Expert: Peter Messaline - 3/11/2009

Question
Hi Peter,
I live in Washington state, and am trying to pursue an acting career.  I'm
sending my head shots and resumes in to agents close to me, as well as
continuing to audition and do non-paid student short films and such to build
my reel, resume, and experience.  I've heard from a lot of people that
Vancouver is second only to LA for film.  A pro actor friend told me that it IS
possible to get an agent in Vancouver as an American citizen; it just requires
time, paperwork, and hoop-jumping.  I don't want to relocate to LA, and
going up to Vancouver wouldn't be a problem.

What are the steps I need to take to work legally, get an agent, and get acting
gigs up there?  Would you recommend one of the bigger agencies, or a
smaller agency (it seems in some of the bigger ones, newer actors invariably
sometimes get lost in the shuffle)?


Thanks a lot!

Answer
Vancouver is not exactly boiling with activity now, but the main problem you would have in immigrating to Canada is that only by claiming to have an international reputation could you get a working visa. You would need this to be allowed across.
High-priced lawyers are sometimes hired to put together a glossy package, but a producer is not likely to set that up for someone auditioning for the show.
It would be possible for you to come across as a visitor and overstay your visa, but it's not a good idea to get on anybody's Bad Guys list nowadays.

Small non-union producers might well hire you without papers, but you've still got to get the work and your reputation would increase  only in Vancouver, where you couldn't work legitimately for the better engagers. In Vancouver, you'd have very little chance of getting a job as a waiter, or any lowlevel pay-the-rent position. Canadians are taking all those jobs, as the depression gets worse.

Look at Bonnie Gillespie's online articles about moving to LA. Much of what she says there applies to you, plus the visa problem.
In brief:
Don't leave the area you know and where you are known (however slightly) to go to somewhere else armed only with hope. If you are invited to work elsewhere, that's a good chance to get a foothold there, but the incomer doesn't know how things work, and has a résumé full of credits no-one knows the value of.

My advice would be that you are doing what needs to be done to build a résumé that will lead to better work. When you have sucked all the good out of the work in Washington, when you are a star in the agency, and recognised by casting directors, then prepare to spread your wings and fly to a bigger market. Get referrals from the agent and people you work with, so that you're not starting completely cold.

The discussion about large and small agencies never finishes. Go with an agent your stomach feels comfortable around, and be sure you are in touch, briefly and in a business-like way, at least a couple of times a week. Call to talk about your audition, about the new studio plans, about a conversation you had on set, about the story going around concerning Woody Harrelson ...
Cheerful, and about the business, and short!

Carry on carrying on and extend your timeline by a few years.