Opportunities For Vancouver Actors Versus Toronto Actors
Nov 19th, 2009 by Alan Yu
This is one debate I hear all the time recently when it comes to which province and city is more fruitful, so to speak, for actors trying to find work. Recently there was a huge debate here how Ontario has offered film productions tax credits to lure all the film productions over there while the BC government hasn’t done anything. In some cases, studios have been closing down here and moving.
For the most part I would say the big projects are American films and this session raised an interesting point about how it doesn’t seem like Toronto is really taking anything away from Vancouver when it comes to that. However, it seemed like people were in an agreement that what is definitely happening is that most of the Canadian projects are going to Toronto.
It was kind of funny I thought as when I heard the debate it almost came across as a conspiracy theory as if the Ontario government was plotting to steal work from BC artists. lol. Here is a clip of that debate:
That session reminded me how my old neighbor, who works as a professional compositor for various shows, told me that Vancouver has a lot of advantages compared to Toronto where it is just easier for people in LA to collaborate with. One thing he told me was the time zone and how that plays a role.
I’m inclined to say that if you are a less established actor, with all this in mind Toronto might be easier to build up your resume and portfolio. Considering Canadian productions have to use Canadian talent, for the most part, that means the odds of you landing big roles are greater.
At the same time, if the comments about how most of the US productions are still coming to Vancouver with the prospect that a ton of CW and CBS shows are arriving next year too that could mean bigger opportunities here. So, there really isn’t a one place is truly better than the other mentality I’d say.
I’m sure we would all love to just travel down to say Hollywood and see what happens, but as we all know that is just not realistic for many of us. There was actually a comment that was semi related to this too on the panel. Will post it next.
