Gloria and Olivia Kate Iatridis are hoping their new book will help child actors and their parents navigate the film industry.
The mother-daughter duo with NWT roots finished the project, titled Booked, in late 2023, and plan to release it through Manitoba-based publisher FriesenPress in the first quarter of 2024.
“It was amazing to work with my mom on the book,” said Olivia, a 22-year-old actress. “She is such an incredible writer and storyteller. I feel like she really captured what it was like for us and it brought back a lot of memories.”
Gloria added, “It was such a learning experience for Olivia and I. We decided after talking about it that it shouldn’t just be a how-to book, but that we would do a memoir of our experiences.”
Olivia, who now lives in Vancouver, first set her sights on an acting career at age 13, laying out plans to leave home and move south when she turned 18. Rather than try to dissuade her daughter from leaving home at such a young age, Gloria offered her support, taking on the role of manager.
She would quickly be glad she did, as the pair learned the film industry can be a treacherous place for aspiring actors — particularly young ones. They encountered everything from complex contracts to questionable working conditions, and were forced to deal with all of the challenges they encountered without any guidance or experience of their own.
Booked is a distillation of all the lessons they’ve learned over their years navigating the industry together.
“There’s so many unwritten rules in the acting industry and the film industry,” said Gloria. “There’s all kinds of rules around things like contracts and how much you get paid and how long you’re supposed to be on set, especially if you’re a minor.
“A lot of those rules aren’t compiled together, and that’s one of the reasons why we put the book together, just to have the basics of what you need to know in order to be an actress or an actor. How do you keep your kids safe? All it takes is one incident with a child and you can harm that child.”
The release of Booked could turn out to be quite timely.
New film projects are popping up all across the North, and as they arrive, there are more and more opportunities for aspiring actors, young and old, to step in front of the camera.
‘Break the cycle’
Some casting calls, including the one that was sent out for a widely discussed comedy project involving Netflix and CBC, state that no experience is required.
In Gloria’s experience, such claims are somewhat “misleading,” but she and Olivia hope their new book will help Northerners — particularly their fellow Indigenous people — achieve success without experiencing so many bumps in the road.
“I would love for this book to serve the communities up north,” Olivia said. “With the presence of self tapes and more inclusivity in casting, there have been so many more opportunities for Indigenous people, even ones in remote places. The issue is that they lack the privilege of easy-to-access information. There isn’t much straight up information online or any other books like this one. We want to break the cycle of gatekeeping industry knowledge and give people a real chance to be a part of this wonderful industry and to be able to do it in a safe way.”
Olivia has appeared in several feature films, including Abducted and Sweeter Than Chocolate. She also starred in the HBO television drama Alaska Daily, and is set to appear in a Netflix project in 2024. While she admits some of her experiences in the film industry have been “so brutal,” she loves her job, and encourages other young hopefuls to follow their dreams.
“Some of my biggest highs in life have been my work and it gave me so much confidence as a kid,” she said. “It really shaped me into the person I am today.
“My biggest piece of advice would be to stick with it because your time will come. That is what my mom always tells me when I am feeling down about the job. It can be very difficult at times, to say the least, but it is some of the most rewarding work creatively.”
Olivia and Gloria’s book will be available online through FriesenPress, and retailers like Indigo Chapters and Amazon.
The pair are planning on hosting book launches and signings in Yellowknife, where Olivia was born, and “some of the Inuvialuit communities,” including Gloria’s hometown of Tuktoyaktuk.
