Industry Day: ACTING Panel (FREE)

Event Details

Event type: All Ages

Two Queen’s alums sit down for a conversation about acting, joined by Taisa Dekker from ACTRA Toronto. Catch Emma Hunter (Fitting In, This is Not About Swimming) and Jordan Dawson (A Song for William Bird) on this panel, as well as on the big screen at KCFF this year.   

This roundtable will be useful for Actors as well as Directors hoping to understand how to better collaborate and communicate with their performers, and will include details around joining ACTRA.

This panel is presented in partnership with ACTRA Toronto.

Emma Hunter is a multiple Canadian Screen Award winning actor. Credits include: Fitting In, One More Time, Moonshine, Children Ruin Everything, Canada’s Drag Race, The Beaverton, Mr D, Letterkenny, Workin’ Moms, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, The Royal Canadian Air Farce, Match Game, Spun Out, JFL All Access Gala, The LA Complex, Gary and His Demons, How To Buy A Baby, Save Me, Goon 2 and Degrassi. Recently, she appeared in the feature films Fitting In (which premiered at SXSW) and Mary Goes Round. Her hosting credits include CBC’s Fridge Wars, The 2018 Canadian Screen Awards, The 2023 Canadian Screen Awards, and CTV’S Pop Quiz. 

Emma was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for best supporting actor for the role of Nora on Moonshine, the role of Nisha on Mr. D and herself on The Beaverton. Emma has CSA’s for her work on How To Buy A Baby and Save Me. She has also been nominated for a Dora Award, the Tim Sims Encouragement Fund Award, and is the recipient of a Canadian Comedy Award for her work on The Beaverton.

Jordan Dawson has appeared on several television programs including: Suits (2019), The Expanse (2021), Hudson and Rex (2021), and most recently as a lead in the highly anticipated film We Forgot To Break Up (2024), the feature version of the short of the same name which premiered at TIFF in 2017. He also produced and starred in the Oscar-qualifying short film entitled A Song For William Bird which will have its Canadian Premiere as part of the Local Shorts program at KCFF. 

Jordan is now slated to go into production on his next feature film in October 2024, off the back of a successful kickstarter to crowdfund the film in which he lived inside of a fifteen foot deep dirt pit for thirty consecutive days with no human contact or stimuli, echoing the story of his character in the film and utilizing it as a marketing stunt.

Taisa Dekker is ACTRA Toronto’s Manager Industry Initiatives & Outreach. In this role, Taisa promotes the hiring of highly skilled union performers for feature films, commercials, video games, web series, and audiobooks. For nearly twenty years across various production jurisdictions in Canada, she has been delivering the ACTRA Advantage for producers at every budget level. Taisa is passionate about the screen-based industry and the promotion of Canadian artists.

Event Link: More Info

Donation Link: Learn More