TIFF Rising Stars program a springboard for success

By Linda Barnard Staff Reporter

Thu., Sept. 3, 2015

Each year, TIFF chooses four actors the festival thinks are bound for bigger things to take part in its Rising Stars program.

They’re put through several busy days of professional development, ranging from media training boot camps to “speed-dating” sessions with casting directors and producers.

It’s designed to “increasingly put the spotlight on the top tier of Canadian artists,” for both filmmakers and the public, says Rising Stars program manager Nicole Hilliard-Forde, a Toronto independent casting director and producer.

Now in its fifth year, the emerging talent chosen to take part in high-level networking sessions with industry “movers and shakers” are “truly the best actors we have coming up through the ranks,” Hilliard-Forde points out.

Sixteen actors have gone through the program with another four — Stephan James, Aliocha Schneider, Deragh Campbell and Karelle Tremblay — starting Sept. 12, just as TIFF kicks off its 40th edition.

Here’s a look at the careers of a five TIFF Rising Stars that are making their mark. Their responses have been edited and condensed.

Tatiana Maslany: 2012

Starred in: The most successful TIFF Rising Stars alumnus, Maslany has been nominated for an Emmy for Best Actress in a TV Drama for the third season of Orphan Black. (The awards are handed out Sept. 20.)

After indie Picture Day and romantic drama The Vow, she co-starred with Richard Dreyfuss in Jason Priestley’s directing debut, Cas & Dylan (2012) and was impressive onscreen (and in German) as the young version of Helen Mirren’s true-life character Maria Altmann in Woman in Gold.

What’s next?

Maslany stars opposite Dane DeHaan (Life, The Amazing Spider-Man 2) in Canadian director Kim Nguyen’s Two Lovers and a Bear and will play a bipolar woman opposite Downton Abbey’s Tom Cullen in romantic drama The Other Half.

Sarah Gadon: 2011

Starred in: David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method, Cosmopolis and Maps to the Stars) and opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in Denis Villeneuve’s Enemy.

Best part of Rising Stars?

“There is so much going on and so much talent being showcased (at TIFF), it can be both intimidating and daunting to navigate the press, the parties and the industry opportunities. The organization mentors and supports you during and after the festival. In the same way that a studio would support and mentor an actor, program fosters each actor and helps them to make to most out of the opportunities that are knocking on their door.”

What’s next?

I just shot a film called Indignation, directed by James Schemes, based on the Phillip Roth novel that will be out next year as well as (Stephen King’s) 11.22.63 for Hulu out in February.

Julia Sarah Stone: 2014

Starred in:The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom, (TV series) The Killing, Wet Bum

Best part of Rising Stars?

“Confidence and clarity in interviews/publicity. The media training and interview practice was incredibly helpful when it came to EPK for the projects I did afterwards. It was also a major opportunity to learn about the business side of the industry from esteemed casting directors and producers, who were very generous in sharing their guidance and insight.

What’s next?

At TIFF with Every Thing Will Be Fine. Also a tough, gritty role on (TV series) Falling Skies and I played a mysterious, androgynous psychic in an independent feature Unearthing. I was a disappearing girl in sci-fi film The Unseen and in a heartfelt comedy called The Space Between for which I learned to roller skate. I am preparing to work on an upcoming Canadian indie film, but I can’t give any details yet.

Evelyne Brochu: 2013

Starred in:Polytechnique, Café de Flore, Orphan Black

Best part of Rising Stars?

“I felt it when I started shooting Orphan Black, but the feeling grew even stronger during the few days of the TIFF Rising Stars program: something is happening in Toronto. It’s exciting, it’s inspiring, but most of all, it’s inviting. TIFF is about movies first, but right after it’s about connections. What rocked about my TIFF experience that year was that it was all about these human, artistic connections. I met amazingly passionate casting agents, directors, producers, movers and shakers from around the world. I also left with new friendships and relationships that I can count on to this day.”

What’s next?

“I’m shooting Season 2 of X Company right now in Budapest and I can’t wait for people to see it this winter on CBC. This September, the Ed Zwick movie Pawn Sacrifice is coming out. I also just finished shooting a Switzerland-Québec feature film called Miséricorde, a really special project where I play a character that is very different from anything I’ve done before.”

Stephan James: 2015

Starred in:Selma, The Book of Negroes

A member of this year’s TIFF Rising Stars, James has yet to experience the program but seems already poised for big things. Hilliard-Forde calls him “a very exciting actor,” predicting “he’s going to be a . . . superstar.” Through a publicist, James said he was “looking forward to having one-on-ones with others in the industry and enjoying the wonderful talent the festival has to offer.”

What’s next?

Playing legendary American track star Jesse Owens in Race, due out Feb. 19 and currently working on NBC’s guardian angel drama, Unveiled.

Tatiana Maslany, Tom Cullen to Star in Indie "The Other Half'

4/21/2015 by Etan Vlessing The Hollywood Reporter

The 'Orphan Black' star will play a bipolar woman, and the 'Downton Abbey' star will play a grief-stricken man. The two characters fall in love and struggle to forge a simple life.

Writer-director Joey Klein has found leads for The Other Half, his debut feature: Orphan Black star Tatiana Maslany and her real-life boyfriend, Tom Cullen.

Maslany will play Emily, a bipolar woman who falls in love with Nickie (Cullen), a grief-stricken man with whom she struggles to forge a simple life. The ensemble cast includes Suzanne Clement (Mommy), who will play Emily's stepmother; Deragh Campbell (I Used to Be Darker) as her friend; and Mark Rendall (30 Days of Night) as Nickie's friend.

The Canadian film from indie producer Motel Pictures will shoot in Toronto in July, 2015. Nicole Hilliard-Forde is producing, with David Miller, Julia Sereny and Jennifer Kawaja sharing the executive producer credits.

Klein directed Maslany in an earlier short film, Waiting for You. The Orphan Black star is back on BBC America and Space, with the third season of the Canadian-made clone drama now underway.

Maslany also is co-starring alongside The Amazing Spider-Man 2 star Dane DeHaan in the indie romancer Two Lovers and a Bear, set to shoot in Nunavut in the Canadian Arctic. Cullen is best known for his roles on Downton Abbey (as Lord Gillingham) and in Andrew Haigh’s Weekend.

Mongrel Media will release The Other Half in Canada.

Toronto: Sandra Oh on U.S. Casting Directors Chasing Rising Canadian Stars

9/8/2014 by Etan Vlessing The Hollywood Reporter

"They want to know us as much as we want to know them"

Hollywood knows the Toronto Film Festival as a glitzy launchpad for Oscar contenders.

But behind the scenes, Toronto is hosting U.S. casting directors eyeing Canadian talent for upcoming Hollywood movies and TV series to shoot in Canada. "They want to know us as much as we want to know them, because Toronto and Vancouver are not that far [from Hollywood] and we're from basically the same talent pool," Canadian actress and Grey's Anatomy star Sandra Oh told The Hollywood Reporter on Monday.

Richard Hicks, president of the Casting Society of America, said Toronto offers a deep dive into local talent for possible roles in U.S. projects. "In two days, you can see 10 movies and actors you don't know," Hicks said while attending the 2014 TIFF Rising Stars showcase of local talent at Bell Lightbox on Monday.

Toronto's Rising Stars program connects breakout Canadian actors with international casting directors and filmmakers to promote their careers. "It's a way for Piers [Handling] and Cameron [Bailey] to single out talent and connect them to the industry," Sarah Gadon, a 2012 Rising Star in Toronto, said of Handling, the festival's CEO and artistic director Bailey.

"It's a way to let actors know it's not just about your premiere. It's a way to reach all the people that come here from around the world and connecting to them," added Gadon, whose film credits include A Dangerous Method, Cosmopolis and Enemy.

The 2014 Rising Stars in Toronto are Sophie Desmarais, Shannon Kook, Alexandre Landry and Julia Sarah Stone, a series regular on The Killing.

Toronto International Film Festival, September 2014, Rising Stars Brunch; Top L-R: Louise Spinner/UTA, Ruth Bornhauser/Thruline, Richard Mento, CSA, Terri Taylor, CSA; Middle L-R: Matthew Maisto, CSA, Monika Mikkelsen, CSA, Lucille Robitaille, CSA; Bottom L-R: Shannon Kook, Sandra Oh, Richard Hicks, Sophie Desmarais, Julia Sarah Stone, Alexandre Landry, Matthew Lessall, CSA, Sharon Bialy, CSA, Lana Veneer, CSA, Nicole Hilliard-Forde, CSA

TIFF Rising Star 2014 Alumna Sophie Desmarais: Sarah Prefers to Run

BY MARK ADAMS, CHIEF FILM CRITIC24 MAY 2013 Screen Daily

An engagingly well-made Canadian drama – with touches of comedy – about a young woman and her sexual awaking, Sarah Prefers to Run (Sarah prefere la course) might be rather familiar in terms of storyline and structure, but it is given energy and drive by an impressive lead performance by Sophie Desmarais as 20 year-old Sarah, who – as the title suggests – just wants to run.

The real revelation here, though, is the impressively rounded performance from young Sophie Desmarais, who impressively manages to play the humour as well as the drama.

Quebecois writer-director Chloe Robichaud’s film is attractively made, and while Sarah’s stumbles in life and on the track never really rack up the drama levels, this quality film should well interest further festivals. The film screened in Un Certain Regards at Cannes.

After showing other runners a clean pair of heels on the Quebec City track team, dedicated Sarah heads off with local lad Antoine (Jean-Sebastien Courchesne) to Montreal to train with the McGill Athletics Team, where in amidst the track work more than a few romantic issues arise.

She and Antoine get married for financial aid reasons, and while she sees the relationship as essentially a business one he starts to falls for his wife-cum-roommate. But at the same time Sarah starts to take a shine to fellow teammate Zoey (Genevieve Boivin-Roussy).

As if thinks aren’t complex enough, that old stand-by the ‘medical condition’ comes along to give an additional dramatic push to the story. And while it certainly adds a dash of headier complexity to proceedings it does tend to also overshadow the nicely developing relationship conundrum developing between Sarah, Antoine and Zoey.

The real revelation here, though, is the impressively rounded performance from young Sophie Desmarais, who impressively manages to play the humour as well as the drama; looks at ease on the running track, and strikes up a fine rapport with her co-stars. She is an actress to keep and eye on, and certainly helps take the film to the finishing line.