Comedian Bill Bailey is hosting a new series, Bring The Drama, which aims to give aspiring actors a chance to break into the industry – a network of film and television careers events will also take place around the UK.
Hosted by actor and comedian Bill Bailey (pictured here when he was a contestant on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing), new reality show Bring The Drama will follow eight aspiring actors as they’re mentored over six weeks by casting director Kelly Valentine Hendry. Hendry’s cast shows including Bridgerton, Gangs Of London, Ghosts and Broadchurch.
In each episode of Bring The Drama, aspiring actors will visit the sets of celebrated UK dramas such as Peaky Blinders, EastEnders and Silent Witness, and will recreate scenes with real scripts, cameras and time pressures that professional actors face.
Bailey said in a statement to the BBC that “it has been a delight to work on Bring The Drama and witness first-hand how the actors have grown in confidence and skills over the weeks. What I particularly liked was the way it shows the whole process of making TV – being on an actual set, with a real crew to help you learn what it’s really like. It was great fun but also a brilliant insight into how casting works and a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes of some of our most popular TV shows”.
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Created alongside the series is the Bring the Drama Festival, a six week programme of careers events around the UK showcasing behind the scenes jobs in the creative industries.
Over six weeks, you’ll be able to find an event about everything from stage-managing to wig-making, lighting to line producing, set design to make-up design.
The BBC’s joining forces with some of the UK’s leading cultural organisations, including Youth Theatre, Screen Alliance North, Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre, Get Into Theatre, Into Film, Cameron Mackintosh Limited, Bristol Old Vic, ScreenSkills, the BFI, BAFTA, Screen Scotland, Northern Ireland Screen and Ffilm Cymru. to create the first festival of its kind: bringing together stage and screen and opening up the doors to the next generation of behind-the-scenes talent.
Full details can be found by using the ERIC app from the 1st of February, so audiences can put in their postcode and find events within the festival near them.
