Why Did I Have to Move To London To Get Work In The North?

Jane Crawshaw, 26 September 2012

Session attended by Jane C, Dan, Ed and Joe from Zest Theatre

Session later merged with “How can we support recent graduates” discussion.

Points of Discussion:

- There's a pressure to move to London for work

- Dawn found this, but when in London felt being from the North was a barrier to her getting work, and when she moved back to Lincoln she gained employment straight away. She hadn't previously tried to get work in Lincoln, because of the pressure to move to London.

- Lots of casting directors are based in London, so difficult to be seen for work in the town you live in. For example, I know someone who has lived in Sheffield all their life, and went to the Crucible Youth Theatre, but can't get seen for work there because he doesn't live in London.

Conclusion: To live and work in London you need a link in there, either be from there originally, have gone to Uni there, or have contacts there already. For example, I worked in a venue at the Edinburgh Fringe for three years, and through my contacts there managed to get my first jobs in London.

The problem of how to be seen for work in your home town when the casting directors live in London was not resolved.

Tags:

Zest Theatre, Lincoln, Pressure on Graduates, Sheffield, Graduates, Pleasance Edinburgh, Edinburgh Fringe, Crucible, edinburgh fringe, London, london, graduates, Casting Directors