Program Duration:
9 months
Next Full-Time Starts:
March & September 2010/11

News

Acting students join forces with Vancouver Police Department
Dec 14, 2009

On Dec. 4 the students in the Acting for Film and Television program took part in the third successful cross-training exercise with the Vancouver Police Department.

Students played out long form improvs that trainee police negotiators had to handle to the satisfaction of their supervisors. The on-site exercise provides actors with an opportunity to work in situations that simulate the action on a film set – complete with walkie-talkies, weapons, and life or death hostage taking situations.

This joint training exercise is unique in Canada.

Sgt. Neil Munro, chief trainer for police negotiators for the VPD, approached co- Department Head Christine Willes with the idea mid 2008. Co- Department Head Greg Kean and Head of Film and Television Chilton Crane contributed to the development of the program, based on typical scenarios supplied by Sgt. Munro. The program is so beneficial to both training actors and training negotiators, plans are in place to make it an annual event.

 

Gautam Modkar joins as Admissions Advisor for India
Nov 26, 2009

VanArts is pleased to welcome Gautam Modkar as our new Regional Admissions Advisor for India.

Gautam, who hails from New Delhi, is a graduate of the VanArts Visual Effects program and has worked in India with Image Foundry as a compositor for the last year. He has a Bachelor of Arts as well as an MBA and we are pleased he has returned to VanArts with his experience and enthusiasm.

If you are from India and are considering enrolling with us for the March 2010 batch, NOW is the time to apply!

For more information: see our Admissions India page.

Email Gautam

www.gautamvfx.com

2010 Scholarship Competition
Sep 28, 2009

VanArts is launching a call to SPRING INTO ACTION to find the best and brightest artists to consider for partial scholarships into our full-time programs starting March  2010.  

DEADLINE HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO NOVEMBER 20, 2009!

Guidelines for the competition are:

-submit a full application with all required materials

Click here for requirements

-submissions/portfolios can be posted on a blog or website with link  e-mailed (or zipped as an attachment) to admissions@vanarts.com

Deadline for submission is November 20, 2009

Candidates will be contacted by the Admissions Department following the deadline. 

Show us what you can do! 

 

VanArts on Twitter
Aug 24, 2009

VanArts is now on Twitter so follow us to get the scoop on everything that's going on: course updates, grad news, guest speakers, workshops, events, classroom activity, and much more! 

Follow us at twitter.com/vanarts

Acting Grad featured in NY Times
Jun 10, 2009

Aaron Douglas, a graduate of the William Davis Centre for Actors' Study (now at VanArts), was featured in a New York Times article on the Canadian television industry.

Read the article here! 

See Aaron Douglas on IMDB.

Visit from Actor Aaron Douglas
Apr 29, 2009

The William Davis Centre at VanArts recently had a special visit from fellow alumnus and local actor Aaron Douglas, best known as Chief Galen Tyrol on Battlestar Galactica.   Aaron spent the afternoon with our full-time students in the Acting for Film & Television diploma program, sharing stories and advice about working as a professional actor.  Aaron is one of several working actors who has launched a successful career thanks to the dedicated staff of the William Davis Centre at VanArts.  Thank you Aaron for inspiring our students! 

 

See Aaron Douglas on IMDB.

 

William Davis Centre Performance: Spring 2009
Apr 28, 2009

The William Davis Centre at Vanarts presents:
Heaven and Hell (On Earth): A Divine Comedy
By Robert Alexander et al.

The William Davis Centre at VanArts proudly presents Heaven and Hell (On Earth): A Divine Comedy. The cast of nine graduate students of VanArts' full time Acting for Film&TV program skillfully navigate a compilation of short plays that journey from Heaven to Hell and points in between.

"Heaven and Hell" was originally commissioned by the world famous Actor’ s Theatre of Louisville and performed at the 25th Humana Festival of New American Plays in March of 2001.  These short pieces are written by some of the best American writers of our time; from daytime Emmy winner William Mastrosimone to New York Colbert’s Award for Excellence winner 2000 Alice Tuan, Sarah Schulman (who was admitted into the Sundance Theatre Lab in 2001 and the same year won a Guggenheim Fellowship in playwriting), and more.

Under the direction of Christine Willes, (best known for her roles in Dead Like Me and a recent Leo nomination for Reaper) the ensemble has created streetscapes reminiscent of the streets of downtown Vancouver, including live music and original song to link the plays inthe here and now. Recurring themes throughout Heaven and Hell include young love, emotional infidelity, suicide, addiction, mental illness, capitalism, hypocrisy and turn of the millennium. Thought provoking and sometimes haunting performances shine a light on human suffering, temptation and death, while maintaining a balance between light and dark.

Heaven and Hell (On Earth): A Divine Comedy can be seen at the Havana Theatre, 1212 Commercial Drive, Vancouver BC, on May 7th, 8th and 9th.

Doors open at 7:30 pm.  Show starts at 8:00 sharp.  There will also be a 3:00pm Saturday Matinee on May 9th. 

Tickets are $12, students and seniors $10. 

Warning: performance includes mature subject matter, coarse language and herbal cigarette smoking.

For tickets call VanArts at (604) 682-2787 x108.
For more information contact VanArts Acting Department at Ext 108.
Pay what you can preview Wednesday May 6th 8PM
 

VanArts on CBC
Mar 4, 2008

CBC Radio 1: Arts Report with Paul Grant Feature on VanArts' merger with William Davis Centre for Actors' Study

William Davis Centre for Actor's Study joins VanArts
Jan 1, 2008

January 1, 2008 marked an especially auspicious new year for the William Davis Centre for Actors' Study, one of Vancouver's oldest privately owned actor training institutions. On that date after 10 months of planning, the school officially became the William Davis Centre for Actors' Study at VanArts, when VanArts' President Alan Phillips and WDC (as it came to be known) owners Christine Willes and Greg Kean finalized their agreement.

Founded in 1989 by well-known Canadian actor, teacher, and director William B. Davis, WDC has pursued its mandate to provide quality actor training to students at all stages of their development. Mr. Davis was cast as the Cigarette Smoking Man in the hit TV series, X-FILES in the early nineties. By then many instructors had found WDC to be a remarkably rewarding workplace. Several made a commitment to the school that continues to this day. They include current department head for the Acting for Film and TV diploma program Christine Willes, Chilton Crane (Film and TV); Sarah Louise Turner (Voice and Speech); and Julie Howgate (Intro to Acting).

As Mr. Davis' fame grew, several WDC graduates became nationally and internationally recognized for the excellence of their acting work. Lucy Lawless became a household name playing the title role in Xena Warrior Princess. Nancy Sivak (The Life), William MacDonald (Protection), and Sarah Jane Redmond (Taming Tammy), became highly respected Vancouver film and TV actors. And recently they have been joined by successful grads Aaron Douglas (Battlestar Galactica), Vanesa Tomasino (Urban Beat), and Giles Panton (Flash Gordon).

William B. Davis has given his blessing on the move to VanArts and is very excited about the opportunities the merger opens up. Plans have already been finalized to have acting students work with students in VanArts' Visual Effects program on a production shooting and post production project. The merger of the William Davis Centre for Actors' Study and VanArts offers serious acting students the best education possible in the art and craft of acting for filmed entertainment

 

 

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