We are sometimes asked to take children, and under-18s into our shows, and we have noticed that there is often very little awareness as to what this entails. 

As people will know from our auditions page, there is a section on the basics of casting young people in shows, but this article is intended to explain a great deal more. 
What has to always be borne in mind is that this is a professional, touring theatre company. This means that shows are often toured to venues around the Southwest (and possibly further afield); and actors regardless of age need to be able to keep up to the performance quality, and be safe (and legal) coming to shows in unfamiliar spaces . We don't have the same facilities that amateur or small activity clubs may be able to offer. 

First of all, you need to be certain that the show script, the specific roles in consideration. and the way the show is being staged, is suitable for the age and wellbeing of the young person. 

Next, you need to consider the care of the young person. By law they must be chaperoned at all times, and there are specific rules about this: The very basics are that the chaperoning must be by a parent or a legally licenced and employed chaperone. The child must stay in the line of sight of the chaperone at all times, who in turn cannot be distracted by reading the phone or a book, and needs to be aware of the child's wellbeing.
The child must have use of their own changing space which must not be entered by adults other than the chaperone, while the child is changing.  The child must not enter the space(s) where adults are changing, while the adults are changing. 
The chaperone must ensure that the child has their legally required break times, and if necessary, study-time for schoolwork, and for arranging the child's travel to and from rehearsals/shows. 

If the young person passes the auditions, their involvement in a shows is still subject to the Child Performance Licence that needs to be granted to them by (in our case) Torbay Council. This could be withheld for a number of reasons either from the theatre production or simply that the child has been involved in too much in the past 12 months and there is concern that it may interfere with schooling or allowed work hours. The licence application needs to be filled out jointly by the production producers, and the parents, as well as including a letter of support from the child's school. 

The adults of the company need to be briefed, if they are not previously experienced, on working with child actors; this includes interaction on and off stage, making sure language backstage remains acceptable, and much more. 
The child and the chaperone, need to be aware of company policies, data protection, non-disclosure of intellectual property, health and safety regulations as with everyone else in the company. 

There are, to be realistic, reams of documentation on legislation and good practice, but this is a quick look at the basics, and hopefully an explanation of some of the things that we have to consider, for every young person who is considered for a show. 
It may seem like overkill, but theatre is a complex workspace in terms of production health and safety, and with the requirements for late night working, clothing changes, etc, a lot that has to be taken into account to keep the child's wellbeing paramount. 

This is probably the one political post you will ever see from us. As an organisation, we are strictly non-political, we work without political bias, but on this pivotal day in history, with Great Britain leaving Europe tonight, we wanted to acknowledge how our working with European nationals utterly saved this company.

So last winter, we were in late rehearsals for our production of Shakespeare's Macbeth. It was a "make or break" show for the company after some difficult months.and it was about ten days before the show, when the lead actor found he was unable to continue with the production.

Recasting Macbeth with 10 days before opening night required a miracle. Either an actor who had already played Macbeth, or an actor with an exceptional learning ability who would be able to learn it in time. We usually only cast locally in south Devon, UK, but we had only one place that we could find an actor who could pull this miracle off. French-Italian actor, living in the republic of Ireland, Christophe Lombardi, whom our company director, Laura, knew of, due to being friends with Christophe's wife.
That same evening, an urgent message was sent to Christophe and his wife; and to everyone's extreme relief, he agreed to take on the role.
For the next week, Christophe was learning the role online, and with video conversations, as travel to England was arranged. Christophe was now learning the uncut text, in a "Second language", in ten days.

He arrived at the theatre for dress rehearsal - and had it down perfectly. Singlehanded, he saved the production from needing to be cancelled- and the probable ensuing closure of the theatre company.

The productions of Macbeth continued through 2019, with two tours, ensuring the survival of The South Devon Players, and winning a theatre award in New York, as well as incredible audience feedback.

Following this, Christophe again took a lead role with us, playing local Victorian Brixham trawlerman Bob Sheppeard in our historical production The Great Gale of Brixham 1866, utilizing his unique skills to help bring local Devon history to life.

Working with this highly talented European actor, and maintaining cross border working relationships has, with no exaggeration, saved this small British theatre company, allowing people from across the Southwest of England, access professional acting opportunities, in an area where such chances are hard to find. Without this working link having saved us, it is highly unlikely that we would still be able to exist.

We remain always, immeasurably grateful to Christophe, and hope that as the political climate settles down, we will all be able to work together again.

Find out more about this amazing actor on his website: ​www.christophelombardi.com

Being based in rural Devon, and far away from the centres of performing arts, theatre and film (indeed, the opposite end of the country from London!) and where perceptions of "serious professional performing arts in the Southwest" stop at Bristol (over two hours away by train), we have a huge mix of backgrounds and skill levels, from people who have performed professionally for years, in some big name productions through to people completely new to professional performing - and on occasion new to performing itself. 

Of course, while on stage/ screen , and backstage, we require fully professional behavior from all cast and crew, we also like to try and help those new to the industry to also present a professional aspect in their wider performance lives; this not only helps the performer, but also in turn reflects on us as a production company. 

A lot of the issues we encounter are born of desperation, or enthusiasm, or simply not knowing. So, while not all things can be covered in this article, we are attempting to cover common issues that we have seen. These are linked to what is considered "standard" in the theatre and film industry. On a wider scale, casting directors and production companies, will expect you to adhere to excellent practice, and will not make allowances for "not knowing". 

All actors will ultimately need a "toolkit", as we call it. It is a good idea to get compiling this as soon as possible, and having the links and documents easily accessible to send to any job applications.
This of toolkit consists of

headshots 
A showreel video (best clips of performance)
A formatted resume
A professional Facebook page and/or Twitter account 
A website

Preparing your professional profile. 

To begin with, you will need to get professional headshots. Usually actors need to pay for these, and you can be looking at anything from £70 through to around £500, depending on the photographer. They must be to industry standard, and show you clearly. We would suggest getting several headshots showing different expressions and styles. Spotlight gives you an insight as to what to expect. 

A showreel video, may take a little longer. Traditionally this a video lasting no more than 2 minutes, showing two to three clips of your best performances. The camera shot should focus primarily on you, and ideally should be from actual productions you have been in. If you do not have these yet, then it is acceptable to film some short scenes to make into a temporary showreel. You can host this on your Youtube account, though always keep a file to send direct as well. People can pay a lot of money to have thier showreels professionally edited, though if you have the skills, you can do your own (look at software like NCH VideoPad ) 

Next, you need to look at your resume. This should be ready to send out in PDF format, though also keep a Word-format copy which you can easily update. (Tutorial on how to format your resume ). The most common pitfalls people fall into are when they lie on resumes. While many casting directors and agents will want to see your resume, and your agent will require it, we have come across so many resume's with incorrect claims, that we actually now barely look at them, and instead judge on the audition in front of us. However, if we see something that is blatantly untrue, that is a big turn-off from casting. Remember that casting directors and companies talk, and lies or exaggerations are found out sooner or later. That is only going to harm your career - who wants an employee who lies? 
It is also not considered acceptable in the industry to include extra / non-speaking/ crowd roles. 
The complete beginner should not (with us at least) fear being a beginner - we are far more impressed with someone who arrives saying "I have never done this before, but I really want to learn, please give me a chance", than someone who falsifies or "bigs" their experience to try to impress. 

Now, you are ready to get your online presence underway. 

You are going to want a Facebook page (probably not the "person profile" you use for friends and family), and a Twitter. These are great for networking. Set them up with your professional name, and what you do (example Fred Smith; Actor). 
As well as networking and learning, you can use these as your newsfeed. Update them with all your news, regular photos and videos. Make sure that you have permission to share everything; don't breach any non-disclosure agreements you have made with production companies, or share things that you are breaching the copyright of. It is also a bad idea to share things like "on-set selfies"! If in doubt always check with the production company. 

Then you can build your website: To get started look at using a free editor like Weebly (this site is built using Weebly, though we then bought a .com domain name) , and again apply the same rules as for your social media - you can also upload your resume and showreel. Embed your Facebook and Twitter as your easy -access newsfeeds so that people can read your latest news. 

Now, you have the bare bones of what you need to start applying seriously for work. 

Auditioning. 
Auditioning, means arriving on time. We have a section on our site, about our audition expectations, which we need not repeat here. But when applying for any casting; read the casting call advert as your first point of information (it can really annoy a casting director to wade through dozens of applications from people who have never read the casting call; on the other hand it makes a good impression if your application shows that you have genuinely read the casting call. This is one of the most common complaints on casting directors social media groups!) 
If you get an invitation for a video audition (self-tape) film it as clearly as you can (even if only with a smartphone), and get it in on time. 
When you arrive for your audition, you need to be on time, well presented and pleasant. The casting director will often be looking for more than your audition (we certainly do). When you arrive, we are also looking for professional courteous behaviour towards the other people in the room, positivity, the asking of knowledgeable questions.  Our quickest turn-offs are lateness, egotistical behaviour, sexual impropriety, disruption, and rudeness (as extreme cases, the lady who once walked into our auditions three hours late, marched up to the table, and jiggled her breasts in the face of the rather horrified casting director, may be memorable, but instantly removed her from any chance of being considered by the casting director for that or any future production, as did the actor who came on time with a badly behaved small dog which ran around the room dragging a chair it was tied to, and jumping on people, while the actor demanded the lead role, due to having once been in a chorus dance line in the West End). 

We have cast Hollywood name actors in small one-scene roles, and beginners in lead roles in the same shows, and vice versa - the true professional knows that they are the part of a team, and that there is no "small" role. 

When you get that role
It is a good idea to confirm acceptance as soon as you are offered a role, and get the production details through. Make sure you are available for the rehearsals, or at least the vast majority, and communicate any clashes at once with your contact in the production team. 

As with auditions, arrive on time for rehearsals, in a pleasant, clean, manner. Wear comfortable clothes that you can move in (just a hint on clothing to avoid: men - super tight skinny jeans, or ladies - short skirts may be fashionable, but severely restrict your ability to move comfortably and retain your dignity). Be a pleasant member of the team, (interact, help each other, focus on the show, don't distract others, and leave your phone in your bag!) 
Sexual humour or that which is at the expense of someones race/ age/ health/ size/ religion/ nationality/ gender identity, is not acceptable. Being helpful and building each other up is the way to go. 

A common problem that occurs in productions, especially, unfortunately, when female-led. is where members of the cast try to direct other cast, instead of referring to the director. This is a major sign of unprofessionalism, and will result in warnings, and could result in being re-cast. While it shows total disrespect for the production team, it also results in complete confusion, especially for new performers.. 
Instead, work with your own directions, ensure that you are learning your lines and cues to deadline, and setting that excellent example. 

It is the responsibility of everyone to leave venues clean and neat, to respect the privacy of people changing (another common problem is when people unthinkingly burst into the changing rooms of others! Always knock!). 

Let the publicity team do their work. If you have an amazing suggestion, let them know, but dont go off on your own trying to arrange things like interviews and articles without the approval of the production company. You could end up in breach of non-disclosure agreements, sharing incorrect information, or causing other problems for the production company. 

Many productions will not permit the use of phones on set in rehearsals or in performances, many large productions have had so many problems with this, that they take all phones off cast and crew until the day is over.  We dont confiscate phones, but we do require that you make sure your phone is turned off and in your bag. 

If you are working with a celebrity, treat them as another normal person - dont demand selfies/ signed stuff. 

Be nice to your audiences. People coming to see your performance are the people ultimately paying your wages! Being rude or egotistical towards them, is only going to alienate. At the same time, if something has happened that you are being seen as "famous" (it can happen) you will need to have certain boundaries (we will touch on that in a future blog article), but always be pleasant!

For anyone who really cares about improving work in theatre and film, profit share is never the first or ideal choice. However, for grassroots organiations - like us - with little to no external funding or sponsorship, and no wealthy benefactors, it is the only honest way to reward the cast and crew of a show. We can proudly say that as a result of this good practice, we have never once ended a show in the red, and our actors have always earned money from the shows they are in with us.

Regardless of the budget of a production, you should never, ever, for any reason, promise anything that you cannot guarantee offering your cast and crew.


Sadly, as with anything, people jump on the bandwagon to use it as a fancy way of saying that they have no intention of paying the cast and crew, or add so many "dodgy costs" to the outgoings that they make it look as if no profit is made - which then badly hurts the companies who are genuinely paying whatever they can and supporting their cast and crew in whatever way they actually can.

We spent a lot of time working out the fairest possible way that we can do this. One day hopefully, we will reach our ideal - which would be to have the funding and income to be able to offer all cast and crew union rate payments. In the mean time we are constantly looking at best practice to benefit everyone involved with us. After all, we started to benefit local people wanting to get into self employed theatre work, in an area where there are few, if any, such opportunities, and in an area of high poverty. We would be extremely remiss not to benefit everyone!

So today, we decided to share what we have developed as our best practice for honesty, open-ness, and supporting everyone in our team. Obviously this is always looking at improvement but this is where we are at, at the moment.

The money.....

So, we looked at funding day to day running costs in a way that this does not come from the actors earnings from shows. That covers rehearsal space (we use a local community centre), and annual insurances.
We traditionally have had tables at carboot sales and fetes; and while this will continue, we will be soon opening a regular book stall at our local town market. This covers the costs of the rehearsal venue, and the insurances for the most part - as well as providing extra publicity for our shows, which of course sells more tickets to earn for the actors! Again, none of those costs are taken from the show ticket sales. We are also able to provide free tea, coffee, biscuits and milk for free rehearsal refreshments - on a week when income is low, one of the company directors will purchase these for the group.

Then of course there are show costs. With early planning, and always keeping an eye out, we have been able to source most of our costumes, props, and even technical equipment, by touring local second hand charity shops, and picking up things from Freecycle (or even the local dump!). We have some lights (fully tested, and working beautifully), and a sewing machine for repurposing fabric and costumes, that had been found dumped. It is amazing what you can find, and remake, with planning and effort.

Then it is down to getting the show on the road. We usually only book venues which can offer a box-office split, rather than an upfront hire cost. The usual split is 80% to the production company and 20% to the venue. We did learn in our early days to be very careful with contracts for the venues, to make sure they do not add hidden extra costs that you never agreed to. As a regional and female-led company, there are venues which will try to change things from under your feet.

We tend to be quite clear that we only accept actors and crew based in our regional area - this is because many of us live in less-than-ideal accomodation where we cannot put another person up, and we do require people to attend rehearsals and performances in person - after all theatre is a group effort.. With no possible budget to cover travel and hotels, we therefore are restricted to working with people based in our local area.

So, once shows are booked, we work ourselves crazy in publicising the shows - after all the more ticket sales we get results in the more that the actors and crew earn. Publicity on little or no budget is a whole other article, and takes a huge amount of work, but it can be done very effectively.

After the show, we get the ticket sales reports from the venues, and the payment for our (usually 80%) of ticket sales, from the venue to our company. This is usually quite detailed information, and we make this available to all cast and crew, in our productions locked cast/crew facebook group, as screenshots, so that everyone involved in the show can peruse and check the figures should they so wish. Once the show run (which may include several venues) is over, and all sales reports recieved, we refer back to these reports as made available to the cast and crew; and also provide the final breakdown of total earned by the show.

This (again in a group post provided to all cast and crew) is then broken down equally by the number of people involved in a show, so that each person will recieve an equal amount, down to the nearest penny. (Regardless of your role in the show, you recieve an equal share, because you are equally valuable to to the show - without you it couldnt happen!).

The payment then is made available and paid out within 7 working days, of our having it, to all cast and crew.

That is how we deal with the financial side. However, that is not the limit of what we provide.


You can provide more than money as well.

Regardless of a low or non-existant budget, you can provide extra things to your cast and crew, which is seriously valuable. It can vary a little by show but there are constants we developed our list by looking at portfolio development opportunities for your people, creature comforts, and tangible things! It also doesnt need to be the often nebulous and undefined "exposure", hated by all theatre and film professionals. It is far better to consider what actual things you can guarantee being able to offer. These do not need to be expensive things, or even cost you much time, but can be very valuable to the recipient none the less!

Our guaranteed "extra" things for cast and crew on any production include:
- Show photos (character photos, on set, or in a themed location)
- Individual character posters (featuring a character poster of the actor)
- Video clips of the show featuring the work of the actor or crew member.
- Copies of any publicity (think newspaper articles, etc) featuring the cast or crew members image or name.
- Social media shoutouts where possible for the cast and crew members.
- In-rehearsal / backstage refreshments (tea, coffee, biscuits, fruit squash)
- references for work or education (after show run has ended)

We do not ascribe a financial value to these things but instead provide them in addition to the financial profit-share.


Final
What is important in any profit-share production, is to offer everyone what you can guarantee: in our team, nobody, from the company owners, to the tea-lady, is treated differently from any other, or gets any more or less than the others. It is also critical to be open about everything. Not only does it allow people to see for themselves, that you are doing all you can for them, but in a world where all of us are jaded by malpractice, it builds confidence, which is also important - it adds to a positive atmosphere, and a positive atmosphere makes for a happier cast, who put on a better show, which builds the production following, and so on.

Our ultimate aim is to find the funding and support to be able to move to union rate payments for the people in our projects, and in fact active attempts are being made to find the support to take this next step, however, in the meantime, this is where we are. And doing our best with the circumstances we find ourselves in.

Over the past few weeks (more since we won the theatre award in New York!) we have been recieving enquiries for our actors for external stage and screen productions. These are always welcome, but are vetted quite strictly. Sadly many companies approach us, hoping for inexperienced actors who will not expect recompense, in return for "exposure". This is not the case and productions deemed to be wilfully avoiding recompensing actors, will be reported to Equity. 

As you will know by this point we are a professional production company and while we strongly support community work, and even voluntary work as well, there is a fine line of standards. We remain flexible to encourage work at all levels (we know all too well what it is to have no funds), but we do expect a minimum of standards in line with the resources of the production.  The core requirement is that by contacting us, you are asking to engage professional actors, and therefore you are expected to treat them as such. Projects which ask an actor to pay a fee to "join" or audition ("pay-to-play") will be rejected at all times.

Individual cast members may freely get involved in whatever they choose, outside of our company requirements, but as a company we cannot pass on any castings that do not meet these basic requirements.

There are sometimes "shades of grey" so if you are unsure about whether we will accept a casting, please get in touch and discuss. southdevonplayers@gmail.com

Large TV / film companies, commercials, training & corporate, national production companies:
In general terms we will only pass paid work offers to our actors. Effectively if your company is deemed to be one that is in a financial position to pay actors, then payment must be offered in line with Equity minimums, to be paid within 28 days. We will not accept unpaid extra / crowd work under any circumstances.

For local start-up productions, there must be a minimum of equal profit-share and portfolio material (clear character photos, and video of performance) offered.

Student productions should, at the minimum, offer full portfolio material, as well as travel expenses, and provide contact details for the college/ university, and the course tutor. Equity reccomend that students raise funds for projects and state that most colleges/ universities recieve funds to pay actors for being in student films. While this is still a grey area, the student should offer whatever they are able to guarantee.

Amatuer theatre/ local fetes/ community fundraisers will be considered, if deemed to be of benefit to our actors, but again must guarantee portfolio material (clear character photos and video) to be provided within 28 days of the event.

Talent shows will be advertised to our members with the following caveats. That there is no fee to enter, that it is with a known company, and has no reputation of exploitation or favouritism.

Overseas castings must be fully paid with expenses, and provide full pay & expenses rates, company details, work permits/ visas, and any other relevant documentation. Due to the number of fake castings "just apply to this whatsapp", or companies being impersonated,  we reserve the right to take a little longer to do some background verification.

ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS
I am sharing what happened the other day as an example of asking questions and watching out for warning signs, and keeping safe as an actor.

So on a social media acting group there was a casting for a TV station, seeking young people.  Not a lot of information but that could (at that stage) be someone not aware of group rules. Having some teens involved in my theatre company, I decided to ask for more information to pass on to our youngsters parents in case the info was legit and it would be something worthwhile to pass on.

As soon as I entered into conversation with the person, my alarm bells went off. I asked for location, pay/ expenses details, could anything done be used for portfolio/ CVs, how one would apply and what exactly they were looking for.

The person gave an address for auditions but missed out building name or number, and would not answer when asked other than to day they were hoping to move to another (undisclosed) venue . They also stated it was unpaid, but would not answer when asked if images/ video could be used for portfolio or showreels. They said a monologue was needed but then anyone accepted would need to attend a week long course "to learn to be good actors". They also didn't answer when I asked about chaperone arrangements etc.
So effectively that was a case of run a mile - anyone who is reticent about these things, or unwilling to answer (or acknowledge they have been asked even!) is definitely (IMHO) up to no good.
So with all my alarm bells going off, I ended the conversation.
About two later, the person started messaging me again, were my company youngsters coming to his audition? All quite pushy. Ultimately, I had to block him on Messenger.

As a general rule, theatre can generate a huge amount of waste - paper from printing, materials from props/ costuming and sets....
When I looked online for useful tips, I found a lot of tips for theatre venues, but not so much for production companies who are not based in any one building. I have seen brilliant things, like the Watermark theatre in Ivybridge, where the building is solar powered, but I have seen less for companies like us.

On a good note, for the simple reason of economy, we have to be eco-friendly. We wouldnt be able to afford to buy in brand new costumes, and new materials for sets and props. Not if we expected to earn any profit from the shows to use to pay our cast and crew. So, by force of circumstance, we have to use second hand items and remade items.
Despite doing high-grade historical and classical theatre; behind the scenes the vast majority of the things we use, are second-hand; we have learned over the years to remake, reuse and recycle.

Charity shops, freecycle, freegle and similar sources become our primary way of being able to create the costume and props for our shows. Very little of such items are bought new, other than consumables like paint, or glue. This is nessecary to save money, but at the same time, also means that most of our shows are created with recycled materials.

Other single use consumables have to be bought new; paper, ink being the promary ones for printing posters, scripts, marketing, letters, etc. In those cases, anything left over can be recycled.

Fundraising wise, we also recycle. We have table top sales to raise funds for rehearsal space- most of the items we sell are either unwanted items  (books/ bric-a-brac/ DVDs etc) cleared out from home, or crafts made from recycled items.

Electrical items get turned off when not in use - so we are saving  both power and money.

Because of having limited "show storage" at our rehearsal hall, consisting of a cupboard, each actor has a costume bag. We have recently made actors tote bags from spare fabric, for actors to keep thier costumes in, rather than using plastic carrier bags.

So, here is what we do with items after a show.

COSTUMES/ FABRIC
We make costumes to last. Unless it is something which has had to be dirtied or ripped apart, costumes are washed and stored away for future use, next time we do a show set in the same historical period.
If something is not worth keeping, there are other uses;  clean fabric can be torn up and saved as cleaning rags. "Dirtied" fabrics  can be washed and put in the green recycling box.

Buttons saved from old items that are being thrown away, are donated to The Naked Sheep, a family-run eco-wool clothing business in Cornwall who in turn help us with advertising.

PAPER & PRINTING
Some paper (posters/ flyers) printed on a single side can be kept as scrap paper for making notes on the blank side; the rest goes into the green bin for recycling.

Items that are useful for paper crafts are given to a local card-maker, to be used in making one-off greetings cards.

We save used ink cartridges for our fundraising and send them off to a company who give us a small donation for each cartridge they can recycle.

SET
If we have set pieces which we are not able to store, they are offered to other grassroots theatre companies, for a small donation, to be used again.

PLASTIC CONTAINERS
If plastic containers have contained food and or something else that is nothing toxic, we save them to grow plants in, to sell on our fundraising stalls for the team. Any surplus gets offered on Freecycle or again put in the green recycling box wherever possible.

BATTERIES
The vast majority are recharagable. Where they are not, one of our team takes them to a recycling point.

As a result, we are proud to say that due to a mixture of nessecity of recycling to be able to simply afford things, and through higher motivations as well, we have almost no landfill wastage from our shows.

I would be ever so interested in other companys approaches to how they recycle and reduce waste.

Laura

I am going to apologise at the start for what may seem like a rant, but this is something which seriously gets under my skin - and so I hear, under the skins of others in the area.

That is the assumption that if actors are local to an area where a production is taking place, that "local" somehow means less talented, less serious, less skilled and "just amatuer hobbyists".

Devon is a beautiful area for filming and for theatre - and not only are there many fantastic local productions, but also national, and international TV and film companies, advertising agencies, and others come down to make use of the amazing locations.

As a result very often, we are contacted by these companies looking for actors. This is, on the face of it, brilliant, and often can lead to some fantastic employment opportunities for us all.
Equally often however, and from extremely large international, and national production companies, we are contacted for castings, and told that "as we are just local" that we will not be paid (usually not even a busfare or portfolio photos/ showreel clips)  and should be doing it just for the fun and the "chance to be on TV".

Now the paid/ unpaid actors dispute is not what is at stake here. To be honest if there is a student or struggling indie project asking us to get involved, I, and most of the rest of our team, will be very happy, if available, to be involved for our fares, and portfolio material. We know first hand what it is like to be getting projects underway with zero funding (remember we started with the proceeds of a carboot sale, and still mainly rely on funds raised from tabletop sales etc, due to the difficulty of finding grant funding, even with national awards and international nominations under our belt, and a 12 year track record) and I know how heartbreaking it is to be able to offer profit share and portfolio material to our casts, when really as professionals they deserve full salaries. (I can honestly say we always end a project in the green and everyone gets paid and provided with a wealth of portfolio material, but that is not the point).

What I do object to, though, is multi-million pound companies, who CAN afford to pay actors, who want free labour and try to excuse it by the fact that "oh you're just local". That is not right. Large or small, you do what is within your means and feasable to recompense your cast and crew.

The "just local" stigma has another effect. When I am out promoting our next production (has to be done, otherwise no bums on seats and no money for our actors!) in our local towns, I instantly get met with a small but noticable percentage of people who say they would be very interested to come "if we were not local amatuers". When I (politely!) challenge this with the correction that we are local professionals, I get met with complete amazement and comments along the line of "but youre local, so I thought you must be amateur".
My standard response is that even the top Hollywood Oscar-winners, are local to somewhere, live in a town somewhere, where they are local. They live next door to someone (even if it is next mansion along!!!).

On the side of that, I have done amatuer theatre. I probably will again. I have many friends who do amatuer theatre and prefer to be hobbyists; that should no way impact on how the quality of thier shows is seen. The only difference is that professionals are paid for it, and amatuers arent. (and quite honestly if a big company wants to use actors for an amatuer organisation for thier project, then they should be recompensed the same as everyone else).  It is not an uncommon remark that some amateur shows can be amazing and some professional ones not (and vice versa).

There is an unconcious stereotyping and stigmatising that happens. Sadly it is the arts that suffer. Local actors (professional and amatuer) are usually highly skilled, and just because they may not have traveled from somewhere else for a production, does not make them less skilled! In fact they may be  greater assets to the production, with local knoweldge that can help as well (for example for an episode of a well-known daytime BBC programme, I was able to assist the producers with location scouting and arrangements in my hometown, instead of them having to travel down from London).

Instead of seeing "local" as a negative, see it as a positive: local people are creating something great, and working hard. People wouldnt say a local lawyer or doctor is anything but professional, so why assume that of actors?  Local knoweldge is available. Supporting local businesses and local people supports the local economy.

I am not sure how to break the stereotypes  - certainly one blog post won't do it, but if it reaches one person who stops to consider the points made, then it has made a difference - one drop in the ocean. And as a character says in the film Cloud Atlas; "What is an ocean but a multitude of drops?".

This is an article published on Talent Managers For Actors, by actor Christopher Nicholson, and shared here with his permission, as I feel it is something of great value to all of our members. 

I have found locally that people who come from an amateur or community background often don't understand the intricacies of NDAs in theatre and film productions - and offence can occur because people dont understand why it is important.

At a practical level, we always supply photos and videos marked for sharing and portfolios, to our cast and crew, but other things; scripts, training videos, internal discussions, are not for public sharing. The "done" thing is to always ask if something can be shared before doing so. However, supplying behind the scenes content for use, is a choice of the production company and not an industry standard.


Mr Nicholsons article:
Writer/Director here: There seems to be some confusion regarding NDAs.
An NDA is a Non Disclosure Agreement and binds the person who signs it to a contract that legally prohibits that person from discussing any details at all about the project, or even their involvement in it, with any third party, be they a spouse, an agent or anyone else. That person also cannot list that project on their resume, post about it on social media or mention it anywhere at all in any medium whatsoever UNTIL THAT NDA EXPIRES.
NDAs usually have an expiration date (traditionally, 5 years for projects and 2 years for meetings). The text in the NDA will outline the actual terms of its expiration. Only after this expiration date are you free to discuss the project, (and that includes mentioning it on your resume/CV, social media etc) even if the on-air or release date of said project is before the expiration date of the NDA.
Also, some NDAs do not have expiration dates and therefore can never be broken. A certain well-known and super-powerful Studio is tending not to have expiration dates listed on their NDAs these days.
Any exceptions to these guidelines will be written in the NDA.
The only third person who can authorise you breaking an NDA is a Judge if that NDA is proved in Court to be worthy of breaking for legal reasons...No one else can legally instruct you to break the NDA, not your agent, your manager or even your pet walker.
Break and NDA against legal advice and at best you’ll get sued and at worst you’ll never work again with a fine imposed on you likely to be so high that your grandchildren will still be paying it off long after you’re dead and gone.
Confidentiality is taken very seriously by the industry and there are very good economic reasons for this. Take any and all NDAs you have to sign VERY professionally. Read them carefully and follow them TO THE LETTER. And if you refuse to sign an NDA, then the project is highly unlikely to involve you in it at any level going forward.

We are rather off the beaten track from the main centres of performing arts. Brixham isn't, sadly, the West End or Broadway or Hollywood. We have a massive range of experience in the team, from people who have been in everything from Hollywood films, people who have been actors for decades, gained high-level training qualifications, to absolute beginners who have never performed again.

In that enviroment, and as someone who has been performing for decades, since a youngster, and with a Masters in teaching theatre, it is very easy to forget the basics that sometimes need explaining to those new to the acting world.

Recently, I had to get a bit strict in some of our rehearsals, about time-keeping,  not messing abut loudly and distracting people behind the scenes. Nonbody had done anything malicious but the relaxed atmosphere we like, had got a little *too* relaxed. Unfortunately, I upset some (not all) of our newer performers, and after a conversation where they felt I had been negative towards them, I realised that I had neglected to explain the actual reasons that I have these particular rules.

I am, sadly, very aware that due to a common cultrual devaluing of the arts as something remedial or "just a hobby", many people dont always immediatly see theatre rehearsals  as a workplace (although once you go onto bigger sets elsewhere, you wouldn't be able to function without doing so!) and I do make some allowance for that for those newer to the industry, but it also means that misunderstandings can arise when I enforce the fact that in order to become a professional team and put on professional level shows, we have to treat the production as such. To me, that is enough explanation. I started out in the very old-fashioned types of theatre and film, of directors - some who had been directing since the 1950s-  who had reputations for shouting at you and tearing you down. Actors going home in tears from those companies was not unknown. Explanations never happened. I learned in the school of hard-knocks. 
When I began directing and later started SDP, I swore I wouldn't be like that, but what did work well for me, everyone else, and the final productions, was how strict those sets were. You arrived on time, or early. You didn't play pranks or joke around behind the scenes (usually you had to sit silently waiting for your role), you learned your lines or someone else got handed the role. If you messed around, you were shouted at.

I dont often shout. When I raise my voice as a director, it is rare. It isnt that I dont care about the cast and crew: actually I really do care very deeply about everyone, as well as the company, and I dont want them to inadvertently let themselves, or each other, or the company down. When I see that danger happening, that is when I become annoyed.

What I did neglect, this time, was to remember that what seems obvious to me, the other seasoned performers, and those who are in training, sometimes isnt to others, especially some of the beginners, and I ended up, after a newer cast member raised concerns, explaining to both them in private, and then to the team in general, my reasons for being strict about basic things.
I think, and hope, it has helped.

I am therefore sharing an edited form of the post I made to the rest of the cast here too. Maybe people joining us in the future will see this and find it helpful, or people starting out with other companies will find it helpful. It could be that I will share it to future casts when we take on new people.

The post:

Timekeeping, schedules and communications

I was told that I am too strict, with requiring timely attendance at a minimum of 75% of rehearsals, role learning, and people to let us know if they cant make it or will be late.
I have to do this, because at the end of the day we are a group of people who are primarily professionals and otherwise training-as professionals, putting on work to showcase skills, make work, and build a performance company - with shows of a professional quality, and that people are paying good money to us all, to come and see. We can't skimp on this.
People also need to know if the other person is there, in order to work with them. It creates bad feeling if people travel for ages and the person they were expecting to work with isn't there and hasn't let us know, as not only just lines and blocking, but also character-interactions need practicing intensely.

Backstage
I have also huffed at "backstage" noise and pranking.
The reason for this is that people performing find it hard to concentrate - and on a personal level, I cant either-  if there is a lot of noise going on.
In addition it's practice for show days, like the rest of rehearsals - in the theatres on show days, you need to be able to listen for cues, and if you are making noise side stage, then the audience can also hear you and it detracts from the performance, and you risk distracting your fellow performers.

Getting that quality of show
You want the public to really enjoy the show. They have paid to come , and if they like it, they are more likely to tell their friends and come back in even greater numbers next time....
And remember the more people who come to the shows and enjoy them as being of high-quality, and tell their friends who then also come, the more ticket money comes in to be shared to everyone involved in making the show, and your reputation as a performer grows (and likewise for the others)...  Word spreads, you earn more, and your reputation as a good, reliable actor, grows as well - getting you more work.
To do that, the whole experience for the audience had to be good.
Your characterisation has to be excellent, your lines have to be excellent, your stage discipline has to be strict, your timekeeping excellent, and your teamwork has to be excellent, in order to achieve that experience for the audience.

Sharing Internal Communications and "on set selfies".
We have locked communications for a reason. In the locked cast and crew group, we can discuss things, plan rehearsals, ask questions, and talk about what we need (in a respectful manner), sharing practice videos, training clips, and all sorts of things that are work-in-progress or tested ideas, and not ready for the public yet.  I have also been told that it is unfair not to allow these to be shared without permission on public pages.
This has happened a couple of times, as well as "on-stage" selfies.  Pulling a silly face on stage for a selfie, in rehearsal, when you think nobody is looking, may seem like a laugh to you, but when shared publicly online, makes the you, and by extension the entire company, look extremely unprofessional - such things are not "done". 
Many big film sets, TV shows, and theatre shows, will forbid such things, and fire you on the spot for sharing such images (and there have been many cases of film extras doing this kind of thing, and getting sued for posting "spoilers" from on sets of big films and TV shows).
As an up and coming company, we have to work to those same standards as the companies to which we would like to be comparable, and for our actors to be taken seriously, we all have to adhere to those same standards. So when we say that things from the locked "cast and crew" group cannot be shared publicly, or that you cannot share "on-set-selfies" it is for a good reason.  We do get batches of rehearsal photos that are for sharing online, which are provided to the cast and crew, but which are sorted to show the best work in progress. 

In conclusion, the strictness is not against anyone or intended to make anyone feel bad. I am frankly mortified to hear that I have made people feel bad- because the intention is for rehearsals and shows  to be a hard-working but happy place where great work is created (and awesome work IS happening).

We have to have the basic ground rules that you would find in any other theatre or film team (or any other job, training, volunteering, or things in any ilk in life where people are relying on others,) in order to create a functional production. They are not intended or desired to cause distress, or to indicate disrespect.

I am aware we have everyone from complete beginners to seasoned professionals in the team, and that is why I am taking time to explain (apologies to anyone who knows all this inside out already).

If you have a question, or I have said something that accidentally upsets, please contact us about it. I do not want a theatre company where things cannot be asked. We may agree and we may disagree - no promises there- but I can guarantee that we WILL listen, and that you WILL receive a full explanation/ discussion/ action (as necessary) but what is non-negotiable is that we have a hard-working, positive, team that can go anywhere from the local church fete, to Hollywood, and maintain top levels of professionalism anywhere, while also be a safe, and fun enviroment.