You won the ACTRA Award this year for your performance in A Warden’s Ransom, CONGRATULATIONS! Tell us about that movie and your role. How was that experience for you? Thank you. It’s an honour to have received this award. A Warden’s Ransom is a film starring Diane Neal who plays a prison warden. A high risk inmate has just entered the prison & has offered 50 million dollars to anyone who can break him out. I play Quaid McCullough, a person who was unjustly committed. The warden realizes that I’m one of the few people that can help her when everyone tries to break him out. The cast & crew were amazing. I loved working on that film. When did you become an ACTRA member, and what was your first union gig? I became an ACTRA member 15 years ago. My first gig was on The Adventures of Shirley Holmes. I played a photographer by the name of Axel. I attended an open casting call & got the role. How has being a part of ACTRA benefited you? Being part of the ACTRA ensures that we’re paid minimum rates for the work we do. It also ensures that we receive residual payments. Money is also put away for our retirement each time we perform under a union contract. What has been your favorite film/role thus far? I’ve enjoyed all the roles I’ve played so it’s difficult to choose. One role that is significant is that of Billy Beal where I played the lead role in an independent film called “Billy.” I co-wrote, co-produced, & co-directed the film. I’d lost my memory in a car accident & began writing the script as a way of getting my memory back. When we were going to shoot the film I wanted to recast…

You’re coordinating the ACTRA Manitoba Awards Gala out of the goodness of your heart (thanks btw!), what event coordinating experience do you have? I have been event planning since I was 13. I ran for student council president (and won) for the sole purpose of organizing sock-hops & spirit week (HA!). I have been making excuses to plan and organize projects ever since. I think it’s in my blood. When I see potential in something or someone, I want to help it not only come to life, but give it the push it needs to actualize its potential. I have been managing my sketch comedy troupe Hot Thespian Action for the past ten years and have created (or co-created) a few other performance troupes including a Deaf mime troupe called 100 Decibels. As a manager and mentor, I have been the driving force behind the shows we create and perform. All of the skills I have honed through these experiences lends itself directly to event planning and project management. So I have decided to contract myself out doing just that. Over the past year, on top of performing, educating and creating as an artist, I have Production Managed a promotional video with MFM & On Screen Manitoba (https://vimeo.com/148643654), I have joined the Winnipeg Comedy Festival team planning/hosting their after parties, rounding up sponsorships and marketing the festival, and I have also coordinated a few weddings in-between. When Jan Skene asked me to join council to be the chair of the ACTRA Awards, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to give back to this beautiful community and to show them what I’ve got hidden up my sleeve. When did you become an ACTRA member, and what was your first union gig? Oh man, good question. I am…