With years of experience under their belt, Matt Wells from MuchMusic and Matthew Bennett, best known for his roles on shows Orphan Black and Battlestar Galactica urged a group of young entertainers to join in the power of online networking and put yourself out there.
The duo stopped by Algonquin on Oct. 27 to discuss new project, a feature film, Straight Kill, and the online audition process they’re using to cast for the movie and soundtrack.
The script of Straight Kill, written by Bennett, tells the story of two debt-ridden men in Toronto’s less privileged St. Jamestown district who take to the underground world of street dicing in order to make some money. “It’s a crime action thriller with guns, gambling and a great love story,” said Bennett.
“One of the biggest obstacles we thought about was people hearing about the project and not submitting,” said Wells. Afraid that people will think it’s a cool idea but not feel good enough to apply. Using the power of tweeting and hashtaging, an online audition can make yourself known to other industry officials, and attract an online following.
Wells, who started out as a musician before working at MuchMusic, compared the evolution of online media to the early days of underground tape trading, where an artists collect a following by swapping tapes at live shows in order to get notoriety. YouTube has become a much more accessible subculture of in the evolution of networking.
“It’s not how things have traditionally been done,” said Bennett, talking about the online audition process. “A lot of industry people are watching us trying to understand what we’re doing. People are looking at YouTube as a financial model.”
Performing arts teacher Teri Loretto left the entertainment hopefuls with encouraging words of “You guys are here because you are brave. Take advantage of the all opportunities in front of you,” before the the duo left.