Please consider your other class members and stay at home if you, or anyone in your household, has symptoms of, or who has tested positive for Covid-19. Thank you.
Our workshop programme is genuinely actor led. The workshop page is a reflection, at any one time, of what the membership is requesting. Members request workshops via the ‘Workshop Wishlist‘ function which can be found on the right-hand side of the workshops page once a member is logged in – and, week by week, it’s from here our programme grows. We offer a range of workshops including ‘toolbox’ skills such as voice, movement, marketing and running your own business, and lab work covering a wide spectrum of skills with leading industry practitioners. We also produce casting advice and audition technique classes with directors, casting directors, and producers, covering theatre, film and television. Workshops are presented in courses, individual group sessions and one-to-one formats.
Our focus is very much on quality over quantity. We do not employ acting tutors, but instead those working in key roles in the profession lead workshops. Such was the need, we have grown very quickly and are now the largest membership organisation for on-going training in the UK.
We are not a building, our community uses a variety of spaces around the UK. This means we are not limited by space and gives us the freedom to offer the workshops and courses that you request. You could be learning to gallop in Warwickshire one day, and on stage working in the round the next. We do however have a Hub at Spotlight offering a focus for our London operation in the heart of the West End – in a building at the very centre of the UK casting scene.
Because, as actors, we believe it has to be. The Actors’ Guild is geared, first and foremost, towards supporting the community of professional actors in the UK. Charging higher membership fees means actors with limited availability do not experience value for money and those with limited funds may be excluded altogether. We also offer three price levels to accommodate actors whatever their situation. These are:
Premium membership – £24 a year – for all new and returning members. Entitles access to all our services including our full workshop programme and the largest collection of industry discounts for actors in the UK, offering members savings worth hundreds of pounds a year.
Premium membership – £20 a year – this reduced membership offers all of the above and is reserved for members who continue their premium membership without their account expiring.
Basic membership – £12 a year – entitles you to our extensive benefits and discounts only.
Because the vast majority of our workshops sell out very quickly, it’s a good idea to use this system if you are wanting to attend a workshop. Members add themselves to the waiting list online, through their account. Once logged in the icon appears at the bottom of each listing on the Workshops & Events page. The waiting list is date ordered and members are contacted in turn when a place becomes available. If there is little time before a workshop the place may be opened up online and the whole waiting list contacted via email. We also contact those on the waiting list first if the workshop is programmed again to offer them priority booking.
It can be as short as 24 hours. However we sometimes have to validate your professional information and this can slow down an application. As much professional details should be provided as possible and applicants should read our membership criteria carefully before applying. It also speeds things up when the applications instructions are adhered to – these can be found on our join page.
Every week. We send out newsletters a few times a month with highlights from our programme, and any other news and offers we may have. The reason we don’t produce a set programme a few months in advance is because those who lead our workshops work in key roles within the profession – many of them are unable to commit to dates a long time in advance. Likewise, as a community of actors, we are often unable to commit to dates a couple of months in advance. Programming week to week means we can react quickly to trends in the profession and ensure what we are offering is relevant.
Normally one or two days before the workshop takes place. These are sent out via email.
When they are ethically run and led by working industry professionals these can offer a fantastic opportunity to all those in the room. We believe there should be a consistent and recognised standard of professionalism for all casting director workshops. We believe this would benefit the actor and the casting director as all concerned will then know, whoever they book with, that there will be the same quality controls and restrictions on numbers and cost.
The Actors’ Guild runs its UK casting director workshops with the following promises:
We understand a ‘block’ or course of workshops suits some actors down to the ground. However we believe actors should always have the choice to book as many or as few workshops as they want, and not incur a financial penalty if they only book one workshop. The Actors’ Guild is a not-for-profit organisation.
Good agents can offer a really useful insight into certain aspects of our industry. For this reason we occasionally invite top agents to lead talks and seminars for our members. These offer the opportunity to sit down as a group and on a one-to-one level, providing a chance for members to ask all the questions members have when it comes to getting the right representation, as well as to share and discuss in a supportive environment, and receive honest answers and feedback. However, the Actors’ Guild strongly disagrees with the practice of producing workshops where actors pay to perform in front of agents.
Yes – although perhaps not in the conventional sense. We consider our entire membership, which is made up of both established actors and those just starting to carve a career, as patrons of The Actors’ Guild. Our patrons all actively use the services we provide as well as publicly supporting the organisation in so many different ways.
If members give at least 72 hours (3 working days) notice then we offer a full credit to your TAG account. For information on our cancellation terms, including workshops with special terms see our full terms and conditions.
You can cancel your workshops when logged into your TAG account – click on ‘my account’ >> ‘workshops I’ve booked’ then select the workshop.
We welcome ideas and contributions for our articles page, although not all submissions can be published. Those wishing to submit an idea should get in touch.
We have a dedicated Service Directory (accessible to all) on our website. Service providers benefit from a range of exposure options – including the ability to list for free and gain a rosette by offering our members a discount. The Actors’ Guild is the largest membership organisation for on-going training for professional actors in the UK. Our website, which is solely geared towards profession actors, gets an average of over 27,000 hits every day. Create a new account here.
