Act Your Age
Act Your Age (AYA) is a volunteer committee that has been formed by some of our union’s senior members, for the following purposes:
- To celebrate our talents by embracing the history, dignity, and richness of our stories of survival
- To provide opportunities through an active actors’ gym to keep our skills facile and our focus sharp
- To educate the industry and marketers, over time, on the needs and concerns of senior performers
- To establish strong liaisons with other ACTRA Toronto committees, such as YEAA, Diversity and TAWC
- To explore and spotlight the new reality of what it means to be a senior
- To advocate for a change in the perception of senior performers – from invisible and easily dismissed, to capable, hireable, and fun
Advocacy
Our society’s preoccupation with youth means that older actors are too often forgotten. That’s not just a shame for the actors themselves and a terrible waste of their abilities, it’s also a serious blow to our understanding of ourselves as a society and of the aging process that is part of life.
Without public role models and a visible and positive “place in the story”, it is all too easy for aging people to become invisible to themselves and to others and to fall prey to feelings of shame, isolation and loneliness.
Current Projects
Let’s See and Hear More “Senior” Voices (You may be surprised)
As a society we can put seniors in a box based on pre-conceived notions. But what does today’s senior really sound like? Check out these AYA “This is What ___ Sounds Like” spots. ACTRA Toronto’s AYA Committee recorded this series of promotional audio spots to showcase (and sometimes surprise) the listener. The spots were directed by ACTRA Toronto member Tracey Hoyt.
Spin Class (Written by Tracey Hoyt)
Cast
Instructor: Cari Haim
Client: Mike Hanson
Anncr.: Valeri Kay
Horseback Ride (Written by John McGrath)
Cast
Son: John McGrath
Mom: Pam Hyatt
Wife: Patricia Wright Domingue
Anncr.: Tony Fletcher
Overqualified (Written by Tracey Hoyt)
Cast
Boss: Heather Dick
Applicant: Elva Mai Hoover
Anncr.: Mike Hanson
Speed Date (Written by Tracey Hoyt)
Cast
Female: Nina Keogh
Male: Gord Milroy
Speed Date Moderator: Sylvan Valladares
Anncr.: Jorie Morrow
Reflect our Diverse Society by Including Senior Voices
“Seniors in Canada are a rapidly growing segment of the population and are living longer and healthier lives than previous generations. By 2030 seniors will number over 9.5 million and make up 23 percent of Canadians.”
Why Advertisers Should be Speaking to Seniors:
“The number of people aged 65 and over is projected to double to more 1.5 billion by 2050, greatly increasing their economic impact. The total spending power of the older population globally … is expected to grow to US$14 trillion over the next decade.”
Videos
ACTRA Toronto’s Act Your Age Committee rejects this limiting social narrative and offers instead a very different vision of seniors and senior performers, through a series of entertaining and thought provoking short videos.
Upcoming Events
Watch your inbox for the great line up of workshops AYA has in store for you!
See you soon!
Contact: AYA@actratoronto.com