Thousands vie for chance to showcase talent at Kelowna auditions

Photo: Contributed

Thousands of would-be stars turned out for a chance to live their dreams at a recent audition in Kelowna.

Talent agent Carla Brown says she's not surprised by the turnout in the Okanagan.

"We like to refer to it as the Hub of Hollywood North," says Brown, head of Calgary’s Platinum Talent Management.

"The summer of 2020 is full of productions filming in this iconic setting and we're so excited to build an incredible talent roster."

Brown joined forces with Brenda Connell, to form the new BookIT Talent Agency based in Kelowna. They held their first auditions in late June.

"We're overwhelmed by the volume of response to our auditions; it’s so exciting to see the wide range of talent. We will make sure the Okanagan Valley is ready for the film and television industry to explode."

There were so many who turned out looking for a shot at stardom or just a few laughs that the two-day event quickly extended into four days.

"With COVID, we need to put the health and safety of local actors and our staff as our priority," says Brown. "We're already working on a second audition in the next couple of weeks. There is just too much talent here to not give everyone a chance to show us their stuff." 

All told More than 2,500 vied for a spot and the venue could only handle a limited number of actors per session due to COVID concerns. That left Brown and Connell having to put in a few extra days in order to evaluate more than 350 local actors who were selected.