Living in London 18+ and acting opportunities

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Littlemum
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Living in London 18+ and acting opportunities

Post by Littlemum »

Hello again NAPMS
You've always given me such good advice, hope it's ok to throw this question out there...
DS is 18, wants to do straight acting although trained in MT (extended BTEC diploma), one offer from GSA and one from Fourth Monkey, couple more potentials still in the pipeline. But I can't help feeling it's too early to decide. (He doesn't agree of course!) and wonder whether to just suggest him moving down to London, getting a job, to see what links he can make, what he can do for a year whilst he reapplies and considers again?
I've never lived in London, know very little about it. He's potentially got another friend he could live with, share expenses. I could top up his income a bit.
He got into NYT with the summer audition last year, but nothing more from that as yet. Loads of links and networks up in Manchester (Royal Exchange, RNCM, etc) but nothing at all down there.
Maybe he stands a better chance of just 'getting out there' if he's in London, rather than in training this year? Any ideas on 'making it happen in london'?
Am I crazy? (Ooops sorry that's a separate question...!)
Brighterthanstars
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Re: Living in London 18+ and acting opportunities

Post by Brighterthanstars »

Hi LittleMum,

I'm also 18 and this is the advice I've got- hope it helps to share:

- has your ds got an agent/got professional credits? It gets MUCH harder to be seen once you fit into the adult category without any credits or been to drama school. This is probably the biggest question to ask in my opinion.

- depending on where you've lived before, London can be a really big change and a bit of a shock to the system, it's worth thinking about whether you want to make that big change with what is a very unstable and stressful career to be breaking into. Many will be perfectly fine and do amazing in this situation, but it could be tough mental health wise for some?

- Personally I do feel that its a good idea to try a year of auditions (and hopefully jobs), that's what I'm doing as I don't feel that I'm ready for drama school yet and have been growing a decent CV anyway, plus live in London. There's really nothing to lose by taking a year- it's one year out of what could be a hundred so theres plenty of time to change paths, start again etc. if it all goes wrong.

Basically, I think you can suggest it, but at the end of the day he should do what he thinks will be the right thing for him come September, whether that's drama school, London or something entirely different.

B x
If you think that you're too small to make an impact, try sleeping with a mosquito in the room.
lawn
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Re: Living in London 18+ and acting opportunities

Post by lawn »

Personally I'd go with the GSA offer. Plenty of people would snap your (DS) hand off for a place there. Plenty get rejected, there's one on another thread only this week. It's also funded via student loans, unlike Fourth Monkey where you'll have to pay for the course plus living costs. I know someone who went there and came back early due to the financial cost.

Trying again in a year's time, there's no guarantee of an offer from any place. Acting/Performing is difficult to find work in even when you have gone to drama school. Unless your DS has already got an agent who is also finding her plenty of castings/auditions and is booking work, I wouldn't go with the take a year out and see.
jennifer1972
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Re: Living in London 18+ and acting opportunities

Post by jennifer1972 »

lawn wrote:Personally I'd go with the GSA offer. Plenty of people would snap your (DS) hand off for a place there. Plenty get rejected, there's one on another thread only this week. It's also funded via student loans, unlike Fourth Monkey where you'll have to pay for the course plus living costs. I know someone who went there and came back early due to the financial cost.

Trying again in a year's time, there's no guarantee of an offer from any place. Acting/Performing is difficult to find work in even when you have gone to drama school. Unless your DS has already got an agent who is also finding her plenty of castings/auditions and is booking work, I wouldn't go with the take a year out and see.
Totally agree! GSA is the dream for so many!
2dancersmum
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Re: Living in London 18+ and acting opportunities

Post by 2dancersmum »

You have a good offer from GSA - I confess I am a little unsure what you hope your DS will gain from a year working in London. Does he already have an agent and is he getting plenty of auditions/roles? If he hasn't, then I fear the reality would be that he would end up working long hours in pubs or shops to make ends meet and re-auditioning a year later with no guarantee that this time round he would get an offer. London is big and expensive. If you already lived in London, then perhaps a different story but moving to a large city, finding accommodation (rented rooms can go within hours) and finding a job is a big move. There must be hundreds if not thousands of people there 'trying to make it happen' and many of your DS's competition will have drama school qualifications and experience behind them.

It is very much an individual choice though and that's just my personal opinion and of course I do not know you or your son. Good luck on your decision making.
Pandora II
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Re: Living in London 18+ and acting opportunities

Post by Pandora II »

I would really advise against moving to London on the off-chance.

It's such an expensive city and could be a very lonely and miserable time that could do more harm than good.

I have a number of young people working in my office - some are doing part-time paid internships while doing Masters degrees, and some are on their first jobs. Even though we pay London Living as a minimum, they don't find it easy making ends meet and these are all people with work experience and a first degree behind them.
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