Valerie is a Toronto based actor and filmmaker. At 18 years of age she toured China, the U.S. and Canada as a Puppeteer. She is a scholarship Graduate of George Brown’s Acting Program and a Dora Mavor Moore award winner. Valerie first gained international recognition playing the leading roles in Bruce McDonald’s Highway 61 and Roadkill. She has been a host for The Showcase Revue and has appeared as a guest star in various T.V. episodic’ s and several Independent features. Valerie has been Associate Producer and one of the lead actors in the award-winning feature film Expecting. Valerie can be seen on the small screen as well with recent roles including a guest star spot on the CBC hit series The Border and she continues to work in a recurring role on the international hit series Degrassi. On top of all of this Valerie just finished her latest film, Small, Stupid and Insignificant won the best experimental drama award.

A working artist for the past 25 years, Ms. de Carteret has made numerous appearances in feature films, movies of the week, episodic television and performed on stages across the country and abroad. Selected feature films include: THE MITHRAS CONSPIRACY, RED, CHLOE, THE ROCKER, DIARY OF THE DEAD, SHOOT ‘EM UP, DAWN OF THE DEAD and MEAN GIRLS. Most recent guest appearances for television include: THE LISTENER, SILENT WITNESS, SUITS, ROOKIE BLUE, GOOD DOG, LOST GIRL and FLASHPOINT. She currently plays ‘Samantha Morgan’, on Disney’s hit teen show MY BABYSITTER’S A VAMPIRE, which just completed its second season. Recent stage appearances include: THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE (Neptune), TOUT COMME ELLE and HAMLET (Necessary Angel) for which she received a ‘Best Actress’ Dora nomination for her radical interpretation of ‘Gertrude’.  Ms. de Carteret has narrated documentaries for the CBC as well as the NFB and has voiced dozens of radio spots and cartoons. She is currently the voice of ‘Lady Periwinkle’ on THE NEW ADVENTURES OF BABAR.

Through 7+ years as a talent agent at both The Core Group and Ambition Talent, Richard honed his abilities to discover and develop talent.  Having built strong relationships with clients, casting directors, producers and network executives utilizing both assertive behavior and patience as required, Richard placed actors in leading roles in series & feature films and negotiated their contracts. He also provided writers with assistance in creating one sheet/pitch proposals and arranged meetings with network and production executives.  Richard enjoys working on multiple projects simultaneously.

Through 5+ years as an entrepreneur with ownership in Out & About Games Inc., a board game/production company, Richard assisted in the development of a game concept, “Celebrity Name Game” from prototype to finished product. Richard works with Laura Robinson, co-inventor of “Balderdash” in Out & About Games along with a 3rd partner, Jamie Delaney, owner of Digital Propaganda Inc. He recently completed a game show pilot based on the board game for CBS on which he partnered with Coquette Productions, owned by Courteney Cox and David Arquette.

Lovely Joy Batallones is the Administrative Assistant at AAS. Her main tasks are to answer phones calls, input/update client’s information and answer customer’s questions. Lovely was previously an intern at AAS where she needed to reach up to 200 hours of work experience to complete the requirements for her CO-OP credits. She interned in AAS for about 5 months and learned aspects of how the acting industry functions. She was also a Teacher’s Assistant where she operated cameras and lighting, and observed actor’s performances. Overall, Lovely enjoys the quality of AAS and is ecstatic to be part of their staff.

Lynn has enjoyed parallel careers as an actor and a Voice/Movement teacher and brings over 25 years of experience to the table. She has guided hundreds of actors to speak with clarity, purpose, power and. She also specializes in Accent Reduction/English Pronunciation for ESL actors and offers dialect training for all actors to broaden their acting range. Her company, Voice Power, can be found at www.voicepower.ca.

Lynn is a member of the Voice and Speech Trainer’s Association (VASTA), the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), Canadian Actors’ Equity Association (CAEA) and Toronto Association of Acting Studios (TAAS).

Bruce Hunter originally hails from Calgary where he studied improvisation and theatre at the University of Calgary under the guidance of Theatre Sports guru Keith Johnstone. As well as playing theatre sports at its inception during the early years of the Loose Moose Theatre he has worked in Dramatic theatre with One Yellow Rabbit and Ikarus Players, performing in the first years of the Edmonton fringe. Moving to Toronto in 1980 to study Mime with Ron East at the Toronto Mime School unlimited he then toured around Canada and the United States Performing in San Francisco, Los Angeles, North Carolina and Florida. Returning to Toronto he became involved in Second City in the touring and London Companies and started teaching Improvisation to what has now been thousands of students over his 25 years at Second City. Two years of teaching at Humber college in the music and theatre department, as well as the University of Toronto and Ryerson as a guest lecturer. Bruce also teaches in the industrial world. Focusing on listening skills, communication and stress management in the work place. Bruce remains a professional (working) actor and has performed in dozens of television shows and film projects “Hanson” “The Day Reagan was shot” “Good Will Hunting” “Eerie Indiana” “Degrassi” “Murder at 1600” “Monk” and “Mean Girls” to name a few. Some of his theatre credits include “Waiting for Godot” “Krapps last Tape” “Communicating Doors” “The Danish Play” “White Mice” “Democracy” “Coma Unplugged” and “Artifact” He has won awards for his commercial work in Canada and the U.S. He received two Canadian Comedy Awards for his improvisation. And was a Gemini winner for his voice work on “Atomic Betty” He has been seen on computers around the globe in “Truth in Advertising” a parody of the advertising business. Bruce played the lead in the 2003 Cannes award winning film “The Truth About Head” Bruce is also one of the founding members of the veteran comedy improv group “Illustrated Men” who have performed all over the world. He can be seen as Agent Jones in the Canadian independent film “Phil the Alien”. Bruce can also be seen as a writer and performer in “After Hours with Kenny Robinson” Had his own comedy feature on CBCs “Comics” and plays Rocko in “Puppets Who Kill”. He also Hosted and was executive producer of “AndGo” an improv television show for City TV. Presently he directs a regular long form improv show at Comedy Bar every Thursday at 8:30 called “The Workshop”.

Ralph has an extensive list of film and television credits and has worked with some remarkable directors over the years, including David Cronenberg, John Boorman and Francis Mankiewicz.  His most recent credits include COVERT ONE: The Hades Factor - ABC Mick Jackson;and Tom Selleck’s first installment of STONE COLD CBS/Robert Harmon.  Other film and television credits include Sue Thomas: F.B. Eye, Twice in a Lifetime, The Hoop Life, My Father’s Shadow, The Wrong Guy, Traders, Tek War, Life With Mikey, Street Legal,  Love And Hate, etc… Ralph is presently on faculty at both the joint program of University of Toronto in Mississauga and Sheridan College where amongst other things, he teaches advanced scene study and acting technique for film and television. Ralph trained as a theatre actor and has over 30 years of professional experience, appearing in almost every regional theatre in the country including a few south of the border. He is also an accomplished playwright and dramaturge, and has dozens of freelance directing credits. He often directs for the graduating class at UTM for Theatre Erindale, as well as regional and community theatres.

Liza Balkan is a Dora Award winning actor, director, teacher, writer, casting director, dancer and singer who has been working in this business for the past 29 years She has taught acting at The Academy of Film and Television, Sheridan, Seneca College, Shakesperience. She also works regularly as a private coach. Her casting credits include, Laurie Lynds’ short film R.S.V.P and Feature film, HOUSE, and Amnon Buchbinder’s The Fishing Trip. Liza’s
recent directing credits include the operas The Marriage of Figaro and Elixer of Love for COSI in Sulmona, Italy; SMASH, - University of Windsor; Half an Hour/Directors’ Project - Shaw Festival; Skylight and Trying - Persephone Theatre; Emil Sher’s Mourning Dove -Ark Collective/Tarragon Theatre; Bunnicula - Theatre Athena; The premiere of Jason Sherman’s adaptation of Gorky’s Enemies and The Good Woman of Setzuan - Ryerson Theatre School;
Little Shop of Horrors - CCPA, Victoria , BC; Opera Briefs 06/07 -Tapestry New Opera; the Toronto Fringe hit Opera On the Rocks and the a cappella song cycle Lake Nora Arms for Summerworks ‘09.She has assisted on productions at the Stratford and Shaw Festivals, National Arts Centre and Soulpepper. She is a Playwright in Residence with Crows Theatre and her play Out The Window, is being developed and produced by Crows and the Theatre
Centre.

Her acting credits include productions at the NAC, Blyth Festival, Theatre Passe Muraille, Winnipeg Jewish Theatre, GCTC, Harbourfront, Elgin Theatre, Belfry Theatre, ATP, The Kennedy Centre ( Wash. DC), Theatre for the New City (NYC), Peoples Light and Theatre Company (PA) as well as several Fringe and Rhubarb Festivals. She was nominated for Calgary’s Betty Mitchell award and received a Dora Mavor Moore Award for her performance in Still The Night, which premiered at Passe Muraille and subsequently toured the country.

Dixie Seatle has worked as an actor in film, television and theatre for over thirty years. She has 7 ACTRA Award and Gemini Award nominations, a Genie nomination, and twice garnered a Gemini for Best Performance by an Actress for the Showcase series PARADISE FALLS and for the CBS/Global series ADDERLEY. This past year, Dixie performed in AN IDEAL HUSBAND at The Stratford Festival, Glorious at Canstage, and another season of her leading role on PARADISE FALLS. In addition toDixie’s performance accomplishments, she has extensive teaching and coaching experience. She teaches Shakespeare Scene Study annually at George Brown Theatre School, and has also taught at the National Theatre School, Humber College, Centre for the Arts, Claude Watson School for the Arts, Earl Haig High School, and Shakespeare in the Schools. She was resident acting coach for the Omni television series METROPIA, and OVERRULED, and twice delivered her “Stage to Screen” workshop at The Stratford Festival.

Sharon received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting from the University of Alberta.  From there her career has seen her play roles at theatres throughout Canada including the Stratford Festival, Sudbury Theatre Centre, Magnus Theatre, Thousand Islands Playhouse, The Piggery Theatre, The Citadel Theatre, Northern Light Theatre, The Edmonton Fringe, The Halifax Fringe and the Vancouver International Comedy Festival.  Interspersed with this is her film and television work which includes such feature films as:  An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving; Saving God; The Russell Girl; Cow Belles; Twitches; The Pentagon Papers; White Lies.  Television projects include:  Flashpoint; Good Dog; May Day; ‘Til Death Do Us Part; Missing; Ace Lightning; and Foolish Heart.
Alongside her acting career, Sharon teaches acting to all ages of young people at the Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People.  She also has worked with Learning Through the Arts teaching the school curriculum through drama.  Using her passion for Shakespeare, she has designed and taught workshops to elementary school students to introduce them to the words and characters of the Bard.  She also works with Shakespearience where she co-facilitates Shakespeare workshops in high schools.

Award-winning actor, director, and teacher Christine has been working in film, television, voice and theatre for 20 years. She has had lead and principal roles in countless series shot in Toronto including Flashpoint, Being Erica, Missing, Warehouse 13, Murdoch Mysteries, Doc, and Odyssey 5 among others.  She spent two years as a series regular on Nero Wolfe with Timothy Hutton and Maury Chaykin.  Feature film credits include:  Killshot directed by John Madden, Skinwalkers, Prince Charming and Interstate 60.  She is a regular instructor in the Acting for Film and Television Program at Humber College and teaches fundamentals of Acting at Young Peoples Theatre to teens.  She has been nominated for six Dora Mavor Moore Awards for acting and won for Best Performance in Eric Wolfe’s Puppet Slasher thriller The Babysitter.  She has toured nationally and internationally with renowned director Jillian Keiley (Artistic Fraud) and Nightwood Theatre. Christine is a 1994 Graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada.

Patrice Goodman is a professional actor, director, choreographer and teacher who brings 17 years of experience to the studio. She recently appeared in the miniseries BLOODLETTING and participated in the Next Stage Festival in the award-winning play FIRST HAND WOMAN. Patrice voiced a character alongside Gordon Pinsent and Alberta Watson in the short film THE SPINE which was directed by Oscar winner Chris Landrith. It was an official selection at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. Patrice has been a series lead and series regular in several TV shows including MAXIMUM DIMENSIONS and PLATINUM. She has also appeared in BEING ERICA, ODYSSEY, FIVE, DOC, and WILDCARD. Patrice has performed in children’s theatre for the last 13 years, her favorites include Anansi the Spider and The Ugly Duckling with Little Red Theatre Company and more recently Touch the Sky at LKTYP. Patrice has been teaching drama and dance to youth and young adults for the last eight years, she had also taught in post secondary programs at the Munich Film Academy in Germany and TA at the Mallorca Film Academy in Spain. Patrice is excited to be instructing at the Armstrong Acting Studios.

No bio yet.

Brenda is an actor, theatre director, teacher and private acting coach.  She has performed on stages across the country receiving 4 Dora nominations.  Her recent credits include Linda in Death of a Salesman at Neptune Theatre; Stevie in Edward Albee’s The Goat, Hesther in Equus at the Citadel; Lily in End of Civilization at Factory Theatre; Mary in Leaving Home for the Blyth Festival; Mrs. Sorby in The Wild Duck for Soulpepper.  Brenda’s directing credits include Blown Sideways Through Life for the 2006 Toronto Fringe Festival (Best of the Fringe); Of the Fields, Lately for Sudbury Theatre Centre; The Sea for the Actors Repertory Company which received 3 Dora nominations, winning in the category of Best Actress in a Leading Role; Under Milk Wood, also for ARC.  She has over 80 film and television credits to her name including the critically acclaimed TV movie Sins of the Father starring Tom Sizemore and Richard Jenkins, Puppets Who Kill, Rabbittown, Haven, This is Wonderland, Redemption, The Secret Path and A Grief Shared for TVO (Gemini Award).  She has taught for George Brown Theatre School, Humber College (Acting for Television and Film Program), Ryerson University (Act II), Equity Showcase, the Actors Workshop, Actraworks and has conducted Acting for the Camera classes across the country.

As a studio associate, Lauren has supported the growth of AAS over the past two years as an assistant within the office and technician for classes. Also an actor, Lauren has worked in the film and theatre industry for the past ten years after acceptance to a secondary school for the arts and continued training after graduating. Lauren also works as an associate producer at Appulse Films.

Tracy has been a professional actor for the past eighteen years in both film, television and stage.  She made her stage debut as Anne Shirley in the Charlottetown Festival’s Anne of Green Gables.  Upon graduating from Queen’s University’s Drama program, Tracy began the U.S. National Tour of Disney’s Beauty and The Beast, eventually joining the show on Broadway.  Tracy’s extensive theatre credits span Canada and the U.S., with two seasons at the Stratford Festival, a season at the Shaw Festival, the Weston Playhouse in Vermont, The Belfry in Victoria, the Globe in Regina, the Atlantic Theatre Festival in Wolfville, the Grand Theatre in London, Theatre Aquarius in Hamilton, and Theatre Northwest in Prince George.  In Toronto, Tracy has performed at the Young Peoples’ Theatre, Theatre Passe-Muraille, Canadian Stage Company, Studio 180 ,and Acting UpStage.  She was also a regular on OMNI’s Metropia, and has also appeared in Puppets Who Kill, Politics is Cruel, and the upcoming Nurse 3-D.  This spring, she will be part of Angels in America in Winnipeg.

Stewart Arnott has been an actor on stage and screen, a director and a teacher for almost 35 years.  His many television credits include recent principal appearances in THE KENNEDYS; THE LISTENER; FLASHPOINT; COMMITTED; FRENEMIES, as well as a series lead in the CBC soap opera RIVERDALE.  Film credits include LESLIE, MY NAME IS EVIL; LOVE, SEX & EATING THE BONES; ABSOLON; and the acclaimed shorts TRAILING ARBUTUS and THE OLD WAYS (TIFF).
As a director, Stewart’s work includes VINCENT RIVER (Tarragon Extra Space); the world premiere of POBBY & DINGAN on the mainstage at YPT (Toronto); MASTER HAROLD & THE BOYS; KILT and STRAWBERRIES IN JANUARY at Prairie Theatre Exchange (Winnipeg); AMADEUS and THE MYSTERY OF IRMA VEP at Theatre Aquarius (Hamilton); and PATIENCE; UNITY(1918) and DEMOCRACY at The Great Canadian Theatre Co. (Ottawa). He has also directed at George Brown Theatre School, Ryerson Theatre School and Theatre Humber.                     
Recent acting highlights onstage include ELORA GORGE (Suumerworks); LADY IN THE RED DRESS (fu-GEN Theatre Co.); HALLAJ and WAITING FOR GODOT (Modern Times Theatre Co.); the lead in THE CARD TRICK (THE GLADSTONE VARIATIONS) at the Gladstone Hotel; starring with Dixie Seatle in the Canadian premiere of Edward Albee’s THE GOAT ( GCTC); and the premiere production of THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT (Birdland Theatre).
Stewart has taught acting at George Brown Theatre School, The Players Academy, Teatro Escambray (Cuba), The Actors Workshop, and C.A.S.T.  He is also a busy private coach.

Enjoying countless appearances in Olivier Award winning West-End theatre shows in London, as well as Hollywood feature films, including the Academy Award winning The Lord of the Rings, Mark has created lead TV roles winning the Montrose Rose and British TV Award, along with prizes at Cannes Film Festival for some of the worlds most celebrated commercials.  His director has been nominated for the prestigious Perrier Award for Comedy and developed into a three series run for Paramount. Having trained and performed with Britain’s premier talent, including two Perrier Award winners, Mark has gone on to train five Perrier nominees and performers from the Golden Globe winning The Office.  Through his masterclasses in British drama schools, including RADA, and his international workshops funded by the British Arts Council his unique style of training cuts straight to the creative heart of acting.

Mark’s theatre credits include Music Director for “High School Musical” (Drayton Entertainment), “Cinderella” (Ross Petty Productions), “Menopause Out Loud” (G4 Productions) “Broadway Heros” (David Rogers), “Starbright” (D2 Entertainment) and various shows with the Mantini Sisters. He was also Associate Musical Director for “Mamma Mia” (Mirvish Productions), “Dirty Dancing” (Mirvish Productions) and “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat” (Stage West). Currently Mark is the Music Director/Arranger for International Recording and Touring Artists “The Canadian Tenors”. Mark has shared also shared the stage with many artists including, Marvin Hamlish, Andrea Bocelli, Sting, Sheryl Crow, Dorian Harewood and Amy Skye. He was also featured as a Concert Artist for Yamaha Canada. Mark owns and operates his own recording studio IMAGINE Sound Studios. His Recording/Producer credits include the world premiere cast recording of the musical “Rob Roy”, “Adventures in Jazzland” (Jeff Healey), “Broadway Batchelor” (David Rogers), “Have a Little” (Dorian Harewood), “Friends” (Charlotte Moore) “I Should Have Been Famous by Now” (Steve Patterson). Mark’s T.V. and Radio composition and recording credits include commercials and corporate videos for Canada Post, Cosmopolitan Magazine, General Mills, Microsoft, General Motors. Mark has also written music for “Triple Sensation” (Produced by CBC/Garth Drabinsky) as well as scoring various documentaries for the History Channel and TLC. As an arranger, Mark has orchestrated “Chicago” and “Annie” for Neptune Theatre (Halifax), “Give My Regards to Broadway” for David Rogers (Tour), “Home For The Holidays” Mantini Sisters (Tour), “Starbright” (D2 Entertainment) and “Rodgers and Hammerstein with Hart” (Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra). Mark also enjoys traveling across Canada when invited to give seminars, adjudicate competitions and vocal coach.

Jamie graduated from the Queen’s University drama program in 1996, where he began writing, directing and teaching comedy. He has a Canadian Comedy Award among four nominations. He has worked with comedians throughout the city as a sketch comedian, through comedic plays, and recently as producer of “Muck’d Music”, for The Second City. He has worked with Dean Armstrong and other teachers at The Armstrong Acting Studio since the school’s inception, and now runs the newly created on-screen comedy workshops.

Ms. Long is happy to join the Armstrong Acting Studio this year. A veteran of television, film and stage across Canada, Mary started her career as a child actress performing in over 100 live and taped episodes of a children’s series for CBC TV. Hundreds of radio performances and voice-overs to her credit, Mary also was principal voice in popular cartoon shows and series. Of late she has turned her skills to producing and directing. The most rewarding aspect of the teaching process is to nurture new and exciting talent and the opportunity to teach kids who are going through exactly what she experienced as a child actress is a unique and valuable POV.

Steve has been a professional actor in Canada for over twenty-five years and has performed in many theatres across the country including the prestigious Shaw Festival. Two feature length scripts that he wrote were recently option and is also busy developing other feature length scripts and TV projects to be produced in Canada. He has taught/coached actors across Canada for the past twenty years and is currently teaching at the Randolph Academy and LIFT.

New to Toronto, Jen MacLennan brings to the Armstrong Acting Studio experience in theatre and film in Vancouver. She graduated with her Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting from the University of British Columbia where she received excellent classical theatre training and played the roles including ‘Masha’ in The Three Sisters and ‘Margaret’ in Richard III. She completed her Bachelor of Education last year at Queen’s University and has teaching experience with Cardinal Carter Academy for the Arts and Claude Watson School for the Arts.  Jen finds work in both acting and teaching greatly rewarding.

Rodrigo Arguera is the Director of Finance and Operations at Armstrong Acting Studios, as well as the production Accountant for Appulse Films since 2008. He joins us with a wealth of experience in the film & hospitality industry. Rodrigo spent 7 years as Accounting Manager in the film distribution industry, and has 5 years experience as the Assistant Director of Finance in the hospitality industry.

Derrick is a corporate / entertainment lawyer and an award winning theatre producer.  As a lawyer, his clients include film and television producers and production companies, directors, writers, actors, recording artists, music producers, record labels, publishers, multi-media creators, theatre and dance companies, talent agencies and performers of every nature.  As a producer, his recent theatre productions include James Gangl’s Sex, Religion & Other Hang-Ups at Theatre Passe Muraille and Woody Harrelson & Frankie Hyman’s Bullet for Adolf at Hart House Theatre.  He is the recipient of a Dora Award, Harold Award, Now Magazine Award as Toronto’s Best Indie Producer and Canadian Actors’ Equity Association Honorary Membership for his Outstanding Contribution to the Performing Arts.  He can be contacted at derrick@derrickchua.com.

Agnes is delighted to have joined AAS as the School’s Associate Director. She has been an operations consultant for the last ten years having worked in numerous popular media including tv, radio and film festivals such as Tribeca Film Festival, The Hamptons International Film Festival, Outfest and New Fest in New York City. Agnes is also a certified human relations specialist & meditation instructor in private practice. She has been featured in the Globe & Mail, Complex Magazine & The Canadian Naturopathic College and has a forthcoming CD series and book entitled The Caravan Meditations.

Maggie Huculak brings almost 30 years of extensive experience in theatre, television and film performance to the classroom. She has performed in most theatres in Toronto, with leading roles at Stratford and Shaw Festivals. She is a six-time Dora Mavor Moore Award nominee.  Ms. Huculak received her B.A. and Professional A Certificate from the University of Saskatchewan. She is a certified Occasional Secondary School teacher with the Toronto District School Board, and is an English and Math tutor extraordinaire. She served on the board of directors for the Toronto Arts Council for six years, as the co-chaire of TAC"s theatre committee. She lives in Toronto.

Marcia Bennett has been a professional actress for 39 years with memberships in American and Canadian Actor’s Equity, as well as ACTRA and SAG.  Marcia has a BA (Drama) from University of Evansville, IN and an MA (Theatre) from University of Missouri in Columbia.  She began coaching actors for auditions and scene study 15 years ago, and has taught at Armstrong for seven years.  Marcia’s ability to work well with actors as young as 6 and up to 60 stems from her own life experience, having begun acting at the age of 9.  Her training, love of language, innate curiosity and appreciation of the writer’s intention ensure that no actor leaves a session confused about the script.  Her style of teaching is passionate and caring.  Marcia has a proven ability to help actors dig deep for truth and bring their own personal stamp of creativity and authenticity to auditions and performances.  She’s worked as a dramaturge for playwrights and been an advisor to screenwriters.  She served as on-set coach for Radio Free Roscoe, The Zack Files, Red Sneakers, Snow, Kit Kittredge: American Girl, and My Louisiana Sky.  On stage, Marcia has appeared in leading roles across Canada.  This past summer she played “Nat” in Rabbit Hole in the Toronto Fringe.  Her performance as “Julia”, the title role in Madre (Aluna Theatre at Theatre Passe Muraille) earned her a 2008 Dora Nomination.  Marcia’s film and television work is extensive. Most recently:  Breakout Kings (A & E) “The Bag Man”, Warehouse 13 (SyFy) “Trials”, the controversial film, The Woman (Lucky McKee) which premiered at Sundance earlier this year and Things Are A Changin’ (Jason Jeffrey).  Marcia played the recurring role of the feisty “Rose” in Happy Town as well as the popular “May Silverstone” in the first season of award winning Slings and Arrows.  Marcia takes great pleasure in working with young actors, helping them to succeed by merging their instinctive abilities with informed choices, so that they feel confident when auditioning.  She has an excellent imagination and a keen eye for the truth.

Robert is a professional actor, teacher, director, and stage manager who brings over twenty years experience to the studio.  Robert also instructs the On Camera Acting course at The University of Toronto Mississauga.  He has also taught at George Brown College, and the On Camera Acting course at Seneca College.  He regularly sits on the audition panels for University of Toronto Erindale and Sheridan College where he also does monologue coaching, text analysis, and improvisation work.  Select Film and Television credits include the recurring role of Special Agent Wayne Tarrance in the NBC/Global series The Firm, Murdoch Mysteries, Lost Girl, Mayday 9 and 11, U.S. Attorney (CBS pilot), Hotbox, The Bridge, Hollywoodland, Odyssey 5, The Killing Yard opposite Alan Alda and the critically acclaimed short films Silent War, and Reunion to name a few. Selected stage credits include the Mirvish production of the hit musical My Mothers Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding, Theatre Awakenings In Darfur, numerous seasons with The Blyth Festival, 1000 Islands Playhouse, Stirling Festival, and Christmas Carol and Inherit the Wind at Geva Theatre in Rochester New York. Robert has been an instructor and private coach at the studio for the past seven years working with beginner to advanced level actors in all age ranges. His approach to acting of combining technical and organic (emotional), to create a living breathing character in front of the camera has lead to a high success rate for student advancement and ‘booking the gig’ for film and television projects.

Salvatore Antonio graduated with high distinction from the Acting program at the prestigious National Theatre School of Canada, where he is now the lead instructor of the Acting For Camera component. His acting resume boasts lead roles in Television, Film, Radio, and Theatre (having played most of the major stages across Canada). Salvatore was the series lead on the Showcase/ HereTV USA series, Paradise Falls for three seasons.Recent guest starring roles include: Lost Girl; InSecurity; Flashpoint; Warehouse13; The Listener; The Ron James Show; ReGenesis; M.V.P; This Is Wonderland; At The Hotel; Missing; Mutant X; Queer As Folk; and The Associates. Film work includes featured roles in: Verona; The Path to 9/11; Do Or Die; Cursing Hanley; Looking For Angelina; Gospel of John; and Sam’s Lake (produced by Madonna’s Maverick Films). In addition to his acting and teaching, Salvatore is also an award-winning published playwright, who has been produced internationally in professional theatres in Toronto, Florence, San Francisco, and New York. His first play ‘In Gabriel’s Kitchen’ earned him a nomination for the 2007 Governor General’s Award for Drama (Canada’s highest literary achievement). He was Playwright-In-Residence at Buddies In Bad Times Theatre, and an invited member of the Playwright’s Unit at Tarragon Theatre, Buddies In Bad Times Theatre, and Factory Theatre.
Salvatore has been teaching at AAS for the past three years at the most advanced adult level. His distinct teaching style is best described as ‘intense’; his no-nonsense approach is highly practical, while being firmly based in simplifying the analysis of text (the scene). Salvatore’s high success-rate with client bookings, speaks to his ability to help an actor recognize and access previously unrealized levels in performance, both emotionally and intellectually; allowing the actor greater ownership over their process.
As Artistic Director of AAS, Salvatore works closely alongside Dean Armstrong, refining and developing the enriched AAS curriculum, and adjudicating end-of-term showcases.

Monica Mustelier, originally from Vancouver, is one of the newest editions to Armstrong Acting Studio. For a large part of her life, she worked with youth utilizing the arts as a medium for social change and self-expression. Monica has traveled all over the US and West Africa working with various youth leadership non-profits. Her passion for supporting kids and teens in the arts is equal to her passion for her own craft.

Over the past decade Monica trained at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, The Alliance Theater of the Performing Arts and was awarded full scholarships to SchoolCreative. She has studied with some of the top actors and mentors in Vancouver, San Francisco, Atlanta and Maryland: Warren Robertson, Larry Moss, Sara Jane Redmond, Linda Darlow, Barbara Deutch and Andrew McIllroy.

Monica is a producer, director, writer as well as an award-winning actress. She co-wrote, produced and acted in her dark comedy short “God Squad” and took home the Best Actress Award at the Vancouver Short Film Festival in 2009. She also wrote two episodes and was lead actress in the web-series “John & Mandy”.

Some of her film and TV guest star, supporting lead and large principal credits include, FRINGE (JJ Abrams), Caesar: Rise of The Planet of The Apes (James Franco), True Justice (Steven Segal), Hardwired (Cuba Gooding Jr.) Life Is Still Good, Mom Dad and Her, Innocent, Supernatural, Sanctuary, Smallville and Big Head (TIFF/VIFF/CBC).

Monica is a dedicated teacher and coach who loves to cultivate intelligent artists and working actors. She works with the actor to develop and bring out their most authentic performance and creates a fun yet very challenging environment to play in. She empowers her students to take control of their career and to dream big.

Some of the most recent student bookings: Mr. Young (lead), Life Unexpected (guest star), The Haunting Hour (guest star), Fringe (large principal, Tower Prep (principal), V (reoccurring), The Killing (principal), Supernatural (guest star), Flashpoint (guest star), Richmond Tourism, PlayLand, several indi films and many commercials.

Jonathan Higgins has been a working professional actor in theatre, television and film for nearly twenty years. He has portrayed a long and various range of characters from the Boston aristocrat in Disney’s The Greatest Game Ever Played to drug dealing on the award winning The Shield. He has played numerous leading and supporting roles opposite award winning actors such as Renee Zellweger (Chicago), Samuel L. Jackson (No Good Deed) and Eli Wallach (Bookfair Murders). Recent television includes, Flashpoint, Lost Girl, XIII and The Firm.

A graduate of Middlebury College, he received his MFA in acting from Temple University in Philadelphia where he also taught in the undergraduate theater program. He greatly enjoys and is deeply committed to the teaching and developing of emerging talent and is thrilled to now be part of the crew here at Armstrong Studios.

Since February 2010, Laura Nordin has been teaching at Armstrong Acting Studios - inspiring actors and guiding their craft with a pedagogy that combines technical rigor and playful enthusiasm. Laura’s students and private coaching clients have successfully auditioned and booked film and television roles across a variety of projects.

Laura holds a BFA in Acting, from the University of British Columbia, and an MFA, from the esteemed American Repertory Theatre at Harvard University and the Moscow Art Theatre School. In 2010, she founded the Filmcoop, a not-for-profit mentorship program for professional filmmakers in Toronto.

In addition to working on a number of critically acclaimed independent projects in Vancouver, Boston, New York and Toronto, her acting experience includes working with Genie and Gemini Award-Winning director Bruce McDonald and Academy Award-Nominated director Hubert Davis. She also teaches at the Young People’s Theatre and Shakespearience. Laura recently wrote and directed short films which screened on the Movieola Network and at the Whistler Film Festival.

Douglas Nyback is the co-owner of Monolith Pictures in New York and Toronto (Arial Unit Production Company for COBU 3D in Louisiana and New York, Production Company for “The Barrens”, upcoming Darren Lynn Bousman feature film shooting in September 2011), as well as a producer and writer with Appulse Films in Toronto (Which just completed production on it’s first feature film “Verona” in which he also played a supporting role). A graduate of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York, Douglas is an award winning screenwriter and highly sought after acting coach. He has four optioned feature film screenplays in various stages of development, including the award winning “Not Quite November” (Laurel Award, Canada International Film Festival, 2010), the dark comedy “Falling Forward” and most recently, a hard-hitting drama “Innocence” and the horror film “Ascension” (Co-Written with Michael Goodin). His short films “As The Leaves Fall” and “Coming Around” have won numerous awards at various film festivals across the United States.

In addition to his experience as an emerging producer and screenwriter he brings extensive experience as an actor. His film and television credits include HBO’s Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, Jim Sheridan’s “Dream House”, Aaron Poole’s “Untitled Conspiracy Film”, Mike Nichols’ “Breadcrumbs” which recently debuted at the Cannes Film Festival, episodes of Global TV’s “The Best Years”, CBC’s “Being Erica”. His theatre credits include lead roles in The
Odyssey and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at the official Shakespearean Theatre of Maine and Picasso in Picasso at the Lapin Agile.

Douglas has been a resident coach at Armstrong Acting Studios for over two years.

As an award winning /Dora nominated actor and established, diverse director/ producer in Toronto, Catherine brings twenty-four years acting/teaching and coaching experience to the Armstrong Acting Studio. Catherine is a graduate from Queen’s University (First Class Honours/Drama), London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and is a recipient the prestigious Christopher Plummer Fellowship award becoming an international fellow of Shakespeare’s Globe London, England with Mark Rylance. Her recent selected film and television credits The Whistleblower with Rachel Weisz, Best Laid Plans, Webdultery.com, Flashpoint as well as The Company, Roxanna, Kojak, Doc, Love, Sex and Eating the Bones, Odyssey 5, Soul Food, Moms on Strike, 52 Pick Up, Enslavement, Due South, Earth: Final Contact, On Their Knees, Have Mercy. With three films premiering at The Toronto International Film Festival, Catherine has performed across Canada, in the United States and overseas. Select theatre credits include The Diary of Anne Frank (AL Green Theatre, Theatre Aquarius, Shakespeare-in-Action), Who’s Under Where? (Drayton Entertainment), A Winter’s Tale (Canstage, Dream in the Park), A Christmas Carol (Geva Theatre, NY, three seasons), The Merry Wives of WIndsor (DareDen), The Rope (Buddies Bad Times) End of Dancing (Shaw Festival), Hunger Striking (Theatre Passe Muraille) Life Sentences (Factory Theatre), The Winters’ Tale/Cymbeline/Two Noble Kinsmen (Shakespeare in the Rough), Shakespeare’s Master of Play (Shakespeare’s Globe, UK), Jewel (Theatre Aquarius, National Tour), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Stratford Festival, assistant director) and The
Orphan Muses (Dora Award best actress nominee,Topological Theatre).

Teaching/coaching credits include 17 years directing and teaching at Young Peoples Theatre, acting teacher for Young Peoples Theatre, Canadian Stage, Claude Watson School for the Arts, Etobicoke School for the Arts, Crescent School, St. Clements Girls School, University of Toronto, Sheridan College, and Learning Through The Arts. Catherine is a recipient of The Tyrone Guthrie award, Christopher Plummer Fellowship Award, Canada Globe Women in Shakespeare, and named one of top ten artists by Now Magazine/Toronto coming in at #3.

Catherine is one of the original acting instructors of AAS who has contributed to design of the program. She is very passionate about the development of her students and is very creative to in her approach to suit the individual needs of each actor. In the beginning her focus has been young actors from 6-12, then extending her expertise to the more mature performer. With her strong theatrical background along with her successful on-camera experience/knowledge, Catherine has successfully helped many actors make the transition from a theatrical approach to a truthful, specific nuanced on-camera performance. She has also coached many actors with different levels of experience toward many successful bookings. Known as the “mom” of AAS, she creates a firm and fun, no-nonsense dynamic in the studio that demands discipline, specificity, truth and originality toward being a master in the work. A dominant actor in all aspects of the industry in Canada, Catherine is extremely excited to be involved with the Armstrong Acting Studio and is looking forward to continuing in the development of each individual actor toward furthering their career.

Amos Crawley has been working in film, television and radio virtually his entire life, having begun his career at five years old. His credits include recurring and leading roles on series, over 20 MOWs and several Saturday-Morning Cartoons. In addition he has made guest appearances on most of Canada’s finest TV shows and has appeared in films including Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides and the Adam Sandler vehicle Billy Madison. On the other side of the audition room, Amos has worked as a casting associate for New York’s The Bridge Theatre Company, a Manhattan based collective that he also helped to found. Most recently, Raton Laveur, a play which he co-wrote and directed has been a great success at the Toronto International Fringe Festival, garnering excellent reviews and playing to sold out houses. Raton is currently in pre-production for runs in both Halifax and Melbourne, Australia. As a teacher, in addition to private coaching, he has taught the Lights! Camera! Action! Program at the Vaughn City Playhouse and assisted at the Etobicoke School of the Arts. His main focus as a teacher is in helping actors rid themselves of self-consciousness by providing them with a number of tools which allow them to place their focus on the scene and the reader, making for relaxed performances and strong auditions. This kind of relaxation, in conjunction with bold, text supported choices is precisely what is necessary for a working actor and Amos is very happy to be able to aid that process at the beginner and intermediate levels at AAS. A native Torontonian, Amos continues to travel extensively for his work on the stage, as well as continuing to work in all media.

Director of Armstrong Acting Studios, Dean is one of North America’s most sought after episodic and feature film preproduction and on set acting coaches.  Some of his alumni include Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana), Nina Dobrev (Vampire Diaries), Devon Bostick (Diary of a Wimpy Kid), Miriam McDonald (Degrassi: The Next Generation), Jacqueline MacInnes Wood (Final Destination, The Bold and the Beautiful)and Daytime Emmy award winner Brittany Allen (All My Children).

Acting credits include starring roles in HIDING, ALPHAS, WRONG TURN 4, THE LISTENER, HAVEN, SAW 3D, 5 seasons on Showtime’s QUEER AS FOLK, Broadway’s RENT + the CBC 6 part mini-series TRIPLE SENSATION II.

Dean is also the Founder and Executive Producer of APPULSE FILMS.

The company’s first feature entitled VERONA is currently in production (veronathemovie.com).  VERONA (The Short), directed by Laurie Lynd (BREAKFAST WITH SCOT), was shot in the fall of ’09.

Dean is a graduate of Queen’s University with degrees in both Theater Arts and Education.

For more on Dean, please visit www.deanarmstrong.ca.

Jenny Pudavick is a graduate of the University of Winnipeg’s theatre program and Cornell University. With over 18 years of on camera experience in film and television across Canada and the United states, Jenny brings a depth of practical and theoretical experience to her work with a wide array of talent at Armstrong Acting Studios.

Her most recent film and television credits include Kenia in the 20th Century Fox feature film release Wrong Turn 4 (Premiering in October, 2011) in which she co-starred with AAS Studio Director Dean Armstrong, Natasha in The Last Christmas, Stacy in APTN’s Episodic Cashing In (recurring) and Re-Order (Official Selection Toronto International Film Festival).

Jenny is also the industry public relations liaison for Armstrong. Organizing the members reward program ” The All Access Pass”  witch brings casting directors, agents and other important industry connections close to Armstrong students through monthly workshops at the school. Jenny is a graduate of the Cornell University marketing program. She is the social media and public relations contact for Armstrong.