Pure Graft

Joining me this week is the incredible Aisha Bywaters. We will be discussing all things casting, COVID, diversity & taking your questions   AISHA BYWATERS STARTED WORKING IN CASTING IN 2007. AISHA WORKED FOR SHAHEEN BAIG FOR 6 YEARS, SHE ASSISTED SHAHEEN ON NUMEROUS PROJECTS INCLUDING FILMS THE IMPOSSIBLE, STARRED UP, BLACK MIRROR AND PEAKY BLINDERS. IN 2015 SHE SET UP HER OWN COMPANY, HER CREDITS AS A CASTING DIRECTOR INCLUDE CYBERBULLY (STARRING MAISIE WILLIAMS), THE WATCHMEN (STARRING STEPHEN GRAHAM) AND ENTERPRICE (WRITTEN BY AND STARRING KAYODE EWUMI) FOR TV. HER FILM CREDITS INCLUDE DIRTY GOD AND THE LAST TREE (WHICH BOTH PREMIERED AT THE SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2019). FOR HER WORK ON THE LAST TREE SHE WAS NOMINATED FOR A BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM AWARD FOR BEST CASTING ALONGSIDE SHAHEEN BAIG. HER UPCOMING PROJECTS INCLUDE CHANNEL 4 COMEDY LADY PARTS WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY NIDA MANZOOR AND FEATURE FILM COUNTY LINES (WHICH PREMIERED AT THE LONDON FILM FESTIVAL 2019 AND WILL BE IN CINEMAS IN 2020). IN SEPTEMBER 2020 AISHA WAS NAMED ONE OF SCREEN INTERNATIONAL'S UK & IRELAND STARS OF TOMORROW.

This weeks Q&A is with Executive Director of HOME in Manchester Jon Gilchrist   Me & Jon will be discussing the difficulties of reopening a major venue over Covid, discussing in house producing, theatre marketing & questions from you. Jon is Executive Director of HOME, a multi-arts venue in Manchester which with 2 theatres, 5 cinemas and gallery spaces. HOME has a year-round international programme, and over 800,000 visits last year alone. It is one of few organisations in the UK to produce, commission and present visiting work across theatre, visual arts and film. Prior to this Jon worked as Executive Director of the Bush Theatre between 2014 and 2018. In this time he led on their major capital redevelopment, and helped expand the organisation’s reach as a centre of excellence for new writing. Before this he worked in marketing roles at theatres across the North West for ten years, including The Lowry in Salford, the Octagon Theatre Bolton, and the Dukes in Lancaster.

Our second Q&A of the week is with Curtis Brown literary agent Isobel Gahan   I talk to the amazing Isobel Gahan who is a literary agent at Curtis Brown. We talk what literary agents do, how to get 1 & of course taking questions from you Isobel Gahan works with Stephanie Thwaites at the Curtis Brown literary agency. Prior to that she worked at J K Rowling’s company Pottermore. She was long-listed for the 2020 Trailblazer award, which celebrates publishing professionals who demonstrate creativity and ambition. Isobel was nominated especially for her work with the Original Talent Green Team. She enjoys fantasy and plots with a mythical twist, for Middle Grade and YA readers, and a strong and distinctive writerly voice that will draw her into a child’s world.

To start this weeks double whammy I interview arts journalist Mark Shenton   This week I will be discussing with Mark how to get into arts journalism, the importance of reviews and more. MARK SHENTON has been a leading London-based critic, commentator, columnist, interviewer and broadcaster on theatre for the last two decades. He has variously served as chief critic for the Sunday Express, WhatsOnStage, The Stage (also Associate Editor), LondonTheatre.co.uk and What’s On in London magazine, and has written for The Guardian, The Observer, The Times, Time Out and Attitude magazines, amongst others. In the US, he was long-time London correspondent to Playbill.com. He has curated and conducted live interviews for the Theatrical Guild with guests that have included Judi Dench, Simon Russell Beale, Michael Codron and more, and hosted platforms at the National with Stephen Sondheim, Peter Shaffer and David Henry Hwang, at the Donmar Warehouse with Derek Jacobi and Helen McCrory, and at Crazy Coqs with Tim Minchin and Anne Reid. For the last eight years he has taught classes at ArtsEd London on the history and appreciation of musical theatre to their first year BA students. He has co-authored Harden’s London theatre guide. As theatre emerges from it’s COVID-enforced hibernation, Mark is determined to continue to fly the flag for independent but dependable critical content, via his personal website ShentonStage and twitter @ShentonStage.

Next up in our Actor Awareness Lockdown Q&A's is 1 of the country's leading casting directors in the incredible Shaheen Baig!   We will be discussing how shes earned her reputation of funding incredible emerging talent, casting in Covid, casting diverse talent & more. Shaheen Baig gained her first casting director credit on Alejandro Amenábar’s The Others starring Nicole Kidman, and established her own company in 2001 after assisting some of the leading UK Casting Directors for several years. Since then, Shaheen Baig Casting has earned a reputation for finding and nurturing new and diverse acting talent, as well as supporting promising new filmmakers and established directors in film & television. Based in London, SBC is Shaheen, Layla, Michelle, Jonny & Gabby..