Fred Keating

Fred Keating has a long and multi-faceted career in theatre, radio, TV and film in character roles and as a host, motivational speaker and podcast producer/host. From high school productions to full scholarships in drama studies through grad school, Fred's first broadcast television appearance was in 1971 on WTOL, the CBS affiliate in Toledo, Ohio hosting holiday specials and doing commercial work. From 1971-1973, Fred was a writer and principal performer in The Goose Company, an improvisational troupe that toured and had a regular Saturday morning TV children's show commitment, again with WTOL. On a Teaching Fellowship at Eastern Michigan University, he directed the school-touring Caravan Players. Seasons of summer stock in Detroit, Boston and New York City (1969-1973) sharpened the skills that led to his live one-man show Country Cousins that toured schools, coffee houses, college campuses and folk clubs in England, Ireland, Scotland and Belgium (1975 - 1976). And a brief stint at Oakland's KTVU in the Bay Area; Editing. While on contract as a Visiting Lecturer at University of Alberta (1976-1977), he was one of the founding cast members of Edmonton's Catalyst Theatre, performing the characters he created in many of the dramatic vignettes used in the CBC Television Specials Incarceration, Rape in Reality and Dying at Home. All this structured improv work came in handy when SCTV (1976) produced several seasons in the early 80's at ITV studios in Edmonton. From background to speaking roles, Fred got to work with John Candy, Eugene Levy and others in the troupe. Fred served as Senior Consultant in Performing Arts Education to Alberta's Ministry of Culture (1978-1982), and evolved the Provincial Summer Drama School into the ArtsTrek program now run by Theatre Alberta. He also produced and hosted a weekly province-wide radio show on CKUA called Centre Stage interviewing local and national artists. He worked as Host/Writer/Producer for Alberta's corporate production companies and broadcasters and incorporated Lindisfarne Productions Inc. (1984) with offices in Edmonton AB and Maple Ridge BC, Canada. [www.showtellmove.com] Fred's 170 nationwide episodes of Superchannel's "Mailbag" and "Movieweek" (1983-1986) introduced Canada to Pay-TV. Moving to Vancouver (1997) generated an abundance of film and television work that continues to this day. He still teaches stage combat and fight choreography at university drama departments and schools. Since 2016, Fred has also co-produced and co-hosted 125 audio podcasts of "Monetizing Your Creativity", interviews with successful media careerists with helpful information to share with emerging artists. On his new podcast, "Fred Keating & Friends", he interviews Dr. Jane Goodall, as he has hosted several of her live presentations in Canada over the years. [https://youtu.be/7dG4tHqcLbg] As corporate educator for a number of major companies, Fred is a familiar face onscreen in the internal and external A/V productions of many federal and provincial government departments as well as at various corporate and non-profit projects. And, as such, he's become a familiar "Roastmaster" at their corporate affairs and special events. Dubbed Canada's "Massacre of Ceremonies", Fred presides over a variety of annual conferences, award shows and special charity events. [www.fredkeating.ca] In October of 2018 he appeared as a special guest, headliner and sponsor of the Cosplay Competition at the Foothills FASD ComicCon. He has appeared in various capacities (VIP driver/tour guide, MC, writer, panel moderator, fellowship mentor, announcer and awards show producer) at the Banff World Media Festival for 36 years and is co-producing a full-length documentary called "Studio in the Sky".