Date: October 1st
Location: Actors' Guild Hub at Spotlight, 7 Leicester Place, London, WC2H 7RJ
Time: 18.00 - 21.00

The purpose of the workshop is to improve actors’ skills in front of camera and to familiarise them with the tools required to succeed at a casting session for screen.

Carefully selected scenes are performed and recorded in front of the group then analysed and refined by Polly and Stephanie before being presented a second time.

Actors will receive their scenes a couple of days before the workshop so that they have time to prepare. Polly works specifically on what is required at a casting session while Stephanie focuses on the behind-the-scenes work that is required to build a convincing performance, often with little or no preparation.

The importance of taking risks, understanding the intricate, almost mystical, relationship between actor and camera and the ability to reveal a character's thoughts between the lines on the page will be discussed and demonstrated throughout the session.

Feedback and involvement from everyone present is encouraged throughout and an open discussion at the end usually provides a robust conclusion to the workshop.

Polly Hootkins is a member of the CDG and BAFTA and was an actress and agent before becoming a casting director. Her casting credits include... Film: Little Brides, A New Day In Old Sana'a, Captain Jack, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Cutthroat Island, Dark Blood (which was halted after the demise of River Phoenix but the Director George Sluizer resurrected it before he himself passed away), Prospero's Books and Utz. Plus, Associate Producer on an award winning short for Matt Hookings and the film company he founded: Camelot Films. TV credits include: Wild at Heart, Rose & Maloney, Marguerite Volant (10 x 1 hour series for French Canadian TV), Crocodile Shoes (original series). Theatre credits include: 2 seasons of Gertrude Jennings plays for Barry Edwards of Optik Theatre Company, Chichester Festival Season, Faithful Dealing at Soho Theatre, M. Butterfly for Singapore Repertory Theatre, The Wood Demon for The Playhouse, London.

Stephanie Fayerman is an actress, director and drama coach. She trained at LAMDA with Polly Hootkins, where their contemporaries included amongst others Harriet Walter and Ian Charleson. Her acting credits include : Neill's Gran in The Inbetweeners, Miss Rapley in Brides in the Bath and EastEnders. Theatre includes Hilda in Russian Dolls at the King’s Head, The York Realist at Riverside Studios, Ten Times Table at the Gielgud Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue. Stephanie has acted as dramaturg and acting coach on some 20 operas and oratorios as well as directly straight drama.