LATEST NEWS

A Decade of the Dog!

Today is a very special day for everyone at Williams Bulldog as we officially turn 10 years old! It seems impossible to think that the company started 10 years ago, in April 2008, in my living room – we had 4 clients, no track record but a lot of enthusiasm!

Since then things have certainly changed – we moved offices 4 times before settling here in Beckenham and in terms of developing as a business we’ve come a long way:

• WBM is ranked in the Top 500 companies in the world on IMDB

• We’ve made over £7m for our clients from over 30 different countries

• Our roster has grown to over 300 clients, represented by 8 managers across our music and acting divisions, IPRG and Bulldog Management

• Our clients have won or been nominated for countless accolades including: Grammy, Brit, Mercury and NME awards

• And we even have an office dog, Maggie, who is our unofficial company mascot.

We’re incredibly proud of where we have come from and are very grateful to all the amazing clients, business partners and staff of WBM who have helped make the last decade so enjoyable and successful.

It’s a proud day for us to have reached this milestone, so thank you for helping us get here and we’re looking forward to another successful 10 years!

Best wishes,

Dom Williams

Congratulations to Francesca for receiving the ‘Best Performance’ award this weekend at the STARBURST Fantasy Awards for her lead role in film ‘Dead Meet’ directed by Daniel Brant.

‘Dead Meet’ explores the fun and unusual premise of a hit woman attempting to go on a date.

To read more, please visit this link: https://www.starburstmagazine.com/winners-announced-starburst-fantasy-awards

Our talented child actor James Gasson appeared in the first episode of ITV’s new mini-series ‘Trauma’ last night. He plays Mark Bowker, the son of John Simm’s character Dan Bowker.

Catch the next episode of this three-part thriller tonight at 9pm.

Another fantastic addition to the WBM family, Katy Townsend. Anyone who has played the the massively successful Fallout 4, will know her as Cait, arguably the most prominent character in the game. Alternatively you may also have heard her in Mass Effect: Andromeda, Call Of Duty Black Ops II, Grand Theft Auto V or many other huge franchises.

In addition to the extensive work in the video game industry, Katy also shines as a screen actor with extensive credits (a quick review of her IMDB will reveal the incredible range of characters she has played). This is something we are very much looking forward to building on in the UK.

For you Angel TV series fans out there I’m very pleased to start working with Stephanie Romanov. Managed by Industry Entertainment in LA, we are now operating on her/their behalf here in the UK.

Stephanie was a series regular on ANGEL, and worked on several big features including THIRTEEN DAYS, FINAL CUT and SPY HARD. Some of her notable co-stars include Kevin Costner, Robin Williams, Keira Knightley, David Boreanaz and Sam Worthington.

Happy new year all. I hope you had a great festive break and are looking forward to a strong 2018.

We have hit the ground running with a couple of commercials booked plus a great BBC TV role for Danielle Bjelic. I will update this post when the details of the series are released.



Hope all is well with everyone.

thanks

James

We usually cherry pick one project of the month for the feed (saves typing) however we have so much good stuff on the go we wanted to mention a few.

Newcomer Sarah Balfour has booked her West End debut in Mary Stuart at the Almeida.

Roy McCrerey is a regular character (Wigsby) in the forthcoming Amazon Studios series ‘Carnival Row’.

Julian Nest joins Juliette Lewis and Henry Rollins (YES!) in Shoreline Ent’s ‘Dreamland’. Following on from an incredible month of feature and TV bookings.

Rebecca Banatvala booked a lead role in a forthcoming Netflix sci-fi series (title TBA once officially released)

This is in addition to so much other good stuff in the way of grass-roots theatre, high profile commercial campaigns and notable screen appearances. But I’m trying to keep the post short.

It was difficult to top last year but I’m very pleased to say we have. We have two additional members of members of staff with two more agent positions opening up next year. We developed stronger relationships with UK, US and European networks and producers. Our production company Smart Dog has established itself rapidly with one TV series under production and a documentary slated for Q1 2018. Plus finally, we could not be happier with the roster we have developed. As we approach the tenth year of trading landmark I feel that our current roster represents the evolution of our relationships and the principles we hold within the industry we care about.

On a final note, have a wonderful Christmas and we look forward to another successful year.

Plus for those of you who have yet to meet her, our newest member of staff is Maggie (below), Merry Christmas.

Benjamin McMahon is in rehearsal for Mischief Theatre’s ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ 2018 Tour.

Centring around the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society’s wonderfully awful attempt at putting on a 1920s murder mystery, this multi-award-winning comedy is now entering its fourth year on stage.

Catch Benjamin at any of the 34 UK venues between the 4th of January and to the 29th of September next year. For more details and tickets, click here.

Charlotte Arrowsmith is currently in rehearsal for Mac’s Arcadian and Lighthouse Poole’s new family-friendly play ‘Great Odds’.

Integrating visual storytelling, British Sign Language, live music and puppetry, the show explores ambition, communication and friendship.

For more information, visit the website here.

Fresh out of her BA in Acting from ALRA, Sarah Balfour is making a strong impression on the press with her portrayal of Shelley in Philip Correia’s ‘Hyem’.

‘Sarah Balfour is a particularly bright presence’ – The Stage

‘Aimee Kelly, who perfectly plays Laura… and Sarah Balfour as the ever optimistic Shelley, make the younger cast a real highlight’ – Theatre Weekly

‘Nolan’s subdued and calm attitude mirrors Kelly’s bubbly personality perfectly, and both stand under Balfour’s curious and sprightly wing’ – Broadway World

We look forward to the show’s transfer to the Northern Stage in Newcastle. For more details please visit https://theatre503.com/whats-on/hyem/?spektrix_bounce=true

Sarah Balfour as Shelley in ‘Hyem’ performed at Theatre503.

Continuing her perfect record with shows, Rebecca received great press for her role in Quilliam’s ‘Deadly Dialogues’ at the Edinburgh Fringe:

‘The other obvious highlight is Rebecca Banatvala, who has a piercing gaze that feels as if it could bore through steel plating, excelling both as a distracted and traumatised mother and the would-be teenage Jihadi wife.’ – londoncitynights.com

‘It’s hard to fault any of the cast in the show, but Rebecca Banatvala is particularly strong as the humiliated teenager looking for a way out. This is Khan’s writing at its most poetic, and Banatvala is flawless in her acerbic recital.’ – criticallyspeaking.com

Further details of the show can be found at – https://www.quilliaminternational.com/quilliam-presents-deadly-dialogues-at-the-edinburgh-fringe-festival-2017/

Andrew Jardine excels in great comedy role for new series Superclaims written and directed by Govind Chandran and Tom Walker. This new series steps into the lives of superhero insurance agents. Check out the Pilot now on Amazon Prime.

Judging by the reviews online, the Rotten Tomatoes reaction (and comment within the WBM office) The Last Kingdom series 2 has been a resounding success. With WBM client Adrian as one of the new leads this season we had a lot to be excited about. Plus since the Netflix release Adrian’s profile has grown further. Looking forward to hearing if there’s a thirs season on the cards!

Adrian Bouchet playing Steapa in The Last Kingdom

Character TBC, well done Iza!

Roma Brown’s inclusive company In Sight Theatre launched their new short film ‘World On a Plate’ at We Are Theatre’s Diverse Fest last weekend. Directed by Roma and shot by videographer Oliver Wood, the film explores how a variety of different personalities go about eating a quintessentially British roast dinner.

The event was highly successful, featuring over 100 mixed-ability performers. In Sight’s film was very well received, evoking both laughter and self-reflection from audience members. WBM’s Thomas Fryer gave an insightful and effortlessly memorable performance.

With the support of O2’s Think Big program, In Sight is currently preparing to launch a series of Creative Storytelling Workshops which are designed to create opportunities for talented and aspiring dif-abled writers.

A huge thank you to both our clients and colleagues in the casting community who helped make 2016 another record year for WBM. It has been a very exciting year for both sides of the business and we have seen more named role feature castings than ever. This is in addition to regular TV roles, international commercial campaigns, west end theatre bookings, a big increase in radio and voice-over work plus the usual increase in video game and mo-cap bookings.

Already excited to see where we are at this time next year!! Merry Christmas and happy new year!

Team WBM

New client Rebecca Banatvala’s first professional role was very well received at the Finborough. The show was sold out plus attended by representatives from most major theatres. Excerpts from the upcoming’s article below (http://www.theupcoming.co.uk/2016/10/12/trident-moon-at-the-finborough-theatre-theatre-review/#respond):

“Trident Moon tells the story of a group of women hiding inside the back of a truck at the very beginning of India’s emancipation from British rule. As India and Pakistan were partitioned along religious grounds in 1947, Hindus fled to the new India whilst Muslims made their way to West and East Pakistan.”

“Rebecca Banatvala’s performance as the mentally disabled Arun reaches multiple levels, placing modern discussions about mental illness in the context of a historical religious war.”

We don’t normally post much about music vids but the above is worth a mention. In addition to being a great piece it’s now an award winner. Well done Iza, (and Will Joesph Cook I suppose).

Stanley will appear in the two-hander at the Tristan Bates theatre from 11th-29th October. This is produced by the East of West Theatre company, they describe the project as:

A rare, intimate revival of a seminal play set in the era of the USA Civil Rights movement which explores issues that remain as relevant and important today as when it was first published.

Looking forward to seeing the reviews come in on this one.

Roy will be appearing in multiple episodes of the new TV show based on the Knights Templar. This is being made for the History Channel following in the very successful footsteps of the Vikings franchise. Exec produced by Jerremy Renner to be directed by Ben Campbell.

Julian Nest, Will Timbers and Thomas Stroppel were working with Richard Ayoade on this short piece supporting Radiohead’s new campaign. Spooky…..

Today's vignette is Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief directed by Richard Ayoade. A Moon Shaped Pool is out today in the shops.

A video posted by Radiohead (@radiohead) on Jun 17, 2016 at 6:59am PDT

Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV receives theatrical release on August 19th which see Adrian Bouchet playing ‘Drautos’. I think you will agree from the trailer, the end result is quite spectacular. We will also follow on soon with some fairly special news about Adrian in a huge screen role that he’s currently filming. Can’t wait to share that one.

Whitton is currently in LA filming her latest episode in the popular US drama, ‘Murder in the First’. More details to follow once the character is broadcast. Well done Whitton!

Immediately following on from his role in biopic, The Journey is the Destination, Tanroh shifted into the terrifying world of Nick Jongerius’ The Windmill Massacre. The first trailer of which was released via Twitch, a long time supporter of the project: http://bit.ly/1NASF0h

Following on from her role in the chilling thriller ‘Backtrack’, Sophie continues her exploration of darker projects in her most recent role in the feature ‘Deep Web’. More details to follow on release.

Now on general release is Jason Zada’s ‘The Forest’ in which WBM client Meg Kubota plays one of the scarier roles!

Elaine Grainger brough Meg in for this one and the films producers comprise of a team whose previous credits include the Batman Franchise, Kill Bill and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. I am very much looking forward to seeing this one.

We’re pleased to announce that WBM client Eleanor Inglis has booked a featured role in the English National Opera’s production of Norma. This represents Eleanor’s continually developing profile and a strong start for 2016.

Adam Reeves has booked a guest role in Emmerdale (name TBA in 2016). As one of our first clients with WBM, we are pleased to close 2015 with a strong casting which may yield further episodes.

In addition to filming one of the lead characters in a highly anticipated horror feature this quarter, Tanroh recently finished playing the key character of Eiji in Bronwen Hughes’ biopic ‘The Journey is the Desination’:

(quoted from the producer’s website – http://www.prosperopictures.com/upcoming.html)

…based on the true story of one of the great photographers of our generation, British-born Dan Eldon. His photographs of refugees from the Somalian civil war led to his employment as the youngest photojournalist ever hired by Reuters. His pictures helped draw the world’s attention to the crisis. This music-infused love story takes a turn when while covering the story that UN forces had accidentally killed 74 civilians, Eldon and three of his colleagues were stoned and beaten to death by a furious crowd.

Roy recently booked a new character in Hollyoaks appearing as part of a new storyline soon. Good work Roy!

WBM were pleased to cast two characters in Artemisia Production’s ‘Chariot’.

In this Roman-era feature Adrian takes the lead as ‘Ben-Hur’ and Lara supporting as ‘Lucia’

Hello all,

Dom and James will be running 100 kilometres from London to Cambridge to raise funds and awareness for the Matt Palmer Trust. The target is to raise £1,000 for the charity who issues grants to mental health organisations.

For us this is a very important charity that is very close to us personally. The charity has already done a lot of good work (see their page) but there’s a lot of work ahead.

So please visit our donations page and please pledge if you can. Even small amounts are very gratefully received and will help us along to our goal.



Here are some facts about mental health in the UK*

About a quarter of the population will experience some kind of mental health problem in the course of a year, with mixed anxiety and depression the most common mental disorder in Britain

Depression affects 1 in 5 older people

Suicides rates show that British men are three times as likely to die by suicide than British women and self-harm statistics for the UK show one of the highest rates in Europe: 400 per 100,000 population

*(Quoted from http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/help-information/mental-health-statistics/)

Momentum is growing quickly for Sunset Song, in which WBM client Julian Nest plays Peter Semple.

The long-awaited Terrence Davis feature, starring Agyness Deyn, is to receive it’s world premier at the Toronto Film Festival. Having been named in the top 100 mostly anticipated releases outside the US (ioncinema.com) the Guardian has also got behind this classic Scottish story.

See the Guardian article here – http://bit.ly/1hfKvkr

The Courier article here – http://bit.ly/1KMgMJL

Adrian adds yet another big budget feature to his collection with Guy Ritchie’s ‘Knights of the Roundtable: King Arthur’. Starring Charlie Hunman, Katie McGrath, Jude Law and Eric Bana, we are very much looking forward to seeing the results of Adrian’s hard work.

This will be the first of six films in what will undoubtedly be an epic new franchise. Set images are available at – http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/429931-knights-of-the-roundtable-king-arthur-set-photos-reveal-a-first-look-at-the-film#/slide/10

I was really excited to attend the European distributor screening for ‘Listening’.

This is another feature lead for WBM client Thomas Stroppel in an incredible sci-fi drama with the story revolving around two scientists (Thomas Stroppel and Artie Ahr) discovering the ability to read human thought via a computer interface.

The Hollywood News wrote a great review that sums up well and definitely shares the sentiments of all who were in attendance at the BFI Southbank that day. – http://bit.ly/1eFh6P8 :

“Listening is not the kind of independent science fiction film that wants to exist quietly and garner a cult audience. It is instead a fantastic and intelligent effort that holds a mirror up to its Hollywood counterparts and shows how budgets, names, and effects, mean nothing when pitched against a compelling story and those involved actually giving a damn.”

We’re pleased to have a second client in HBO’s flagship series. With viewing figures stronger than ever (8 million on initial US broadcast of new season), this will serve as a great platform for Tom’s further exposure.

Tom has established himself as an exceptional and highly-versatile stage talent. 2015 looks like the year he will make the transition to screen. Should you want to find out more about tom you can visit his website (http://www.tomfava.com/), or the usual talent platforms via his profile here.

Lewis Lilley has recently been cast by Reg Poerscout-Edgerton in ‘Runaway’.

Lewis will play the lead role of Archie, an socially inept outcast who has had to endure a decade of bullying from his teachers and fellow pupils in silence. When one day he finally reaches breaking point with a particularly nasty bully, Archie and his mum come to together to cover his tracks.

We’re really pleased with the quick progress Lewis is making. This new project follows on from his successes with the series ‘Night School’ and upcoming feature ‘Lovesick’. We’re very much looking forward to seeing what further progress Lewis and the WBM team make over the coming months.