A big shout-out to Stephen Mackintosh for today’s Scene Study! 👏 Unfortunately, John couldn’t join us, and Stephen handled the change with absolute calm and professionalism. Thank you for being so open and willing to get stuck into the work, Stephen. Lovely feedback, too, from Alison, who joined us to watch. We can’t wait for the next one—watch this space!

Good Evening everyone, My name is Danela Butler. I’m originally from Seattle and now currently in Atlanta. I’m an Actress, Author and Poet. i recently joined and I’m excited to grow my craft, learn and network with others to make meaningful connections. Thank you for having me.

𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗦, 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗜𝗦 𝗜𝗠𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗧 𝗦𝗧𝗨𝗙𝗙. 𝗗𝗢𝗡'𝗧 𝗦𝗖𝗥𝗢𝗟𝗟 𝗣𝗔𝗦𝗧 𝗜𝗧! Having spent my entire working life in the film and television industry, I've witnessed extraordinary changes in the way we work. From the transition to digital filmmaking to the arrival of streaming platforms, technology has continually reshaped our industry, and artificial intelligence is undoubtedly one of the biggest changes we've ever faced. I've always maintained that AI has enormous potential to support creativity and open doors for independent filmmakers and actors, but there is a fundamental difference between using technology to enhance our work and allowing it to replace us. Over the past few weeks, there have been some significant developments concerning the protection of actors' rights, particularly when it comes to our faces, voices and performances. Governments are introducing legislation, unions are negotiating stronger agreements, and casting organisations are establishing clear boundaries around how AI should be used. At the same time, AI-powered film studios are announcing commercial productions, which makes these discussions increasingly urgent. What I find particularly encouraging is that the conversation is finally moving beyond whether AI is good or bad and towards something much more constructive: how do we embrace this technology while ensuring that the people whose creativity built this industry remain protected? There's quite a lot happening around the world, and I think it's important that we, as actors, understand exactly where things stand. 𝗖𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: 𝗔𝗜 𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗦𝗧, 𝗕𝗨𝗧 𝗛𝗨𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗦 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝗗𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗗𝗘 One of the most encouraging developments comes from the International Casting Directors Association (ICDA), which published its position on artificial intelligence in May and updated it on 15 September 2026. The association recognises that AI can be extremely useful in casting, particularly when it comes to summarising scripts, analysing character breakdowns, searching databases and assisting with the administrative work involved in reviewing submissions. However, it has drawn a very clear line: AI must never replace human judgment in casting decisions.

We all know that feeling before an audition. The racing heart, the butterflies, the self-doubt. But what if those nerves weren't something to fight, but something you could actually use? Today's blog explores how to turn nervous energy into something that strengthens your performance rather than holds you back. Because sometimes the difference between a good audition and a great one isn't getting rid of your nerves. It's learning to work with them. ☕ Grab a coffee, take five minutes and have a read. I'd love to hear how you deal with audition nerves! And join us tomorrow for our 1st Saturday Scene Study at 11am BST live on Skool. Lets go do the Real Work Tracey and Claire ❤️

We have spent some time watching these developments, and this is an important article to read. When we talk about AI and actors, the conversation often focuses on faces, digital doubles and synthetic performers. But there is another part of the actor that now needs just as much attention: the voice. AI can increasingly clone, manipulate, translate and reproduce a human voice, sometimes creating entirely new material that the original performer never actually recorded. 𝗔 𝗝𝗔𝗣𝗔𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗧 𝗛𝗔𝗦 𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗚𝗡𝗜𝗦𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗩𝗔𝗟𝗨𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗔 𝗛𝗨𝗠𝗔𝗡 𝗩𝗢𝗜𝗖𝗘 One of the most significant recent developments came from Japan, where actor and voice performer Kenjiro Tsuda brought legal action after an AI-generated imitation of his distinctive voice was used without permission in more than 180 TikTok videos. The Tokyo District Court ruled that the commercial use of the cloned voice infringed his publicity rights and recognised that a person’s voice can represent their identity in much the same way as their image. For actors, this matters because the conversation is moving beyond ownership of a recording and towards control over the identity contained within that recording. 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗹𝗲: https://apnews.com/article/a2a9596a197f149398771a9166043ef 𝗦𝗔𝗚-𝗔𝗙𝗧𝗥𝗔 𝗜𝗦 𝗣𝗨𝗧𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗩𝗢𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗠𝗟𝗬 𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗔𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗔 SAG-AFTRA is now treating voice cloning as a central performer-rights issue. Its current work around AI includes consent, compensation, digital replicas and the NO FAKES Act. Its animation agreements are especially interesting because they make clear that voice actors are human beings and that a created character voice can also qualify for digital-replica protection. That is important because an actor may create a voice that sounds nothing like their normal speaking voice, yet that performance still has commercial and creative value. The union has also negotiated protections around AI-generated foreign-language versions, which is likely to become increasingly important as AI dubbing develops.