You made it past the tax deadline. Now invest in your career...
TRU ACTORS RESOURCE NIGHT
(AND "SPEED DATING")
Instead of being relieved at how little you paid in taxes, make plans to earn more money in 2010!
Invest in your career by checking out our great lineup of resources
who just might be able to help you!

And no, it's not really a date. Just a way to meet some really helpful people.
Including manager Christopher Silveri of Prestige Management
and casting directors Brooke Franqui and Kevin Kennison!
Produced by Theater Resources Unlimited
in association with Weist Barron Studios and Jaye Maynard.

Tuesday evening April 27th at 7pm
Weist Barron Studios,
35 W. 45th Street, 6th floor

Reservations required: email TRUnltd@aol.com

So what's this about "Speed Dating"? Is this a fix-up? Nah, it's nothing romantic. Is it an audition? Nah - no monolog slam, or need to be "on." You don't even have to sign up for "Speed Dating" to party with us.

But it's a chance to introduce yourself to our eleven sponsoring hosts (including Christopher Silveri of Prestige Management Group, and casting directors Brooke Franqui and Kevin Kennison). Click here for the lineup of who's on your dating card!

Oh, we have to charge. But it's only $15 (but still FREE for TRU members), and you've gotten your money's worth with two glasses of wine and a plate of cheese, right?

• ABOUT SPEED DATING. How does it work? Okay. There are ten or eleven stations each manned by a sponsor who offers you a service. We put you in a group of ten or eleven, each of you starts at a different station. You spend three minutes finding out about your "date." Or telling them about yourself. Or asking for advice. Or cvetching. It's your three minutes. We let you know when 30 seconds remain, and then we let you know when three minutes are up and you have to move to the next station. As a thank you, your "date" will give you a coupon for a discount or special offer (these offers are given only to people who go through Speed Dating.) At the end of a thirty minute (approx) circuit, we bring in the next group of ten or eleven. While you're waiting, you can drink and socialize. Join the Discussion Group. Or primp for your dates:

Valerie Adami of Weist-Barron Studios
Penelope Brackett, The Creative Seed, career coach
Barry Burns, headshot photographer
Todd Etelson, Actors Technique, NY On-Camera Audition Technique
Brooke Franqui, indie casting director, associate producer Leftfield Productions
Lisa Gold of Act Outside the Box
Kevin Kennison - K2 Casting, casting director, career coach
Paul Michael, The Network
Paula J. Riley, coach
Christopher Silveri of Prestige Management Group
one more to be confirmed

lineup subject to change due to availability of participants

	• BACKROOM DISCUSSION GROUP. We will also be offering headshot evaluations and consultations, as well as audition protocol discussions, with TRU Literary & Casting Director Catherine Lamm and TRU photographer Ellis Gaskell.

• In addition to the dating stations, there will be other actor resources to meet on your own. So bring lots of headshots to give out. We can fit only 20 actors at this event. Please reserve right away by emailing TRUnltd@aol.com with the header "I wanna Speed Date!"

MAKE A (3-MINUTE) DATE WITH OUR HOSTING SPONSORS (• denotes Speed Date; others are co-sponsoring "floaters" who also want to meet you)
	• VALERIE ADAMI - Owner/Director Weist-Barron Acting for Film & Television Casting Director WB Casting. A Musical Theatre background changed into Voice-Over and Soap Opera work after she studied at Weist-Barron in the 1980’s. Valerie was asked to join the WB staff because of her excellent people skills and a genuine desire to help actors fulfill their goals. In 1985 Weist-Barron created WB Casting to expand the schools services and Valerie became the on-site casting dir. Although her principal job is running the school, she casts for corporate videos, commercial print, and the occasional student film. In 2006, Valerie was given ownership of Weist-Barron by Bob Barron’s widow. She considers it a scared trust to continue what Bob and his partner, famed announcer Dwight Weist were the first to create. Valerie also developed “Getting the Biz’ness” one of the first patented seminars dealing with the logistics of pursuing a career in Acting. In addition she teaches “Cold Reading for Film & TV” and directs the much- admired Weist-Barron Film & Television Showcases. Weist-Barron has been training, guiding and show-casing actors specifically for work in Film and Television since 1956. Our goal is to make sure actors feel confident of their on-camera performance and understand how to direct their career path. Our courses are informative, rewarding and affordable (no membership fees) and are always free to visit. A short film about the school can be accessed on our very comprehensive website www.weistbarron.com
	• PENELOPE BRACKETT (The Creative Seed) is a nationally recognized veteran in the field of career and life coaching. An excellent speaker, trainer, program designer and author, Ms. Brackett coaches individuals and companies to create powerful businesses, vibrant communities and satisfying personal lives. In working with her diverse clientele including professionals in the arts, education, business, technology and finance, she brings her passion for creativity, communication and balance. Ms Brackett has been featured in The New York Times, The Today Show, CNN's Glen Beck, Child Magazine, Matters Magazine and the internet radio show, The Coaching Hour with Lester Thomas Shane. Penelope received the highest designation of Master Certified Coach from the International Federation of Coaching. She is the coauthor of "Seven Keys for Unlocking Success without Struggle" with Lester Thomas Shane. Her online newsletter, "The Fertile Ground" features articles and exercises to grow your life and career. Articles include: "Ask and You Shall Receive", "Emergency Distractions" and "My Gift's better than your Gift".
	• BARRY BURNS - Barry's vast experience in photographing actor's for the last forty years has been of great help for those performers who are looking for a variety of emotional responses during there photo session. One of his specialties is helping actor's get past being nervous during their photo shoot. Actor's are nervous before they take that step onstage, but once onstage the excitment of performing moves their energy freely. His philosophy is take that step onstage for a headshot session that truly represents talent, right on for age & type. He has directored actor's onstage and has directorial experience while working with clients. Being nervous during the photo shoot hides personality, hides the inner quality, that can be touching, warm, endearing, that also shows the actor's power with strength for the parts that can be auditioned for. There is a simple, but powerful directness to his work. He also has been a performer working on Broadway, Commerials, Soaps so truly understands the performers predictment during photo session's. When working with Barry you'll not be on your own.
	• BROOKE FRANQUI is an independent Casting Director who casts theater and film in addition to nonfiction documentary style series. She cast Turkey Day, Take Me You Fool, Roosevelt F Stop, Bag the Dog and A Silent Walk. Her non-scripted projects include truTV's The Principal's Office (season 2), Hallmark Channel's Hallmark Heroes with Regis Philbin, TLC's Happily Ever Faster and developmental casting for various production companies in Manhattan.
	ELLIS GASKELL (TRU photographer) is a New York photographer specializing in theater-related work, and the author of "An Actor's Guide: How To Get The Best Headshot." Copies of his book will be available at a 1/3 discount off the book store/internet price.
	• LISA GOLD (Act Outside the Box) is an actress, author, speaker and entrepreneur. Her company, Act Outside the Box, was created and dedicated to the END of the "Starving Artist" syndrome. Personally leading actors through uniquely designed and implemented programs to educate creatively self-expressed people in show BUSINESS, she formulated her ground-breaking seminar, "How to Get and Keep an Agent" based on her own 30 professional career as an actress, 10 years as one of the principle partners at Actors Connection, and 5 years of general marketing studies. One of the most highly in demand FREE workshops at SAG and AFTRA, participants have termed it "career altering in the most unexpected and promising way". Lisa is thrilled to meet the wonderful TRU actors at tonight's speed "date"...:)
	• KEVIN KENNISON: Independent Casting Director New York, Los Angeles, Regional, International. Kevin is also an experienced Director, Master Acting Teacher/Coach and Career Counselor. Currently based in New York, casting includes: Broadway, National/International Tours for Disney Theatrical Productions, holding regional auditions in New York and around the country, the award winning independent feature film, "Exposed", the episodic television medical drama, "Diagnosis X" and the pilot for "24/24" in Los Angeles, the SAG indie "Promises of Home", three seasons for RIPFEST developmental film festival, industrials for Pfizer, off-Broadway's "Lebensraum" for Israel Horovitz, "The Garden Party" for Gregory Mosher and Vaclav Havel with Dustin Hoffman, 15 new play premieres for the Summer Play Festival (SPF), several backer's auditions of new plays and musicals, including at the York and the Lion theaters, and a regional production of "Romeo and Juliet". Former faculty NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Brooklyn College, SUNY Oswego, University of Oregon, and well as several New York Acting Studios, including the Atlantic, CAP 21 and Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute where he taught acting, directing, musical theatre, theatre for youth, audition skills and acting as a business, as well as other courses. Kevin is often a guest lecturer and guest director at major university performing arts programs and conservatories, frequently asked to design workshops including acting/monologue boot camps, musical theatre auditioning skills, acting as a business seminars/intensives, and to work with college showcases or coach college auditions. He is also often a panelist for entertainment information seminars for performers. Former students include a Tony winner, Tony nominees, Emmy, Drama Desk and Obie nominees, a Theatre World Award winner, and many have solid careers in film, television and theatre. Kevin holds a BA in Theatre, MFA in Acting, and abd PhD at NYU. www.k2casting.com.
	CATHERINE LAMM literary & casting director of TRU, is a director and private coach who has trained with the Royal National Theatre (Edinburgh), the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation, and the American Film Institute. She was formerly the casting director for the Chelsea and West Side Theaters. Catherine is also a feature writer and reviewer for Stage Press Weekly and British Theatre Guide . A veteran theatre professional, she has worked with The Players' Guide , Samuel French, and Broadway producers Mordeccai & Associates, and is a sometime dramaturg/literary consultant to various NYC-based theatre companies and producing organizations. A former professional actor with Off Broadway and West End roles to her credit, Catherine has been teaching actors about the business of performing since 1986. www.catherinelamm.com
• PAUL J. MICHAEL - Executive Director of The Network, is a veteran stage director, having directed numerous productions in New York City over the past 16 years.  Paul has worked at many Off-Broadway theatres, including Ensemble Studio Theatre, Circle Rep and The Actor's Playhouse.  Paul recently directed Harley Adams' Play %233, which was the winner of the Samuel French Festival, as well as Eugene Gyrgo's Graduation, which placed as a semi-finalist in the Strawberry Festival.  Some other directing projects include The Naive Artist based on a real life experience of Lanford Wilson, Heterosexuals in Crisis, The Cradle of Maybe, and Minus Some Buttons, which was also published by Samuel French as a result of that production.  Paul is the Co-founder and Artistic Director of Olympia Theatre Company, which has produced numerous plays over the past decade. He has trained as a director at the MFA program at Mankato State University in Minnesota, CW Post University on Long Island, Daemon College, Circle Rep under Michael Warren Powell and extensively as a television director at Video Associates under Gordon Rigsby.  Paul holds a Master's degree in Directing from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. The Network is a place where Metropolitan area theatre and film artists and the agents, managers and casting directors looking to work with them can meet, communicate and connect in a safe and creative atmosphere. Through weekly seminars and Q&A sessions with some of New York's top entertainment professionals, we provide an opportunity for actors, directors and playwrights to get some "face time" with them, with the goal of harboring a working relationship. With an open door policy, The Network serves as a hub that can be used to seek out advice, information and coaching from our staff and associates.  We strive to maintain a level of integrity, honesty and a commitment to the needs and success of the individual that is unique to any other service of its kind.
	• PAULA J. RILEY - For over 35 years Paula has acted, directed, taught, coached and produced in New York City. Her aim is to help the actor achieve the greatest possibility for the existence of nuance, through the profound understanding of character development and its inevitable progression. Her workshops and private coaching have helped beginners as well as professionals, toward a deeper understanding, and therefore a more organic rendering, of their work.
	• CHRISTOPHER SILVERI of Prestige Management Group, takes great pride in his career that has spanned many functions within the entertainment field. After a brief stint acting, he moved on to cast commercials with Liz Lewis Casting Partners. He then went on to head up the Legit department (Theater, TV and Film) at Gilla Roos, Ltd.. Now working in talent management, Christopher is proud to say he represents the quality talent that he would have previously wanted to call in to meet. His actors are featured on all the Major Networks (NBC, CBS, HBO, FX, etc), including hit shows such as DAMAGES, 30 ROCK, and GOSSIP GIRL. His actors have shared screen time with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams in JULIE AND JULIA, and various Feature and Indie Films. His clients also have several National Network commercials running!

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