Shakyra led a TV/Film Workshop. Participants were sent sides to work on with Shakyra in the workshop. Shakyra then led a discussion and Q&A with the participants, sharing her knowledge and inspiration.

Bio: Independent Casting Director, Shakyra Dowling has been working for over two decades on Sundance, BAFTA, Berlinale and Oscar nominated films.

Shakyra cast Nathalie Biancheri’s first feature Nocturnal which premiered at LFF casting includes Cosmo Jarvis, and at Toronto Film Festival’s White Lie; casting includes Kacey Rohl who is named as Canadian Rising Star for her performance and Amber Anderson, UK ES Rising Star 2017.

She has cast Un Traductor (staring Rodrigo Santoro) which was in World Cinema Competition at Sundance 2018 and has been selected as the Cuban Academy Award entry for 2019, French social comedy Naked Normandy (staring Toby Jones) and No Fathers In Kashmir by Oscar nominated Ashvin Kumar.

2020 casting includes Wolf with George MacKay, Lily Rose-Depp and Paddy Considine and Prisoner of Paradise directed by Mitch Jenkins, with Ellie Bamber and Mehdi Dehbi currently shooting in Mauritius.

Ezra Tren-Humphries, Casting Assistant at Emmerdale, led a Casting TV Workshop.

In the workshop: Participants were sent sides to work on with Ezra, which were taped and sent via email after the workshop. Ezra also hosted a discussion and Q&A where participants were able to ask questions and get feedback.

Claire led a TV/Film Workshop. Participants were sent sides to work on with Claire, which were taped and sent via email after the workshop. Claire then lead a discussion and Q&A with the participants, sharing her knowledge and inspiration. 

Claire is born and raised in Manchester and champions Northern talent. She is one of the most experienced casting directors in Independent Film and is casting director on the successful tv series Meet the Richardsons. Claire has also cast the incredibly successful shorts: Judy (starring Maxine Peake), Jason Wingard's brand new film Pavement, and the BAFTA-winning Cowboy Dave.

Amy led a 1-1 Workshop, where Amy sent sides to perform and receive 1-1 feedback and then have a personal Q&A and discussion with Amy after.

Amy Jackson has recently set up Amy Jackson Casting.

Before that Amy has worked as Casting Associate/Assistant with; Kate Rhodes James; Rachel Freck; Julie Harkin; Jina Jay; Kate Dowd; Gemma Sykes & Rachel Sheridan. And most recently as Co-casting Director and Associate at Amy Hubbard Casting.

Recent credits: Suspicion (Apple TV), The Girl Before (BBC/HBO Max), The Outlaws (BBC/Amazon), Deceit (Channel 4), Trying S1 (Apple TV) In My Skin S1 (BBC), The Other One (BBC), Flack Series 2 (Pop and UKTV).

Sarah led a TV/Film Workshop where participants were sent 3 scripts, which were worked on with Sarah, taped and sent via email after the workshop. Sarah then led a discussion and Q&A with the participants, sharing her knowledge and inspiration.

Sarah was assistant to producer Larry Franco on "Batman Begins" and worked with one of London's premiere casting offices on Alfonso Cuaron's "Children of Men.” Sarah freelanced for the BBC and ITV, assisting on "Luther", "Waterloo Road," "Waking the Dead," "Inside Men," "Hope Springs," "Mayday," "Frankie," "What Remains," etc for the BBC, and "Law & Order: UK", "Homefront," "The Widower," "Just Henry," etc for ITV.

Hannah led a workshop on Theatre Producing, covering project timelines & planning, approaching venues, putting a team together, advice on best practice and community and engagement.

Hannah is Assistant Producer to Oldham Coliseum and Local Producer to the several top Theatre production companies: HER Productions, Elysium Theatre Company, Play With Fire Productions and Manchester ADP. Hannah Ellis has produced over 27 sell out theatre productions.

Harriet led a workshop where participants were sent sides to prepare for the workshop, which were worked on, taped and given feedback from Harriet. There was also an introduction at the beginning of the workshop and time for a Q&A and discussion focused on casting in TV and Film.

Harriet has worked with the largest in-house TV Casting Departments in the UK. Working for ITV, BBC and Lime Pictures, Harriet has worked on shows such as Coronation Street, Casualty, Holby City, Eastenders, Hollyoaks and many more.

Hannah led a workshop on the new Arts Council England applications (project grants under 30K). The workshop covered navigating changes in the new portal, drafting company policies, refining your project, budgeting and evaluation and a 1-hour Q&A session to ask specific questions and get advice.

Hannah is Assistant Producer to Oldham Coliseum and Local Producer to several top Northern Theatre companies, including: HER Productions, Elysium Theatre Company, Play With Fire Productions and Manchester ADP. Hannah Ellis has penned over 24 successful Arts Council England applications.

Sophie led a TV/Film Workshop. Participants were sent sides to work on with Sophie, which were taped and sent via email after the workshop. Sophie then led a discussion and Q&A with the participants, sharing her knowledge and inspiration.

Bio: Sophie has been working in the casting industry for 6 years. She started out working as a casting associate at Hubbard Casting with Ros and John Hubbard, where she worked on films such as 'Journey's End', 'Hurricane' and 'The More You Ignore Me'.

She now works with Des Hamilton and has most recently worked on projects such as Netflix's 'The King', 'Top Boy Series 3' and 'Jojo Rabbit’.

Lisa Boyle, Casting Assistant at Coronation Street led a Casting TV Workshop.

Participants were sent sides to work on with Lisa, which were taped and sent via email after the workshop. Lisa hosted a meet and greet at the beginning of the workshop for everyone to get to know each other and a Q&A at the end after everyone had the chance to work on their scenes.

Audrey allocated scenes for each actor and allocated pairings before the workshop - so that each actor can work with a partner within the group on a text extract - from a new play. Audrey then worked with each pair live in the workshop on the text with direct feedback and guidance.

Bio: Audrey has just finished co-directing the Royal Court Production of 'Jews in Their Own Words' and is an award-winning UK and international freelance director, specialising in new writing, and committed to making work that is rigorous, imaginatively ambitious, and emotionally truthful.

She is a recipient of an MGCfutures bursary 2020, was an Old Vic 12 Director 2019, nominated for the Arts Foundation Award 2018 and Finalist Best Director for the Off-West End Awards 2017/2018 (The Dark Room, Theatre503)

As director, theatre includes: Jews. In Their Own Words (Royal Court); Neighbourhood Voices, Tapestry (Young Vic); Perspective (National); The Dybbuk (Almeida); We Too Are Giants (Kiln); Sleepwalking (Hampstead); The Effect, Apologia (English Theatre Frankfurt); Skin and Blister [staged reading] (Old Vic); The Dark Room (Theatre503); The Scar Test (Arcola); Almost Near (Finborough); Little Flower of East Orange (National Theatre Studio).

As associate/assistant director, theatre includes: Pinter at the Pinter, Don Quixote, Don Juan in Soho, Dead Funny, Hand to God, One Man, Two Guvnors (West End); Electra (Old Vic); Rapture, Blister, Burn (Hampstead); Troilus and Cressida (with The Wooster Group), Antony and Cleopatra (RSC); The Effect (National); Blurred Lines (National Theatre Studio).

Audrey also has extensive experience of working with communities and young people.

Olissa led a TV/Film Workshop. Participants were sent sides to work on with Olissa, which were taped and sent via email after the workshop. Olissa then led a discussion and Q&A with the participants, sharing her knowledge and inspiration.

Olissa Rogers is extremely experienced in casting for TV and has recently branched out on her own as a Casting Director and landed a huge series for a major streaming channel. Before that she was casting associate at Fiona Weir Casting, Theo Park and Amy Hubbard. Some of her casting associate credits include ‘Ted Lasso’ (Apple TV), ‘Brassic’ (SKY), ‘We Are Who We Are’ (HBO) and Criminal UK (Netflix).