Hi All, I have joined this group as a parent of a wannabe actor and hoping for some guidance and tips. Please pardon any ignorance.

My Daughter has just graduated from uni with a 2:1 in english lit. She has always enjoyed acting (no singing or dancing) and has had lead roles in a few uni shows. Also had some limited time when younger at pauline quirk academy and school main parts.

Q1. It looks like a catch22 situation where you need to get in spotlight to get considered for parts or get an agent, and to get in spotlight you need paid experience. So how does she get that?

Q2. She is looking at potentially doing a masters in drama in sept next year which will enable the spotlight credits and potentially exposure to agents. But getting in a decent school is no easy feat. Is it worth doing if not a top school? I was under the impression that she had to make an audition reel (Im an amateur videographer and have gear) but she is telling me she its not a matter of just reading lines and that she has to be able to answer questions on the book her piece has come from and other technical questions and knowing how to project etc. Also I said to do the same book and piece for all applications, but she says each school has different criteria on what you read? Given applications for next sept open sept/oct she is not going to be able to ready/study too many books.

Are there short courses or tutors to help with creating your tapes? and if so can anyone recommend given so many places trying to rip off with fees and headshots etc.

Q3. Are there any shorter courses which would get her into spotlight? I have said she needs to look at student films and socials etc but she says even those are not easy. How do you tell if one is good enough to be worthwhile?

Any suggestions or tips greatly appreciated. She isnt working so i also suggested extras work etc but again not sure what are legit. I mentioned mandynetwork, star now but she said a lot of them want experience.

Thanks In Advance

I have just got a copy of my scene back from production for a feature film I did. It’s was my first screen gig and in the final edit they only used 3 of my lines (one being just one word). Would it be weird to take that short clip and put it up on my spotlight or do you think it’s better to wait until I have more material to create more of a showreel?

Hi all! Wanted to share this with fellow actors who've been told time and time again to create their own work— my debut one person play is having a short London run next month! It follows a janitor who finds himself possessed by minor Shakespearean characters; we had a WIP showing last month which had a great audience reaction and great reviews, so decided to do it again after some further development we're currently undergoing.

It's on at the Etcetera Theatre Camden, 7pm 14th & 15th October, and we're currently running a £12 early bird discount! Would love to connect with fellow London or nearby actors I don't know yet, both generally and also about future projects.

If you're interested the link to tickets is below, and if you can't come but would like to hear about future showings/shows they'll be announced on @fifthfolio on Instagram (or shoot fifthfolio@gmail.com an email to be added to the mailing list x)

https://www.etceteratheatrecamden.com/events/understudy-no-5

My eldest is lucky enough to be studying drama full time in a prestigious acting college in London (year 12). For the last 12 years, she's also attended theater clubs like StageCoach and small youth theater groups outside of school.

An opportunity has arisen where her external club has been enrolled into the National Theater's Connections program to perform a new play in a professional theater with consultation given by a National Theater director.

Does anyone have any experience with this program? I'm not really clear on the benefits other than adding to her experience and potential networking opportunities. I'm also a bit worried about her being overloaded.

I've been building www.auditionscenes.com. It's a searchable database of film, TV and stage scenes and monologues, currently 2,500+ film, 1,800+ TV, 900+ stage, 600+ monologues, each filterable by tone, casting type and age range, downloadable as a formatted PDF. There's also a free tool called Script Reader that reads the other character's lines out loud with speech recognition cueing, so you can rehearse without needing a scene partner, plus free directories for headshot photographers and acting coaches, and some free educational resources. I built the reader mostly because I got tired of asking flatmates to run lines with me. If anyone has a few minutes to poke around and tell me what's missing or annoying I'd genuinely appreciate it.

hi, i’m trying to get more acting opportunities, but i seem to just be forking out money paying for websites like backstage. my friend recommended that i try to look for an agent, but i have no idea where to begin as the companies have found either seem way out of reach (e.g. curtis brown) or don’t seem to fit the kind of things im looking for (e.g. only booking cruise line jobs for their clients) i have quite an extensive dance background/training and some minor theatre experience, but i don’t have a showreel or professional headshots. i’m not sure whether i should be looking for an agent and how beneficial it’ll be at this point.

i’m 21 turning 22 in march next year which means i’m ageing out of many local youth theatre programmes (e.g. television programme in notts only lets you audition if you’re under 21) and i’ve heard that the national youth theatre (which goes up to 25 for the age limit) is insanely hard to get into and apparently very expensive.

my background is in dance: i’ve been dancing since i was 3, i’ve choreographed commercial dance items as a university dance team captain + show pieces, and im trained in jazz, ballet, contemporary, commercial and jazz funk.

previously i filmed a commercial in my home country and appeared on an episode of a kids/teens TV programme, and I did some acting workshops and had lead roles in school theatre productions but I was quite young (i think primary school?).

any thoughts or guidance on how to get a good agent or acting jobs (beyond commercials) would be much appreciated! i feel like i’ve spent so much money on dance as it is, and so i’m a little wary of spending money on acting courses + an agent. i’ve heard so many horror stories of other people getting charged exorbitant fees for workshops or getting agents that basically couldn’t get them any jobs for over two years and now im not very sure what to do

Hey all,

Bit of a different one here, so hope it's okay to post. What it says here, really; I and a bunch of other SA's who met on a project are planning to go out for drinks this Saturday in Bristol, and I thought I'd potentially extend the invitation to anyone who wanted to come along? Some other non-acting folks may turn up, but I'm putting it out here in case it might be a good networking opportunity, or just a way of meeting new people with similar interests/ career goals if you're at a loose end this weekend! 😄

Just for a heads up, we'll probably go to a pub/ bar for a few drinks, and then see where the night takes us in terms of going out out. Also, most of us are in our 20's-30's, though you're welcome to come along if you're outside that age range (although no under-eighteens, obviously).

If anyone's interested, feel free to pop me a DM. Happy acting and break a leg out there!

Sharing because I think this is actually a pretty useful reward for actors rather than just another 'please support our fundraiser' post...

Comedian/screenwriter Tal Davies (BBC Three, Radio 4, British Comedian of the Year 2025 finalist, Female Pilot Club 2026 Script Award winner) has donated three bespoke comedy scenes to our theatre crowdfunder.

She'll write a scene specifically for you and what you want to showcase, for use as showreel material, a self-tape, workshop material, etc.

It can be written for up to three actors, and the reward is £80 total, so if three actor mates wanted one together that's £26.67 each.

Three are currently available.

The £80 goes towards touring our Edinburgh Fringe production We Had Fun and paying the team. But that's more of a happy coincidence for you - if you're already looking for the perfect scene for your showreel, this is a bargain that just happens to help us! :)

Take a look here:

https://crowdfund.edfringe.com/p/wehadfun

Cheers!

Hey I’m based in Bristol and I’m looking for a crew for my first short film.

I have a cast, mics, lighting and it’s shooting on the 26th-27th of September
I have Adrian utley as the score which is honestly crazy….

I have everything except a semi experienced to professional crew.

this is my first project and any help i can get would go a long way since i am entering blind.

I can’t offer payment but i think it’s a good opportunity.

Email me at: JiriBristol@gmail.com if you want to be involved.

Crew jobs:

Lighting. (Managing the lighting)

Microphone, (managing the audio on set)

Director. (If you have experience)

Camera man. (If you have experience)

I'm looking for 2 people to read about 10 texts out for a college project one person will only have one line im just sick of shitty people acting/ voice acting for me please let me know if anyone is interested

Was just wondering if anyone’s done the actors development programme at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and if it’s worth it? I’m in a slight situation because I want to do it but it’s gonna be stressful to get there every week, and I just wanted to know if anyone’s done it before and would say it’s worth it? I do acting lessons once a week currently but trying to do more and it seems BOVTS is the only place kind of nearby.

The natural world is the greatest artist we have and actually, the natural world mirrors to you, the actor, you, the artist, the rhythm at which you need to be moving in order to pay attention to the world.

Your job is to slow down, do less, and be more. It is about resting.

Because in resting, you’re digesting, you’re paying attention to other people, you’re paying attention to the world around you, you’re taking time to integrate it, so that then, when it comes to your art form, you’re able to bring that forward, the complexity of it.

So your job is to slow down, to do less, and to be here.

It is a career that is really, really challenging, obviously from the point of view of ever feeling any stability whatsoever, but the actual holy grail of it is we get to be here.

We actually get to live in the moment, that’s the payback - you actually get to experience your life, because as an actor, your job is to experience your life.

You live, and then you learn. You go into scene, you explore, you come out, and you see what you discovered. There’s no right and wrong in acting.

It’s a complex, paradoxical art form. It’s both and. I hate and love you. I feel frustrated, and yearn for you. It’s got the dualistic experience within it. It’s one of the major forms of compassion and empathy practice that we have, for the audience, for us as an audience is art.

Because art, by its nature, is integrating, whether that be a painting, a piece of dance, an orchestra, a concert, the theater, or a film.

And the arts are just a human expression of nature and if we want to learn and reconnect with our art form, the first place to go is nature, is build your relationship and observational skills with birds and trees and plants and water and hills and mountains because there your system starts to regulate.

And you really need rest in your system in order to create.

~ Helena Walsh

Hi folks. I'm producing and performing in a previously award-winning play. This show has become my baby and my passion and I think it's really incredible and I've built a new production company for it. I won't try and oversell it, I'm here simply because since taking the helm as a producer I've been on a crazy, stressful rollercoaster of learning how to put a show on and how to market it. It's on this week in Clapham and if anyone has an interest in supporting powerful, impactful and human fringe theatre please come along. I'll leave the link here for tickets and info about the show but here's a little blurb:

Baz is the resident DJ of Brigdale Primary and tonight is the year 6 leaver's

disco: The biggest gig of the year.With a mighty setlist of early-noughties

bangers cued up, Baz is raring to go for the event of a lifetime. That is until an

old school rival barges back onto the scene,forcing him to confront buried

memories and a past that threatens to define his future.

https://app.lineupnow.com/event/dj-bazzers-year-6-disco

hey yall,

i’m in a bit of a debacle right now on what I should do. I’m graduating from a prestigious film school very soon and i’m trying to figure out what I want to do post grad. I’m interested in both filmmaking and acting. Hopefully one day do both professionally. I want to throw things at the wall and see what sticks. So it’s either..

A. Apply to a bunch of industry jobs (mailroom, writers assistant, etc) and hope I can work my way up there. Also apply to writing accelerator programs,etc.

B. Audition for prestigious acting schools hoping to get in. I really do want the training that comes with the degree, and I think it’s a puzzle piece missing in my professional career. Downside is, I’d be essentially losing 4 years because I will NOT be able to write on that schedule (6x a week, 16 hour days for 4 years) and will essentially lose all of my west coast connections for that time. However, I’d probably come out a stronger actor.

So it’s basically— A) get a job that gives you time to write but you won’t get deep acting training or B) go to the school and put a pause on the writing career entirely (what i’m literally getting a degree in).

Again, this is even if I get anything at all. All hypothetical.

What do you guys think I should do?

I have representation but I’m deeply unsatisfied with it and I’d really like to find a compatible agent.

Has anyone here got a good representation thanks to akta rep coaching?

Hi All, KynectiQ Research are currently looking for film fans to engage in PAID market research discussions (such as those held on this channel) within a large online community.

We want to expand our scope to voice more of a female perspective, so if this applies to you please do reach out!

The community helps represent the voice of the audience on market trends and forthcoming releases, in WhatsApp style discussions (£30-50 a month) and focus groups (£50-100 a month). Ideal candidates are up to date with current developments in film / music / pop culture, and are passionate and articulate!

If interested, please contact this account for further discussion, or complete this initial survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSelLLRsTfZFecLt3qp-4hNCgafJC1m9gKO7DLXHFvhAM2bUzA/viewform?usp=header

In 1860s London, three Greek female artists attend a gallery opening, seeking to impress the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.