Process Not Performance: Whatever Works

May 2026

Hello!

Here is the CMA newsletter - a dedicated space for our latest news, acting tips, life reflections, inspiring quotes, and updates from our talented actors.

Workshop Updates

Manchester

May was another sold-out success in our favorite city of the North. Sonia Allam Casting Associate Leila Ali joined us on the Saturday. She selected scenes from projects her and Sonia had previously worked on together, watched our actors perform, redirected and gave feedback.

On the Sunday we shifted focus to the stage with George leading a workshop on People, Places and Things. He has just directed it at Manchester School of Theatre.

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Our final in-person workshop before the summer break will be on the American accent. It is all happening this weekend (13th/14th June) and we have 3 places remaining. Check your inbox for the invite with full details. You can book below.

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We will return 5th/6th September 2026 with an industry guest alongside George. Details coming very soon.

Book June Manchester Workshop

London

In London we were joined by award-winning Casting Director Peter Hunt CDG. He brought me in for Hollyoaks back in 2016 after we met on a plane to Ibiza(!) and my life completely changed. It was a joy to work alongside him at CMA. He guided the actors through the world of continuing drama and taught us which habits to avoid on screen. Loads of golden nuggets to take home from this one.

I continued the work on Sunday with a focus on continuity and the style of acting required for soap.

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27th/28th June in London will be a repeat of Manchester with vocal specialist and dialect coach Rosemary Berkon. Come and brush up on your American accent to confidently add ‘highly skilled’ to your snazzy new Spotlight profile (why have they changed it?!).

Book now using the link below. There are a few spaces remaining.

Book London June Workshop

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Following the summer break, our September workshop in London will be happening 19th/20th. Block it out on your calendar and we will send out details soon to book.

My Ideas

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Actors complain when they aren’t in work and complain when they are. Don’t buy into the negativity.

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Your best work on camera might not ‘feel’ the best. Screen acting requires precision, technique, clarity, stillness, specificity and repeatability. Sometimes the most effective close-up is something technically controlled rather than emotionally explosive. That doesn’t mean it’s ‘fake’. It’s craft.

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Make the editor love you. Put lots of moments into your performance that give them cut points. Eye flashes, end reactions, continuity, different versions of the same line (director dependent), interesting bits of business, looks away (inner thoughts) and back onto the eyeline. Chances are they will keep cutting back to you.

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Film and TV have huge crews of people. Take the time to say hello to everyone, learn names, have chats and make connections. These are the people who will help you do your best work. Help them do theirs.

Insights

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Ralph Waldo Emerson on success:

“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”

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Shane Parrish on goals:

“We must understand that just because there is no immediate and visible impact from our decisions doesn’t mean that we are not moving closer to or further from our objectives.”

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The White Rabbit on life:

“It’s completely obvious and utterly bewildering. So you do what you can, when you can, and everyone muddles through and just occasionally something’s so beautiful it takes your breath away.”

- from the play Alice by Laura Wade.