PO Box 1071 | Ellensburg, WA 98926

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 7, 2009

Register for Tools4Actors: GO PRO Workshop with Casting Director

Lana Veenker Next Weekend

ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Ellensburg Film Festival hosts two segments of the Tools4Actors: GO PRO workshops on Saturday, October 17, 2009 between 11:00am-1:00am and 2:00-4:00pm. The workshops feature one of the Northwest's most successful casting directors Lana Veenker. Lana is well known for her work with Twilight, Coraline and the hit TV show Leverage. This unique opportunity allows those interested in breaking into TV/film to learn the steps needed to succeed first hand from a respected professional deeply rooted in the industry. Workshops held at Gallery One, located at 408 N. Pearl Street in beautiful downtown Ellensburg, Washington. Registration is $69.00 per session or $110.00 for both sessions. Please visit www.ellensburgfilmfestival.com to register online for this rare event.

The beginning workshop, “How to Break into the Business”, is scheduled from 11:00am-1:00pm. The intermediate/advanced workshop, “Auditioning for TV/Film”, is scheduled from 2:00-4:00pm. A minimum of fifteen patrons must be registered for each workshop to be held, and are not acting or auditioning workshops. Veenker shares tools and advice to help develop the mindset of a professional actor utilizing simple, proven techniques that she is very confident will advance an actor to the next level in their acting career, whether an amateur or a professional.

“I’m passionate about showing Hollywood that regional actors have got the goods. But sometimes actors blow their chances, because they don’t understand that it takes more than talent to book a job,” says Veenker. “It takes developing the mindset and focus of a pro. It means upping your game, wherever you are in your career.”

Veenker will discuss the following topics:

• How to evaluate yourself and where you are in your career

• How to determine what you really want as an actor and set goals accordingly

• What it means to go professional

• How to develop a strategy for success

• How to market and brand yourself

• How to take your career to the next level, whether you're just starting out or have been acting for years

Here is an example of some of the things you will walk away with:

• A blueprint for achieving your acting goals

• Effective strategies for leveraging time and money and allowing for more of both to devote to your acting career

• Things you can do today to jump-start your career

• An understanding of your perceived roadblocks to success and your real roadblocks

• Tools to change your mindset from "How can I get hired?" to "How to create a value they'd be crazy not to hire?"

Lana Veenker holds a BA Magna cum Laude in Performing Arts and has worked as a stage actor, director and producer on four continents learning what it means to be a professional in the entertainment industry. For almost ten years Lana Veenker Casting, located in Portland, Oregon, has worked with directors such as Gus Van Sant, Robert Benton, Gregory Hoblit, Guillermo Arriaga, Catherine Hardwicke, Tim Robbins and Sean Penn. Some of the latest projects include: “The Untitled Crowley Project” staring Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser, “Twilight”, “Management”, “Untraceable”, “Feast of Love”, “Into the Wild”, “Coraline”, and the television series “Leverage”.

The Ellensburg Film Festival is committed to the film education, exposure and enrichment of our local community. For more information on this event and others, please visit www.ellensburgfilmfestival.com.

Media Contact: Tami Sawyer, EFF Public Relations & Marketing, press@ellensburgfilmfestival.com

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