Career change ag

SPOTLIGHT FEATURE

O FLEE a sinking ship is

not'only understancd-

able, ‘it’s highly recom-
mended.

However, to bolt the fold in
the midst of unbounded success
and unqualified peer respect is
quite another thing.

West Vancouver's Michael St.
John Smith dic just that when he
packed in a well-estabtished
career as creative director and
vice-president of the McCann

Erickson advertising agency three |

years ago to become a full-time
actor, screenwriter and play-
wright.

“it felt like the right thing to
do,” says the 49-year-old St. john
Smith, whose premiere stage
effort, Slaying Dragons, is run-
ning at the Secret Space Theatre
at 46038 Main St.in Vancouver
until March 19,

“You only have so much time
on this planet and t've already
had a couple af friends die. |
could get over the regret of the
career switch not working out,
hut t could never get over the
regret of never having tried it.”

Born in England, raised in San
Francisco and educated at
Harvard (B.A. cum laude), St.

‘John Smith returned to the Bay

_ area following his graduation to
‘work for several ad agencies
including }. Walter Thompson.

Tiring of the day-to-day grind
of designing product campaigns
and writing advertising copy, he
derided to try his handat devel-
oping movie screenplays, the first
of which was an adaptation of
Another Roadside Attraction by
celebrated Seattle author — and
St. John Smith’s friencl — Tom
Robbins. (St. John Smith also
read the galleries for Robbin’s hit
novel Even Cowgirls Get the
Blues and gets a dedication in
the book.)

“A guy in Seattle owned the

writer/actor

NEWS photo Mike Wakefield

FROM ADVERTISING executive to actor, screenwriter and play-

wright, Michael St. John Smith made the leap. He says his only.

regret would have been if he didn’t give it a shot.

rights and my agent has been get-
ling bites,” he says, noting that
another work, Magnetic North,
“was on the verge of being sold
and made into a film, but the +
company that was interested
folded.”

He has frad better luck, how-
ever, With Slaving Dragons, a
work that was mounted in earlier
forms and received standing ova-
tions at the 1992 and 1993
Vancouver Fringe Festivals.

“[ started acting three years
ago in order ta better inform
mysell on writing scripts,” says
St. John Smith, who developed

’ unk S

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the work with director Scott
Swan and the five male leads
(Doug Cameron, Jason Metz,
John Moore, Michael O'Shea ‘and
Dean Wray) who join St. John
Smith onstage, ;

“It was a bit strange — fused
to be a creative director tor com-
mercials giving people directions
in front of the camera and now
Mmithe one in front of the camera
getting directions.”

For his part, St. John Smith has
scored jobs not only in commer-
ciais, but in teature films such as

See Dragons page 23

Guest Validation:

the 3rd Annual

Vancouver

SrorvleLLinc
Festival

March 11, 12, & 13
in the West End

Performances and
workshops by storytellers
from across Canada
and the US.

Special events at the
Vancouver Art Gallery and
the UBC First Nations
House of ‘Learning,

INFO: 228-1274

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