August 2025

Workshop Updates

Manchester

We are really excited to get back in the room with you all in September. Isher has chosen the scenes and characters he would like you to look at. Scripts will be sent out next week!

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*MANCHESTER 13th/14th September 2025 - SOLD OUT - WAITING LIST ONLY*

Join the Waiting List

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October in Manchester will be a 360 overview of the casting process and audition technique with George and Sheraz Ahmed CDG(Happy Valley, Time, Hardacres, All Creatures Great and Small, The Feud), who will lead both . I had the pleasure of joining Sheraz in the room recently to assist with Hardacres Season 2 recalls and he has given excellent opportunities to several of our actors following previous workshops. This is why we love Sheraz - he genuinely cares about actors and is always on the lookout for new talent. In this two-day masterclass you will dive into a feature-film script from an upcoming project Sheraz is casting and receive direct, actionable feedback. Get a handle on your audition technique and sharpen your screen skills.

*MANCHESTER 18th/19th October 2025 - Booking Now Open*

Book Manchester October Workshop

London

Isher and George will be in London the weekend after Manchester. Keep an eye on your inbox for those film scripts.

*LONDON 20th/21st September 2025 - SOLD OUT - WAITING LIST ONLY*

Join the Waiting List

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October in London will be a screen acting intensive with me. One group, one studio. We will be exploring power and status on camera through stillness, subtlety, and non-verbal reactions. Looking at status as a way in to building characters and developing your screen acting technique. I’ll be joined by a camera operator for on-screen exercises and playback. My goal is for you to come away with anew clear, simple, actionable technique. Places are strictly limited for this one.

*LONDON 18th/19th October 2025 - Booking Now Open*

Book London October Workshop

Online

Big thank you to our August attendees. We looked at scenes from The Handmaid’s Tale and worked through self-taping principles, process, inner/outer thoughts, non-verbal reactions and uniting. Each actor submitted two self-tapes for review and feedback, and came away with a clear step-by-step process from receiving the breakdown to submitting a tape. More tools for the kit!

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Huge excitement building for our next online course in November -The CMA 360: From All Angles. Those of you who managed to catch our instagram story the other day will have seen one of our confirmed guests. This 4-week online course will feature an exclusive masterclass from a high-profile guest every Wednesday evening. We will be joined by an actor, an agent, a director and a casting director. Invites will be sent out soon but for now you can register your interest for free and we will save you a space.

Register Interest Here

My Ideas

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Status hack - if your character is high status, try keeping your head as still as possible when playing the scene. If low status, try turning your feet inwards. See what happens to your performance*.

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If you can’t decide, the answer is no.

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The power of compound interest can never be underestimated. Especially with habits like exercise. You build a daily exercise habit and stay consistent, day after day, your results compound and keep compounding until suddenly you notice just how incredible you feel. Apply it to acting. Start with a daily habit of 5-minutes per day on something you want to improve on. Keep adding to the time as you tick more and more days off. Let’s say you improve by 1% each week. That’s a 68% improvement in 1 year. In 5 years time? You will have improved by 1,239%. Compound. Interest. Look it up.

*We will be exploring this further in October.

Insights

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Dr Mike Israetel on simplifying decision making:

“Of all the things you could be doing in this very next moment, they fall into two categories: shit you feel like doing and shit you don’t feel like doing. These two categories can then be subdivided: 

Shit you feel like doing: is it a good idea to do? 

Do I have anything pressing to be doing right now? Let’s say the answer is no. Does this thing that I want to do hurt me and my future self in any way? Is it going to hurt someone else? If the answer is no - I can probably do the thing! 

What about if I don’t want to do the thing that I have to do? Is there a compelling reason that doing this thing you don’t want to do improves future outcomes for future you? If the answer is no…don’t do it. If it substantially enhances your future outcomes…you might want to consider doing that thing even though you don’t want to right now.

The whole concept: setting up a better world for you in the future. 

Living good right now? None of it has to do with shit you are doing right now. I did shit earlier that didn’t pay off at the time, it paid off later. Future you is your biggest ally, period. Past you is completely dead. Future you is going to exist soon and you’re going to want to be a future you that you look back at as many points as possible in future you world to be like damn dude old me set the shit up good.”

Here is a handy flow chart breaking it down (thanks ChatGPT):

START →
“What do I feel like doing right now?”

Branch 1: Shit You Feel Like Doing

• Q1: Is it a good idea to do?

  • No → Don’t do it.

  • Yes → Q2.

• Q2: Do I have anything pressing to be doing right now?

  • Yes → Do the pressing thing first.

  • No → Q3.

• Q3: Does this thing hurt me, my future self, or someone else?

  • Yes → Don’t do it.

  • No → Go ahead and do the thing.

Branch 2: Shit You Don’t Feel Like Doing

• Q1: Does doing this substantially improve outcomes for future me?

  • No → Don’t do it.

  • Yes → Consider doing it anyway — future you will thank you.
    

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“The greatest lesson his mother taught him was not to worry about understanding art. ‘Just let it wash over you’, she used to say. ‘Don’t worry about what it means. Just look, and take whatever you need from it.”

From The Artist by Lucy Steed

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“She had this habit. Drove me up the wall. She’d come home from work, and the first thing she’d do was take off her shoes and leave them by the door. Her socks would follow, just laid out on the floor. A trail of clothes left there, waiting for me to pick them up. I asked her why she just didn’t put them in the hamper like a normal person. You know what she said? She said that life was more than dirty socks. It made no sense. It made perfect sense to her. I came home one day. I was late. I opened the door, and there were no shoes right inside. No socks on the floor. No trail of clothes. I thought for once she’d picked up after herself. I was…relieved? I was tired and didn’t want to have to clean up her mess. I called for her. She didn’t answer. I went through the house, room by room, but she wasn’t there. Late, I told myself. And then the phone rang. That was the day I learned my wife had passed unexpectedly. It’s funny really. Because even as they told me she was gone, that it had been quick and she hadn’t suffered, all I could think about was how I’d give anything to have her shoes by the door. Her dirty socks on the floor. A trail of clothes leading toward the bedroom.”

From Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

CMA Actor Spotlight

London regular and CMA socials guru George Hargreaves has booked his first ever TV job - he will be acting alongside the two leads in a new Agatha Christie series. At CMA we have been mentoring George and helped him to secure his current agent. We are so proud of his progress and development!

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Long overdue congratulations are due to London actor Iris Abols, whose son Cosmo has just turned 5 months. No doubt you are smashing motherhood Iris! She has shared a casting opportunity with us for an animated short film.

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Please keep us updated with what you are up to - we would love to shout about your work in the newsletter.

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Thanks for reading,

— Majid