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Media Release
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For Immediate Release: January 9, 2009
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TORONTO - The Actors' Fund of Canada today announced the following appointments to its Board of Directors:
Barry Flatman has been elected President of the Actors' Fund of Canada. Barry has worked as a professional actor across North America for over 40 years. He has also produced, written, directed and taught for stage, TV, film, and radio, and was nominated for both Juno and Gemini awards. Recent credits include Guns (CBC), The Andromeda Strain for A&E, Saw III (Lion's Gate), The Company (TNT), The State Within (BBC/Shaftesbury), Fatal Error (TBS), and This is Wonderland (CBC). Barry starred in Kevin McCollum's production of White Christmas and in the Toronto premiere of David Hare's Stuff Happens. He has been elected and served on the National, Guild and Toronto executives of ACTRA for which he has received the honorary title of President Emeritus for Toronto and Life Membership. Barry has served on the Board of the Actors' Fund of Canada since 2005.
Maria Topalovich has been elected Vice-President. Maria is the former President and CEO of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. During her time at the Academy, Maria was a founder of Canada's Genie and Gemini Awards, and later Quebec's Prix Gemeaux. Maria is the author of two anthologies on the Canadian film industry. She is the recipient of the WIFT-T 2004 Crystal Award for Outstanding Achievement and was honoured by the Canadian Society of Cinematographers with the Bill Hilson Award for Outstanding Service to the Development of the Motion Picture Industry in Canada. She is president of the Faculty of Music Alumni Association at the University of Toronto and is a member of the University's College of Electors. Maria also serves as Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees of Casa Loma. Her previous Directorships include the Royal Conservatory of Music and the CulTech Research Centre at York University. Maria has served on the Board of the Actors' Fund since 2007.
Having served as President since 2005, Graham Harley becomes Past President. Graham is an actor and director based in Toronto who has a special love for and knowledge of the theatre of the Restoration and 18th Century. He has appeared at both the Stratford and Shaw Festivals in Ontario, was founding Artistic Director of Phoenix Theatre in Toronto and has directed both for theatre and opera throughout Canada. Graham has worked extensively in film and television, receiving a Gemini nomination for his role in the CBC Television production Dieppe, as well as being nominated best actor for both a Dora Mavor Moore Award (Toronto) and a Jessie Richardson Award (Vancouver) for his performance in two productions of David Pownall's Master Class. Graham has served on the Board of the Actors' Fund since 2003. He will serve as Past President until September 2009.
NEW MEMBERS
The following new members have been elected for a term ending in September 2010:
Christopher Dean is a key grip with 30 years of experience, having worked on dozens of feature film and television projects. His recent projects include Repossession Mambo, The Russell Girl, The Gathering and A Raisin in the Sun. He is a member of IATSE Local 873.
Deborah Grover attended the Ryerson theatre program and has enjoyed a life-long acting career on stage and screen in locations across Canada. She served on Canadian Actors Equity's Ontario Advisory Committee for three terms, chairing the Committee in her final term. Her most recent film experiences include the lead in the short bilingual film Mordu and a role in Atom Egoyan's Where the Truth Lies. For television, she was most recently seen in Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning. Upcoming appearances include roles in CBC's Being Erica and her recurring character in How to be Indie on YTV. Deborah appeared in the Toronto premiere of David Hare's Stuff Happens and Beverly Cooper's play, Innocence Lost about Steven Truscott. She was a 2007 Actra Award nominee for her work in the TV series Eleven Cameras.
Donald Mowat is an Emmy and Gemini award winning make up artist and a member of IATSE Local 873 in Toronto, New York Local 798 and Los Angeles Local 706. He is an elected board member of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television (serving as Art Department Rep.) and a member of BAFTA and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Donald's feature credits include Margaret's Museum, Fly Away Home, Three Kings, Frequency, The Perfect Storm, 8 Mile, The Departed, Max Payne and Repossession Mambo.
The Actors' Fund of Canada is a registered charity that has assisted entertainment industry workers in crisis with over $3.7 million in rent payments, grocery money, utility payments and other basic living expenses in the last 10 years. Performers and others who work behind the scenes in film and television, theatre, music and dance can apply for emergency financial aid from the Fund. The Actors' Fund has helped over 10,000 entertainment industry workers recover from illness, injury or other circumstances causing severe economic and personal hardship since it was founded in 1958.
The Actors' Fund of Canada receives no government funding and is wholly sustained by support from individuals and entertainment industry organizations.
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CONTACT:
David Hope, The Actors' Fund of Canada
Phone: 1-877-399-8392
E-mail: contact@actorsfund.ca
Web site: www.actorsfund.ca
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©2010 The Actors' Fund of Canada - 1000 Yonge Street, Suite 301 Toronto, ON M4W 2K2
contact@actorsfund.ca / Tel: 416.975.0304 / Toll-Free: 1.877.399.8392 / Fax: 416.975.0306
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