Start Your Acting Career
Where Passion Meets Performance
You want the best acting education. Here’s what our program will do for you:
Industry Connections
Entertainment industry professionals as your Instructors and mentors.
Hands-on Learning
Courses designed to put you in the middle of the action!
A Focus on You
With small class sizes, you’ll get the personalized support and feedback you need to succeed.
Ready? Set. Go!
You’ll finish the program with a professional demo reel, voice over reel, head shots, and resume!
Become an Actor
The Connections You Need
When you’re backed by exceptional curriculum and connections like these, your acting future is bright! Here are just a few studios and production companies connected to our acting program.
Roark Critchlow
Roark gained international notoriety with his first Hollywood job as Days of our Lives ‘Dr. Mike.” After 6 years on the show, he moved on to an enduring film and tv career including the feature Mr. Deeds, regular roles on the series’ ‘V’ and “Pretty Little Liars”, recurring roles on “Battlestar Gallactica” and “Alaska Daily” as well as over a hundred more film and tv credits, the most recent being the Disney feature flim “Tron:Ares ” which he filmed in January. He has been teaching and coaching film acting for 5 years now and is truly excited to be involved with the program at CATO, to which he brings 30 years experience on stage and camera.
Peter Church
Peter is a vocational actor, educator, and playwright with over twenty years of experience in stage, film, and audio drama. He served as the head of the Theatre department at The Kingsbridge Academy in Toronto and has taught in schools and theatres across the country, including: UBC, Ambrose University, Rosebud School of the Arts, and many more. As a classical performer, he has toured North America, logging thousands of hours in performances of plays like Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet, Othello, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
He relocated to Kelowna in 2019 and is excited to be part of the CATO acting department.
Dalias Blake
Dalias Blake is a Jamaican born Actor with over 100 Film and Television credits. He is well know for roles in projects such as Donovan’s Echo (2011), Godzilla (2014), The Good Doctor (2017) and Altered Carbon (2020). Dalias also creates and writes original music and performs as Reggae-Rap artist Mistah*D*.
Damon Gregory
Damon began working as an actor in the BC TV and film industry in 1998 and has been a UBCP/Actra member since then. In 2000 he completed a full time 2 year program at Gastown Actors Studio where he trained with many notable instructors; Mel Tuck, Hiro Kanagawa, Kate Twa, Trish Allen, Andrew Olewine, Sonia Norris and Keith Johnstone. He has studied more recently with Karen Kohlhaas and Gina Nemo. Recent film credits include The Wives Club, Two Chefs and a Wedding Cake, Been There All Along and Until Branches Bend. On stage, Damon appeared recently in Cabaret as Max, and in Eurydice in the role of the Father. As an Emcee/ Host, Damon is well known for his upbeat warmth and quick wit. In 2021 Damon opened EMC Studios to offer a resource for local talent to explore their potential as actors and performers. He is also an instructor in the film and animation departments at Centre for Arts and Technology in Kelowna. Damon enjoys cycling, tennis, skiing, songwriting, guitar and singing and continues to expand himself as a performer.
James Alton
James Alton is an award-winning filmmaker based in Kelowna, BC. Specializing in a range of productions from commercials to feature-length documentaries, his latest documentary is currently making the rounds at film festivals. As the owner of James Alton Films and co-owner of Kelowna Film Studios, James brings his expertise in directing, producing, and cinematography to elevate the local and international film landscape.
