The cast of Off Kilter on CBC

Cast & Crew

Creative Team
Alejandro Álvarez Cadilla as Milton Frank in Off Kilter

Created by ALEJANDRO ÁLVAREZ CADILLA

Montreal-based Alejandro Álvarez Cadilla is a former principal dancer and guest artist with some of the most acclaimed ballet companies in the world including Nacho Duato’s Compañía Nacional de Danza and William Forsythe’s Ballett Frankfurt. He studied scriptwriting with Oscar-nominee Pedro Loeb and is a graduate of The Oxford School of Drama. His first short film Le Trac was personally selected by Edward James Olmos for the Los Angeles International Latino Film Festival. His second short film Deep Sleep won Best International Short Film at the London Independent Film Festival and had 33 international film festival selections. His TV hour documentary Disportrait, a co-production with ZDF/Arte and the Tribeca Film Institute, won the Golden Prague Grand Prix TV Award and was nominated for a Robert Award in Denmark.

Alejandro premiered his short documentary Fisk, Untitled Portrait, commissioned by the CBC, at the Palm Springs International ShortFest in 2017 and it was also selected at Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival, Pittsburg Shorts Fest and Master of Art Film Festival in Bulgaria among others. He is currently shooting the follow-up titled The New York Opening, also commissioned by the CBC.

Produced by PRISCILLA GALVEZ

Priscilla Galvez is a Toronto-based producer and director. She is the producer and co-director of the CBC digital documentary series Art Kids, profiling young artists across Canada. In 2017, she produced the afro-futurist action short film The Drop In for Bell Media that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, Fantastic Fest and Canada’s Top Ten Film Festival. Priscilla has worked on television series and feature films for BET, Syfy Channel and Netflix as Associate Producer for Blue Ice Pictures. She is currently in development on the feature film version of The Drop In.

Written by ALEJANDRO ÁLVAREZ CADILLA and AMY CUNNINGHAM
Directed by CLARA ALTIMAS
Cinematography by CONOR FISHER
Edited by JAMES WATTS
ALEJANDRO ÁLVAREZ CADILLA as Milton Frank

Cast
Sarah Murphy-Dyson as Anna in Off Kilter

SARAH MURPHY-DYSON as Anna

Gemini Award-winner Sarah Murphy-Dyson was a First Soloist with The Royal Winnipeg Ballet Company. She played “Penny” in Dirty Dancing (Mirvish), was a stunt double for Milla Jovovich and Kate Beckinsale, coached Jennifer Lopez, and has starred in world premieres of five George F. Walker’s plays. TV/film credits include Suits (NBC), Workin’ Moms (CBC), Rookie Blue (CTV), the feature The Dark which will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. Sarah recently choreographed Cabaret for the Lower Ossington Theatre.

Zarrin Darnell-Martin as BB in off Kilter

ZARRIN DARNELL-MARTIN as BB

Born and raised in Montreal, Zarrin Darnell-Martin is an actor and writer based in Toronto, Canada. She has guest starred and appeared in numerous film and television productions. Some credits include: the Academy Award winning Best Picture Spotlight, Taken (NBC), The Strain (FX), Defiance (SYFY), Rookie Blue (ABC), Good Witch (Hallmark), and Private Eyes (Global). A classically trained actor, Zarrin’s conservatory training was done at the prestigious National Theatre School of Canada where she graduated from the Acting program. She has performed on some of the biggest stages in Canada, including the Shaw Festival. Zarrin is an avid writer and has been published by Canada’s national newspaper, The Globe and Mail. She holds dual US/Canadian citizenship, and is fluent in French and English. Zarrin is currently finishing a degree in Journalism at Ryerson University.

Manuel Rodriquez-Saenz as Gary in Off Kilter

MANUEL RODRIGUEZ-SAENZ as Gary

Acting since he was eight years old in theatre productions, Manuel Rodriquez-Saenz graduated from The National Theater School in Havana, Cuba in 1998, and went on to play several roles in Cuban TV and film. He worked with the renowned Buendia Theater Company where he produced and played the lead on an adaptation of the Eugene O’Neill play Desire Under the Elms, before moving to Toronto in 2000. Manuel has studied puppetry in Prague with Mijek Trenar and clown with Helen Donnelly and Francine Coté. He has many theatre credits including Emigrante in the Rock.Paper.Sistahz Festival, in Ayelen for Summerworks Festival and in The Race with Miko Sobreira in several cabarets around the city, including the Red Nose District and the Toronto Festival of Clowns where he won the Mark Purvis Bursary. Some of Manuel’s English-language film and television credits include: Special Correspondents, Caught, Kim’s Convenience, Shazam, XIII: the Series, Street Without Exit, Mistletoe Over Manhattan, Wilderness, Piggy in a Blanket, and Manhattan Undying. He was a co- producer and lead actor on A Brand New You. He also works as a therapeutic clown at Holland Bloorview Paediatric Hospital.

Brendan Saye as Luke in Off Kilter

BRENDAN SAYE as Luke

Brendan Saye was born in Vancouver, British Columbia and trained at Canada’s National Ballet School. Mr. Saye joined The National Ballet of Canada as a RBC Apprentice in 2008 and was promoted to First Soloist in 2017. Mr. Saye’s roles include Siegfried in Swan Lake, Polixenes in The Winter’s Tale, Le Roi in Le Petit Prince, Phlegmatic in The Four Temperments as well as Romeo and Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet and an Icicle in The Nutcracker. He has danced featured roles in Hamlet, Cinderella, The Four Seasons, In the Upper Room, The Second Detail, Chroma, Enkelli, and Self and Soul. Mr. Saye has also danced roles in The Sleeping Beauty, Onegin, Giselle, Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, Don Quixote, La fille mal gardée, The Seagull, La Sylphide, Pinocchio, Carmen, A Streetcar Named Desire, Glass Pieces, West Side Story Suite, Emergence, Genus, The Dreamers Ever Leave You, and No. 24. In 2012, Mr. Saye received the Patron Award of Merit and represented the National Ballet in The Tenth International Competition for The Erik Bruhn Prize. He also received the Peter Dwyer Award and Christopher Ondaatje Prize in 2008 while a student at Canada’s National Ballet School.

Harrison Wynn as Desmond in Off Kilter

HARRISON WYNN as Desmond

Harrison Wynn was born in Paraparaumu, New Zealand and trained at San Francisco Ballet School’s Trainee Program in California and the New Zealand School of Dance. Mr. James danced with Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Béjart Ballet Lausanne before joining The National Ballet of Canada in 2013 as a member of the Corps de Ballet. Mr. James was promoted to Principal Dancer in 2016. Mr. James dances such lead roles as Leontes and Polixenes in The Winter’s Tale, Prince Florimund in The Sleeping Beauty, Prince Charming in Cinderella, Lensky in Onegin, Albrecht in Giselle, James in La Sylphide, Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, The L’Aviateur in Le Petit Prince, Des Grieux in Manon, Peter/The Nutcracker in The Nutcracker, Raj/Caterpillar in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Stanley in A Streetcar Named Desire. His repertoire includes roles in Swan Lake, Nijinsky, The Second Detail, Genus, Watch Her, Being and Nothingness, Carousel (A Dance), Piano Concerto #1, and Spectre de la Rose. In 2015, Mr. James was awarded the Patron Award of Merit by the Patrons’ Council Committee of The National Ballet of Canada.

Chelsy Meiss as Mick in Off Kilter

CHELSY MEISS as Mick

Chelsy Meiss was born in Melbourne, Australia and trained at Karen Curlis School of Dance, Thelma Williams School of Dance, The Victorian College of The Arts and The Australian Ballet School in Melbourne. Ms. Meiss danced with San Diego Ballet before joining The National Ballet of Canada as a member of the Corps de Ballet in 2008. Ms. Meiss was promoted to First Soloist in 2015. Ms. Meiss recently debuted as Stella in the Canadian premiere of A Streetcar Named Desire by John Neumeier. She has danced such roles as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Queen of Hearts in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Bronislava in Nijinsky, Russian, Hungarian and Spanish Princess in Swan Lake, Petal and Twig in Cinderella, Spring in The Four Seasons, the female lead in Spectre de la Rose and featured roles in Chroma and Genus. She has also danced roles in The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Giselle, Onegin, Don Quixote, La fille mal gardée, Manon, La Sylphide, The Winter’s Tale, Pinocchio, The Concert, The Four Temperments, The Seagull, Carmen, Symphony in C, Opus 19/The Dreamer, Allegro Brillante, Carousel (A Dance), Cacti, Being and Nothingness, In the Upper Room, West Side Story Suite and Russian Seasons. In 2016, Ms. Meiss was awarded the David Tory Award, and was the recipient of the Patron Award of Merit by the Patron’s Council Committee of The National Ballet of Canada in 2009.

Series writer Amy Cunningham as Casey in Off Kilter

AMY CUNNINGHAM as Casey

Amy Cunningham is a Toronto-based writer and comedian who is a regular contributor to The Beaverton and CBC Comedy websites. She has performed stand-up internationally and was featured in the Oddblock Comedy Festival, SheDot Festival, and will be premiering her second hour-long show, Eat the Teeth, at the 2018 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Together with an incredible team, she was awarded the 2017 Independent Production Fund’s web series grant.