Peter Messaline

He is a Canadian performer. He has not worked outside the entertainment industry in nearly forty years. He is proud to be one of those working actors, almost as rare as superstars, who make their living from performance. His North American theatre credits come from the Actor's Theatre Louisville, Cincinnati Playhouse, Theatres in Canada from Montreal to Vancouver, and Niagara Falls to Fort McMurray.He is a co-writer and editor. Twenty-five years of published writing, beginning with English-as-a-Second Language radio and television scripts for Holland and Denmark, and an Adult Functional Literacy project for Access Television, Alberta. He now boasts a total of six books and many newsletter articles about the performer's business. He is a co-writer of Tax Kit 2000+ and The Actor's Survival Kit, and founded and published, and for six years wrote, The Agents Book. Recently he was an original drafter on Making It, the 'Career Management Guide for Artists and Cultural Workers' of the Cultural Human Resources Council.He is a tax preparer, a founding member of the Tax Caucus, a group of performers' tax preparers hosted by Equity and supported by ACTRA. Revenue Canada (now CRA) defined the Caucus to be an industry-specific advisory group, and it has published basic tax information for performers, and an auditor briefing for RevCan's approval and future use.He is a teacher. With Miriam Newhouse, he presented the first curriculum-based Acting-As-A-Business course in Canada. Since that University of Alberta beginning, he has presented similar material in various formats privately and at Ryerson, George Brown, Randolph Academy, Canadian Opera Company, Langara College, and now at York University.He is an activist, a founding volunteer with the Acting and Modelling Information Service. This is a group of industry volunteers dedicated to protecting newcomers against their own ignorance and the fraud of others, through a help Hotline, by lobbying, and by keeping the pressure on the unscrupulous.He is Joe Ordinary. A successful performer, but still dealing with entry-level problems, through tax clients and students. His research continues, but his instincts are still those of the street-level performer. Show less «