Hey Ho, Swashbucklers Go!

It was colder than it looked!  Outside MediaCityUK.. again!

Yesterday was another fun day.  A morning in the audience for a new CBeebies show, Swashbucklers.  It was an early start - we met up at 8.15am outside and they were in for four hours.  This left time for another group of kids to do the afternoon session!

We can't divulge much about the show at this stage (mainly because dad wasn't allowed in!) but it sounds like good fun, with much madness and mayhem.  Apparently the audience feature prominently, and she did have to learn the theme song, so we're looking forward to seeing it on TV.

Back to the Beeb

So we lean back just like this do we?

Well it was deja vu all over again.

At least we had two days notice, this time, rather than a phone call "can you come tonight?"

So, Wednesday night we had a mad dash after school over to Media City for another audition.   It was set for 4:15, and with not getting back from school until about 3:45, it was a very quick change out of uniform, and straight out to the car!  It's fortunate it's only a five minute trip!

So, after a bit of a dilemma over car parking charges (they are not cheap!) we walked into the foyer at Bridge House, and it was empty ..  Slight panic.. had I got the wrong day?  But the young lady at the desk seemed to know about us, and had a visitor badge already filled out with Eva-Jane's name, so that was OK. However.. where was everybody?

"Oh they've just gone up.  Don't worry, I'll call up."

I'd been given two times, and picked the earlier one, because Eva-Jane had Beavers to go to later on.  We actually arrived about five minutes early, however, it seems the times had been changed, given the absence of the group I thought we were in.  Anyway, after she checked the lists, it turned out they had us down for 5.15.  So, at least it wasn't the other way around ...!

What this meant was we had an hour to fill.  In an empty foyer with seating by the windows, and a large round thing with padded seating in the middle.

.....which played a different sound clip every time you sat on it!

Oh we had fun!   Zingzillas, Tree Fu Tom,  Horrible Histories, Octonauts, I can remember them all, but none grates as much as "I'm Furious!  Furious!   Furious!" over and over ...

But two buttons didn't work,

Eventually other kids started arriving, and they too had just as much fun with it, and they were all playing together really well. I think this helped later, as I was told that they had been a great bunch of kids, "we were a bit worried after the first lot." Oops!

About six years later, we were finally all asked to go upstairs.  At least, I presume we were - Eva-Jane had needed the toilet, and when we came out, the foyer was bare!  Everybody had gone!

We raced around the corner and found them just going through the security gates, so tagged onto the end of the line.  Oh the shame - first ones there but last in the queue!

It took three lifts worth to get every body up to the sixth floor.. And fancy lifts they were too - none of your "up or down" call buttons and hope the next lift that arrives really is heading in the right direction - no, press the number of the floor you want, and it tells you which lift to go to!  Cool!

Once upstairs, it was a simple bit of form filling, then they whisked the kids off to play.  Us parents were left to our own devices.  I spent a fair bit of time playing Angry Birds on the phone, until the "5% battery left" warning made me stop... I did get a bit of a chat with Billy, one of the Executive Producers on the show, which was good.  Very nice chap, and I hope we get a chance to meet again.

The kids were a good half hour late coming out of the audition room, which I hope is a good sign. Everybody seemed pleased with them, and I got some very positive comments about Eva-Jane particularly.  She got herself a free copy of the CBeebies Weekly magazine with an art set on the front, which pleased her immensely, and a McDonalds on the way home, which she also enjoyed!

They are seeing, in Billy's words, "hundreds of kids", so I'm not on tenterhooks waiting for the phone call, but I have this little tingle of hope.

We were, in the end, at MediaCity for three hours.  As such, we missed Beavers, but it was good experience, and she had a great time.

A dash to the post

We had our first agency-led audition last week.  That was fun - I got a phone call at half past ten in the morning, "can she go tonight?"  For a bit before 5pm right in the centre of Manchester!

Short notice, or what! Especially as Tiddler was in school until 3:30, and factoring in rush hour traffic, it gave me about 20 minutes of her at home to get changed out of school uniform and run through the lines we'd been sent.

It was for a commercial, of course.  Who else works at such short timescales.  And the lines?  Not language I'd expect of a 5 year old!  Not rude, I should say, just... odd...   I don't know what the scriptwriters were on, but one phrase they used I'd never heard before, and nor had google, which says a lot.

Another spanner in the works was having to drop Big Brother off at college on the way for his evening class.  It's only a short distance away, but left me in an awkward place for getting to the audition, given the traffic.  I tried heading up Deansgate, but got caught out by the new arrangements up near Victoria - straight on now goes direct into a car park!  I considered just parking up and walking from there, but £6.50 minimum charge?!  It took a three-point turn to get out, and I wasn't the only one to make the mistake - the two in front and two behind me did the same!

Anyway, we fought our way around the Inner Ring Road, and ended up parking in the Arndale multi-storey.  £4 for two hours - still feels a lot, but not quite so bad.   We found the lift, pressed the "down" button, and eventually a lift arrived.  "5^" the indicator said.  "Lift going up" the automation said.  So we waited for the next one.  The light went out, the doors closed, and the lift went down!  Gah!

I hate driving in rush hour when I'm on a time limit!  I hate lifts that lie to you.

So we rush down the stairs instead, dash through the Upper Mall and out onto High Street, and quickly across to the dance studios where the auditions were taking place.  And more stairs to climb!  Anyway, we get there just about on time, I think.

Then the calm... a nice wait in a room full of anxious little girls, fretting parents, and noisy siblings, while seen kids left and new ones arrived!  Eva-Jane immediately made a friend, of course, (Hi Xanthe!) and they spent the waiting time playing noughts-and-crosses on her mother's iPhone.

It was interesting to note how much, or how little, preparation some parents had done - at least one child was still in school uniform.  Come on...

Eventually she was called, ("Is it my turn?" "No you're next." ... "Is it me now?") and I like to think she made a good impression.

The trip home was a good deal calmer...   A call in at McDonalds as a treat for doing well, and we were home in plenty of time for bedtime!

I've got fingers crossed, but I'm not pacing anxiously waiting for the phone call - they were seeing a lot of kids there, and I've spotted notices of auditions for what looks like the same thing elsewhere in the country. I'd be fun if they pick her, and she'd love it if her friends see her on the telly, but we're not deluded enough to think she's got it in the bag just yet!

Thanks to TSA for sending us, and here's hoping for the next one !

Let the work flood in...

...but somehow I doubt it.

However, agency representation kicks in tomorrow and the spotlight CV seems to be live now. We'll have to see what happens!  Contact details are now on the website, if you are looking for a cute child actor!

In other news, we've now got rather more hamsters than I am thinking is sensible: the sound of wheels is getting deafening! Oh, and school starts again on Wednesday, and it can't come too soon!  Year 1 beckons...

Fun in the sun

We must be mad!

A 300 mile round trip, braving the roadworks on the Birmingham bit of the M6 in the morning rush hour, but dodging a string of accidents on the way back.. (We avoided most of them using the M1/A50 route..)

All so we could enjoy the sun in an outdoor play area of a Northampton primary school!

Eva-Jane instantly made a friend and spent most of the rest of the day playing with her - they even did some of the running-about shots holding hands!

This was just an 'extras' role, but good fun, excellent experience, and she got to record some song lyrics independently; we'll see how much appears on the final product - once that's released we'll add a link and say a bit more about what went on.

Thanks to all involved. We had a great day - well worth the travelling.

New Website

It's been a bit of work, lots of messing about with PHP, CSS, Smarty and Javascript, plus more than a little work finding photographs and capturing stills from videos, but I think it's been worth it. Eva-Jane has a new website! The simple holding page that has been there since she was born is now consigned to the digital dustbin, and instead we have a flash (but not Flash) new website showing off her talents..

Obviously it's going to be a work-in-progress for some time to come, and we always appreciate comments, but I think it's going to work..

We hope you visit..

Passage to stardom...

Pass between the (cardboard) stars to reach your dreams... Although I'm not quite what sort of dream involves Daleks, or if we'd want that sort at all..

It was actually, of course, to reach the Stagecoach Agency registration day... An audition, photoshoot, and promo DVD to watch! I think we were first there, and were greeted personally by the Managing Director! I hope this bodes well.

From a parents point of view, it's a tense time, hoping that your little one remembers their presentation, doesn't fumble their lines and doesn't roll about on the floor while waiting for their turn with the photographer...

She came out saying she'd done really well, and had even sung them a song. Nothing we'd practised of course.. I hope they appreciate her spontaneity and inventiveness!