The Actors Centre in London is holding a series of talks entitled ‘Like No Business I know’ on the acting business. Paul Clayton, the actor and corporate video maestro hosted this one with Catherine Willis, Casting Director and Kevin J Brady, agent with Amanda Howard Associates, (who have a great website I notice)
Catherine Willis spent 6 years at the BBC but has been freelance since 2006 and has cast many things from Silent Witness to Mount Pleasant. She sees it as a vital part of her role to introduce new talent to the Television screen. Paul Clayton is an actor, director and also provides a casting service to the corporate world, he has an informative website and blog
Some great advice was given out, here are the top ten tips.
(Given I have set myself a 6 month goal of doing some television it was great to refresh these!) NOTE Since setting myself this goal and using some of these tips I actually did my first bit of TV 5 months after I set this goal 😉
– If you want to get into Television you have to watch TV, both dramas and soaps. You need to know what style each programme is in and who is in them, from the actors to the directors. The Office changed the style of TV, the glossy Hotel Babylon style now has become far more real.
– Catherine focuses on talent and does watch theatre a lot, most freelance casting directors are constantly researching. Hence keep writing to let casting directors know when you are in something be it stage or screen. She also does do General meetings when she has time so worth writing in on the off chance.
– Showreels, they have to be good or don’t bother. Never do montages. Everything must look professional both on the CV and the photo in Spotlight.
– To get new showreel they suggested writing to film schools as most do have a central casting department.
– On a showreel it is important to show some kind of character journey.
– In terms of writing letters as an actor you have to target who you write to and why you are doing so. Never send a general letter. You have to be specific and know your business such as about ten casting directors do 90% of the comedy TV casting and if you want to work in the North then you need to get to know Beverley Keogh.
– Watch TV to see where directors move, from production to production and equally where casting directors have cast. If you know that a casting director has cast programmes X and Y and the new one Z is similar then your letter is far more knowledgeable and focused to the casting director.
– Follow casting directors and agents on Twitter, but be aware some use their Twitter accounts for personal stuff only.
– It is good if you tweet good shows (theatre or TV) that you have seen.
– Be very careful on Twitter on what you say, especially if you have been cast and it is not yet public knowledge. One of the cast of Les Miserables apparently had tweeted that they were one of the few chosen to go to perform at the Oscars, yet it was supposed to be a huge secret to the world til the actual Oscars themselves.
This was a hugely useful Q&A as it reminded me, that often I know what to do but don’t actually do it. I have just done 3 short films in 3 weeks, plus a voiceover so I am going to do some research over the next couple of days and then write some focused letters!
If you want to read more then try these posts:
How to be a successful working actor: Marysia Podcast interview with Ken Collard
Ken’s Main Takeaway is that your starting point is that it’s absolutely possible, there is no reason why, if you are half decent as an actor, there is no reason why you cant get consistent work.
Lessons learnt from Timothy West, how to play Lear 3 times & surviving bad directors
15 practical tips on acting & getting rebooked on low budget, indie & student films
13 minute task
Set your timer for 13 minutes and jot down what can you do over the next few days to further your creative career, whether you are an actress, singer or painter? Who can you research and contact? A gallery, a curator, a director, write a focused letter to someone that can help shift your creativity forward. (Yes I need to do this far more too!!)
Tags: 13 minutes, acting, actor, Actors Centre, Amanda Howard Associates, Back Stage, BBC, Beverley Keogh., casting, casting director, Catherine Willis, director, dream and take action, Hotel Babylon, Ken Collard, Kenneth Collard, Kevin J Brady, Lear, Les Miserables, marketing genius, Mount Pleasant, Oscars, Paul Clayton, positive thinking, showing your work, Showreels, student film, student films, Timothy West, twitter
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