The combination of workshops with key industry professionals, strict membership criteria and a very low membership fee has meant we have grown considerably over the last seven years – we are now the largest membership organisation offering continuing professional development for actors in the UK.
Our members dictate the workshop program which has created a real sense of ownership and community. Such is the range of classes requested we use a variety of spaces around the UK. The Actors’ Guild is not a building – like the actor we are nomadic, which provides us with a real freedom when programing and means a member can be at a recording studio one day and at a riding school the next.
To compliment this though we also have a hub for many of our workshops and classes in the heart of London’s West End, to provide a focal point and meeting place for actors throughout the week at Spotlight – a building at the very centre of the UK casting scene.
We are delighted to welcome The Actors’ Guild into Leicester Place. As a by-product of hosting their workshops and seminars, we look forward to working closely with the Guild and its members so as to help deliver excellent Casting Services for all Actors, maximising their chances of finding work. Ben Seale, Managing Partner at Spotlight
Since we started using the Spotlight rooms back in 2013 the two organisations have worked together more closely, which culminated in an official partnership in the spring of 2017 which aims at being able to provide more support to Spotlight/TAG members who look to keep their skills sharp – and learn new ones!
Through Spotlight’s support we are now able to facilitate space for small groups of actors to meet – whether that be for play readings, warming up or and peer to peer support.
We also offer a workshop every month that is totally free of charge as well as having groups that help Spotlight to build on the work they do to ensure members are connected with the development of the services they offer – in their research and development.
Spotlight has been at the very heart of the industry since it was founded 90 years ago. We are young in comparison, but it is testament to Spotlight’s clear commitment to supporting actors that they engaged with our ideas and committed to our community in this way.
We look forward to working with Spotlight on an ongoing basis in the years to come.