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JA ^ Oakville Beaver A rts c e n e FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 2006 30 Acting couple wants to pass their skills along Unique classes geared towards television and film industry By Krissie Rutherford OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Hollywood movies like The Sweet Hereafter and The Recruit; TV shows including Sailor Moon, Goosebumps and This is Wonderland; Canadian theatrical productions of MacBeth, The Importance of Being Earnest and Romeo and Juliet - you name it, Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstem have done it The Oakville couple has more than 35 years' experience between them in theatre, TV and film. They' ve acted alongside Hollywood stars like Al Pacino, Andie McDowell, Rosie O'Donnell and Beau Bridges, and have worked under directors includ ing Angelica Houston and Cathy Bates. Now, they're using their experi ence to offer an acting for the camera class in Oakville. "We've had the good fortune of working in professional productions, so we felt this would-be a way to offer something to add to the community," said Ellis, who Jbegan his career in comedy and is now a regular on the Emmy Award-winning YTV show, LIESA K0RTMANNI OAKVILLE BEAVER ACTING MENTORS: Between them, Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstem have more than 35 years of experi ence in acting on stage and screen. In between their many acting roles, the Oakville couple is also launching acting class es for the television and film industry for actors 12 years old and up. Dark Oracle. He and Morgenstem moved from Toronto to Oakville last summer with their young daughter. They were quickly "struck by the arts and cul tural presence," said Ellis, and want ed to contribute. Instead of a regular acting per formance class, they're offering a per formance class in the context of the TV and film industry. "We'd like to provide a kind of bridge between what' s already avail able as far as learning the theatrical skills or voice skills," said Morgenstem, who currently plays the cleaning-obsessed head of house keeping, Gerta, in CTVs/l/ the Hotel. "We'll be teaching how to use those skills to make the actor com fortable in a professional situation on a movie set or TV set." The course is designed for those who have already taken a first step in acting and want to leam specifics about acting for the camera. "Someone can bring a lot of interest, a lot of skill and a lot of experience with theatre, but to actually collect that and make it work well with the camera is a whole other matter." Stephanie Morgenstem i "Someone can bring a lot of inter est, a lot of skill and a lot of experi ence with theatre, but to actually col lect that and make it work well with the camera is a whole other matter," said Morgenstem, a two-time Genie Award nominee who has been acting in both French and English produc tions since the age of 14. "Our class would be to complement something else, to take it a step further and see what it's like to make this an actual day-job, which for us, it is." . "There' s all kinds of crazy techni cal stuff that happens on a movie set, as well, and even in an audition when there's a camera," added Ellis. "It' s very different from just getting up and acting. If you're aware of those technical things and you know how to factor them into the work that you do, it automatically makes you bet ter." Shooting the same scene from seven different angles, not delivering a best performance on someone else' s close up, even which hand to drink your c'offee out of in relation to the position of the camera - these are all specifics TV and movie actors should know. Ellis and Morgenstem's experi ence extends beyond just in front of the camera. They' ve also written and directed films, including their Genienominated WW2 drama, Remembrance, which won Best Canadian Short at the Worldwide Short Film Festival. Ellis plays the lead character, the "memory man" with an un-erasable memory, and Morgenstem, who directed the short, plays a "mysteri ous woman." They're now in the final stages of developing Remembrance into a fea ture. "It has allowed us to begin to take ourselves more seriously as writers," said Morgenstem, who noted they're also working on a TV movie for CTV called Sharpshooter, based on the hostage situation at Union Station in 2004. "Writing has really helped us to leam about the other side and made us more aware of the film industry as a whole," said Ellis. "It' s also nice to have a production W e can call our own. We like to have our own baby." They've spoken at various univer sities and colleges and have also been volunteering tfieir time at local high schools to talk about their film, TV and theatre experience. Among the career highlights for each of the actors are the projects currently airing - for Morgenstem, it's the new CTV show, At the Hotel, See Acting page 34 If you received a blood transfusion or blood product before 1992, you may have been infected with hepatitis C. Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus that slowly damages your liver. Symptoms do not show up for years but you will eventually get sick. Before 1992, screening for this disease was not consistent and many patients became infected through the blood system. So ask your doctor about getting tested. Detection is key to controlling the virus and you may be entitled to financial assistance. 1-877-222-4977 Paid for by the Government of Ontario ' www.health.gov.on.ca/hepc