BUDDING actors were given the chance to learn the tricks of the trade from Glee casting director Alex Newman in an Australian Institute for Performing Arts (AIPA) acting master class last week.
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Every year AIPA sends its most promising actors to Los Angeles, United States, to pursue their television acting dreams, but decided this year to take its acting master class to regional centres because of the recent signing of Orange girl Hayley McCarthy to a top LA management.
Ms Newman, based in LA, is a veteran on the United States television scene and has worked as a casting director for Glee, The Mentalist, Supernatural and the last three seasons of Friends, and said she wanted to help Australian actors cross over into the American world of casting.
“Sometimes people don’t have the information, they don’t know what to do when they come to a US TV audition,” Ms Newman said.
“I want to arm them with every piece of information possible so they can catch the casting director’s eye.”
In four classes over two days at the Orange Ex-Services’ Club, Ms Newman ran over head shots, resumes and demo reels and how actors should prepare themselves for “pilot season”, the time of year in LA when auditions for over 100 pilot episodes for new TV shows take place and actors must got to five or six auditions a day.
Ms Newman said while there were talented people in regional Australia, most people didn’t know how to hire an agent, manager, or get involved with as much training as possible.
“There’s a ton of talent in Australia,” Ms Newman said.
“Australians are really accessible, fresh and new. They’re such a nice group of people.”
The AIPA acting master class has also visited Tamworth, Toowoomba and is yet to visit Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney.