Date: May 16th
Location: Actors' Guild Hub at Spotlight, 7 Leicester Place, London, WC2H 7RJ
Time: 18.30 - 21.30

Gabriella Shimeld-Fenn is currently working at the BBC as a Casting Assistant.

The workshop will start with a brief introduction, where Gabriella will outline her background and how casting generally works for continuing dramas at the BBC. She will receive your Spotlight CV prior to the workshop (please make sure it is up-to-date) and will then send out a scene for you to prepare a day or two before the workshop.

Everyone will then get the chance to read in front of each other – offering a unique insight and a way to support each other as a group. This section of the workshop will take up the majority of the time as, having read your scene, Gabriella will provide you with notes and direction before giving you the opportunity to read again. There will be an opportunity to ask questions at the end.

Gabriella Shimeld-Fenn works as a Casting Assistant for the in-house casting department at the BBC, with a main focus on Casualty, but has also worked on the daytime shows Father Brown and Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators.

Prior to working for the BBC, she assisted Louise Cross on Series 20 of Midsomer Murders, and the Netflix film Apostle. She was also the Associate Casting Director at the Hope Theatre in Islington where she cast 2016’s in-house productions, all of which went on to garner a number of Offie awards and award nominations.

She was previously the resident Casting Director for Iris Theatre, based at the Actors’ Church in Covent Garden, where she was involved in casting Shakespearean productions, scratch performances of new work, and an experimental circus piece. She has also assisted on casting productions at the Finborough Theatre and Upstairs at The Gatehouse, as well as taking the lead in casting productions at The Park Theatre, Southwark Playhouse, and the King’s Head, and rehearsed readings at the St James Theatre and Soho Theatre.