To open the mid-term newsletter, sound advice from Will Smith and George Clooney
(Thanks to L.A. casting director Amy Jo Berman for posting the George Clooney quote. Amy Jo’s website is worth checking out as she has a lot of good tips for actors. A very good Australian site is casting director Greg Apps web site.)
The year has flown by, and here we are mid-stream in the final term of the year.
There’s a lot happening at the school over the next few months as we head toward Christmas and beyond… All the details below
Studio Christmas Party
The Christmas Party is on Saturday 25 November at the school from 7-30 pm.
Add it to your list if you’ve got a few things on that night as guests drop in and out over the course of the evening, which keeps the mix of drop-ins and regulars lively and fun.
Refer to the invitation below for further details…
Kid’s Holiday Film Acting Workshop
The October kid’s workshop was a great success and the students and their family members really enjoyed the edited film. Congratulations to the young cast of Leonardo Vaccarezza, Avalon Innes, Giselle Holms, Charlie McGraw, Deakin Windred and Dustin Ranger for their outstanding work.
A screen grab from the climactic moment of the October workshop film, The Old Castle.
Talk about commitment! Two of the students Deakin Windred and Dustin Ranger travelled down from Armidale for the workshop.
While their respective parents and siblings pitched tents in a friend’s backyard and took in the sights of Sydney, Deakin and Dustin attended the workshop and had the time of their lives. Well done to the boys’ parents for their dedication and to a brilliantly planned holiday for both families.
December Kid’s Film Acting Workshop
The December school holiday kid’s film acting workshop is running from Wednesday 20 to Friday 22 December, 9-30 am to 5 pm.
If interested then contact the school as only two positions are still available.
Advanced Screen Craft Master Class
Multi-award winning producer-director Bill Hughes’ Advanced Performance and Screen Craft master class is back this month by popular demand.
Bill on the set of Home & Away
Bill’s workshop runs over two consecutive Sunday’s from 10 am to 4 pm on November 19 and 26.
This fun intensive course will take your craft skills to a fully professional level and is vital training for anyone chasing professional acting work. Connecting with Bill is a bonus too, as he is always on the lookout for fresh talent for Home & Away along with the projects his film company Kuranya Pictures are developing.
Contact Us for a course flyer and further info
January Film Acting Master Class
The next teen-adult film acting master class will be held in early 2018 on Tuesday 16 January (pre-production: 7 to 9 pm); Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 January (production: 10 am to 6 pm)
This course has produced some outstanding and well received short films over the past few years including The Pedder File; Refugee; Happy Halloween; Ez; Cold Dinner for One and Bullet with Butterfly Wings.
Bullet with Butterfly Wings DVD slick
This fun, intensive, hands-on course will teach you how to develop and sustain an engaging and dynamic role while starring in your own short film.
Contact Us for further info and a course flyer
The Proactive Student of the Month Award
A proactive, whatever-it-takes-to-get-the-job-done approach, perfectly describes 2005 graduate Aileen Beale. Aileen has worked with some of Australia’s top A-List talent and you can check out her acting chops in a new ABC-TV two-part drama series screening later in November.
The new series details the highs and lows of the hugely successful 1960’s Sydney band The Easybeats and it’s driving force, George Young (older brother of Angus and Malcolm Young from AC-DC)
Aileen’s costumes were selected by George Young himself via consultation with the ABC costume department. (Sadly, George passed away a couple of weeks ago – another tragic loss for music in 2017.)
One of the requirements for the role of Margaret Young was a Glasgow accent, so Aileen set about finding a good voice coach to tutor her. She contacted Bill Pepper who tutors the American Accents and Dialects master class at the school. Bill has trained four Australian Academy Award winners in the US accent, but even he couldn’t help her and couldn’t recommend anyone who could.
In desperation, Aileen had a brainwave, and phoned a pub in Glasgow to find that the barmaid, hearing that the show was about The Easybeats, was only too keen to help. The barmaid guided Aileen through her numerous scenes and after some intense tuition, finally agreed that Aileen had the accent down.
Now that’s the sort of outside the box thinking that I really admire!