Graduates 2010 – New directory out now!

Use Spotlight Graduates to discover fresh and exciting talent from the UK’s leading drama schools.

The directory features photographs and contact details for around 1,200 students, all final-year graduates of the UK’s best drama schools and colleges: those that form the Conference of Drama Schools (CDS). They have all received full-time, conservatoire training in the performing arts, to extremely high standards.

To browse a preview of the book or to order a copy, visit the Spotlight Shop.

posted on 28th February 2010

How to be a professional actor – top five tips

Spotlight hosted its latest Graduates Programme event last night, aimed at supporting performers during the tricky transition from drama student to full-time actor.

Students from various CDS-accredited drama schools, including Central School of Speech and Drama, Guildford School of Acting and Drama Studio London, attended the seminar, entitled ‘How To Be A Professional Actor’ and hosted by Pippa Harrison and Will Davies.

Topics discussed included choosing photographs, running yourself as a business and how best to approach casting directors and agents. 

Here are our top five tips on how to be a professional actor:

1. Mobile phone and email are the two main ways in which potential employers will try to contact you – make sure your voicemail message is personalised, state your name and if possible when you will be checking your messages. Have a sensible email address which ideally incorporates your full stage names. Obscure, ‘fun’ email addresses seem unprofessional.
2. Your photograph is all-important and should be a true representation of what you look like in real life.  Spend as much money as you can afford and don’t look overly ‘glamorous’. More advice and tips on photo choice can be found at

   www.spotlight.com/artists/multimedia/photoguidelines/BookPhoto.html

3. Keep a record of every industry professional you meet and everything you see, and ideally who cast it.  This will increase your knowledge of the industry and will be something you can refer to throughout your career.
4. Always keep your CV credits up-to-date.  As soon as you have completed a job, add it to your CV.  Casting directors find it very embarrassing promoting performers to directors and producers when their CV is missing vital information.
5. When sending casting directors and agents your details, on the whole it is still the norm to send them a hard copy through the post.  This means a professionally taken 10 x 8 photo, a one-page CV and a cover letter.  If you have a showreel/voice reel uploaded to your Spotlight page it’s also a good idea to mention this on the CV and letter. 

The Spotlight Graduates Programme of seminars and workshops runs until June. Events are held at Spotlight’s casting rooms in central London and are open to students graduating from CDS drama schools in their final year. Places are free but allocated on a first come, first served basis.

For more information or to book a place, visit Spotlight Graduates.

For more tips and advice from Spotlight and our guest experts, click here.

posted on 23rd February 2010

Top television audition tips from BBC casting executive

Julia Crampsie, casting executive at the BBC, was guest speaker at a Spotlight Graduate Programme event last week.

The seminar was an amazing opportunity for the graduates to meet Julia and to hear all about casting at the BBC.

Julia’s top tips:

1. Always prepare your script – you must be familiar with all the text
2. Practise sight reading to camera – record yourself and learn from your mistakes
3. If you are not sure about anything in an audition, ask
4. Keep your Spotlight CV and credits up to date
5. Be proactive but don’t be a pest – only write when you have something to say

The Spotlight Graduate Programme of seminars and workshops runs until June and aims to support all students graduating from CDS drama schools in their final year. For information on upcoming events, visit www.spotlight.com/graduates.

For more tips and advice from Spotlight and our guest experts, click here.

posted on 23rd February 2010

Mark Goodier’s advice for aspiring radio and TV presenters

Mark Goodier, broadcaster and owner of Wise Buddah, was recently a guest speaker at Spotlight’s second presenters seminar. Will Davies, Spotlight Agent and Casting Liaison, hosted the event and picked five top tips:

1. When starting out, get involved in the industry as much as you can, whether as a researcher, runner or assistant - even work experience. You never know when your presenting skills might be called upon - sometimes it is a case of being in the right place at the right time.
2. Make contacts and network - they are of paramount importance. Work with your agent if you have one, and keep a record of who you’ve met and the advice they gave you - you can refer to this throughout your career.
3. Be passionate and specific about what type of presenter you want to be - whether it's music, health, business or fashion. This will help you focus your CV, reel and networking.
4. However, don’t stop educating yourself on other issues and make sure you live a little – you never know when you might be called upon to draw on these experiences.
5. Sometimes standing out from the norm is what will get your demo listened to - don’t be afraid to be cheeky, within reason!

You can find out more about membership of Spotlight’s Presenters database here.

posted on 19th February 2010

Follow Spotlight on Facebook and Twitter

You can now follow Spotlight on Facebook and Twitter. Become part of the Spotlight online community and ensure you’re always kept abreast of Spotlight news, advice and events.

To find out about Spotlight developments and deadlines, and to get the latest industry advice, follow us on Facebook.

For the very latest on actor, presenter and dancer events, graduate seminars and one-on-one advice session availability, follow us on Twitter. 

posted on 19th February 2010

Five top tips for musical theatre auditions

Leading casting director Pippa Ailion shared a wealth of advice on musical theatre casting with Spotlight Graduates last week.

Spotlight’s agent and casting liaison, Will Davies, was at the Graduate Programme event and picked five top tips:

1. Always keep a book of contacts, a record of who’ve you’ve met, that can be referred to at all times.
2. Be proactive, not just in the beginning, but throughout your career. Continue to write to people, know what’s being cast or going into production.
3. Once you’ve completed your training, continue to improve and develop your skills.  Sing regularly, learn accents, take classes – never stop learning.
4. Always be prepared to sing more than one song in an audition - have a couple of differing styles up your sleeve.
5. Your photo is of paramount importance, don’t let it do you a disservice by being bland or forgetable.

The Spotlight Graduate Programme of seminars and workshops runs until June and aims to support all students graduating from CDS drama schools in their final year.

For information on upcoming events, visit www.spotlight.com/graduates.

posted on 15th February 2010

Spotlight at dance graduates event

Spotlight will be exhibiting this month at Launch 2010, a day of seminars and advice from leading dance professionals for recent dance graduates and final-year students.

Hosted by Dance UK and The Place, the event is a professional development day offering opportunities to network with industry professionals and delegates.

Exhibitors include Equity, Dancers Career Development (DCD), City University, Pilates Foundation, and Jo Baker (Dance Science).

The event will be held from 9.30am to 6pm on Saturday 27 February 2010 at The Place, 17 Duke's Road, London WC1H 9PY. Tickets cost £35 (£30 for Dance UK members) and include lunch and refreshments.

For more information, visit www.danceuk.org/metadot/index.pl.

posted on 11th February 2010

Mark Goodier at Spotlight presenters event

Broadcaster Mark Goodier was guest speaker at Spotlight’s second presenters seminar, which was held this week.

Spotlight members attending the seminar heard advice on a wide range of subjects and were given the opportunity to ask questions relating to the industry. The seminar also offered an opportunity for presenters to network with fellow Spotlight members.

Goodier is one of the UK's most respected broadcasters with a career spanning 25 years in local and national radio. In addition to presenting, he owns Wise Buddah, a company specialising in radio programme production, original music composition and station imaging, audio post-production facilities and talent management.

The seminar was one in a series of free events offering advice from key industry professionals to members featuring in Spotlight’s Presenters directory. Details of forthcoming events will be emailed to all members.

For more information on joining the presenters database, visit Spotlight Presenters.

posted on 5th February 2010

Expert advice on CVs, photos, showreels and more

Whether you’re just starting out or feel the need for a “refresher chat”, Spotlight Mondays are an opportunity to have a 15 minute careers chat with a Spotlight expert.

Anything is up for discussion, including photos, CVs, showreels, casting directors and agents (however, be aware that it is not possible for us to recommend agents). 

This is a free service, inclusive within your Spotlight membership.  For more information and to book your place between the hours of 2pm and 5pm every Monday go to www.spotlight.clickbook.net.

posted on 5th February 2010

Recent projects cast via Spotlight

The following productions were cast recently via the Spotlight Link:

TV & Film

Waterloo Road
My Family
Law & Order
Moving On
Brighton Rock (Film)
Whitechapel
Holby City
Robin Hood (Film)
Chatroom (Film) 

Stage

Private Lives (Bath Theatre Royal & West End)
Columbo – Prescription Murder (UK No 1 National Tour)
Hi-Di-Hi (Touring)
Humble Boy (New Vic Theatre, Newcastle Under Lyme)
An Ideal Husband (English Theatre, Frankfurt)
The 39 Steps (Criterion Theatre, London)
My Zinc Bed (Royal & Derngate, Northampton)
Eurydice (Tour & Young Vic)
Peter Pan (San Francisco, USA)
West Side Story (Australia)
Mamma Mia

Commercial

Mercedes
Ikea
Vodafone
Alpen
Confused.com
Nivea
Dominos Pizza
L’Oreal
Actimel
Skoda

Dance

Hair (Musical)
Love Never Dies (Musical)
Lipton Tea (Commercial)
Orangina (Commerical)
Eurovision (Event)
Ghost Stories (Theatre)
Vision Express (Commercial)
Gecko (Theatre)
Prolia (Corporate)
Priscilla Queen of the Desert (Musical)

Presenting

Colgate (Commercial)
Johnnie Walker Whiskey (Internet)
Simply Experience (Corporate)
Spamalot (Musical)
Pan Peninsula (Internet)
Lexus (Voice Over)
DB Reputational Risk (Corporate)
Britain’s Got Talent (Voice Over)
Jack and the Beanstalk (Pantomime)
Fluffy Club (Television)

posted on 4th February 2010

ITV renews Spotlight subscription

Good news for all Spotlight members  - ITV has renewed its subscription to Spotlight's casting services again, continuing to give all ITV employees instant access to our database of 35,000 actors, dancers, presenters and child performers.

Spotlight is used to cast a wide variety of ITV shows such as Law & Order, The Bill, Coronation Street, Primeval and Whitechapel. 

At a click of a button, ITV production teams can view photos, CVs and showreels for every Spotlight member, directly from their computer desktops. They can also send out their latest casting briefs exclusively to Spotlight agents and members.

posted on 4th February 2010

Last few places at Graduate Programme events

Casting professionals working in television, film and theatre will offer free career advice to drama students in a series of free Spotlight seminars in the coming weeks.

The Spotlight Graduate Programme gives students a chance to meet and put questions to industry professionals and Spotlight’s own expert advisers.

Some places are still available at the following events:

• Monday 8 February - Meet the Casting Director (musical theatre)
  Pippa Ailion (Wicked, The Lion King, Billy Elliot). A Q&A session with this highly acclaimed casting director – do not miss the opportunity to gain from her insight and advice.
• Monday 15 February - Meet the Casting Director (television and film)
  Julia Crampsie (EastEnders, Land Girls and Lark Rise to Candleford). A Q&A session with the BBC Casting Executive – invaluable advice about audition techniques and the process of casting for television.
• Monday 22 February - How to be a Professional Actor
  Will Davies and Pippa Harrison (Spotlight). Expert information and advice on all aspects of being a professional actor, includes such topics as how to approach casting directors and agents, face-to-face networking, tax issues and choosing photographs.
• Monday 8 March - Guide to Commercial Castings
  Thom Hammond (Spotlight). An invaluable talk-through of the commercial casting process including hints on how best to prepare, perform and get that job.

The programme of seminars and workshops runs until June. Events are held at Spotlight’s casting rooms in central London and are open to students graduating from CDS drama schools in their final year. Places are free but allocated on a first come, first served basis.

For more information or to book at place, visit http://www.spotlight.com/graduates

posted on 3rd February 2010