30/05/2010 by admin.

I was casting a commercial last Friday, which, because of a very short timeframe, was cast just using artists’ showreels, rather than people coming in for a conventional casting. I was really disappointed at the amount of excellent people I was unable to put forward to the client, because they didn’t have a showreel.

This confirmed the point that these days, EVERY actor should have a showreel… and that the picture and sound quality of said reel should be of good quality and consistent - many that I watched were virtually inaudible!

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17/04/2010 by admin.

Just returned from seeing Stiffed at The Tabard and look forward to reading the reviews on Monday…

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17/04/2010 by admin.

Was impressed with After The Fall by Oxford School of Drama at Hampstead Theatre last night. A well staged production with some centred mature performances and good ensemble playing.

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31/01/2010 by admin.

Had a great and very interesting day at Surviving Actors today in the West End of London. When I arrived at the venue, about 40 minutes before the seminar I had agreed to take, I was a little surprised that there weren’t more people there - especially bearing in mind how many thousands of people are, and want to be actors - but quality rather than quantity has always been my motto… and what great quality there was.

 I was told that my seminar was fully booked, which you never quite believe, as often people can’t make it, so there are spaces. I took a look through the glass door at the seminar before mine, ‘How to get involved in the London Fringe Festival’, and was impressed to see all the seats filled with people listening intently to the speaker. I hoped mine would be that full and was thrilled when I walked into the room at the start time, to see not only all the seats filled, but also about 20 people sitting on the floor! There was a terrific cross section of people too, from those yet to graduate to actors who have been around longer than I have, but all of them wanted to learn, which was so inspiring. I hope they found what I had to say useful - 45 minutes flies by, and we only touched the tip of the iceberg, with time for only two questions, but it was the Edinburgh Festival’s turn to talk about how to join them. I’d have loved to have listened in, as I love learning, but I’d already said that I’d do a brief interview with Phil Matthews for The Drama Student Magazine and answer questions from those who attended (as there wasn’t time in the room). The length of the queue was amazing (it took over an hour to speak to everyone) and the feedback the participants gave was phenomenal. It was really heartwarming to hear that one girl had a copy of my book in her Christmas stocking from her Mum… who she didn’t think knew anything about the Industry (I didn’t tell her, honest!) 

A great day and I’m sure Surviving Actors will grow and grow as time goes on, so keep an eye out for future events and make sure your’re there. If you were there, feedback would be great (about the day and my seminar).

PS. The Rice Krispies are still sealed!

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17/01/2010 by admin.

Hello and thanks for reading this! After many years, I have finally succumbed to blogging, so here goes…!

 Well I’m told that people like to read mundane things… like what authors have for breakfast… well in my case, I rarely eat it - except in hotels, when it’s included (so last Sunday morning was the last time, in my case, which was a bog-standard hotel fry-up with everything they had, but was somewhat dry and overcooked). I do, however, have a box of Rice Krispies in my kitchen, so I’ll keep you posted!

 As I write, the website’s ‘ Win A Year’s Theatregoing’ competition has just closed. The response has been phenomenal, with many more people entering than ever was anticipated. Jon, our webmaster, has sent the tie-breaker slogans to the three judges and we’ll soon see if they come to a collective decision (I’m not a judge, as I saw a couple of the early entries and want to be impartial). Good luck all who entered.

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