Blog Stage - Acting in Film, TV, Theatre - Backstage: Actorfest NY 2007

Actorfest was quite a lively event this year!

We had nearly twice as many people as last year -- close to 5,000 by early estimates. And despite a very rocky start, I think the event went pretty well overall.

I talked to dozens and dozens of actors, young and old, and it was great to see your enthusiasm. Many told me they really enjoyed the panels, and found the workshops helpful. I hope many will be checking out and joining the message board in the next few weeks.

It was especially terrific seeing Roz Coleman and her husband Craig manning a table, collecting headshots for a feature film they are planning to make. I love Roz's positive energy. Fellow message board regular Jactress and I had a quick conversation in between her workshops. It was great to see her again. Also onsite was the lovely Julie Pham, an EJ from Onstage.com, with whom I had a wonderful chat. She joined us at the Back Stage booth and distributed free CDs and T-shirts.

It was great having the event in the Hammerstein Ballroom for the first time. I love that space -- I saw Blue Man Group there a few years ago, and had an incredible time. The Hammerstein has a very different vibe than the Marriott, where we've had Actorfest during my five years working for Back Stage. More funky, less staid, and a little more theatrical.

What did you think? I'll be honest -- it was our first time at the Hammerstein, and we could have definitely done many things better. But YOU tell us: What did you like, and what didn't work for you? And why? What could we have done differently? We need your feedback to improve the event for next year. Please be honest.

You can comment to this post, or email us at backstage@backstage.com, and write "Actorfest" in the subject line.

And remember -- all attendees should look for the special Back Stage online subscription trial offer we'll be sending to you in the next week to ten days. (Make sure it doesn't wind up in your spam filters.)

Thanks to all who attended! Have a great day!

-- Tom Penketh, Managing Editor, BackStage.com

Comments

Tom,

Thanks so much for starting a blog on this. Back Stage did a wonderful job organizing everyone together; from acting coaches to casting directors, agents to vendors, etc. Everyone played their part well and it's great to get a recap of all the activities that went on that day from the blogs and message board. I look forward to reading more stuff from others!

Posted by: Julie Pham | October 25, 2007 at 02:58 PM