Film Arts - Acting

Langara Film Arts: Professional Tools. Real-World Experience.

At Langara Film Arts, students work hands-on with industry-standard gear, gaining practical experience on real productions that they create.

Students capture their films on the Blackmagic URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2—a powerful Super 35mm camera with 15 stops of dynamic range. It records 4.6K at up to 120 fps and 2K at 300 fps, and features built-in 2/4/6-stop ND filters that block both visible and infrared light. The camera has a rugged, lightweight, and modular magnesium alloy body, built for versatility on set.

With the EF mount, students have access to a wide range of lenses and benefit from many affordable rental options—making it easier to achieve professional results on a student budget.

To support accurate focus and framing, we use the Blackmagic URSA Viewfinder, which includes a sharp 1920x1080 OLED display, precision optics, and customizable controls for zoom, overlays, and peaking.

For mobility, we equip each camera with the Blackmagic Shoulder Mount Kit and use VCT plates for fast tripod-to-handheld transitions. Shoots are supported with additional monitors for focus pulling and a Blackmagic Video Assist 4K monitor for directors.

Sound is captured using the Sound Devices MixPre-3 II recorder, a compact and durable unit capable of recording 32-bit float audio at up to 192 kHz. Its three ultra-low-noise Kashmir preamps make it ideal for dialogue, ambient sound, or voice-over. We pair it with the RØDE NTG2 shotgun mic for clean, full-range audio, and a carbon fiber Deity boom pole and Rycote blimp system to get the microphone where it needs to go. The sound kit includes an Orca mixer bag, a 50,000mAh power bank, and a dual headphone splitter for both the mixer and boom operator.

To enhance production movement and coverage, students have access to PVC doorway dollies with both straight and circular tracks, as well as a rickshaw dolly. Students can also utilize a GoPro HERO camera for more specialized shots.

Post-production is handled on Apple Mac Studios equipped with M3 Ultra chips, 96 GB of unified memory, and LG 49” UltraWide QHD monitors. Editing is done with Final Cut Pro, providing students with a professional workflow from capture to cut to export. We shoot in 4K and deliver in 1080p, while learning the various formats and deliverables required for film festivals.

Lighting and grip gear includes a mix of LED and tungsten lights, HMIs, C-stands, Matthews light stands, flags, bounces, silks, and more.

In the Summer Term, students gain access to Studio 58’s theatre space, rehearsal rooms, green room, and kitchen—perfect for set builds, filming, meetings, and prep.

Langara College Film Arts gives students the tools, spaces, and support they need to bring their stories to life—and prepares them for the realities of professional film production.

Jonas Quastel, Program Coordinator

Email: jquastel [at] langara.ca (jquastel[at]langara[dot]ca)

Jonas Quastel is one of Vancouver's premiere writer/directors. A multifaceted creative professional with over 20 years experience in the world of dramatic feature film, Quastel lives in Vancouver, BC and works wherever movies take him.

He began his career in the lighting and camera departments with the intention of becoming a director of photography. While gaining on-set experience he began writing screenplays and soon had a quick succession of scripts produce-  Crackerjack, starring Nastassia Kinski and Christopher Plummer; Listen, a thriller starring Brooke Langdon; and Sub Zero with Costas Mandylor and Nia Peebles. Jonas’s directorial debut was the feature The Untold (2002), which he also wrote, starring Lance Henriksen and Andrea Roth. Next was Ripper II, shot in Prague starring Erin Karpluk, Premonition, a suspense thriller with Casper Van Dien and Catherine Oxenberg and Scourge with Robyn Ledoux and Russ Ferrier which was nominated for a Best Direction Leo award. Jonas also co-produced the CTV movie of the week What Color Is Love? and directed and wrote Forced to Fight with Peter Weller and Gary Daniels. Most recently he wrote The Stepchild with Lauren Holly and Paul Johansson and is currently writing and has a number of feature projects in development including features The Stretch and Dark Light.

Katrin Bowen

Phone: 604.323.5511 ext. 2568
Email: kbowen [at] langara.ca (kbowen[at]langara[dot]ca)

Katrin Bowen is a passionate teacher, and award-winning filmmaker and feels incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to teach what she loves. She has taught careers for the acting, directing, and writing streams at Langara College, directing at In Focus Film School, writing for film at Vancouver Film School, teaching world cinema at Alexander College, and teaching Careers, Introduction to Production and the Art of the Short Film at Langara College.  

Katrin has been teaching at the college level for the past ten years and has thoroughly enjoyed combining her love of making films, with her love of teaching. Part of her work includes collaborating with the film departments to come up with a practical and effective curriculum. She grades students fairly, gives positive constructive feedback on their work, and strives to bring out their best.

Katrin directed her first feature film “Amazon Falls”, which went on to great critical success with a world premiere at TIFF, Best Feature Film Award at The Female Eye Festival, and Katrin won the vision award for best direction at the 2011 WIFTV Spotlight Awards. Katrin’s second feature film: "Random Acts of Romance” was nominated for four Leo Awards:  Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor and Screenplay, and played at film festivals as diverse as Miami and Cameroon, Africa. She is in development on three feature films and directs the cooking show: “Get Cooking with the Stars”.

Katrin’s directing career began at Berkeley, where she made an award-winning documentary on rap music:  She won the Vision Award for Best Director, and the Best International Film Award at the Chroma festival for her second short film "Almost Forgot My Bones". and he 90 second “mind bomb” she directed for Adbusters went viral with over 800,000 views in one week. Most recently, she directed the innovative short film and video game  “Jane Doe” for story hive.

Katrin is an Alumnae of the University of California at Berkeley, The Cannes Producing Intensive, Women in the Director’s Chair, The Toronto International Film Festival Talent Lab  and The Berlinale Talent Campus.

Janin Palahicky

Phone: 604.323.5850
Office: A244
Email: jpalahicky [at] langara.ca (jpalahicky[at]langara[dot]ca)

Jason Simpson

Phone: 604.323.5511 ext. 2600
Office: A244
Email: jsimpson [at] langara.ca (jsimpson[at]langara[dot]ca)

Jason has been a professional in the Film & Television industry for almost 20 years, specializing in Voice Over acting for film, television, animation, and commercial work. After graduating with excellence from the Acting program at the Vancouver Film School, Jason quickly found himself immersed back in the school as a TA and then as an instructor. For many years he taught and helped create a number of classes, such as Moving Master, Shoot & Edit, and Voice Over for Animation & Commercial.

Throughout the duration of his teaching years, Jason continued to audition and work as a professional actor… Being on set or in a studio proves to be the best teacher! Jason coaches all levels of actors in character development and prep, scene study, and audition preparation for all mediums facets of voice over. Jason’s CV ranges from 150+ radio ads to obscure Japanese animé, hit feature films like Asterix & Obelix, blockbuster animated series like My Little Pony and Nexo Knights, dozens of video games like League of Legends and NHL ’18, and top rated TV shows like Arrow, Riverdale, and iZombie.

Jason loves everything about his work: the acting, the teaching, the coaching, the exploring… it’s always his pleasure to speak on it, answer questions, and give those interested a better understanding of the industry and its many facets.

Jennifer Copping

Email: jcopping [at] langara.ca (jcopping[at]langara[dot]ca)

Jennifer Copping is a highly sought after Teacher, Director, Coach, and Mentor. Many of her clients are acclaimed young actors with burgeoning careers . Her career spans 30+ years as an actor in the  film and television industry and onstage across Canada and the U.S. Highlights include touring to Alaska with "Les Miserables", playing Sally Simpson in the Canadian premier of "The Who's Tommy", touring and living in Chicago with "Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" starring Donny Osmond and most recently playing Mary Delgado in the Canadian premier of "Jersey Boys”. Locally, she has recently worked onstage for The Arts Club playing Jesus in “Godspell" and Alex in "The Day Before Christmas" as well as "Indian Arm" for Rumble and “Detroit" for Mitch and Murray. Up next is “The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime” for The Arts Club. On television she can be seen in shows such as “Travellers”, “Bates Motel”, "Fargo”,”Van Helsing”," Continuum”, "Motive" " When Calls The Heart" and "The Killing". Favorite films have included “Mother Of All Lies”, "Ill Fated", "See Grace Fly", "Protection", "Once Upon A Mattress", 'Slither" and  "Becoming Redwood " for which she won the 2013 Leo Award for Best Actress, and the recently shot "Rabbit”. Her proudest accomplishments are her 20-year marriage to her husband, filmmaker Jesse James Miller and their two sons Cian and Keen.

Danny Nowak

Email: dnowak [at] langara.ca (dnowak[at]langara[dot]ca)

Danny started his career as a cinematographer based in Vancouver. After directing a dozen of his own short films, he excelled behind the camera, shooting various projects around the world. In recent years, he has served as Director of Photography on many TV movies and over 20 feature films, including Tristar’s “The Big Hit”, Neil Simon’s “The Goodbye Girl” and Bruce McDonald’s “Hard Core Logo”. Awards for his work include a Gemini (Canada’s Emmy) and top prize from the Canadian Society of Cinematographers. For years Danny has lectured or taught at various film schools in British Columbia and was instructor in Canada’s only full-time cinematography course. He is a full member of the Canadian Society of Cinematographers, a member of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, and a member of the International Photographers Union (IATSE 669). A patriot of Canadian cinema, Danny is devoted to the development of the local and international film art.

Ryan Smith

Email: rwsmith [at] langara.ca (rwsmith[at]langara[dot]ca)

Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Ryan is a writer for film and television. Recent credits include:  Adapting an undisclosed Bob Woodward book into a drama feature for Anonymous Content (producers of The Revenant and Spotlight); Co-writing and Producing the feature sci-fi thriller, "Volition" (Smith Brothers/Paly) -- “Volition” recently won Best Feature at the Philip K. Dick Film Festival; writing on the animated comedy feature, "Next Gen,” starring John Krasinski and Constance Wu (Netflix Original); writing the action-comedy Secret Santa for Original Film (producers of The Fast and the Furious and I Am Legend); writing and serving as Senior Story Editor/Writer for "ReBoot: The Guardian Code" (Netflix); serving as Supervising-Producer/Writer on "Some Assembly Required" (Netflix); and as Senior Executive Story Editor/Writer on "Mr. Young" (Disney). Between the above series, Ryan has written on over 150 episodes of television, and received three Leo Awards.  He is also the Winner of the ScreenCraft Fellowship and a two-time Austin Film Festival Semifinalist. Ryan has a BA in Comparative Religion, Literature and the Arts, with a minor in Theater, from The University of British Columbia.  He also holds an MFA in Screenwriting from York University.