Wolverhampton's brightest stars of stage and screen to offer career tips
Some of the West Midlands' brightest stars of the stage and screen will be sharing their experiences with the next generation of talent at a careers fair next month.
Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Wolverhampton’s Central Youth Theatre hosts a careers fair on February 16 for young people interested working in the theatre, television and film industries.
Zak Douglas from Fordhouses. who appeared in ITV detective dramas Vera and Ridley, and BBC series Doctors, is among the group's alumni who will share their experiences at the event.
Priyasasha Kumari, who played Samai Choudhry in Waterloo Road, and West End actor Matthew Allen will also be among the guests speakers offering advice to those looking to follow in their footsteps.
Producers, lighting engineers and costume stylists will also talk about their careers at the event, for 15-25-year-olds.
Central Youth Theatre, which has been providing arts opportunities for young people for more than 40 years, now has many former members who are working in the theatre, TV and film industries in a vast variety of roles.
The event which runs from 9.30am to 5.30pm, will include training sessions about working in the arts and the realities of life in the creative sector.
The speakers have worked in leading theatres such as the RSC, West End, Rep Theatres and many others, worked with leading music artists such as Fat Boy Slim, worked on British films such as Johnny English and About Time and massive Amazon/Netflix epics such as The Sandman and The Witcher.
Central Youth Theatre founder Jane Ward said: “We are so lucky to have this enormous pool of talent to draw from and I’m immensely proud of their achievements.
"Wolverhampton should be proud – we aren’t a major city like Birmingham, but we certainly punch above our weight in terms of the talent we have produced in recent years.
"The most exciting thing for me personally having taught all these young people over 40 years is to realise these are just a small representative number of our alumni."
Miss Ward said the reduction in university arts courses made the event even more important.
"Although times might seem bleak there is still a wealth of opportunity to gain high paid employment in the arts if you can acquire the knowledge and use your networking skills and talents to get the right breaks," she added.
"Over the years many of our former members have networked amongst themselves to help each other move along the career ladder – and it’s great to be able to keep that going through this event.”
To attend the event, please email admin@centralyouththeatre.org
