TRU and Weist Barron present ACTORS RESOURCE NIGHT AND SPEED DATING

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU), in association with Weist Barron Studios and Jeremy Handelman/Wag That Reel, offers twenty-two actors a chance to meet with casting directors and other industry professionals at TRU's ACTORS RESOURCE NIGHT AND SPEED DATING. This event will take place on Thursday, October 21, 2010 at 7pm at Weist Barron Studios, 35 W. 45th Street, 6th Floor, NYC. Workshop fee is $15 (FREE for TRU members). Reservations are required and attendance is limited to the first twenty-two participants, so reserve your spot by emailing TRUnltd@aol.com with the header "I wanna Speed Date!"

Casting directors already scheduled include Brooke Franqui, Bob Luke, Robin Carus and Tom Rowan, as well as sponsoring hosts Valerie Adami of Weist Barron and reel guy Jeremy Handelman. The event 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.

ABOUT SPEED DATING. How does it work?
There are eleven stations each manned by a sponsor who offers you a service. TRU puts you in a group of eleven, each person starting at a different station. You spend three minutes finding out about your "date." Or telling them about yourself. Or asking for advice. Or kvetching. It's your three minutes. They let you know when thirty seconds remain, and then they 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 (approximately) circuit, they bring in the next group of eleven. While you're waiting, you can drink and socialize. Join the Discussion Group. Or primp for your dates:

Claudia Bloom - acting coach
Robin Carus - casting director
Matthew Corozine - acting coach (Meisner Technique)
Brooke Franqui - casting director
Eric Johnston - vocal coach
Bob Luke of Bob Luke Casting
Paul J. Michael of The Network
Sally Morgan - vocal trainer
Natalie Neckyfarow of Creative City Design
Tom Rowan - casting director
Roger Hendricks Simon - acting coach (classic)

(lineup subject to change due to availability of participants)

For more information, visit www.truonline.org/ActorsResourceNightOct10.htm. Other upcoming TRU workshops include Practical Playwriting: How to Write for Commercial Production on Saturday, October 16 from 10am to 5pm; and a new Director-Writer Communications Lab on Saturday, October 23. Details about all TRU programs can be found online at www.truonline.org.

Valerie Adami - Owner/Director Weist-Barron Acting for Film & Television Casting Director WB Casting. A musical theater background led to 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 school's services, and Valerie became the on-site casting director. 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 sacred 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. Their goal is to make sure actors feel confident of their on-camera performance and understand how to direct their career path. Courses are informative, rewarding and affordable (no membership fees), and are always open to visitors. A short film about the school can be accessed on their very comprehensive website, www.weistbarron.com.

JEREMY HANDELMAN is both a theater and video producer. His video work includes "Wag That Reel," providing professional actor demo reels at reasonable prices. Samples can be viewed at www.WagThatReel.com. Jeremy also is teaming up with casting director Brette Goldstein to provide custom actor reel consultations. Other video services include commercials, promos, PSA's, video projection, and event coverage (www.OffTheLeashProductions.com). Jeremy's most recent theater producing credits include White's Lies (New World Stages), and the award-winning F#@king Up Everything (NYMF), which is being developed for commercial production.

TRU was founded in 1992 to promote a spirit of cooperation and support within the general theater community by providing information and a variety of entertainment-related services and resources that strengthen the business capability of producing organizations, individual producers, self-Producing Artists and other theater professionals. The company holds monthly seminars on a wide range of subjects important to theatrical producers and artistic directors, conducted by panels of experts from both the commercial and not-for-profit segments of Broadway, Off-Broadway and the motion picture industry. TRU also publishes a monthly email community newsletter of services, goods and productions. In addition, TRU created the TRU VOICES Annual New Play Reading Series and the TRU VOICES Annual New Musicals Reading Series in which TRU underwrites developmental readings of new works for theater. In 2001, TRU began giving annual scholarships to The Commercial Theater Institute, to encourage the development of aspiring producers, created a Producer Development Program whose mentors are among the most prominent producers and general managers in New York theater, and presents Producer Boot Camp workshops to help aspirants develop the business skills they need. In March '08, TRU was associate producer of its first Equity showcase, Missives at 59E59 Theatre, a play that was developed in the 2006 TRU reading series. TRU programs for actors include an Annual Audition Event, Resource Nights and "Speed Dating" as well as free monthly actor events, including workshops.

Programs of Theater Resources Unlimited are supported in part by public funds awarded through the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, as well as generous support from the Friar's National Foundation Association.

For more information about TRU membership, visit www.truonline.org or call 212-714-7628.