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Dean Wray
Dean Wray’s humble beginnings can be traced to the small prairie town of Cartwright, Manitoba. From Cartwright he moved to East Vancouver as a young man and set his sights on a Jr. A hockey career. His interests turned to acting while working as a brakeman on the railroad and from there he formed the Spegway Theatre Company.
It was while on stage that he was discovered by a Vancouver casting director, and landed a role on hit television series, Highlander. From there his career continued to grow and he secured various roles on feature films and television working alongside veteran Hollywood actors from whom he would learn much, including Jon Voight and Ben Gazzara (Convict Cowboy), John Savage and Dean Stockwell (Creepy Crawlers), Al Pacino (88 Minutes, Insomnia) and William Devane (The Man Who Used To Be Me).
Working in and around Vancouver for over two decades, Dean has been directed by some of the best in the business and notes the lessons he has learned along the way from them. Features with John Frankenheimer (Reindeer Games), David Hollander (Personal Effects), Stephen Hopkins (Traffic), Christopher Nolan (Insomnia) and Roger Christian (Dangerous Intuition, Underworld) are more of his notable experiences with which he attributes in part, to the way he approaches film both as an actor and executive producer.
In addition to his current feature making the festival circuit, Down Here, Dean’s recent work can be found in Chained, Poker Night, Dangerous Intuition, Horns, Ring of Fire, Arctic Air and Martin Cummins new feature in post-production, Hell in a Handbag.
Above and beyond his passion for writing, filmmaking and performing, it is the collaboration of talented, committed and hard working people that drives and motivates Dean to continue his work.
Tantoo Cardinal
Tantoo Cardinal was born in Anzac, Fort McMurray, Alberta. Her mother, Julia Cardinal, was a Métis of Cree descent. She has played roles in many notable films and television series, including Spirit Bay, Dances with Wolves, Black Robe, Legends of the Fall, Smoke Signals and North of 60. She was cast in the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation mini-series By Way of the Stars with Gordon Tootoosis as The Cree Chief and Eric Schweig as Black Thunder. It was shot in Uxbridge, Ontario.
In 2009, she was made a Member of the Order of Canada for her contributions to the growth and development of Aboriginal performing arts in Canada, as a screen and stage actress, and as a founding member of the Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company.
On August 23, 2011, Cardinal, Margot Kidder, and dozens of others were arrested while protesting the proposed extension of the Keystone Pipeline.
In 2012, she performed the role of Regan in an all-Aboriginal production of William Shakespeare's King Lear at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, alongside a cast that also included August Schellenberg as Lear and Billy Merasty as Gloucester, among others.
Tantoo's most recent feature film Down Here, with co-stars Dean Wray and Martin Cummins, is set to run the festival circuit in 2013/2014.
Martin Cummins
Martin Cummins (born November 28, 1969) is a Canadian actor known for his role as Ames White in Dark Angel (2001–2002). He attended the Vancouver Actors Studio where he trained under Mel Tuck, a highly respected pioneer of Canadian theatre.
Cummins guest-starred in a number of American and Canadian television shows before landing the part of Nick Boyle in the MGM series Poltergeist: The Legacy, which was filmed in his native Vancouver. He used the money and resources he gained while working on Poltergeist: The Legacy, to fund and staff his own film We All Fall Down, based on the events of his own life after his mother's death. Cummins' other appearances include the TV series Andromeda, The 4400, Dice, Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan, Kyle XY, Smallville, Stargate SG-1, Life As We Know It, Live Once Die Twice and Omen IV: The Awakening and Devour in 2005. In this movie he co-starred with Jensen Ackles from Dark Angel.
Cummins won a Genie Award for Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in 2000 for Love Come Down. In 2011, he began a recurring role as "Thomas" on the ABC-TV series V.
Martin’s latest feature appearance will be in the Canadian written and produced film, Down Here, alongside veteran actors Dean Wray and Tantoo Cardinal.
Michael Rogers
Michael is a very well established Canadian actor with over 20 years experience on stage, and in film and television. Some of his most notable credits include his lead role in the critically acclaimed independent feature, Beyond the Black Rainbow, which recently screened at the Tribeca Film Festival and AFI Fest in L.A. His role in BTBR won Michael a 2013 Vancouver Film Critics Circle award for Best Actor in a Canadian Film as well as landing him a nomination on the 2012 New York Film Poll. Last year Michael was also seen as the iconic Quan Chi in Kevin Tancheron's popular web series Mortal Kombat. Most recently, Michael was in Vancouver filming recurring guest star roles on both Continuum and Fringe as well as guest starring on TNT's hit show Falling Skies.
Teach Grant
Teach Grant was born in Toronto, Ontario and began working in television at the age of 11 as a voice actor on OWL TV. Throughout high school Teach became more involved in theatre and eventually went on to study at the University of Ottawa and at Carleton where he studied Theatre Arts and Psychology. In 1996 Teach moved out to Vancouver to further pursue an acting career in film.
Once in Vancouver Teach began to work as a regular performer with The Looking Glass Theater and founded his own “black box” theater company, 'Over The Line Little Theater', where he directed and acted in a series of plays. Soon thereafter, Teach landed his first feature film lead in Limp in 1997 and has since logged over 50 film and television acting credits. Known primarily as a journeyman actor in Vancouver, Teach has long been involved at the developmental level for a number of television and film projects as a writer and has written and directed a collection of short films on both 35mm and digital media. He founded Recka Recka Films in 2008 and Down Here marks Teach's feature film directorial debut, co-written by himself and partner Dean Wray. Teach is represented by: Kathy Carpenter at KC Talent in Vancouver. - kathyc@canadafilm.com
Brett Stait
Brent has been acting in the film, television and theatre in Canada for the past thirty years. A graduate of Ryerson Theatre School and Banff School of Fine Arts Master Class, Brent spent the first four years of his career doing theatre at Stratford and surrounding area before venturing into film and television. He has appeared in numerous film and television over the years, from X-files, to Mystery Alaska and parts ranging from serial killers to Priests. Brent continues to enjoy playing a vast array of characters on film and stage.
Brent has been a recipient of the Tyrone Gutheri Award, a Leo Award (Cold Squad) and has also been nominated for a Gemini (For Those Who Hunt the Wounded Down), and a Genie. Brent plays Superintendent Wiley in his latest feature film, Down Here.
Rebecca Campbell, Dave Thompsom, Andrew Kavadas, Viv Leacock, Gordon Woolvet, and Sarah Jane Redmond.
