Media Volt

is an online social community for the media industry, presenting you with the opportunity to find work, build up industry contacts, communicate with other like-minded people and create personalised profiles

Acting courses

Take a look at Drama Studio London who offer one and two year courses and a Summer Acting School.  Training includes classical theatre, TV, radio, film, singing, voice, panto and more.  Attend an Open Day? Free, and include a movement class, acting class and lunch with students and staff.  To book calll 0202 8579 3897.

Media resources

Take a look at

• Exploring career options on the PCC site for useful resources
• Industry Insights on the Prospects site
• Media Volt is a media industry social community site for those in, or trying to break into the industry, whether you’re an actor, extra, music artist, dancer, model or in TV and film production.  The site lists events and jobs

Channel 4 Work Experience Programme

4Talent offers placements – two weeks maximum – in a range of departments at their London office in Horseferry Road.  Placements are office based and don’t provide on-screen or production experience – if you’re looking for this kind of opportunity visit www.pact.co.uk where you can find listings for independent companies who can offer this kind of experience.

To apply you will need to have attended a 4Talent event or open day .  Applications open three times each year.

Do you want to work in radio, tv and online production?

The BBC College of Production website features videos, articles and podcasts provide informal training in core editorial, creative and production skills.

BAFTA Guru

Guru offers interviews, lectures, masterclasses and debates featuring some of the best minds in film, television and video games.

Actorama

Some useful resources?  There are scenes from movies, TV, books and plays to help with auditions, and the site also features blogs with tips on acting methods, dance, and stunts.

A cautionary note: Just remember that you need to think about what you’re putting online  – www.actorama.com/blog/oh-my-god-you-have-to-see-this/.

www.actorama.com

Extra? Walk on part?

Take a look at the Casting Collective site.

London & The South East applications:
Casting Collective represent artistes from January-December in each year.  You can apply at any time of the year, and applicants for the 2012 book will be considered in October 2011.

Find out more and, if you’re interested, register at www.castingcollective.co.uk.

What does it take to write a top script?

Check out the transcript of ShortList‘s online Q&A session (May 2011) with scriptwriter Phil O’Shea, who is answering questions on what it takes to write a great script. Not only is he a working writer, he’s also a script consultant, director, screenwriting lecturer, and producer.’

Did you know… that you can find these books in the PCC Careers Library?

• Writing for television,  Gerald Kelsey
• Developing characters for script writing, Rib Davies
• Writing for soaps, Christ Curry

Web resources: 
The Script Factory
BBC Writersroom
Scriptwriting in the UK
Screenwriters’ Friend
The Writers’ Guild

Couple of new TV / movie books ..

We’ve just bought two new books for the Placement & Careers Centre’s book collection which you might want to look at if you’re interested in film or TV work. 

One is ‘TV: An Insider’s Guide’ by Julian Dismore which gives the lowdown on how to get into TV, different roles in TV, TV Research, the Associate Producer role, the commissioning process, producer / director tips and how to be a presenter. 

The other book is ‘You can be a movie extra’ by Rob Martin.  The book tells you how to find an agent to represent you, what to expect on your first day on set, how to improve your chances of being selected, different types of work you can go for, takes you through the filming day and gives details of regional work.

Pop in and have a look at them anytime if you’re interested in finding out more.

Calling all creatives …

Looking at the two job profiles from Skillset we mentioned yesterday on the blog reminded me -

If you haven’t already, take a look at the  Skillset website.  It may be useful for students interested in the creative industries – TV, film, radio, interactive media, animation, computer games, facilities, photo imaging, publishing, advertising and fashion and textiles.  

You’ll find information on the various sectors, including careers info, business development, news and events plus detailed job profiles for all sorts of creative-based jobs.  Or you can search the BFI/Skillset Media Courses Directory of over 8,000 UK television, film, publishing, radio, animation, interactive media and photo imaging courses.

 So, may be worth a look if you want to work in one of the creative sectors.

Tempted by television

Check out the Screening Room on The Royal Television Society (RTS) website where you’ll find videos, pictures, and audio uploaded to the site by the RTS and those working in the sector – From Speed date the gurus, through How to pitch and How to get ahead in comedy to From script to screen, and more….    

You can become a member of RTS Futures which is quick and free and can be done from their website.