Here is a union that gives stunt performers their own trophies. We’re already fans.
ACTRA Alberta says it represents more than 1,500 members. According to ACTRA Alberta’s website, it is one of nine branches of ACTRA, the national union of more than 30,000 professional performers working in English-language recorded media in Canada. The Alberta office sits on MacLeod Trail in Calgary.
What the branch does for performers
Plenty of it is practical. The site carries self-tape tips, scam warnings, head shot resources and lists of talent agents and casting directors. It also hosts an information hub on artificial intelligence and performers’ rights, and a confidential harassment reporting service called HAVEN Online.
There is a Puppeteer Committee too. Its mission, as the branch states it, is to represent, support and grow the Alberta puppetry community. The branch says that community has grown with major productions and covers hand puppets, animatronics, marionettes, remote control puppetry, motion capture and digital puppetry. Yes, please.
Money for members who want to learn or make something
Yes, and the details are specific. The Gerrick Winston Memorial Scholarship is named for an ACTRA member who served as Vice President (South) of the Alberta Branch. Per the scholarship page, it pays up to $2,500 a year per recipient and up to $10,000 across a lifetime, and funds go to the institution rather than the applicant. Applicants must be full members in good standing, over 18 and Alberta residents.
The Member Initiated Production grant is the one to watch if you make your own films. The 2024 MIP guideline describes $1,000 on approval and $1,000 on completion, plus $500 more if half the cast and crew are BIPOC ACTRA Alberta members. Filming has to happen in Alberta and production personnel must be 100% Canadian.
The grant page adds that it now offers four grants of $2,000 each year and counts roughly 30 or more funded projects since 2018.
The branch’s own awards
It does. The 2025 awards page lists a ceremony on November 1, 2025, at the Engineered Air Theatre in Calgary, with five categories: lead performance, supporting performance, performance in a short, stunt performance and stunt coordination.
Stunts get their own trophies, which looks like a smart call in a province that does a lot of action work. Winners listed include Kaya Coleman for Montana Mavericks and Steve McMichael for stunt coordination on Wynonna Earp: Vengeance.
The useful takeaway
If you are curious about acting in Alberta, the branch’s resource pages are worth an afternoon. They are public and written in plain language.
Read the scam warnings first. Then look at the grants and notice how much of the support is aimed at performers making their own work. Go poke around.
A Calgary short film landed two CIFF slots pairs nicely with this one, and From 8,000 Fans to Nearly 30,000, CIFF Is Calgary’s Film Moment is close behind. Or try A Calgary optometrist film made the Regina lineup for a change of pace.
Quick answers
ACTRA Alberta is one of nine branches of ACTRA, the national union of more than 30,000 professional performers in English language recorded media. The branch says it represents more than 1,500 members and offers self tape tips, scam warnings, head shot resources, agent and casting lists, and a confidential harassment reporting service called HAVEN Online.
The ACTRA Alberta office sits on MacLeod Trail in Calgary. The branch website also carries public resources for performers, including self tape tips, scam warnings, head shot guidance and lists of talent agents and casting directors, all written in plain language that anyone can read.
The Gerrick Winston Memorial Scholarship pays up to $2,500 a year per recipient and up to $10,000 across a lifetime, and funds go to the institution. The Member Initiated Production grant offers four grants of $2,000 each year for members making their own films, with filming required in Alberta.
Yes. The 2025 awards ceremony took place on November 1, 2025, at the Engineered Air Theatre in Calgary. It had five categories: lead performance, supporting performance, performance in a short, stunt performance and stunt coordination, so stunt work gets its own trophies.
Related reading from us: Not In My City heads to Atlanta for its US premiere and Monique Barrie joins the next Alberta Producer Accelerator.
