that matter to working

families and see how each party is faring. We’ve been fortunate to have

governments in Manitoba that understand the importance of the stage and

film industries and the arts in general to

our economy and to the creative individu-

als engaged in these industries. We must

be diligent in deliberating on the different

party platforms in how they affect us and

our industry and support that party that

supports us.

As we look forward to fall and

what it might bring, we can look back on

what has been a very strong summer

season. There have been several fea-

tures: Beethoven Saves Christmas,

Wrong Turn 4, Lucky Christmas and We

Were Children. There was also the Don

Cherry mini series, a second season of

Todd and the Book of Pure Evil, and the

DVD feature, American Girl. Still to wrap

are Path of Souls and The Class Project.

All in all there has been a lot of work for

many ACTRA members.

Film Training Manitoba will once again be offering training opportu-

nities for you to take advantage of, and ACTRA is also pleased that Alf

Kollinger has agreed to set up another great season of the Actors’ Gym.

Several Council Members did not seek re-election at our last AGM

in June. I would like to thank them for their diligent work on the Council:

John B. Lowe, Jessica Burleson, Jacqueline Loewen and Rea Ka-

vanagh. A special thanks to Rea who served on Council for the past nine

years, most recently as the Chair of our Political Action Committee and our

Vice-President. Thank you for your years of hard work and dedication.

Welcome to our new Councillors: Will Woytowich, Shannon

Jacques, Kevin Longfield and Alf Kollinger. Kevin is taking over the

position of Political Action Committee

Chair and Alf is now the Training

Chair as well as our new Vice-

President. These new members will

be joining me and Councillors Brenda

Gorlick, Brian Richardson, Ti

Hallas, Treasurer, and Claude

Dorge, Secretary. I am looking for-

ward to working with you all.

Mark your calendars for our

next ACTRA event, a Hallowe’en

Party to be held on Friday, October

28. Details to follow shortly. Start

thinking about your costume—there

will be prizes!

For those planning a Member-

Initiated Production (MIP) this year,

please check with Rob Macklin.

Grants in the amount of $450 are still

available, upon presentation of principal photography receipts.

All the best for a fabulous fall!

Your new Council: (front) Brenda Gorlick, Shannon Jacques, Talia Pura, Ti

Hallas; (back) Claude Dorge, Will Woytowich, Kevin Longfield, Brian Rich-

ardson, Alf Kollinger

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TRAINING REPORT

By Alf Kollinger

All things “Training” are off to a great start this fall.

The first two Actors’ Gyms filled up in minutes of the announcement

being sent out. The guest directors are Doug Mitchell (September 13) and

Guy Maddin (October11). We’re very pleased to see such enthusiasm for

the sessions but, also, feel badly about having to tell so many of our Mem-

bers that the sessions were full. Like the last few years, we are planning to

run the Gym on a monthly basis until next June.

Every actor understands the importance of regular training. With

that in mind, Film Training Manitoba is in the process of scheduling three

Actor Workshops. They are looking at November/December of this year

and into 2012. Two of the workshops will be instructed by Casting Directors

from Toronto and the third will focus on comedic timing.

I am hoping to be nominated to and accepted by the board of Film

Training Manitoba. Even though I won’t officially be there representing

ACTRA, I will be able to put forth concerns and ideas affecting actors.

Here are a couple of quotes to get you thinking about your acting

and training:

“It is not enough for an actor to be honest. It’s the actor’s job to

make the kind of choices that motivate exciting results.” Ivana Chubbuck

“Study, find all the good teachers and study with them. Get involved

with acting to act, not to be famous or for the money. Do plays. It’s not

worth it if you are just in it for the money. You have to love it.” Philip Sey-

mour Hoffman

TONY WARLOCK, PAL FUNDRAISER

Tony Warlock, an original radio drama written by Nicholas Burns

and produced by Jeff Skinner, was presented over two weekends, on June

4 and 11, at Aqua Books. Tony Warlock is a private eye in an alternate

reality “where the supernatural is commonplace and truth a rare commodi-

ty”. Our thanks for the participants and to Aqua Books. The proceeds,

some $400, went to PAL Winnipeg.

HONOURING LIONEL MOORE

Before presenting Lionel Moore at the June 4 ACTRA AGM, Lee

Major paid homage to Victor Cowie in whose honour the ACTRA Artistic

Achievement Award was named.

“Victor Cowie was a sincere, gracious, fine human being. He was

very courteous and was interested in you, in what you were doing and what

you thought. He was a passionate advocate of literature. In 1968 he wrote

and directed what was, I believe, the first major, Manitoba film, No Birds

Sing.

“It is with admiration, and a great pleasure for me this evening, to

speak to you about Lionel Moore, this year’s recipient of the Award.

“Lionel and I both started off at the CBC. He has worked very hard,

first, in front of the microphone, then

in front of the camera. We worked

together in news, sports and weath-

er.

“For a number of years, he

hosted Reach For The Top with TV

personality, Bill Guest. He has

worked as a journalist, broadcaster

and interviewer, as a human re-

source person, in industrial relations

and training, and recruiting. He also

managed to find the time to appear

in some thirty films.

”Lionel was always ready to

give assistance to any who needed

help either in their careers or in their

personal lives.

“Lionel is a graduate of the

Winnipeg Police Service, the Citi-

zens’ Police Academy, he was an Employee Assistant Counsellor, a Certi-

fied Alcohol and Drug Counsellor and sat on the Board of the Manitoba Hu-

man Rights Commission. He was a charter member of the Employees’

Assistance Society of North America.

“And, of course, for many years he sat as a Member of Council for

ACTRA Manitoba.

“Lionel is a great practical joker, a terrible golfer, a bad curler, a

great friend and, now, in recognition of his work on behalf of our Member-

ship, the worthy recipient of the Victor Cowie Artistic Achievement Award,

2001.’”

A PAL FUNDRAISING EVENT

Farpoint Films and MTS Winnipeg On Demand is presenting the

film première of The Book of Vaudeville, a documentary by John Barnard at

1:30 PM and 7:00 PM on Friday, September 23 at Aqua Books, 274 Garry

Street. Gordon Tanner’s documentary, Between Then and Now, 20 Years

of Theatre Projects Manitoba, will also be shown. Tickets are $20 and seat-

ing is limited. Tickets on sale at Theatre Projects, 204-245 McDermot Ave.

(989-2400), and Aqua Books. Watch the Book of Vaudeville trailer on fac-

book or UTube.

MANITOBA MEMBERS @ WORK

Kally Berard: American Girl, actor. Mariam Bernstein: Heartland Clinic

DVD, voice; NDP Spots, voice; Lucky Christmas, actor. Hilary Carroll:

Todd and the Book of Pure Evil, Season 2, principal. Blane Cypurda:

Wrong Turn, 4, principal. Fernando Dalayoan: “Get a Job” spot, principal.

Alice Dano: We Were Children, principal. Claude Dorge: Keyhole, princi-

pal. Darcy Fehr: Rose By Name, actor; We Were Children, principal. An-

gela Jill Guingcangco: Todd and the Book of Pure Evil, principal. Robert

Huculak: ATM, principal; Lucky Christmas, principal; The Class Project,

principal. Lorraine James: The Class Project, principal; Hauntings, actor;

Cashing In, principal. Michael Larocque: Safework 2011, principal; Wrong

Turn, 4, background; The Crew, principal. Daina Leitold: We Were Chil-

dren, principal; Don Cherry, actor Natalia Longley: Todd and the Book of

Pure Evil, actor. Garth Merkeley: Todd and the Book of Pure Evil, stunt.

Talia Pura: American Girl, principal; We Were Children, actor. Joanne

Rodriguez: The Class Project, actor. Jeff Skinner: Faces In the Crowd,

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President Talia Pura and Lionel

Moore

The cast of Tony Warlock: Gordon Tanner, Marina Stephenson Kerr, Nancy

Drake, Bob Huculak, Jeff Skinner, Ed Sutton, Brian Richardson.

actor; Hello Darling, principal; Less Than Kind, principal; We Were Children,

principal. Krystle Snow: Todd and the Book of Pure Evil, Season 2, stunt.

Will Woytowich: American Girl, actor. Kate Yacula: Todd and the Book of

Pure Evil, principal; Faces in the Crowd, actor.

AND THE AWARDS WENT TO...

At our AGM last June 14, we initiated

three new awards: the Members’ Choice

Awards for Best Actors, Male and Female,

and the Members’ Choice Golden Boy Award

for Best Member-Initiated Production (MIP).

The winner of the Members’ Choice

Award for the Best Female Actor was Sarah Constible for her role in Billy.

The other nominees were Lisa Durupt (Less Than Kind, Season 2), Daria

Puttaert (Zoey and Adam), Kimberley Rampersad (Snake River) and Nan-

cy Sorel (Less Than Kind, Season 2).

The winner of the Members’ Choice Award for the Best Male Actor

was Stephen McIntyre for his role in High Life. The other nominees were

Ernesto Griffith (Billy), Ross McMillan (Foodland), Mike O’Brien (Less

Than Kind, Season 2) and Toby Hughes (Todd and the Book of Pure Evil,

Season 1).

The winner of the Golden Boy Award for the Best MIP was shared

by 9er 9er (Sean Skene and Andrew Degryse) and The Unseen Force

(Rob Macklin). The other nominees were Strawberry Confession (Talia

Pura), , and Waiting Room (Claude Dorge).

Congratulations to all nominees and winners! But we know you’re

all winners!

PAL WINNIPEG

Things are moving forward for the Performance Arts Lodge (PAL)

Winnipeg. We have retained the services of Acorn Development Consult-

ants who will help us to realize our aim—affordable, not-for-profit housing

for senior members of our performing arts community.

Also, we have received a $10,000 grant and a $10,000 loan from

CMHC, seed money to get us going.

The first step is the Need and Demand Survey which you received

by e-mail. Please take the time to answer the questions no matter if you

plan to move in upon its opening or a number of years down the road. We

want to hear from Members of all ages—it will only take a few minutes and

is invaluable to us. The survey can be filled on-line. We will need the help

of various levels of government to see our project to completion. To do this,

we must prove that the performing arts community is behind us. You do

matter! We count on you.

POLITICAL ACTION REPORT

By Kevin Longfield

While ACTRA Manitoba does not take a partisan position in elec-

tions, we do try to make sure that our interests are served and receive atten-

tion, and not all parties are equal where ACTRA’s interests are concerned.

The NDP tends to take a more labour-friendly approach, which is beneficial

to our Membership. They have also undertaken initiatives that have materi-

ally benefitted our industry, and it is important to remind our Membership of

these initiatives before they make their decision on Election Day.

One failed initiative was the idea of having a Wrecking Ball, similar

to the ones held during the city and federal elections. Unfortunately our

traditional venue, PTE, is under construction and we could not find another

venue willing to donate space.

ACTRA did decide to participate in the Working Families initiative

sponsored by the Manitoba Federation of Labour. A message went out to

the Membership at large promoting a web site, and we have encouraged a

few individuals to contribute to the site. Unfortunately I have not been able

to pursue this as vigorously as I would have liked because of the Wrecking

Ball. I plan to pick up the threads next week.

ADVOCACY

Rob Macklin and I met with David Sauer of the Winnipeg Labour

Council and a representative of the Canadian Labour Congress to discuss

areas where we can act to mutual benefit. The Wrecking Ball drew consid-

erable interest, but unfortunately nothing came of it. We also discussed the

Working Families initiative.

I will also be attending a Culture Manitoba Forum on September 14

to discuss greater cooperation among arts groups. A report on this will fol-

low.

WELCOME

NEW MEMBERS

Blane Cypurda Brett Donahue Jacqueline Guertin Dean Harder

Samantha Hill Ann Hodges Toby Hughes Adam Hurtig

James Janssens Curt Keilback Robert Kostyra Denesha Lee

Laura Lussier Eric Magnifico Craig Matthews Justin Pike

Nadine Pinette Marina Portz Kerrie Reid Karl Thordarson

Stefanie Wiens

NEW APPRENTICE MEMBERS

Nihad Ademi Kally Berard Jason Berzuk Pierre Bohemier

Adam Christopher Brooks Domenic Caligiuri Ethan Chernick

Amy Couldwell Justin Courchene Fernando Dalayoan

John Echano Ashley Jessica Hirt Natalia Longley James Smith

Cameron Sumter Robal Zere

NEW ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND PERFORMERS

Len Gerelus Pamela Iveta Trent Whidden

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Our winners with President Talia

Pura: Andrew Degryse, Sean Skene,

Rob Macklin Stephen McIntyre and

Sarah Constible .

YOUNG OR OLD, FILL IN THE

PAL WINNIPEG

NEED AND DEMAND SURVEY

You have been sent it my email. If you need a copy, contact

Rob, 339-9750 or manitoba@actra.ca

P A L F U N D R A I S E R September 23, 1:30 and 7:00 p.m. Aqua Books

The Book of Vaudeville

Directed by John Bernard

Starring Ross McMillan, Jacqueline Loewen, Dean Gunnarson, Sarah Constible,

Stephen McIntyre, Onalee Ames, Andrew Cecon, Tricia Cooper and Owen Clark

Also presenting Gordon Tanner’s Between Then and Now, 20 Years of Theatre Projects Manitoba

Tickets $20 at Theatre Projects or Aqua Books

ACTRA MANITOBA

Rob Macklin, Branch Rep

203-245 McDermot Avenue Winnipeg MB R3B 0S6

(204) 339-9750 Fax (204) 947-5664

manitoba@actra.ca www.actramanitoba.ca

Manitoba Council

Talia Pura, President and National Councillor

Alf Kollinger, Vice-President

Ti Hallas,, Treasurer

Claude Dorge, Secretary

Members at Large

Brenda Gorllck

Shannon Jacques

Kevin Longfield

Brian Richardson

Will Woytowich

WE’RE HAVING A

HALLOWE’EN PARTY ! FRIDAY OCTOBER 28 AT JOHNNY G’S

DOORS OPEN AT 8 P.M. COSTUME CONTEST REGISTRATION CLOSES 10 P.M.

COSTUMES! PRIZES! MUSIC! SNACKS! CASH BAR FUN!

ACTRA

MANITOBA

AGM

JUNE 14,

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SOME OF THE ATTENDEES OF THE AGM

1 John B. Lowe 2 Claude Dorge 3 Rea Kavanagh 4 Jessica Bur-

leson 5 Brian Richardson 6 Ti Hallas 7 Talia Pura 8 Jacqueline

Loewen (These people constituted your “old” Council, missing:

Brenda Gorlick) 9 Harry Nelken 10 Daphne Korol 11 Jon Ted

Wynne 12 Tyhr Trubiak 13 Rick Skene 14 Adriana O’Neil 15 Dana

Horrox 16 Andrew Degryse 17 Sean Skene 18 Kevin Longfield 19

Muriel Hogue 20 James Juce 21 Lorraine James 22 Mitchell Kum-

men 23 Glen Thompson 24 Valentina Wilson 25 Jerry McIlroy

26 Alf Kollinger 27 Will Woytowich 28 Lee Major 29 Krysia An-

drzejczak 30 Lionel Moore 31 Suzanne Portnoy 32 Alice Dano 33

Mario DeNegri 34 Omar Khan 35 Stephen McIntyre 36 Jim Bell

37 Manny Sylvester 38 Lois Brothers 39 Daryl Dorge 40 Garth

Merkeley 41 Jan Skene 42 Shannon Guile 43 Darryl Miller 44

Ryan Miller