From script to screen

The next generation of North-East stars will be delving into the world of the TV soap opera this weekend. Newcastle-based Drama North, which aims to provide expert training for would-be young actors, is holding its first celebrity masterclass.

With Coronation Street, EastEnders and their like dominating TV screens at the moment, it's perhaps not surprising that soaps should come under the spotlight.

The audience at Newcastle University will find out the truth about soap from director Pip Short, who numbers Emmerdale and Heartbeat among his small screen credits. He'll be assisted by lighting cameraman Dave Dixon, currently working on BBC TV's long-running North-East junior soap Byker Grove.

Tony Kysh, a former Tyne Tees Television director who works with Drama North, feels this marks a key development for the specialist training group. "It's existed for four years but kept a fairly low profile. Now it's rising quite dramatically because this is the time to nurture the wealth of young talent in the region to become the new generation of Geordie stars," he says.

The current crop includes names such as Ant and Dec, Jimmy Nail, Tim Healy, Denise Welch and Jill Halfpenny. "They're all top class stars but we need to get the next generation in place," says Kysh.

"Sunday is important for Drama North because we'll have a large audience and an acclaimed director who's worked on the highest-rated programmes in the country. It's our biggest event so far in what's hoped will be a series of masterclasses."

Short will be working from scripts of soaps and series on which he's worked, particularly his current project, Heartbeat. He'll be showing how programmes move from script to screen. Members of the audience will be used as actors to examine how they build a part, the actor/director relationship, and the complexities of shooting TV drama.

Kysh, a former staff director at Tyne Tees Television who also directed Byker Grove, feels it's important to make young people aware of just what a difficult job making a TV programme, especially soaps, can be. They tend to use multi-camera set-ups, shooting a scene from different angles at the same time for speed and efficiency.

"They'll find out the amount of time and preparation that goes into a soap. The thing about being a good director, especially a multi-camera director, is that technique should not show," he says.

"The amount of preparation and homework that goes into a soap in tremendous. As a director, it's very different to a big time theatre production which rehearses for ages and ages.

"I once did a documentary for Tyne Tees about the Old Vic and Derek Jacobi's Hamlet. They'd been rehearsing for ten weeks and it wasn't working, so they were going back to start again," he says.

"In TV, you will get a brief read-through, block out the characters moves and then the actor has to do it. The most expensive time in drama is when the camera isn't turning over and that can happen if the preparation hasn't been done.

"The pressure is enormous. The producer and production manager of a soap or highly-rated series work out the schedule with economics in mind. If, for any number of reasons, that schedule falls seriously behind, they're in big trouble.

"These are the sort of things Drama North is trying to instil - and is succeeding - in young actors. You have to know your lines, know the part and have thought about it. It's not just being in a jolly drama club."

The group, which charges "modest amounts" for attending workshops, is self-funding but hopes to attract outside funding as activities expand. It already acts as an access point for casting in film, TV and theatre for young actors.

Trips to the theatre in London involve seeing a show, followed by going backstage and workshops with actors.

Kysh believes this is an ideal time to tap into the fantastic amount of talent in the North-East as the national spotlight falls on the region.

"At one time, Liverpool was flavour of the month. People said all the best comedians and sit-coms came from there, and they had the greatest sense of humour. Now the focus has shifted to the North-East," he says.

"Before, casting directors were a bit wary because they thought people wouldn't understand Geordies. That's changed with actors like Charlie Hardwick. She was a regular in Byker Grove and is now in Emmerdale and people are saying, 'isn't she great'."

Kysh has been directing Tyne Tees' new regional quiz show The Regionnaires, with one of the founders of Viz, Simon Donald. He thinks that says a lot about what makes the North-East so great. "More than any other, the region is a wonderful mixture of being able to take the mickey out of itself while at the same time having a passionate pride in the region. That's basically what Viz magazine did and what the quiz did."

l Tickets for tomorrow's masterclass are available from 0191-230 8116. More information on www.dramanorth.com