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Im an Argentine citizen living in Buenos Aires, and im meditating on moving to London to go to a Drama school. I'd like to ask you, fellow goons, how can i get a Visa (be it by getting accepted into the school and getting a Study Visa or by getting a job there for a Work Visa) and if possible, if you could give me any kind of recommendations and general knowledge about living in England. Everything that has to do with wages, best prices and options for accomodation, etc. Im fluent in both english and spanish, so i was thinking that i could maybe get a job as a native teacher or something like that.
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Jun 19, 2014 12:57
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I am looking for a flat/room in London right now and the knowledge I can share so far is: It is loving expensive. A tiny lovely room in a shared flat can easily cost you 500-600GBP per month in a central location or somewhere with good transport connections (which are also not especially cheap). No idea what wages for student type jobs are and if it feasible to get by on one of those. I imagine London is one of the worst major European cities to be a poor student in just because cost of living is so loving high even far outside the centre. In your position I would look into other places that offer similar courses. There is a UK thread in GBS, might be worth asking over there.
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Jun 22, 2014 11:37
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London is incredibly expensive but it depends a lot on where in London you are. If you're thinking RADA or Central you will have a lot more trouble with rent and work than, say, East 15. I believe they all screw foreign students on the fees, both for audition and the course costs. So unless you're uber wealthy this is gonna be trouble. Plus, Drama School as opposed to Theatre at University is very, very full-time. I'm talking 8am-10pm some days, and unpredictable hours. It is very difficult to work around that given that it's physical activity a lot of the time and you need to sleep.
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Jun 22, 2014 18:17
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loki k zen posted:London is incredibly expensive but it depends a lot on where in London you are. If you're thinking RADA or Central you will have a lot more trouble with rent and work than, say, East 15. Hmm, i see a chance of coping with most problems, but that hour schedule might be impossible to sort. I've been checking some Acting BAs and i see some of them listing their daily schedule on about 8 hours. I should investigate more, probably contact the schools and ask about it. You said about 500-600 GBP monthly for accomodation... what is a low grade monthly salary for a part time job? Like waitressing, or some call center kind of thing? Maybe it would be a good idea to go for a year and get a full time job to save up... I have pretty good skills for 3D design/modelling (have worked on that in my city). Yggdrassil fucked around with this message at 23:05 on Jun 22, 2014 |
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Jun 22, 2014 20:00
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Yggdrassil posted:Hmm, i see a chance of coping with most problems, but that hour schedule might be impossible to sort. I've been checking some Acting BAs and i see some of them listing their daily schedule on about 8 hours. I should investigate more, probably contact the schools and ask about it. About £6.50 an hour. Minimum wage, basically. I do see some design stuff advertised, so it's theoretically plausible that you could get some work, and that would potentially pay more. At the drama schools, you're looking at 8 hour days to begin with, but this is the standard day, without extra rehearsals. For the last 3rd of each term you will definitely be in more than that. The tutors will also expect you to go on trips they do to see plays, and to go and see plays in your spare time, plus homework. But it's like, yeah, you could maybe save up, but you won't make drama school fees + living expenses for the years you can barely work in a year. Drama school is just a poo poo investment and should really be treated as a luxury item to get if you can afford it, like a really intense holiday or something. Realistically, it won't help you find an acting job more than three years experience in the industry will. If you can act, you don't need a degree. If you can't, a degree won't help you. There are certainly places you can work on your craft and tutorage you can get that is worth your money. Drama school isn't it.
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Jun 23, 2014 00:12
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loki k zen posted:About £6.50 an hour. Minimum wage, basically. It's very interesting to know that... thank god you know something about the ambient! Are you yourself an actor? What alternative in terms of formation should i look into then? What do you suggest? Thanks a lot!
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Jun 23, 2014 02:44
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I lived in London a few years ago and lived in a share room a five minute walk from Walthamstow Central station (zone 3, Victoria Line). The house had four bedrooms, one in one room and two in the each of the other rooms. 40 quid a week, all bills included except WiFi. The tube is expensive and I worked shifts in South Kensington - it would take me at least an hour to get there although by many accounts that's not too bad a commute at all. Take a book, iPad, iPod, whatever and it's really surprisingly bearable as long as you consider it "personal recreation time" and not "commuting time". However because I had to work shifts some days I had to be in at 7am and the tube wasn't convenient for that from that station, so I'd have to take two buses. At that time of the morning there's very little transport and the buses can use bus lanes anyway so often it was quicker (and cheaper!) anyway. Supermarkets like Lidl and Aldi as well as the frozen food stores are far cheaper than the likes of Sainsburys, Waitrose and even ASDA. The food is of comparable quality only there are no brand names and you have to take your own bags. Walthamstow has a daily market where the fruit/veg is (was?) so cheap I wondered how anyone was making any profit from it. Sometimes I'd be walking home as they were packing up and I'd score myself a carrier bag stuffed with potatoes and leeks for 2 quid. Sometimes my housemate was even cheaper and went out after they'd all left and helped himself to the bruised veg lying around on the pavement... it made good soup! Alcohol and nightlife is expensive although like every major city there are the tourist/rich peoples places and the locals/not rich places, some of which are of surprisingly high quality. Presumably you'll be in a student union which should get you access to at least some of the other universities/colleges bar and nightclubs (of which there are hundreds) so that's probably where you'll be going, not hobknobbing with the rich and famous in Chelsea or Mayfair. I lived in Walthamstow before the London riots (actually originated in Waltham Forest and Tottenham I think, which are next door). The area is primarily foreign - mainly Middle Eastern/Pakistani/Indian with the usual sprinkling of East Europeans and blacks - but everyone got along just fine. I never had any problems with foreigners (I'm white British) and certainly no problems communicating in English. The only major problem was the police who treated everyone like criminals; I would frequently be stopped walking home by police officers prowling the main road in pairs, although interestingly enough only when I had a hood on and they couldn't see my face. And by face I mean race, obviously. I would never be stopped if it wasn't raining and I was wearing my work suit. Funny that? Anyway, rant over! The main thing about London is that is is very much a melting point of cultures, nationalities, races, ideas, opinions etc. They say that you can eat food from virtually every country in the world in New York and that's the same for London. In your case I'd be extremely surprised if there isn't some sort of Argentinian expats group in London who can help you find a cheap room, cheap places to eat and drink and presumably somewhere to dance the tango and watch football. Search Facebook for "Argentinians in London" or something, although you obviously might have to search for it in Spanish. London is expensive but you can cut corners if you're flexible and keep an open mind. For someone working that is tough (I lasted a year before I went borderline-insane and ran away to live on an island off the coast of France) but for a student it's certainly more doable. It's daunting but not impossible, otherwise how the hell has everyone else done it?! edit: Now I think about it, one other thing you might be interested in: London is the sort of place people from the rest of the UK (and the world, for that matter) go to "strike it big" or whatever you want to call it. I went because I wanted to be a stand up comedian (  ) and quite a few of the people in that scene had gone to drama school, music school etc. But crucially they had done it outside of London and then gone to London to try to get experience and contacts, for which it is by far the best place to go in Europe. Possibly, again, the world. A lot of the part-time comedians would work in bars/restaurants/etc during the day and then go off to do open mics every night they could plus maybe a twenty minute set at a big comedy club on a weekend (and get paid, sort of!). I imagine it's exactly the same in the theatre scene. It's presumably about being in the right place at the right time, and London is at least the right place.....
duckmaster fucked around with this message at 04:23 on Jun 26, 2014 |
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Jun 26, 2014 04:17
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Thanks a lot duckmaster! For my part, i wouldnt worry about nightlife and booze. I do not drink alcohol, and my ideal entertainment is usually reading or playing boardgames / rabletop rpgs... Im not only moving there due to it being the "right place" for an acting career, i love the idea of London in general. It's history (im studying History at the moment), the weather (yes, i like the weather) and the fact that it is a BIG multicultural city. It's pretty much a place that just "goes well" with my spirit  .I will get in contact with peeps from Argentina, that should be helpful! Aside from that, i had a question: With regards on the costs of auditions and courses, and other things that might come up, like visa, taxes, etc... I DO have an european (german) passport. Would that provide me with any advantage? Thank you for your contribution!
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Jun 26, 2014 04:51
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Yggdrassil posted:Aside from that, i had a question: As an EU citizen you can enter, work, study and live in the UK without any restrictions for as long as you want. You don't need a visa and your passport won't even be stamped when you enter the UK. When you apply to your school just tell them you have a German passport. You are extremely unlikely to have access to benefits (unemployment, housing support etc) as these are based on residency and not citizenship, and you weren't a German resident and aren't a British resident so no dice. To pay taxes correctly you need to get a National Insurance number - this can probably all be done online by now and is pretty easy. You can still work without an NI number but the tax people won't know which tax code to put you on so you'll just end up on the highest proportional to your income (which will be the wrong one). So yeh it's quite useful.
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Jun 26, 2014 06:53
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duckmaster posted:As an EU citizen you can enter, work, study and live in the UK without any restrictions for as long as you want. You don't need a visa and your passport won't even be stamped when you enter the UK. When you apply to your school just tell them you have a German passport. Really nice to hear that in that case, i'll check to see how i can get the NI. Regarding accomodation... i've been checking on gumtree for cheap deals, althou i've read that i should look for accomodation once im there, as there are scammers posting there... is that right?In regards to benefits, and if i get into drama school, what are my chances on getting a loan to pay for my course, if i were to need one? Thanks for all the input so far
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Jun 26, 2014 08:55
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Yggdrassil posted:Really nice to hear that You'll get a loan to cover tuition fees which is paid direct to your college or whatever but you still have to pay it back. You'll get nothing else. You'll be unlikely to get any sort of private funding as again these are based on residency and not citizenship. Gumtree might have some shady characters on it but the basic rule is "Never, ever, ever send anyone any money". Things move so fast there it's unlikely you'll definitely have anything set up beforehand, but for this you'd have to go straight through your institution. They'll almost certainly have some sort of service to help you with accommodation, or at least a list of reputable landlords. Anything else and you'll have to sort it yourself on the ground.
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Jun 26, 2014 09:51
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Yggdrassil posted:It's very interesting to know that... thank god you know something about the ambient! Are you yourself an actor? What alternative in terms of formation should i look into then? What do you suggest? Hey dude; I was an actor briefly, out of the game now cause I couldn't deal with the stress/unemployment etc, and I looked extensively at the options for training; I also know people still in the Industry so I have their perspectives. You might look at: http://thepoorschool.com/ The Poor School - respected training, geared towards people working full/part time and dong actor's training part time. The Actor's Studio is a bit meh as far as quality-for-money goes. ALRA http://www.alra.co.uk/ does part time courses which could be worth looking at. A lot of the Drama schools also do a Foundation course, which being a one-year thing will not set you back as much or have you out of work as long as the BAs, and since you don't need the qualification, why not? Act Up: http://www.act-up.co.uk/act-up/ I hear good things about these guys. Other than that, just doing a poo poo ton of acting, even if it's amateur, profit share, whatever, is as good as training if not better. I'm assuming if you're making this decision to go into it as a career you already have the basics; from there it's just practice. Your director really doesn't give a poo poo if you can pontificate on Artaud and Brecht cause he wants you to do it *his* way. But by honest advice, unless you are really conventionally attractive and talented, I wouldn't become an actor and I sure as gently caress wouldn't move for it. Bear in mind everybody thinks London is the place to go to be an actor, which means everyone who wants to be an actor is already there competing with you. You can actually have a lot more success (and a better cost of living) outside London and still get as much work, cause there's less of it but also less competition. There is a lot of theatre and TV in Manchester, for instance, and some good places to train that will cost you less than London.
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Jun 26, 2014 19:30
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loki k zen posted:Hey dude; Thanks a lot i am definitely going to look up on those places, im not sure if im conventionally attractive. I am pretty talented :0 or at least that's what i've been told by my teachers and classmates. Whatever the case, moving to London is not directly dependant on my probably soon-to-be-crushed dreams on becoming an actor :P i have an emotional attachment to the city and the culture, and as i study History at the moment, so i do have a Plan B if the whole acting thing doesn't work out, which is to study History. Particularly, im most interested in Ancient History and Egiptology, and England is a great place to study that! (way better than my country).
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Jun 27, 2014 03:44
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