About
THE CONTINUING
DRAMA ROOM -
The CDR masterclasses will be led by the director, Michael Lacey. Michael was in his late twenties when he started to write. Life had thrown a few curveballs at him, and it became more of a coping mechanism than anything else. Out of desperation, he wrote a short film and was accepted into Manchester Metropolitan Film School, where he became fascinated by images, subtext, and visually conveying emotion onto screen. The film bug bit, and Michael swapped his pen for a camera.
After graduating from film school Michael started to direct corporate videos and low budget television commercials until he wrote another ten minute short film with the intention of kickstarting a move into the competitive world of television drama.
Unable to secure any funding, Michael decided to sell his house and fund the project himself. Touch Down was shot over three days on Super 16mm and went on to earn representation from the British Film Council at film festivals all over the world, which opened up a door for him to direct Emmerdale and Coronation Street at ITV Studios.
Michael is now a multi-award-winning director of television drama with over thirteen years of experience, helming memorable and enduring episodes of Casualty, Coronation Street, Father Brown, Emmerdale and Holby City.
Technically accomplished with SFX and VFX Set Pieces, It is with intimate character driven drama that Michael really comes alive, he is obsessive with subtext and capturing emotional truth. Continuing drama has taught him that he has an innate ability to craft story and character through action into a highly moving piece of work.
This course stems from years of conversations with talented, passionate, professional actors, up and down the country who have been thrown in at the deep end, playing hugely important supporting roles – You can win or lose your episode with your guest artist’s performance, and yet you are expected to deliver and pitch a great performance, in a single take, so the production can shoot it’s schedule! The pressure on actors fortunate enough to work in television drama is immense.
This course is designed for talented, raw, fearless, passionate actors – with or without previous on set experience – who would relish the opportunity to be directed, on camera, using staging and subtext to inspire authentic, truthful performances within a realistic drama schedule.
The Aim is to invite ten actors per course, and to line run, block and shoot a scene (previously directed by me and transmitted on television) We will then review, analyse and discuss performances, before shooting the scenes again with a different approach, emotionally, visually, and technically.
Successful applicants will be cast opposite other successful actors, and the relevant (strictly confidential) scenes will be emailed out to you no later than one week before the start of the course.
THE MASTERCLASS -
This course stems from years of conversations with talented, passionate, professional actors, up and down the country who have been thrown in at the deep end, playing hugely important supporting roles – You can win or lose your episode with your guest artist’s performance, and yet you are expected to deliver and pitch a great performance, in a single take, so the production can shoot it’s schedule! The pressure on actors fortunate enough to work in television drama is immense.
This course is designed for talented, raw, fearless, passionate actors – with or without previous on set experience – who would relish the opportunity to be directed, on camera, using staging and subtext to inspire authentic, truthful performances within a realistic drama schedule.
The Aim is to invite ten actors per course, and to line run, block and shoot a scene (previously directed by me and transmitted on television) We will then review, analyse and discuss performances, before shooting the scenes again with a different approach, emotionally, visually, and technically.
Successful applicants will be cast opposite other successful actors, and the relevant (strictly confidential) scenes will be emailed out to you no later than one week before the start of the course.