Casting director observations (Youtube - Interview Questions)

I found early on when reflecting on my inquiry focus groups and interviews data I was able to gain a vast array of opinions from sources such as; performing arts teachers, professional performers, training performers and performing arts teachers in training. This was mainly from within my professional network. Although I had only been able to gain two separate casting professionals input via interviews. I felt that in order to bring a more balanced outlook for my inquiry answering 'Does a teaching role within the arts impede the opportunity to perform' there must be another way for me to seek casting professionals opinions outside of my professional network.

After some consideration I searched on youtube viewing over twenty different casting professional’s videos sharing opinions and experiences in the hope of answering any of my interview questions to potentially bring further insight to my inquiry. Interview questions for casting directors and chorographers:

http://interviewquestionsforacastingdirectorchoreographer.wikispaces.com/

Unfortunately after searching for sometime it became apparent that this process wasn’t going to be very successful proving too vague for my inquiry to substantiate my findings further. Also I felt it wasn’t informative enough to find any conclusive evidence to answer my questions regarding whether a teaching role within the arts impedes the opportunity to perform. However I did find a lot of advice when preparing for auditions do's and don’ts tricks of the trade if you like. All of which I found extremely interesting and on mass I believe could be used as compelling evidence/advice to integrate as part of my professional artefact.

With my inquiry being so specific I was unable to further my reach to more casting professionals. However I do believe it has brought further insight, beyond my own professional network, connecting me to leading professionals with years of experience in the performing arts industry sharing their views and advice.

Literature Review 5 Why the Arts Matter

The next piece of literature I have chosen to review is taken from The Arts Council England website surrounding why the arts matter. This article discusses funding allowed for the arts and how the impact of the arts has on Britain's economy:
'The arts budget is tiny; it costs 17p a week per person - less than half the price of a pint of milk. In return we have: world-class arts and artists; a sector that gives Britain an international edge as a dynamic place to live, work and do business; a sector which fuels the creative industries and generates future jobs in one of the fastest growing parts of the economy; and a sector with a proven track record of regenerating towns and cities and contributing to a cohesive and engaged society'. The Arts Council,England. (2009)
Reading this article I found it contained many financial statistics surrounding why the arts council demonstrate why the arts matter after 15 years of sustained investment. Within this article I felt that amongst the opinions the facts spoke for themselves and demonstrated well how facts and statistics can be used to strengthen an argument. Being interpreted the only way possible I noticed that asides from the opinions the stand alone facts were clear to decipher.
I felt the perception towards the arts and its effect on society, outlining what it could mean for the economy in the future as long as funding is maintained, led me to consider the impact this could have on a smaller scale. With this article speaking form a national scale, I couldn’t help consider how the knock on effect could impact individuals within the performing arts industry. For every£1 the arts council invests £2 is donated by private investors allowing the growth of the arts in Britain. I wondered with so much financial backing to push on in the future and increase job opportunities within this sector what would happen if government funding was cut what effect would this have nationally on industry professionals.
I have chosen to focus my inquiry investigating how I could potentially strengthen performers, and performing arts teachers’ employability and career longevity in the performing arts industry. I hope to examine the realities of industry professionals on how they could/have increased their hire ability and expanded their professional networking skills in order to maximise their potential. After reading this article I felt reassured that my inquiry was important and it’s not just myself who has a passion for the arts it is much wider spread “More people are enjoying the arts than ever before (76% in 2008/9)"The Arts Council,England. (2009)
There appears to be substantial support to the arts funding and exposure but why then do many still struggle to sustain a career in arts? Through my initial inquiry interviews and focus group planning I felt the need to address this question in the hope it could lead to a deeper understanding of how peoples experiences whilst working in the industry compared. I felt with these shared experiences I could potentially find a correlation to where success/disappointment in the arts lay therefore showing an example of how to get where you want to be without making too many bad decisions. With this article I became more aware of the wide spread involvement of individuals within the performing arts industry and the impact of their interest or disinterest could have to its future. Before I had just looked within my own professional network and not considered the bigger picture and potential reach beyond it. I discovered that in order to form a strong basis for my inquiry analysis I should look beyond the obvious and look at the information sources from this article as a an example of the differing sources out there. This article really highlighted the need to address issues within the arts from a well rounded perspective and that is what I hope to carry out throughout my inquiry. To answer my inquiry question; Does a teaching role within the arts impede the opportunity to perform? I now see that it’s not just performers and performing arts teacher’s opinions that could bring a deeper insight and direction. I now believe that perceptions from anyone with a connection to the performing arts industry, career related or just general interest could bring valuable greater perception therefore allowing me a broader input of information to analyse my findings from. I had already looked at my survey and interview candidate choices and now reconsidered the network for inclusion. I then reconsidered by asking "Calling all professional/training performers, teachers, casting directors and anyone else with an affiliation within the arts!" Gaskell(2011) to broaden my reach and potential inclusion of participants.
This article exploring why the arts matter has given me a lot to think about for my inquiry. I further believe I must not allow my personal views to sway my judgement and by gaining a well rounded selection of perceptions I will truly answer my inquiry unbiased and as accurately as possible. When I analyse my findings I yet don’t know what the outcome will be, but by gaining as much input from as many different sources as possible I believe this will show my findings to be a true representation from across the board.



The Arts Council,England. (2009). Why the arts matter. Available:
http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/about-us/why-arts-matter/. Last accessed 25th November 2011.

Gaskell, Rebecca (2011). BA Professional Practice Arts Middlesex University.Available: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=501852648&ref=tn_tnmn#!/pages/BA-Professional-Practice-Arts-Middlesex-University/145821545478191?sk=wall&filter=1 . Last accessed 21st December 2011.

Literature Review 4

Changing gender portrayal: Promoting employment opportunities for women in the performing arts.



The fourth piece of literature I have chosen to review is a report based on research from International Federation of Actors (FIA) an international non-governmental organisation representing performers’ trade unions, guilds and associations around the world.

The first thing that I noticed when reading this report was the way in which the data was displayed in an easy to read manner, clear and concise. The purpose of this document was to research the disadvantages in employment older women performers in particular compared to male performers experienced. It was apparent that a lot of preparation had gone into sourcing the information within this document reaching right across the EU.

Although this document is very specific with its intentions to look at gender equality I believe much of the findings attempting "to form a picture of the realities of working as a performer in Europe and in particular to collect data on the perceived effects of a performer’s age, gender and other social identities on their access to employment. Centrally, does ageing affect access to jobs, content of jobs, pay and career longevity differently depending on a performer’s gender?" (Dean 2011) provides great insight. For me the collection of data for this report showed how much the perceptions of others could provide vital knowledge and insight into ways in perhaps improvements within the performance sector could be made. I felt the collection of such mass data provided a great example of how data compiled can provide concise answers to establish areas for improvement. Looking at this report I was able to see a great example of how opinions from professionals within the performing arts industry could potentially benefit other aspiring professionals. One comment when respondents were asked "What would improve employment opportunities for you?" (Dean 2011) really stood out to me and I felt could hold much relevance for my inquiry. One answer to this question wanted "More openness from casting directors, directors and producers towards me being able to comprehend and convey a three-dimensional character in spite of young age and attractive looks." (Dean 2011) Perhaps my inquiry could provide an answer to what casting directors want and whether or not they saw teaching experience as a positive thing when applying for work. With reference to my intended inquiry topic could teaching impede the opportunity to perform from a casting director’s perspective? So this feedback helped me to shape where my investigations could reach and what may potentially strengthen my argument. I was compelled to see the importance of this and see how a cross section of individuals could provide insight and perhaps find a correlation between this and their employment success.
In conclusion this report provided me with a great template in which to form my interview, survey and focus group format and demonstrates what a well planned and thought-out
project can produce.


Deborah Dean. (2011). ‘CHANGING GENDER PORTRAYAL: PROMOTING EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN IN THE PERFORMING ARTS’. Available: http://www.equity.org.uk/committees/women-s-committee-2011-2013/documents/fia-report-on-performers-employment/. Last accessed 24.11.11

How the Facebook SIG's have helped my inquiry

I have had many discussions via facebook SIG's which allowed be to establish just how many other teaching-performers there were on this course. With my inquiry veering towards how I could possible improve my understanding of how others are able to sustain working within the performing arts industry. I was able to ask questions that I was planning on asking in my interviews and refine the question upon others responses. I used the various SIG's to cherry pick my area of interest whether it be dance/singing teachers, dancers, singers and other performers. This proved extremely useful as well as being able to ask my questions I was able to share my experiences with others which in turn helped bring focus to my inquiry seeing where I could potentially improve my chances of staying in the industry longer. After much deliberation I pinpointed the exact area that I wished to concentrate my inquiry on looking to see whether or not a teaching career within the arts impeded the opportunity to perform.

I found that many others shared passion of performing and taught alongside which definitely gave me assurance that I wasn't alone in my chosen decision to combine a teaching and performance role. I discussed the need for teaching when not performing and the surprising outcome of a lot of people who said they hadn't all planned to teach but sort of fell into and found a real passion for it. Others felt aware they would probably at some point need to teach in order to support their performance career if they hadn't already done so, seeing it as a financially motivated decision as it was the easiest and most obvious choice. Finding many different experiences from a variety of backgrounds I realised that in order for me to bring substance and clarity to my inquiry that is exactly what I would need to do so. Rather than just going to the people who already combined both roles I could approach people before hand i.e. students still training, performers who hadn't needed or wanted to turn to teaching. I also thought I could examine the impact the combination of both roles could have on a person’s perception from others in the industry. I can recall one person had commented saying g they hadn't wanted to teach as they didn't see it necessary as they had been able to find enough performance work and were uninterested in teaching anyway. This made me think if that’s there personal view who else would view this as unnecessary or not be interested. Could this combination be a negative thing for a performer to teach? What would say a casting director view this experience as, valuable or see it as a distraction?

As much as I view teaching as a way for me to gain valuable experience and sustain my connection in the arts others clearly didn't share my view. I began teaching as a way of financing my dance classes and auditions once I graduated so this enabled me to follow my passion. As my career has progressed teaching became something that I was able to dip in and out of between performance contracts. At times I have been put in a position where I have had to make a decision between the two and often wonder if that was the right decision. I now began to wonder depending on the perspective, what others felt about this combination and could see whether the advice I received could provide clarity for me and perhaps others on the realities of making these types of career choices.

As a result of these SIG interactions I became more confident in my decision to investigate as many different perceptions allowing myself to gain a true indication of the impact a combined teaching and performing career may be perceived from other industry professionals.

Literature Review 3 Frustrated Professional or Contented Amateur

The next piece of literature I have chosen to review is taken from a book which was lent to me by Ella Fontaine a fellow performing teacher. Her speciality is in opera singing so the book which she refers to as her "Bible" gives advice for that discipline in particular but I believe is very poignant for my inquiry. It was following my interview with her that she recommended it to me as she felt it may contain some interesting perceptions on what working within the arts is like.

The third piece of literature taken form Voice (Menuhin, 1983) Chapter 12 entitled Frustrated Professional or Contented Amateur by Phillipa Thomson ex student and PA to the Royal College of Music from 1974-1980.

The title of this article was interesting and really stood out to me as I am looking to establish different opinions from people working within the arts so the comparison of amateurs and professionals was intriguing. Phillipa studied at the Royal College of Music to train as a professional singer but soon found herself become secretary of the students association. Through this position she found herself developing administrative and organisational skills. Arranging extracurricular events, recitals and concerts with volunteers from her course. Her original idea to train as a professional singer soon changed as she found a new passion “At the end of three years at college it was quite obvious that I was not destined to become a soloist". Phillipa had gained a teacher diploma in singing but her lack of pianist skills "severely handicapped" her when it came to giving private lessons. Her initial career path and training aspirations had not resulted in the role she was to embark upon for her future career. "I enjoyed my college career enormously but not for the reasons that I had imagined when I embarked upon it". Once she graduated she found herself securing secretarial work to support herself financially and "seized every opportunity for music-making in the evening and weekends".

I was surprised to read how she found huge satisfaction by performing as often as she could without having to face huge pressure and rejection classing herself as an amateur. How empowering it must feel to know you can enjoy what you love without concerning herself with the worry of needing to earn money through it. I think at times it is easy to forget why I am a performer I love the feeling I get when I perform because I feel the most relaxed and myself I suppose it’s just in my nature. I perform because I love it not for fame and fortune. This article has really made me think which scenario would be better then, frustrated professional or contented amateur?

Currently finding myself teaching for financial security as well as enjoyment to stay working within the arts, I am able to relate with this situation as I'm sure could many other professionals. I'm believe from reading this article Phillipa didn't intend to be an amateur but found surprising satisfaction through being a secretary and which enabled her to perform with ease by doing so. I believe this article really highlights potential discoveries and uncertainties that lie when attempting a career in the arts. I see this article as a great example of how artists can pursue different roles whilst sustaining performance opportunities to the arts.

For my inquiry I have looked for examples of where and when teaching roles within the arts impedes the opportunity to perform. This article has brought a new perspective to my investigations being that Phillipa was an amateur performer so her performance opportunities appeared not to be impeded by her secretary (day job). Her job actually appears to have enabled her to pursue her performance career without the constraints of financial worries or face rejection of auditions. Being an amateur it seems money isn't a concern being a professional is where finances cause complications. It has made me question if a person loves performing why not just become an amateur and take on another role perhaps teaching to provide financial stability?

Having read this article I am further compelled to search for as many perspectives from individuals in the arts to provide conclusive evidence for my inquiry. This article surprised me as I hadn't considered that amateur’s opinions could provide just as informative a perspective as a professional. I had opened up my survey up to all professionals associated within the arts for feedback I wonder if any amateur performers wanted to have their but didn't because I used the word professional maybe I could have made this clearer. Being paid makes you a professional, not being paid makes you an amateur but the passion is just the same isn't it?

Yehudi Menuhin. (1983). Frustrated Professional or Contented Amateur. In: Sir Keith Falkner Voice. London: Macdonald & Co. p99-102.(Accessed 19.11.11)

My decisions for not including observations in my inquiry then changing my mind again.

For my final inquiry observations initially I considered observing three of my colleagues teaching a variety of drama and dance classes. With this I wondered what could I observe and what it could bring to my inquiry in the way of data? Having the option to hold peer observations looking at teaching methods to answer Does a teaching role within the arts impede the opportunity to perform. I was able to get three teachers who all agreed and took part in my focus group and once I reviewed the content of this I really didn’t see how observing them further could add anything else relevant to my inquiry that their previous opinions had provided. So with this in mind not feeling I had access to observe any other sources I opted to not use observations as one of my inquiry tools.

Since this decision I started to ask the question what If I could observe/interview or hold a focus group with anyone who would it be even outside of my professional network to bring more perspectives and opinions to my inquiry? Then the answer came to me just because I wasn't able to speak directly or meet with casting directors, performers and teachers from across the industry working within the arts didn't mean that their opinions weren't accessible and available to me! One thing that this BAPP course has really taught me is that the use of modern technology has the ability to allow me access to vast amounts of knowledge and information that hasn't always been readily available. The likes of youtube has enabled me to source so many videos packed full of advice and information from right across the industry. I have had previous experience of using youtube from where I publicised my own dance show reel but I don't think I had fully appreciated the full potential it had until now. The reach is huge and I found so much relevant information for my inquiry which has proved astounding.

So from deciding against including observations within my inquiry I then opted to now include them again. Having the ability to cherry pick different professional perspectives from a variety of backgrounds I believe has really brought further substance to my inquiry.