ACTORFEST 2001

Back Stage West is gearing up for this year's ACTORFEST event, a day long trade show for actors. Along with an impressive exhibit floor, ACTORFEST will feature up-close and personal sessions with some of today's hottest casting directors, a well as tips of the trade from other industry insiders.

Among four informative seminars offered, ACTORFEST will sponsor a seminar with one of Hollywood's most intriguing leading men, Dylan McDermott. McDermott has won over critics and audiences largely on the strength of one role: that of the intense, uncompromising defense attorney Bobby Donnell on ABC's hit series The Practice. But as this in-depth talk with acting teacher John Ruskin will show, McDermott's path to this popular breakthrough character was paved by a serious commitment to the craft and training, and by a practical and resourceful approach to a career that, like that of most performers, hasn't always traveled a straight line. McDermott will illuminate the struggles and rewards, the ins and outs, of making art in a difficult business.

Some of the casting directors who will be speaking include John Levey and Cathy Reinking. Levey has assembled a number of stellar ensemble casts, including those of his medical drama ER, China Beach, Head of the Class, and Growing Pains. He got his start in theatre, starting as a director with credits including Shades at South Coast Repertory and The Dining Room at the Coronet Theatre. In addition to the daily casting of ER, Levey brought together a gifted multi-ethnic cast for the pilot of NBC's Third Watch, and he shares casting credit with Kevin Scott for the political drama, The West Wing.

Cathy Reinking is currently the casting associate on Frasier and DAG. Past television credits include the casting director on Movie Stars, the 2000 TV Guide Awards, and the casting associate on Stark Raving Mad, Wings, The Naked Truth, Encore!Encore!, Almost Perfect, Nothing Sacred, NewsRadio, Early Edition, and many pilots for all the major networks. Her feature credits include Bad City Blues (Michael Stevens, director), Jackie's Back (Robert Townsend, director), Screenland Drive, The Things I Did To Say I Do, and A Night at the Roxbury.

ACTORFEST 2001, Saturday, April 21 9am - 5pm Hilton Universal City & Towers 555 Universal Terrace Parkway Universal City, CA (818) 506-2500. For information on other seminars and panels available, turn to pages 22-23. To purchase tickets visit www.backstage.com or call 323-525-2005.