Faculty
Chilton has been a professional actor for over 20 years, with many lead, recurring and guest star credits including X-Files, Supernatural, Outer Limits, L Word, Cold Squad, Beggars and Choosers, and many other series and feature films. She has directed for both film and stage, is very passionate about acting and teaching, and has always been lucky enough to find a balance of both crafts. Chilton has the longest-running film & television part-time course in the city and yet still brings all of her energy to each and every class. With an unsurpassed dedication to her students and their development, she believes in empowering each student with knowledge so they can go out into the world independently and with confidence to pursue their dreams. According to Chilton herself, "There are no quick fixes or secrets in the art of acting; just a lot of hard work, commitment, self-discipline, and oh yeah, a hell of a lot of fun."
Click here to see Chilton on the imdb.
Before becoming "Cancer Man" on the hit TV series The X-Files, William Davis had a long career as a teacher, director and actor. He has been the Director of Canada's two leading acting schools: the National Theatre School and the Vancouver Playhouse Acting School. He was the founding Artistic Director of Festival Lennoxville in Quebec, Director of the Dundee Repertory Theatre in Scotland and Assistant Director at the National Theatre of Great Britain.
Mr. Davis has directed over 100 professional productions at major theatres in Britain and Canada. He founded the William Davis Centre for Actors' Study in 1989, which now offers its highly regarded curriculum at VanArts, where he now also sits on the Board of Advisors.
For more information, see also:
www.williambdavis.com
William B. Davis at IMDB
Bill Pozzobon has been acting and teaching for over 20 years, having performed with the Vancouver Theatresports League, Number 14 at the Axis Mime Theatre, Blackdog Theatre in Toronto, and performing with comedic actor Ryan Stiles at Upfront Theatre in Bellingham, WA. He has taught at the Shadboldt Center for the Arts, Carnegie Community Centre, and Simon Fraser University, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in 1991.
Brent Stait has been acting in film, television and theater in Canada for the past 30 years. From X-Files to Mystery, Alaska, from serial killers to priests, Brent has performed a large number of character parts on film and stage. A graduate of Ryerson Theater School and Banff School of Fine Arts Master Class, Brent spent the first four years of his career doing theater at Stratford and surrounding areas before venturing into his numerous film & TV credits. He has been the recipient of a Tyrone Gutheri award, a Leo award, and has been nominated for a Genie.
Check out Brent Stait on IMDB
Bruce studied in New York at the renowned HB Studio with Carol Rosenfeld. He is a past member of the Equity Theatre company Sea Theatre and has appeared in many of their critically acclaimed productions including Burn This, Popcorn, and Established Price. Bruce has appeared in numerous film and TV roles. He currently has recurring roles on the popular television series The L Word and the new series Painkiller Jane, as well as playing Flash Gordon's father in the new Flash Gordon series. He can also be seen as "Captain Harrison" in the feature film Holloman II. His teaching is influenced by Uta Hagen's methods. Students of his love the fact that he teaches them techniques that work on set and on stage, not just in the classroom.
Click here to see Bruce on the imdb.
Daniel has been appearing on Vancouver stages since graduating from the William Davis Centre in 1999. Highlights include the manic director Strizh in Black Snow (United Players), Frank in Daniel McIvors' Never Swim Alone (Street Repertory Theatre), Edmund in King Lear (Firehall/Shakespeare Centre) and Sophie's Dad in Carnage (Pi Theatre). He most recently played himself, his great-great-great-grandfather, and many others in Upintheair’s Johnny Grant: A Rollicking Adventure Story. As Artistic Director of Upintheair, Daniel has been instrumental in the creation of Wedgie, Men of the World, 120bpm, Johnny Grant, and The Walking Fish Festival. He has been an ongoing member of the CORE physical training group since 2004.
Donald Adams was born in Calgary, Alberta and grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia. He studied at the Vancouver Playhouse Acting School before beginning a thirty-plus year stage career, with engagements at the Stratford Festival, Second City, Tarragon Theatre, Bard on the Beach, and Touchstone Theatre, among many others. Over the years, he has worked with such luminaries as Bette Davis, Tennessee Williams, George C. Scott, and William Hurt. Don is also co-founder of The Shakespeare Centre, established in 2004 to provide ongoing Shakespearean training to Vancouver actors.
Dylan Neal is one of Canada's busiest working actors, with regular roles on 8 American series (Dawson's Creek, Smallville, Wild Roses, etc) and well over 60 recurring, guest star and leading roles in MOW's. His 20 years of experience in film & television bring a wealth of knowledge to his teaching. With the majority of his career spent in Los Angeles, Dylan has had the good fortune to study with some of the profession's biggest names, including Ivana Chubbuck and Lewis Smith.
Check out Dylan Neal at IMDB
Frank Cassini has been a working actor for over 25 years, honing his craft in Toronto, New York, and ultimately Los Angeles and Vancouver. He is a lifetime member of The Actor's Studio in NYC and LA since 1997. He has appeared in more than 18 plays spread throughout all four cities, including Dramalogue Award-winning The Jones Boy in LA, and Off-Broadway play Tony n' Tina's Wedding out of NY.
His TV credits include a regular role in the CTV drama The Bridge, plus roles in Intelligence, DaVinci's City Hall, DaVinci's Inquest, Dead Zone, Cold Squad, Dead Like Me, Stargate SG-1, NYPD Blue, X-Files and Miami Vice.
Selected film credits include Watchmen, The Entrance, Little Brother of War & For a New Lousy Dollars (Leo Nominees), Break a Leg (co-written by his brother John), James Dean, Hole in the Sky, Johnny's Girl, and Goodfellas.
Greg Kean has been a professional actor since receiving his MFA in Acting from Cornell University in 1985. Greg's credits include Houston's Alley Theatre, The Los Angeles Theatre Centre, movies including Summer Dreams, the Story of the Beach Boys as Brian Wilson, Air America and Saved!. On television Greg portrayed Clancy Lass on the series Dead Like Me and has guest starred on many shows including Designing Women, Da Vinci's Inquest, Saved By The Bell, Life Goes On, Smallville and The Guard.
Greg has also done many commercials, including spots for Avandia, Oldsmobile, Honda, Michelob, and T. Rowe Price.
With an extensive background in martial arts and athletic strength & conditioning, Jaeson (Jae) Lee has worked as a stunt performer since 2006 and recently begun working as an actor. In 2009 after completing work on the A-Team feature film, Jae traveled to Korea to assist in training the national Olympic Taekwondo team members.
In the VanArts film-fighting course, Jae emphasizes the proper understanding of an actor's role in a physical performance, including structure of a fight or an action sequence, and rehearsal & safety guidelines. Combative techniques and movement are taught in every class with focus on staying true to the character and playing within the storyline.
From Winnipeg to London to Vancouver, Julie has trained, performed and taught in theatre, TV and film for well over a decade. Expert at teaching beginning actors, she has introduced over 500 students at the Centre to the thrill of acting. European credits include Brookside (BBC), Soul Survivor (Trisquare), and French National commercial "Orange". North American credits include Hallowe'en 8, The Gut Girls , US national "Got Milk" commercials and character voice work for Da Vinci's Inquest . Julie just made her directorial debut with Alan Ball's Five Women Wearing the Same Dress for Kindred Spirits. She brings with her the eclectic background and positive attitude needed to facilitate true acting.
Robin Douglas is a veteran of over thirty years as a performer, appearing on stage, screen and television. A native New Yorker, she began her professional training as a teenager at the High School of Performing Arts, the inspiration for the movie Fame. She continued her training at NYU School of the Arts and studied further at the famed HB Studio. She then spent the next fifteen years working on-stage in New York, including the Off-Broadway premiere of Joseph Heller's Catch-22.
Since moving to the Pacific Northwest in 1990, Robin has worked as an actress and voiceover performer while developing her skills as a private coach and teacher. She spent five years as the Dialogue Coach for The X Files, and has worked as an American Dialect Coach on such films as Miracle, Prozac Nation and X-Men 2. She juggles acting, teaching and voiceover work from her home in Point Roberts, Washington.
Click here to see some of what Robin has done .
In 2002, Tracy D. Smith received an MFA in Creative Writing from UBC and subsequently joined Brightlight Pictures’ Development Department until 2006. She also served on the board of WIFTV for over three years during that time. Her first short film “Sandra Gets Dumped” (2005 Crazy8s) won Leo Awards for Best Screenwriting and Best Female Performance. Her feature film debut, “Taming Tammy”, premiered at the 2007 Vancouver International Film Festival and was one of five films to be nominated for the CityTV Western Canada Feature Film Award. Some of her other films include “Unbearable Love” (Montreal World Film Festival 07), “The Brute” (VIFF 08), “No Means No” (Grand Prize Winner Bloodshots 08) and “Curse of the Jade Falcon” (Winner of VAFF’s Mighty Asian Moviemaking Marathon 08). Her most recent short project was funded by the BC Council for the Arts, a Gothic Western entitled “The Homestead”. She is currently in development on her next feature film which will go to camera this year.
Trained in her second language at Le Conservatoire D’Art Dramatique de Quebec, in Quebec City, Trilby Jeeves was the first & only English student to graduate from the three-year program. She went on to perform in both French and English across Canada. During this time, she also worked part-time as a costumer, and a set supervisor for the film & TV industry. Trilby’s directing experiences include the first French Canadian productions of “Les Monologues du Vagin” for two consecutive years, and a recent production for First Impressions Theatre of “The Memory of Water”. Her passion for inspiring truthful performance evolved from teaching improv classes to various schools into her own Buffoonery Acting Workshops, which have taken her throughout BC to Puerto Rico, Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan. She also helped create the “Directing the Film Actor” workshop, which she teaches with her partner, Peter D. Marshall, around the world. By providing a safe place, Trilby encourages her students at to find their inner bouffon giving them a unique tool for text exploration. You can follow Trilby, a social media enthusiast, on twitter: http://www.twitter.com/tjbuffoonery
Wendy Bollard is a singer, actor, producer and director with over 25 years of vocal experience. After graduating from Anthony Holland's Vancouver Film and Theatre School she moved to England where she studied at The Actor's Centre in London and performed at various venues throughout London and Dublin. As a trained singer with a critically-acclaimed jazz CD, Wendy has performed at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival, the West Coast Music Festival, and was the featured vocalist with the Dal Richard's Orchestra. Wendy sits on the Culture Committee for the City of White Rock, is a board member for Peninsula Productions and recently started her own production company 16th Ave Productions.
Dave is a BFA graduate of University of Victoria and is committed to challenging established creation concepts and developing new ways of seeing theatre. In the 1990's he was core member of the Chaos Collective and his creative efforts gave rise to the Metanoia Projects and a number of site-specific theatre installations in local rave parties. A committed member of the CORE group in Vancouver since 2005 he is skilled in Suzuki Method, Viewpoints, Grotowski & Fowler physical theatre techniques. As co-founder of Upintheair Theatre (www.upintheairtheatre.com) in 1999 he has created, produced, directed and/or performed in Wedgie, Pyropornomania, Moxie, Men of the WORLD, STUMPED & 120bpm and established Vancouver's short form original theatre festival - The Walking Fish Festival. Selected Acting: Escape From Happiness, Sexual Perversity in Chicago, Glengarry Glen Ross, Hopscotch, Hello Out There, Much Ado About Nothing, King Lear.
