Category: The Essentials
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Cost and Budgeting Tips for the Edinburgh Fringe
Top tips for costing and budgeting for your show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. How much does it cost to bring a show to the Edinburgh Fringe? It’s the hopefully not-a-million-dollar-question asked by every ambitious creative wishing to bring a show to the festival. Unfortunately, it’s also very much a ‘how-long-is-a-piece-of-string’ kind of question, and the answer…
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How to Prepare for Auditions and Self-tapes
Performers Bella Ramsey, Laura Donnelly, Rob Brydon, Toheeb Jimoh and Asim Chaudhry share their preparation tips for auditions. At this year’s CDG Awards, we caught up with some of the performers who guest-presented to ask them how they prepare for auditions and self-tapes. Here’s what they had to say: 1. Read the Scenes You’re Given Before…
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Transitioning from Screen to Stage
Four tips to help serial screen performers who are treading the boards for the first time The institution of acting in this country starts out on the stage. In the theatre, at drama school, or in scene study classes, we learn to tread the boards, fill the space, and successfully transmit the story across to an audience,…
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How to get Funding for Edinburgh Fringe
Top tips on how to raise funds to put on a show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. It’s no secret that putting on a show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe can be costly. Expenses you’ll need to plan for can include: Venue costs Registration fees Production costs Accommodation Travel Marketing, PR and press costs Living…
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25 Ways to Raise Your Spotlight Profile
Tips from Spotlight experts about how to make the most of your profile and your membership. Keep your profile professional… it is not a social media account. Updating Your Spotlight Profile 1. Keep your professional credits up to date and spelt correctly. Make sure to fill out every field possible as casting directors will often search by…
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Creating Compelling Characters
Actor and drama school teacher Des Fleming shares his advice and practical exercises to help you create compelling characters. Des Fleming hosted a brilliant workshop at our recent Open House event where he explained that bringing characters to life requires a process of exploration and investigation. Here, we summarise some of the valuable insights he…
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10 Top Tips for Your Headshot Session from YellowBelly Photo
Jackson Bews, Ross McLaren and the photographers at YellowBelly Photo share their top tips for your headshot photoshoot. Gone are the days of monochromatic, black-and-white headshots, now it’s all about timeless, vibrant and forward-facing portraiture. But what can you do at your headshot photoshoot to help get a picture that truly represents you? Founded nearly five years…
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12 Tips for Controlling Nerves
Top tips to help deal with nerves ahead of auditions, performances or rehearsals Nerves can get the better of all of us. Even established actors get nervous before auditions, performances and in rehearsals as Imelda Staunton, Josette Simon, Alex Jenning and other actors have shared with us. The trick is knowing how to deal with them when…
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Tips for Preparing for a Performance
Top tips about preparing for performing on stage or on camera. As part of the Spotlight Prize, graduate performers are asked to perform a monologue of their choice in front of the camera before performing a second piece on stage in front of an audience of industry professionals. We asked them what they did differently to prepare for each…
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Navigating Self-taping When You Have Kids
Five tips for performer parents or guardians who need to self-tape whilst caring for kids or babies. Self-tapes have opened actors up to a world of possibility, but they can become pretty complicated when you add small children into the mix. Love them or loathe them, self-tapes are here to stay but if you’re a…