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, 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.
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.
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.
Bill founded the William Davis Centre for Actors' Study in 1989, which now offers its highly regarded curriculum at VanArts. Additionally, Mr. Davis sits on the Board of Advisors at VanArts.
For more information, see also:
www.williambdavis.com
William B. Davis at IMDB
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
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.
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
A graduate of Brown University and NYU’s Graduate Program in Acting, Rob LaBelle has worked as an actor, director and producer in theatre, film and television for over 20 years. In addition to teaching at VanArts, Rob is also a member of our Advisory Board (see below in Advisory Board section for full bio).
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
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.
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.
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.
After earning her BA in English and Theatre from Columbia University in New York City, Rachel earned her Masters of Fine Arts in Acting from the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. She is an SAFD Certified Actor Combatant in Broadsword, Rapier and Dagger, and Hand to Hand, and has also received Advanced Dueling Arts training with Gregory Hoffman in multiple disciplines. She has had the great pleasure of working as J. Steven White's assistant in choreographing, directing, and teaching in New York University's undergraduate and MFA programs, Columbia University's MFA program, the Public Theatre Shakespeare Lab, and the Stella Adler Conservatory. Additional work has included fight directing "Taming of the Shrew" and assisting in the fight choreography for the Broadway productions of "The Pirate Queen" and "Hamlet." Additional teaching credits include the University of San Francisco and (locally) Schoolcreative.
Advisory Council
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. Bill founded the William Davis Centre for Actors' Study in 1989, which now offers its highly regarded curriculum at VanArts. Additionally, Mr. Davis sits on the Board of Advisors at VanArts.
For more information, see also:
www.williambdavis.com
William B. Davis at IMDB
A 4 time Emmy Nominee, based in Vancouver since 1995, Candice Elzinga has been responsible for casting some of the leading feature films, television series and movies for television shot in Western Canada. A trained actor with her BFA in Acting from the University of Alberta, Candice brings a profound understanding of the acting process to her work. Boasting a keen eye for new talent, she has earned a reputation for her in-depth knowledge of the Canadian acting community, as well as her knack for bringing a fresh, innovative eye to the projects she casts.
With post-secondary training focussed on Marketing and Public Relations, Gibson became a Talent Agent in 1986 and has worked with Characters, Canada's largest full service Talent Agency with offices in both Vancouver and Toronto, since 1991. He represents Canadian actors for film, television, theatre, and radio in Canada, and around the globe. He produced a short film to gain a more thorough knowledge of all aspects of the entertainment industry. He also travels extensively, and relaxes by scuba diving, rock climbing, white water rafting, and sky diving. Mr. Gibson was one of the founding members of the Talent Agents and Managers Association of Canada (TAMAC), a self-governing body of the professional Talent Agents in Canada, and served on its Board. In a highly competitive industry, he is known for both his sense of humour, and his ethics.
A graduate of Brown University and NYU’s Graduate Program in Acting, Rob LaBelle has worked as an actor, director and producer in theatre, film and television for over 20 years. He worked on such early features from ground breaking director Todd Haynes as Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story and Poison. Rob has also worked with directors Barry Sonnenfeld, Harold Becker, Roland Joffe, Wes Craven, Bruce MacDonald, Roger Spottiswoode, Stan Douglas and Zack Snyder. He was nominated for a Gemini award for his work as Eddie Nambulous in First Wave, and a Leo Award for his starring role in The Burial Society. Rob has been the Executive in Charge of Television for Infinity Features (Saved, Capote) for several years, and is currently an Executive Producer on their TV series Mental (with Fox TV Studios). He has taught acting at Colorado College and UCLA’s Overseas Program (in Florence, Italy). Rob has also served on the Executive Boards of SAG, ACTRA and UBCP.
Rob LaBelle at IMDB