The Performing Arts industry is a notoriously difficult industry to get into, and as actors we have found that there is very little information out there to guide the students. We know through our work in further education that the students have to cover all aspects of the industry and often draw a blank because key figures within the industry are just too busy to help out individual students. We have many contacts within the industry and with their help have put together this product as a definitive guide to 'getting started' as a performer.

We understand how important it is to bring in guest speakers to your school/college/FE centre, however we also understand the difficulty of this considering budgets etc. As you can imagine it would be extremely difficult to book speakers of this calibre for live lectures. This is why we have gone to them for the very latest information for you and your students.

Following on from the hugely successful "Getting Started in the Performing Arts Industry" we bring you another unique, video stream resource, packed full of the latest information from the top people in the industry.

As actors we realised that students were finding it difficult to gather the correct information on the different job roles and venues within the performing arts industry. We also understand how important it is to have a good knowledge of how the industry works as a business and have an understanding of other job roles within Performing Arts.
Through our contacts within the industry we have put together this educational resource that will explain different job roles and venues (receiving houses, producing houses, touring companies). The video stream also includes separate sections on the following topics: health and safety, contracts, marketing, budgets, licences, programming, props, facilities and target audience. We have also included a section full of advice and information on how the people working in certain job roles got to where they are today, how they trained and what their working life entails.
Through the filming of this video stream we realised that job titles differed from venue to venue depending on budgets and staffing levels. Within this video stream we have defined the different job roles and venues as clearly as possible to aid students with their research into the performing arts industry as a whole.

Interviews Include:-

• Nicolas Kent – Artistic Director - Tricycle Theatre
  Producing House
• Patrick Sandford – Artistic Director - Nuffield Theatre
  Producing House
• Chas Mumford – General Manager - Southend Theatres
  Receiving Houses
• Philip Dart and Claudia Leaf – Artistic/Outreach Directors - Channel Theatre Company
  Rural Touring, Small Scale Touring and TIE
• Steve McNicholas – Founder/artistic Director - Stomp and Yes/No Productions
  Large Scale World-wide Touring
• Ian Albery – Chief Executive - Conservatoire for Acting and Musical Theatre

Continuing to provide the very best in educational and vocational resources for the Performing Arts and Media Departments and their students, we are proud to introduce yet another addition to our growing catalogue of top quality productions:-

Job Roles in Film & Television: 'Understanding the Industry'.

As industry professionals we realise that students can find it very difficult to gather clear and concise information with regard to how the Film & Television industries function as a business and what the many and varied job roles can actually entail.

This film is crammed with top people in the industry imparting vital knowledge and explaining in detail the many processes involved in Pre-Production, Production and Post-Production.

Film Producer Nik Powell, who's many credits include Ladies in Lavender, Calendar Girls, Mona Lisa & The Crying Game, covers such topics as Packaging an idea, Financing a new project, Producing the film, Post-Production & Marketing and Distribution.

Other contributors include Roger Crittenden. A member of BAFTA, he is also on the board of The Association of Media Practice Educators and has received an award from the BBC for 'Sustained Excellence as Film Editor' as reward for an outstanding career.

With the participation of these and other leading industry professionals, Job Roles in Film & Television: 'Understanding the Industry' is an absolute must for students as an aid to their research into how the Film & Television industries work.

This demonstrates the process of filming scenes from ITV's "The Bill".

It features Nigel Payn who is a 1st Assistant Director on "The Bill" and Sebastian Abineri who is an experienced TV & Film actor.

• Nigel Payn who runs the workshop helped to set up and run the ITV Drama Directors Course and is expert on shooting scenes with a single camera.
• Sebastian can be seen in the new Guy Ritchie Film "Sherlock Holmes" he has also played the lead in two BBC Play for Todays and the lead in the popular series for Yorkshire TV "Flambards" and is very experienced at performing to a single camera, some of the Directors he has worked with include, Lord Attenborough, Lindsay Anderson, Albert Finney, Adrian Noble & Guy Ritchie.

The workshop consist of an explanation of the various job roles on a TV/Film set and how they integrate and we then demonstrate how to shoot the scenes with a single camera.

We cover Master Shots, Establishing Shots, POV Shots, Reverses, matching shots, eyelines and crossing the line (the 180° rule).

We also give a tutorial on sound, guide tracks, wildtracks, atmos tracks and microphones.

The three hours of chaptered video stream will be accompanied by a Teachers Pack for download with scripts from "East Enders" and "The Bill" which can be printed off for the students to perform. We will also supply on the CD examples of a Film Schedule, Call Sheet, Movement orders and a shooting script.

We have carried out this workshop in Schools and Colleges very successfully in the past and have decided to offer this workshop video stream as this is an extremely cost effective way for schools and colleges to benefit from this workshop without having to remove students from the timetable for the day as this workshop can be used during class time by both Media and Performing Arts Teachers.

We are delighted to introduce our new film to you "Production Design in The Theatre" which features Elroy Ashmore & Andrea Montag both leading British Theatre Designers.

Elroy Ashmore trained under Margaret Harris at The English Opera Design School (Motley) and was Head of Design at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry and the Haymarket Theatre, Basingstoke. He now works on a freelance basis designing both sets and costumes for many of our regional theatres such as Perth Theatre, Liverpool Playhouse, Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, Churchill Theatre, Bromley, Royal Theatre, Northampton. He also works extensively abroad with productions in Germany ("Corpse" and "Ginn Game"); ballets such as "Namouna" in Tokyo, "The Natives of Dreamland" for the Louisville Ballet in Kentucky and "Melodrame" in New Zealand and South Africa. He designs in Northern Ireland, "Noises Off", "Arms and the Man" and "The Tempest" for The Lyric Theatre, Belfast and a major pantomime each year for The Ulster Theatre Company. During the last four years he has designed over thirty productions, many at The Haymarket Theatre in Basingstoke where he is an associate to their artistic team.

Andrea Montag is Head of The Design Course at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and trained at the English Opera Design School (Motley) under Margaret Harris.

She has worked mainly in London at such theatres as Theatre Royal, Stratford East; Riverside Studios; Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith; Royal Court Theatre; Tricycle Theatre; Bush Theatre; Half Moon Theatre; Arts Theatre; Young Vic and so on. Andrea has also designed at The Royal Shakespeare Company; Birmingham Repertory Theatre; Liverpool Everyman; Newcastle Playhouse; Manchester Contact; Sheffield Crucible; Leicester Haymarket; Salisbury Playhouse; The Welsh National Opera; Nuffield Theatre, Southampton; Plymouth Theatre Royal and the Tobacco Factory, Bristol.

This video stream gives a comprehensive insight into the Job Role of a Theatre Designer and includes a major contribution from John Adams MA former Artistic Director of The Birmingham Repertory Theatre. In this interview John explains the role of Artistic Director in the Design/Production Process.

The video stream has been divided into the following Chapters for ease of use in delivering lessons.

1. Overview of the Designer's Job Role
2. Reading The Play
3. Analysing The Text
4. Models, Plans and Drawings
5. Lighting Design
6. The Team
7. Different Venues
8. Materials Used
9. Budgeting
10. Training (The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School)
11. The Technical Rehearsal
12. Advice

As part of our objective to bring "High Quality Work Related Learning" into Schools and Colleges, this resource will be invaluable in helping to deliver Performing Arts Qualifications and Creative Art & Design.

We are delighted to introduce our new film "Stage Fighting and Stunt Work".

In this film we demonstrate to teachers how to safely arrange a stage fight which is not only a very useful skill to have if teaching Performing Arts or Drama but also an extremely enjoyable way for the students to get some fantastic exercise, an hours stage fighting is like doing a strenuous workout in the gym!

This film will be extremely useful for team building between students as safety and trust are paramount when carrying out these exercises.

We have an in depth interview with Terry King who was the fight arranger on "The Lord of The Rings" currently running at the Drury Lane Theatre in the West End.

Terry King describes his job role in great detail and gives invaluable advice about the career paths available and health and safety.

We also have some exciting footage from the show "Lord of The Rings" which demonstrates what can be achieved with the proper rehearsal and training.

We have then filmed two stage fighting workshops one demonstrating unarmed combat where we show how to warm up physically and then demonstrate many moves both offensive and defensive and then finally demonstrate how to organise a full stage fight.

We have also filmed a stage fight with swords where we demonstrate the seven offensive and defensive moves which give you the basis of a good swordfight we demonstrate various disarming moves and a few "kills".

The emphasis is always firmly on "Health and Safety" and one of the main purposes of these films is to demonstrate how to organise these stage fights safely.

We also have a fantastic interview with Paul Weston who is one of the top two movie stuntmen/arrangers in the world. His credits include all of the Indiana Jones Films and the Superman Films where he was the stunt double for Superman himself. Paul gives us a behind the scenes look at stunt work in the movie industry and gives terrific advice for aspiring stunt performers.

International voice specialist, Mel Churcher, works with leading actors in film and theatre as well as leaders in business, commerce and the teaching professions. On this video stream, she shares her expertise to help you use your voice safely and effectively.

Mel Churcher has an MA in Performing Arts and an MA in voice studies. Mel served on the council of The British Voice Association from 2001 - 2004 and is currently part of the BVA's Education Working Committee.

Her book 'Acting For Film: Truth 24 Times a Second' was published by Virgin Books in 2003.

A Voice Training workshop as a video stream which will be an invaluable resource for any professional voice user.

This resource, filmed over a 2 day period at The Palace Theatre Westcliff with a mixture of Actors and Teachers, replicates a full days professional workshop. This video stream is chaptered for convenience and in total is around six hours in length.

This film features one of the Country's leading vocal coaches Mel Churcher who was vocal coach between 1996 - 2007 at the Regents Park Open Air Theatre, possibly one of the most challenging environments for performers to work in vocally.

She is a renowned Acting, Vocal and Presentation coach whose film credits include "Control"; "Lara Croft Tomb Raider", "King Arthur" and many others.

She has also worked at The Royal Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare's Globe and many other venues around the Country.

In our video stream "Vocal Skills" Mel delivers an invaluable in depth workshop which will help teachers, performing arts students and any professional voice user.

We are delighted to introduce our new teaching resource on DVD titled "A Career In Technical Theatre" which we have produced in association with the National Skills Academy for Creative and Cultural Skills; Sennheiser UK and Lancelyn Lighting.

This Filmed Resource is designed to act as a Bridge between the demands of the Creative Industries and The Education Sector and will demonstrate training and career pathways into the Creative Industries which are expected to grow substantially over the next few years.

In this film we profile the many jobs there are available in the Technical Theatre and Music Industries, how to train for them and be accepted as a Technical Theatre Apprentice in one of the many venues around the Country who are Industry Members of The National Skills Academy.

We have in depth interviews with Sennheiser UK who cover the Sound Design process and Lancelyn Lighting who cover Lighting Design including the following Industry and Education Sector Practitioners:

• Matthew Griffiths; CEO of PLASA (The Professional Sound & Lighting Association).
• Gareth Owen; Sound Designer. Gareth was a Tony Award Nominee for Sound Design on The Broadway Production of "A Little Night Music" and an Olivier Award Nominee for the West End Production of "End of the Rainbow".
• Andy Orme; Lighting Designer Lancelyn Lighting.
• Ken Bennett Hunter; Chairman of Skillscene and Editor of Sightline Magazine The Journal of Theatre Technology & Design.
• Maggie Saxon; Director of Skillscene and National Skills Academy Ambassador.
• Robert West; The National Skills Academy.
• Sue Baynton; Senior Practitioner Creative Industries Lewisham College and National Skills Academy Ambassador.
• Bryan Warrens; Former Lighting Designer and Technical Stage Manager with HQ Theatres now Head of Technical Theatre at South East Essex College.
• Phil Cummings; Education and Artist Relationship Manager Sennheiser UK.
• Tim Sherratt; Technical Manager Sennheiser UK.
• Bill Kenney; Head of Media and Creative Arts South East Essex College.

This new resource will give in depth information about the various job roles available in Technical Theatre, Live Music and Conferencing Industries where we cover Rigging, Flyman, Theatre Electrician, Sound Design, Lighting Design, Stage Carpenter, Scenic Artists,including various jobs in Stage Management.

Students will discover that if they are interested in Carpentry, Painting, or being an Electrician that they don't just need to look at working in the construction industry.

These jobs are available in the Theatre, Music and Conferencing Industries as well.

The National Skills Academy CCSkills have a mission to train 30,000 more Technicians and Backstage Staff by the year 2017 as due to the expansion of the Creative Industries in the UK these jobs will be available and this resource will demonstrate Training and Pathways into these Industries.

As with all our other resources we have interviewed senior practitioners in the Technical Theatre Industries and now the Education Sector to bring you this new authoritative resource about "Getting in to Technical Theatre" which is available either on DVD or to stream on Annual Subscription directly from our website.