Oct 29
0

THEATRE AUDITIONS IN PRAGUE

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Audition Notice for Professional Production: Na Zabradli

Auditions: Black Snow Theater Company

For their adaptation of A Couple of Poor Polish-Speaking Romanians by Dorota Maslowska

Auditions: Sunday November 15th : 11 am – 5 pm.

Callbacks: Sunday November 22nd.

Rehearsals begin March 15, 2010

The show will run in rep on Divaldo NaZabradli’s mainstage in english with czech subtitles.

Premiere: May 15th, 2010

This is a paid production commissioned by Divadlo NaZabradli.

Contact Nicole at blacksnow.elt@gmail.com to schedule a time.

Venue for Auditions: Divadlo Na Zabradli,

Looking for all ages, male and female.

Nicole Grisco and David Peimer

Artistic Directors

Oct 08
0

O1 VISAS– possible problems and CSA response

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On Wed, 14 October, I am organizing a casting symposium on the subject of:

BRITISH ACTORS AND THE AMERICAN MARKET
sponsored by Spotlight and The London Film Festival
Catherine Shoard from the Guardian is moderating, and the panelists are:
Duane Clarke, Jeremy Conway, Priscilla John, Pippa Harrison and Jeremy Zimerman.
The event is sold out and already people have been writing in to ask if there will be a transcript available. The answer is YES, there will eventually. I also want to post some information about O1 Visas in advance.
The O1 Visa is what European actors need as a first step to working as an artist in the USA. There is information on it in my book, Secrets from the Casting Couch, or you an consult:
http://www.usimmigrationsupport.org/visa_o1.html Please note that this website is not a government organization; they are private. I have not researched them, so I can’t recommend them, but I will look into some recommendations. If anyone recommends a particular company, please let me know.
It has, however recently been called to my attention that there are limitations involved with the O1. Amy Mathieson, a British actor, who is now living and working in LA, wrote me this letter (click here). In this letter she starts by telling some horror stories about British actors who were actually cast, but then not allowed to work on their Visas. She then proceeds with some more positive news on the same subject and makes suggestions to other British actors.
I consulted C.S.A. (Casting Society of America) members to find out what their take on it was

Dear Casting Directors,

I will sit on a panel in London soon that will discuss the issue of British actors wanting to work in the US. I understand from some British actors that the O1 Visa is no longer accepted as a work permit by the big studios and networks in the US, and that the Green Card is required. Is this truly the case? Are O1 visas being turned down? Please if you have a moment, share your comments on this.

– Nancy Bishop

and here is the response:

Most Studios still do in my experience however NBC/Universal will not accept 01 Visa’s that have not been specifically applied for by the studio. 99.9 percent of the time this is not the case. I was recently unable to hire an actor on “Law & Order: SVU” who was a series regular on “24” and “Califorication” for this very reason.

-Jonathan Strauss

Yes, unfortunately it is true. Sony will no longer allow us to hire actors with O1 Visas – they must have a Green Card.

– Camille St. Cry

I imagine every studio has a different view on this. We do mostly television and hire foreign actors all the time. At CBS-Paramount, they have to approve an O1 Visa, by reviewing all the paperwork that was submitted along with the application. We’ve had very few problems, usually fixable by resubmitting the paperwork with broader language.

So long as the manager-sponsored O1 Visa isn’t project specific and allows the artist to work on a broad range of projects, it’s usually fine.

Since it may take a couple days to get approval, we’ve actually gotten to the point where we will preemptively have the studio review the paperwork as we’re setting up someone for producers.

Feel free to email or call with any questions. Hope this helps.

Best,

Jason Kennedy

I also spoke with MEG LIBERMAN (who works for CBS) on the phone and she gave a more complicated response:

Basically if an actor is hired by one production company to work on a particular production, that Visa might not extend to another production company. The best thing to do is get a “Blanket O1” that is not specific to any one project. The language on the underlying paperwork has to be as broad as possible.

In some cases Meg has had trouble hiring foreign actors on episodic work. Pilots can be easier since they have 21 days to petition for a visa. NBC does not accept the O1 because it’s owned by General Electric.

Meg hired one actor on “Medium” for NBC (but production company was CBS studios) then hired the same actor on “Las Vegas” which used a different production company, which didn’t accept the Visa. So after shooting a few scenes realized that she had to fire him and it cost the production $250,000 to re-shoot.

Ultimately the Green Card is the best thing to get.

—

I want to emphasize that I am no expert on these matters and that a a good immigration lawyer is required for anyone seeking to work in the US.

-NB

Oct 05
0

PRAGUE FILM SCHOOL AUDITIONS

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ACTORS WHO WANT MATERIAL FOR SHOW REELS OR MORE PRACTICE IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA…
AUDITIONS FOR PRAGUE FILM SCHOL

Sunday, October 11, 12:00 – 15:30, Kino Evald, Narodni 60 (right by Tesco)
The school will be holding a casting session inviting actors from the school and community- PLEASE COME, and bring a headshot. Audition material will be provided. For more information, please write to helena.novakova@filmstudies.cz

Oct 02
0

auditions at ACTOR EXPO tomorrow

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MESSAGE FROM REMI AT THE ACTOR EXPO:

“This weekend at the ActorExpo tradeshow 3rd October, Goldsmiths, London, for the very first time – we are holding open auditions – for Pantomime this season coming.

This is a real opportunity for up and coming actors to get paid work, but they must attend the tradeshow to get the opportunity to audition.

Auditions will be taking place between 10pm-12pm in the Goldsmiths Theatre.

All the actors would need to do is come prepared with:

-1 minute Monologue (short acting piece)

-1 minute Song

It’s FREE to come and audition.
To register and read the roles available please click here: http://auditions.actorexpo.rd-r.com/

For more information about the trade show please visit the website: www.actorexpo.co.uk.“

Sep 29
0

3 UPCOMING ACTOR EVENTS IN LONDON

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ACTOR EXPO,

Trade fair for actors

3 October, 11am-6pm

I’ll be doing a free seminar at 12-1pm

called “Secrets from the Casting Couch.”

I’ll also pop by at the Methuen Drama stand at 2pm for a book signing.

Click here to see the Prague FIlm School in Action


CASTING SYMPOSIUM; BRITISH ACTORS AND THE AMERICAN MARKET (Click here for info)

at the LONDON FILM FESTIVAL, sponsored by SPOTLIGHT

Panel discussion, followed by Q+A

Moderator: Catherine Shoard. Editor Guardian.co.uk/film

Panelists:

Nancy Bishop, CSA, Casting Director (US/Prague) and author of Secrets from the Casting Couch

Duane Clark, (US) Director, Duane Clark, (US) Director, (CSI, CSI:Miami, CSI:NY, Cape Wrath, Medium)

Jeremy Conway, (UK) Agent and founder of Conway, Van Gelder, Grant

Pippa Harrison (UK) Spotlight, Head of Client Relations

Priscilla John (UK), Casting Director, (Mamma Mia, Pirates of the Caribbean)

Jeremy Zimmerman (UK) Casting Director. (Hellboy, The Scorpian King.)

Symposium Details

Where: ICA, The Mall, London SW1Y 5AH, London

When: 14 October,

Wed, Time: 2-4pm

Tickets: £11.50 call to book: 020 7928 3232 at Festival Box Office from 26th September, Please book soon, seats are limited


CASTING SYMPOSIUM AND BOOK SIGNING FOR SECRETS FROM THE CASTING COUCH (click here)

CASTING FEMALES ROLES: ACTRESSES AND THE CASTING COUCH (click here for info)

sponsored by Women in Film and TV (WFTV)

A recent WFTV survey revealed that there are two male roles for every female role in today’s film and TV. Why is this and what can we do about it?

Please join our panel to discuss it:

Moderator: Natalie Haynes, Comedian and Journalist for The Times and the Woman’s Hour

Nancy Bishop, Casting Director, and author of Secrets from the Casting Couch

Pippa Cross, Producer (Vanity Fair)

Ros Hubbard, Casting Director (The Da Vinci Code) and Winner of WFTV award

Sharman MacDonald, Writer (The Edge of Love)

Aisling Walsh, Director (The Daisy Chain)

Followed by a book signing of Secrets from the Casting Couch

Where: ICA, The Mall, London SW1Y 5AH, London

When: 22 October,

Wed, Time: 7-9pm

Tickets: Free for WFTV members. £10, call to book: +44 (0)20 7287 1400 or email: administrator@wftv.org.uk


Sep 28
0

Drama Short Film Festival

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It was such a pleasure to serve on the Drama International Short Film Festival jury in Drama, Greece. I was treated very well and had a wonderful team to serve with on the jury. Here pictured (in a not very good iPhone photo) is me with VASSILIS MAZOMENOS (film director from Greece,) JACQUES MITCH (Film Director, France), GERALD WEBBER (Distributor, and curator, Austria) and MANUELA CERNAT, (Film Professor, and cultural ambassador Romania)

We selected Kavi for the Gran Prix Winner, directed by the young and promising Gregg Helvey of USC.
Second Prize went to A Long Way Home, by Anamaria Chioveanu of Romania. The performances by two girls lost in Bucherest were fantastic.
The Best South- Eastern European Award went to Lullaby, about sex traffic in Cyprus, directed by Yianna Americanou
The Special Award of the Ministry of Macedonia-Thrace went to a one shot film called I Hear Your Scream, by Pablo Lamar of Paraguay. He should also be commended for his direction of the ducks in his shot.
The EFA Award went to Dutch film, Goodnight, about a single father, by Rosier Valery.
Since we wanted to award a fun film, we also chose the offbeat Swedish comedy, Seeds of the Fall, by Patrik Eklund for an honorary mention.
There were lots of good animation films, and we chose Rojo Red, by Columbian director, Juan Manuel Betancourt.
The best acting mention went to Polish actor Radomir Respondek in Echo.
I also particularly like the animated film, The Sylphid by Danish Dorte Bengston. It was a mythic story about mother and daughter.
I also really like another mother/daughter film called Missing by Dutch director Jochem De Vries.
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