Kiefer Sutherland has been placed atop a new effort at the Canadian Film Centre to train actors.

Revealed at the film school’s annual barbeque, the CFC Actors Conservatory will be a professional training program for actors aimed at creating ‘a Canadian star system through a series of star building initiatives.’

Sutherland, the new chair of the conservatory, summed it up more succinctly: ‘We want to teach them how to get work.

‘So many actors I’ve seen come down from Canada don’t know how to get their foot in the door – how to get jobs.’ said the 24 star.

The new initiative is meant to address that by offering a series of workshops and master classes with established actors, directors, writers and producers, building up acting chops while creating networking opportunities.

The goal, Sutherland noted, is to bring actors into the creative process, and turn the CFC into a studio in its own right. ‘We want to make things,’ he asserted.

The inaugural five-month session launched Sept. 21 with eight students in attendance. Mentors have yet to be named.