Didn't know you were helping to run them! amaze, I might come along to the next lot.
As I stated previously, I have been to casting director workshops,w hich I felt were great value for money (they worked out at just under £20 for a two-hour session) and the biggest boon was having feedback in a non-audition situation from a completely impartial person who I had not met.
I didn't go to get "seen", I went to gain confidence in castings and it helped greatly: I realised that casting directors are just as vulnerable as actors and are normal human beings as opposed to some big, scary ghoul!
I think anything which helps you as an individual is worthwhile, it might not float everyone's boat, but surely nothing out there really does?
Yes, that's exactly why i went. And it was really invaluable.
My training was fantastic at preparing me for audition situations, but in the main, it was focused on theatre. Another example: I had no idea what to do in a commercial audition until i did the workshops, and those situations are very proscriptive.
So, confidence building, constructive feedback, audition skills building, format of different types of casting situations, and how to behave, anticipating what will be required of you, building a catalogue of appropriate responses to audition questions... Haven't even got to the networking point yet; these are all the things i've taken away. Worth every penny i think.
Yes, you must come Cathy! Would be lovely to have you. I'll send you the website details so you can see what we're doing next. :)
Annelie Powell will be running a workshop at the Drill Hall, this coming Satuday (18th Dec) from 10.30 - 13.30. She's running this one herself and will be giving advice on CVs and headshots as well as auditioning. There's just 1 place left @ £25! I can highly recommend Annelie's workshops.
I can only comment on Annelie Powell's casting workshops (http://www.powellcasting.com) and I really cannot recommend these highly enough.
I used to get really nervous at castings but since attending these I have really noticed a difference in my attitude & success rate. I know there is a stigma attached to paying for this but I have to say I think (in Annelie Powell's case at least) it's unfounded. We pay a fortune for the right headshot, for repro's, for CastingCallPro, in the hope of meeting these key people, why would you not book a class TO meet these people & find out what they like from an actor, work with their current casting material & receive specific direction - and the standard of actors in the class is high so you learn from watching other people too. Also when you have a workshop booked in the diary it gives you the motivation to work hard on a new monologue or practice your screen technique. She has just announced a workshop with Ginny Schiller on Thurs 3rd Feb, 6.30pm - 8.30pm at The Drill Hall and there are a few places left - I would advise people to give it a go as it has really helped me.
ginny schiller is great , but she does stuff with you in the session , so it is like a work shop as opposed to a talk ...depends what they do for the money ...we all need to earn and we all have expereince and skills to utilize
Im not sure if there are some genuine workshops out there, but I did one before Christmas and I have to say I definitely felt that it was a bit of a scam. I thought I was paying (though not much) to both perform for a Casting Director and also to get feedback about my performance, talk to them about my casting type and CV etc. What actually happened was I performed a bit a script and that was it. Im pretty sure that would therefore qualify as just paying to audition for someone! I was not impressed.
Casting Directors work with actors in a workshop environment to educate. They want you to walk into an audition and do well. You are not paying to meet them, you are paying for an educational class... All industry teachers are paid for somehow whether they be at drama school or not.
Of course some actors do these workshops to meeting the caster, but that is their choice. As long as you are not paying too much, you get something from the class and the caster can now put a face to the name - it's a really positive experience.
There are thousands and thousands of us. Far too many for Casters to just meet for meeting sake. The number of actors seeking work has grown rapidly over the last few years. You have to be smart, positive, personable and work at your craft.
Workshops are totally normal in the US, taking a class the norm.
Just make sure you check out who is offering the workshops.... and it's not just Casting Directors that are doing these classes, directors do them too, and trust me some of them are not doing it for the money.
Look out for those who might exploit - there will always be someone out to do that - but doing your homework is easy - their are loads of quality workshops that are making a real difference to actors. Perhaps try The Actors' Guild (www.actorsguild.co.uk).
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