LATEST NEWS

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.

WBM continues its’ expansion into 2015 with further developments in the US.
 
We are now supporting the clients of Judy Fox Management locally. These include horror heavyweights such as Kane Hodder, Bill Moseley and Michael Berryman.
 
We are very much looking forward to working with Judy more closely and pursuing roles on her client’s behalf. We are also looking forward to further US opportunities for our clients in the US as our reach increases.
 
 

If you haven’t already seen the NMTB special, head over to iPlayer to view where you will see both Peter Charlton (playing Plan-B) and Taryn Key (playing Stacey Solomon) in this hysterical mockumentary.

Naby continues his promo this month for the Traces of Sandalwood release which has already gained a lot of media traction.

Currently in Spain Naby has seems very at home in his various national TV and radio interviews.

This feature has captured the imagination of film-lovers and critics alike. The most recent review being from Variety: http://bit.ly/1pM2NNl

WBM actress Lara Heller plays the lead female protagonists in director Fatih Akin’s new feature film ‘The Cut’. The film is set in Turkey, during the Armenian Genocide of 1915.

‘The Cut’ was shortlisted to compete for the Golden Lion Award at the 71st Venice International Film Festival.

The Cut will be released worldwide in cinemas this autumn. The trailer can be viewed on Lara’s website at: www.laraheller.co.uk

Since filming ‘The Cut’ Lara has been busy filming other features almost back to back. We look forward to seeing the results materialise in 2015.

Lara was born in Brighton and raised in Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg. She performs fluently in 4 languages: English, German, French and Persian.

Zané returns voicing the Latvian release of this Dreamworks blockbuster revisiting her leading role of ‘Astrid’.

For those who haven’t got a voicereel yet, get something put together!

Zané (pronounced ‘Zah-Ney’) is yet another one of our clients who acts in various languages (English, French, Latvian & Russian) whose versatility has allowed her to work in a wide range of projects including period drama and sci-fi.

With that in mind, should you wish to see examples a showreel can be found here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbSKhcQx3FI

We are very pleased to announce that our client Andrea Gordon has recently been cast as recurring character ‘Bren Lee’ in long-running BBC1 series Doctors.

Andrea’s character will appear in the show over several weeks and will see her battling alcoholism whilst struggling to raise 4 children on benefits.

The ‘Bren Lee’ storyline will be introduced later this year and we’re looking forward to seeing the results of Andrea’s hard work.

Andrea has been with us for several years and has an extensive background in TV and film acting in both English and French. Credits include Eastenders, The Bill, Axed (feature) and an extensive stage career. In more recent years Andrea has also made a name for herself in the world of stand-up comedy.

The Railway Man opens in cinemas across UK and Ireland this Friday. WBM actor, Tanroh Ishida, plays younger Takashi Nagase – Japanese army officer and interpreter involved in torturing British POW, Eric Lomax (Jeremy Irvine/Colin Firth).

Lomax was one of thousands of Allied prisoners of war forced to work on the construction of the Thai/Burma railway during WW2. His experiences, after the secret radio he built to bring news and hope to his colleagues was discovered, left him traumatised and shut off from the world. Years later, he met Patti (Nicole Kidman), a beautiful woman, on a train and fell in love. Patti was determined to rid Eric of his demons. Discovering that the Japanese officer who haunted her husband was still alive (older Nagase played by Hiroyuki Sanada), she faced a terrible decision. Should Eric be given a chance to confront his tormentor? Would she stand by him, whatever he did?

 (The Railway Man UK premiere via london24.com)

Ralph (Mark Drake) is a 26 year-old regional journalist who’s been having recurring nightmares in German. To help him understand his troubling dreams, his friend Claudia, a 22 year-old hippie, uses her undeveloped psychic powers to give him a profound past-life regression, which floods his mind with memories of being a Nazi commando on a mission in and around the South Downs in 1940. When his visions of that past existence begin to take shape in his current reality, Ralph starts to investigate. In the hope of piecing together his previous life, he goes on a camping trip to the locations he saw in his regression. He is accompanied by Claudia and their respective partners, Andrea and Lucas, who are much more interested in each other than reincarnation. What none of them realise is that the past Ralph is trying to find is now stalking them, and plans to exact a terrible revenge on all four campers for crimes committed nearly seventy years ago.

Backtrack is an intelligent and exciting psychological horror film that explores the dark side of reincarnation and karma. What sins did we commit in our past lives and will we pay for them in this one?

BACKTRACK TRAILER

Mark Drake Interview for the UK Horror Scene

Grieving, drinking and smoking his way through life day by day, blues musician Jonah is compelled to go on a ghostly scavenger hunt by his recently deceased brother Rafe. Only it seems Rafe may have come along for the ride.

Black Smoke Rising, with WBM actor James Fisher in the lead role, is about to be released on VOD, so you get the chance to see it first ahead of normal distribution. Also with wonderful performances from Wil Johnson, Jill Greenacre, Jon Campling, Chloe Farnworth and Jonnie Hurn.