A B.C. actor has started a boot camp for performers who want to learn about being in a Hallmark movie.
Many of the films are shot in B.C. and local actors feature prominently in the popular productions. Twenty-one Hallmark movies were shot in Vancouver last year.
“We’ll be talking about breakdown scripts. We’ll be talking about expectations,” actor Omari Newton told This is BC.
Along with the Vancouver Film School, Newton offered students a crash course in the art of Christmas films.
“We talk acting, writing and directing,” Newton said.
The actor is the first in his family to follow an entertainment career path, taking in theatre and shows as a child after his parents moved from Trinidad.
“When they emigrated, they weren’t wealthy so it says a lot about them wanting to expose us to performing arts,” Newton said.
He has been a teacher, actor, rapper, director and playwright over the years and his experience is helping new talent get their first look at a big part of the B.C. film industry.
“It’s such a staple of the Vancouver industry,” Newton said.