Surviving Actors Manchester

Some would even go as far as to say that you’re not a proper actor if you don’t live on the right side of the North/ South divide – to be an actor, but not to live in London, is to not be an actor at all?

Well I disagree!

And I’m sure that my fellow Northern thespians would disagree too – particularly if the attended the Surviving Actors Manchester 2013 event last Saturday.

Between 9am and 4pm the Kings House Conference Centre in Manchester was a power-house of creativity bombarded with buzzing, bubbly likeminded bodies united by one aim – to expand on their knowledge in order to become the best actor that they can possibly be!

Whether it be by visiting the exhibition stands, auditioning for ‘27, Memory Lane’ in association with StarNow, networking with other actors, buying discounted goodies or excitedly looking for ourselves in the Spotlight Actors directory – yes I’m in it and yes it’s a bad picture – fun times were to be had by all!

I have to say that the seminars, which were presented by industry professionals, have got to be my favourite aspect of the day (made all the more enticing when you’ve paid just £5.45 for the privilege).

More to the point – it’s notable to say that most of the seminars were delivered by Northern based individuals/ companies.

For instance, ‘Audition Technique for TV & Film’, hosted by Michael Jackson of Beverley Keogh Casting.

Beverley is one of the top casting directors in the country… and YES she and her associates are based in the North.

Also based at Beverley’s offices in central Manchester is the UK’s most innovative TV acting school – act4tv – their stand could be found in the exhibition space too.

Another reputable actor training provider is – Act Up North who have grown to be one of the most successful training providers outside London.

Act Up North presented the seminar, ‘Acting & Casting for TV Drama vs TV Comedy’.

Actors ‘speed networking’ with Act On This at Surviving Actors Manchester 2013!

And not to forget the Stirling Academy – where students can gain recognised qualifications such as LAMDA Certificates.

Stirling Academy Artistic Director, Glen Mortimer, presented a seminar named ‘Monologues & Auditions’.

Stirling also have a respectable management agency which is ran from their Bolton base.

Another talent agency is Pure Management. The Pure Media Group also teach performing arts under their sub-brand Passion Academy – based in Manchester.

They hosted a seminar called ‘An Actors Question Time’.

All of the above are movers and shakers in the acting industry not just here in the north but wider afield too.

These are just some northern base institutions who come to mind because they were present at the Surviving Actors Manchester 2013 event.

Consider them the tip of the iceberg – an iceberg of the NORTH Pole – but below the surface I bet you’ll find a mighty hub of other acting enthusiasts.

Just some of whom attended Surviving Actors on Saturday – and there were a reported 1,000 plus of us who attended!

Try telling that lot they’re not proper actors!

About The Author

Kieren Spencer
I’m professional actor based near Manchester. I have a real passion for Northern based theatre, television and film.

In 2011 I graduated from university with a degree in Drama & Theatre Studies.

Before which I studied a National Diploma in Performing Arts. Since then I have worked professionally as an actor in theatre and television.

I am currently working with Certain Curtain Theatre Company appearing in ‘Mockingbird High’.

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The post A Surviving Actor ‘Up North’ – Surviving Actors Manchester 2013! appeared first on Act On This - The TV Actors' Network.

Malcolm Hebden accepts Corrie’s ‘Best British Soap’ award!

The event which was held at MediaCityUK on Saturday evening, hosted by Phillip Schofield, saw an average of 5.42 million (23.6%) viewers on ITV.

A further 295,000 (1.5%) tuned in on ITV +1.

The awards were dominated by Coronation Street, which came away with a whopping 8 awards, including the coveted ‘Best British Soap’ award!

If you didn’t get a chance to watch, here is the winners list in full:

VIEWER-VOTED CATEGORIES

Sexiest Male
Chris Fountain (Tommy Duckworth, Coronation Street)
David Witts (Joey Branning, EastEnders)
Matthew Wolfenden (David Metcalfe, Emmerdale)
Danny Mac (Dodger Savage, Hollyoaks) - WINNER
Kieron Richardson (Ste Hay, Hollyoaks)

Sexiest Female
Georgia May Foote (Katy Armstrong, Coronation Street)
Michelle Keegan (Tina McIntyre, Coronation Street) - WINNER
Jacqueline Jossa (Lauren Branning, EastEnders)
Natalie Anderson (Alicia Gallagher, Emmerdale)
Jorgie Porter (Theresa McQueen, Hollyoaks)

Villain of the Year
Natalie Gumede (Kirsty Soames, Coronation Street) - WINNER
Nigel Havers (Lewis Archer, Coronation Street)
Jamie Foreman (Derek Branning, EastEnders)
Dominic Power (Cameron Murray, Emmerdale)
Emmett J Scanlan (Brendan Brady, Hollyoaks)

Best Actor
Alan Halsall (Tyrone Dobbs, Coronation Street) - WINNER
Nitin Ganatra (Masood Ahmed, EastEnders)
Shane Richie (Alfie Moon, EastEnders)
Jeff Hordley (Cain Dingle, Emmerdale)
Emmett J Scanlan (Brendan Brady, Hollyoaks)

Best Actress
Jennie McAlpine (Fiz Stape, Coronation Street)
Michelle Keegan (Tina McIntyre, Coronation Street)
Jessie Wallace (Kat Moon, EastEnders)
Nina Wadia (Zainab Khan, EastEnders)
Claire Cooper (Jacqui McQueen, Hollyoaks) - WINNER

Best British Soap
Coronation Street - WINNER
Doctors
EastEnders
Emmerdale
Hollyoaks

PANEL-VOTED CATEGORIES

Best Newcomer
Marc Baylis (Rob Donovan, Coronation Street)
Ian Midlane (Doctor Al Haskey, Doctors)
Khali Best (Dexter Hartman, EastEnders)
Laura Norton (Kerry Wyatt, Emmerdale)
Joseph Thompson (Doctor Paul Browning, Hollyoaks) - WINNER

Best Exit
Nigel Havers (Lewis Archer, Coronation Street) - WINNER
Lu Corfield (Freya Wilson, Doctors)
Jamie Foreman (Derek Branning, EastEnders)
Tom Lister (Carl King, Emmerdale)
Emmett J Scanlan (Brendan Brady, Hollyoaks)

Best Comedy Performance
Patti Clare (Mary Taylor, Coronation Street) - WINNER
Ian Kelsey (Howard Bellamy, Doctors)
Ricky Norwood (Arthur ‘Fatboy’ Chubb, EastEnders)
Dominic Brunt (Paddy Kirk, Emmerdale)
Nicole Barber-Lane (Myra McQueen, Hollyoaks)

Best On-Screen Partnership
Jennie McAlpine and Alan Halsall (Fiz Stape and Tyrone Dobbs, Coronation Street)
Matthew Chambers and Elisabeth Dermot Walsh (Doctor Daniel Granger and Doctor Zara Carmichael, Doctors)
Nitin Ganatra and Nina Wadia (Masood Ahmed and Zainab Khan, EastEnders)
Lucy Pargeter and Dominic Power (Chas Spencer and Cameron Murray, Emmerdale)
Emmett J Scanlan and Kieron Richardson (Brendan Brady and Ste Hay, Hollyoaks) - WINNER

Best Dramatic Performance
Natalie Gumede (Kirsty Soames, Coronation Street) - WINNER
Dido Miles (Doctor Emma Reid, Doctors)
Jo Joyner (Tanya Cross, EastEnders)
Lucy Pargeter (Chas Spencer, Emmerdale)
Claire Cooper (Jacqui McQueen, Hollyoaks)

Best Young Performance
Ellie Leach (Faye Windass, Coronation Street)
Maisie Smith (Tiffany Butcher, EastEnders)
Eden Taylor-Draper (Belle Dingle, Emmerdale) - WINNER
Ellis Hollins (Tom Osborne, Hollyoaks)

Spectacular Scene of the Year
The Rovers fire (Coronation Street)
Julia’s car crash (Doctors)
The Olympic torch comes live to Walford (EastEnders)
Cain’s clifftop rescue of Zak (Emmerdale)
The bus crash (Hollyoaks) - WINNER

Best Episode
Kirsty’s treachery ends in Tyrone’s arrest (Coronation Street)
‘The Scales’ (Doctors)
The identity of Kat’s lover is revealed (EastEnders)
‘Emmerdale Live’ (Emmerdale) - WINNER
The bus crash (Hollyoaks)

Best Storyline
Kirsty’s abuse of Tyrone (Coronation Street) - WINNER
Sam’s assisted suicide (Doctors)
The demise of Derek Branning (EastEnders)
Zak’s depression (Emmerdale)
Esther’s bullying (Hollyoaks)

Lifetime Achievement
Adam Woodyatt, EastEnders - WINNER

The post Coronation Street Dominates The British Soap Awards 2013! appeared first on Act On This - The TV Actors' Network.

The UK’s most popular actors’ exhibition will take place at the Kings House Conference Centre on the 18th May 2013!

The Act On This team will be there facilitating networking opportunities throughout the day, as well as hosting a dedicated ‘speed networking’ session from 12:45pm – 1:45pm!

We’ll be joined by fellow exhibitors from throughout the acting industry – coming together to offer some of the best seminars, workshops and ‘one 2 ones’ that you’ll find ANYWHERE!

The event promises to be truly unmissable!

We decided to record a rather impromptu podcast with Surviving Actors founder Felicity Jackson and managing director Lianne Robertson, in order to get the inside scoop on what’s in store!

Listen to the podcast below and then head over to www.survivingactors.com to find out more, sign up for the wonderful seminars on offer and get your FREE e-ticket for the event!

Lianne (left) and Felicity!

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Listen To The Podcast

Click ‘play’ on the player below to listen to the podcast!

Check out the video below to see what went on at Surviving Actors Manchester 2012!

The post Surviving Actors Returns To Manchester On Saturday 18th May! Listen To What’s In Store! appeared first on Act On This - The TV Actors' Network.

Paul Abbott

Well Channel 4 have now unveiled some of the finer details on the 8-part, Manchester-based drama, that Abbott claims will mix “cop drama, family saga and social mayhem”.

Here’s some of those details from Channel 4′s press release:

Set in a crumbling cop shop on the wrong side of Manchester, No Offence follows a group of bobbies on the front line, wondering what they did to end up here, in this force, on this side of town.

Keeping these streets clean is a Herculean task, enough to demoralize even the keenest rookie.

But there’s a reason these cops are in this force. As the never ending rabble off the local estates pours in, Inspector Vivienne Deering, the station’s sharp, funny (peculiar) and hard as they come boss, and her team led by DC Dinah Kowalski (smart but impetuous, stuck in the middle, single mother in her 30s) and DC Joy Freers (buttoned up so tight she might pop! But nobody’s mug), show they have what it takes to crack crime and to expose the addled, the skanky, the pimps, the petty and the really proper nasty bastards for the sewer rats they are.

Raucous, riotous and razor sharp, No Offence is a new and completely original take on the world of the police procedural and is set to shock, move and invite audiences to laugh themselves silly by turns.

Paul Abbott says:

“I’m a big fan of well-told cop shows and jet-black social comedy, and I wanted to see how explosively we could bang two genres’ heads together.

“No Offence is reared on wilder-than-average seeds and I’ve had a ball with the AbbottVision team in building this concept. It’s a tilted, hardcore blend of cop drama, family saga and social mayhem.”

No Offence will be produced by AbbottVision on location in Manchester.

As far as we know, Casting has not yet started on the project.

We’ll keep you posted!

The post Paul Abbott Releases Fresh Details On New C4 Cop Drama No Offence! appeared first on Act On This - The TV Actors' Network.

Carla Chrome in Murder

The show produced by Zodiak’s Touchpaper won best ‘Single Drama’ at Sunday night’s BAFTAs.

Broadcast report that the BBC want at least 3 x 60-minute episodes for the series, with negotiations currently underway for a longer run.

Production is expected to start next year, aiming to have the series on-air by the end of 2014.

No casting has taken place as of yet, but the drama’s original scriptwriter Rob Jones (Cops, Party Animals) has been confirmed as lead writer of the series.

Murder will be based on the format of the pilot, which examined the violent death of a young woman in a Nottingham flat through first-person addresses to the camera.

The series will tell self-contained stories located in other areas across Britain.

“Murder was one of the most striking and distinctive single dramas on BBC Two last year and I’m delighted to see it turn into a series,” said BBC Two Controller Janice Hadlow.

Ben Stephenson, Controller BBC Drama, said: “It is testament to the talented team behind Murder that it will return to BBC Two as a series. It is a truly innovative way of telling crime stories in a unique way and its BAFTA for ‘Best Single’ reinforces this.”

Watch the team behind Murder chatting after their BAFTA win below:

The post BBC Two Drama Murder Commissioned For Full Series! appeared first on Act On This - The TV Actors' Network.

Use your favourite services with Act On This!

Ways to enable our members to share their acting careers has been top of our agenda for a while and we’ve just pushed some BIG updates out to the site that are going to make the community a much more colourful place to spend time!

Multimedia is a huge part of any actors’ career and with 75%+ of society now owning a smartphone and integrating their lives with the many apps available on their device – we thought it was about time we reached out too!

From TODAY onwards the site here is now fully compatible with some of the top apps and social media sharing services out there!

Services include:

• YouTube
• Vimeo
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Flickr
• SoundCloud
• Photobucket

Both the main Activity Stream and the Forums here at Act On This are 100% compatible with the above services – so if you want to post your voicereel from SoundCloud into a status update or get opinions on your headshots hosted on Flickr or Photobucket in the forums – it’s a matter of simply posting the link to that item into an update or forum post!

If you are an Instagram user, you can share links to your images directly from your smart phone and keep everyone updated with what’s going on in your career from anywhere on the planet!

Watch the video below to see an example of the new tools available to you here at Act On This – and be sure to view the tutorials for each service!

The post Instagram, SoundCloud, Flickr Integration & MORE! Get Sharing! appeared first on Act On This - The TV Actors' Network.

Olivia accepts her awards!

Sheridan Smith won her first ever ‘Leading Actress’ BAFTA for her role as Charmian Biggs in ITV’s Mrs Biggs, whilst Ben Whishaw took the ‘Leading Actor’ crown for his performance as Richard II, and Simon Russell Beale lead the ‘Supporting Actor’ category for playing Falstaff in Henry IV Part 2.

Steve Coogan received the award for ‘Male Performance in a Comedy Programme’ for Alan Partridge: Welcome to the Places of My Life, but lost out in the ‘Comedy Programme’ category, which was won by the newcomers behind BBC Three comedy The Revolution will be Televised.

BBC dramas enjoyed a very successful evening with Murder, Room at the Top and Last Tango in Halifax winning in the ‘Single Drama’, ‘Mini-Series’ and ‘Drama Series’ categories.

EastEnders took home the award for ‘Continuing Drama’.

Here’s a clip of Olivia Colman accepting her best ‘Supporting Actress’ gong – hilarious!

Check out the full list of winners below:

Leading Actor
Ben Whishaw – Richard II (The Hollow Crown) - WINNER
Derek Jacobi – Last Tango in Halifax
Sean Bean – Accused (‘Tracie’s Story’)
Toby Jones – The Girl

Leading Actress
Anne Reid – Last Tango in Halifax
Rebecca Hall – Parade’s End
Sheridan Smith – Mrs Biggs - WINNER
Sienna Miller – The Girl

Supporting Actor
Peter Capaldi – The Hour
Stephen Graham – Accused (‘Tracie’s Story’)
Harry Lloyd – The Fear
Simon Russell Beale – Henry IV, Part 2 (The Hollow Crown) - WINNER

Supporting Actress
Anastasia Hille – The Fear
Imelda Staunton – The Girl
Olivia Colman – Accused (‘Mo’s Story’) - WINNER
Sarah Lancashire – Last Tango in Halifax

Entertainment Performance
Alan Carr – Alan Carr: Chatty Man - WINNER
Ant and Dec – I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!
Graham Norton – The Graham Norton Show
Sarah Millican – The Sarah Millican Show

Female Performance In A Comedy Programme
Jessica Hynes – Twenty Twelve
Julia Davis – Hunderby
Miranda Hart – Miranda
Olivia Colman – Twenty Twelve - WINNER

Male Performance In A Comedy Programme
Greg Davies – Cuckoo
Hugh Bonneville – Twenty Twelve
Peter Capaldi – The Thick of It
Steve Coogan – Welcome to the Places of My Life - WINNER

Single Drama
Everyday
The Girl
Murder - WINNER
Richard II (The Hollow Crown)

Mini-Series
Accused
Mrs Biggs
Parade’s End
Room at the Top - WINNER

Drama Series
Last Tango in Halifax - WINNER
Ripper Street
Scott and Bailey
Silk

Soap & Continuing Drama
Coronation Street
EastEnders - WINNER
Emmerdale
Shameless

International
The Bridge
Game of Thrones
Girls - WINNER
Homeland

Factual Series
24 Hours in A&E
Great Ormond Street
Make Bradford British
Our War - WINNER

Specialist Factual (Huw Wheldon Award)
All in the Best Possible Taste with Grayson Perry - WINNER
The Plane Crash
The Plot to Bring Down Britain’s Planes
The Secret History of Our Streets

Single Documentary (Robert Flaherty Award)
7/7: One Day in London - WINNER
Baka: A Cry from the Rainforest
Lucian Freud: Painted Life
Nina Conti – A Ventriloquist’s Story: Her Master’s Voice

Features
Bank of Dave
Grand Designs
The Great British Bake Off - WINNER
Paul O’Grady: For the Love of Dogs

Reality and Constructed Factual
The Audience
I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!
Made in Chelsea - WINNER
The Young Apprentice

Current Affairs
Britain’s Hidden Housing Crisis (Panorama Special)
The Other Side of Jimmy Savile (Exposure)
The Shame of the Catholic Church (This World) - WINNER
What Killed Arafat? (Al Jazeera Investigates)

News Coverage
BBC News at Ten: Syria
Channel 4 News: Battle for Homs
ITV/Granada Reports: Hillsborough – The Truth at Last - WINNER

Sport & Live Event
The London 2012 Olympics: ‘Super Saturday’
The London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony: ‘Isle of Wonder’
The London 2012 Paralympic Games - WINNER
Wimbledon 2012 – Men’s Final

Entertainment Programme (Lew Grade Award)
Dynamo: Magician Impossible
The Graham Norton Show - WINNER
Have I Got News For You
A League of Their Own

Comedy Programme
Cardinal Burns
Mr Stink
The Revolution Will Be Televised - WINNER
Welcome to the Places of My Life

Situation Comedy
Episodes
Hunderby
The Thick of It
Twenty Twelve - WINNER

Radio Times Audience Award
Voted for by members of the public
Call the Midwife
Game of Thrones - WINNER
The Great British Bake Off
Homeland
The London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony
Strictly Come Dancing

The post Olivia Colman Leads The BAFTA TV Awards 2013 – Full List Of Winners appeared first on Act On This - The TV Actors' Network.

Another 6 series of Downton could be on the cards!

Speaking to NY Daily News Neame said:

“I think it is going to go on for a while.

“Right now the show is still growing in the U.S. and it would be awful to think of the show ending.

“I would rather let the show run between four and ten years, I imagine.”

He added: “I would rather that we picked the right year (to end} and that in 20 years’ time the show was loved, rather than we went on a season too long and people fell out of love with it.”

Neame also addressed the recent rumours of Downton’s writer Julian Fellowes quitting the show to focus on his new NBC series The Gilded Age.

“I dread that day when there might be a time we might bring a couple of other writers into that process,” he said.

“We have been very fortunate and a key part of the show’s success is Julian. He invented all the characters and every word they say and that has got to be part of the success of the show.

“I hope to keep him for as long as we possibly can. What Julian does is unique.”

Series four of the hit ITV show is currently in production with new cast additions including Gary Carr, Tom Cullen and Nigel Harman.

So there we go people, there could well be another SIX chances to bag a part in what’s probably the biggest show on the planet right now!

Bring on the auditions!

The post Downton Abbey Exec Hopes For Another Six Series! appeared first on Act On This - The TV Actors' Network.

Strange Hill High for CBBC!

Josh Weinstein – former showrunner on The Simpsons – is developing an animated adult comedy series with Factory Transmedia!

Factory Transmedia managing director and producer Phil Chalk described the idea as “top secret”, but admitted that creating an animated show for adults was his “holy grail.”

Josh recently collaborated with the Altrincham-based producer and VFX studio for his brand new children’s animation Strange Hill High.

The 13 x 22-min stop-motion series for CBBC debuted on the 8th May and uses an animation technique called ‘hypervynorama’ that combines Japanese vinyl toy design and puppetry with stop-motion animation and CGI.

The same team behind Strange Hill High will now develop a 2D animation for an adult audience.

Talking at the launch of Strange Hill High Weinstein said:

“This is my favourite show, more than The Simpsons which I spent a decade working on. I love it. I would hope that Manchester could be the next Springfield. We love the characters so much, and I think they have a chance to be as well-loved as Homer and Bart.”

Voicing animation is one of the most enjoyable gigs for actors – it would be great to see Factory Transmedia using new, upcoming talent in this next project!

Check out a clip from episode one of Strange Hill High below:

The post The Simpsons Showrunner Developing New UK Adult Comedy! appeared first on Act On This - The TV Actors' Network.

Friday Night Dinner will return for series 3!

Channel 4 has ordered six brand new episodes of the comedy, which stars Tamsin Greig, Paul Ritter, Simon Bird and Tom Rosenthal as the Goodman family, along with Mark Heap as their strange neighbour Jim.

In the new series, Adam gains a new female admirer – an 11-year old girl, Jonny gets the world’s worst tattoo, Dad gives the boys a graphic lecture on sex education, Mum practices being a counsellor on her horrified family, Grandma goes back out with the terrifying Mr Morris, Jim accidentally swallows his dog’s sleeping pills, and… there’s a wedding.

Nerys Evans, Deputy Head of Comedy, Channel 4, said:

“We’re thrilled we’re going to be spending more Friday Nights with the Goodmans, and not forgetting Jim and Wilson too.

“Roberts’s created such a brilliantly warm and funny world, and the cast are just sublime, we can’t wait to join them for more Friday Night Dinners next year “

Friday Night Dinner is executive produced by Kenton Allen, Chief Executive of Big Talk Productions and Caroline Leddy (Inbetweeners).

The six part series will shoot in North London over the Summer to transmit in 2014 on Channel 4.

Watch the original trailer for Friday Night Dinner below:

The post Channel 4 To Serve Up A Third Course Of Friday Night Dinner! appeared first on Act On This - The TV Actors' Network.