Studio and Alumni news

Studio News and Alumni Successes!

We have much to celebrate!
During 2020, online courses proved very popular, however over the last 2 years we’ve been thrilled to resume our acclaimed live teaching (with appropriate Covid-precautions in place) – and we are currently expanding our range of live programmes during 2023.

The alumni news section is currently being updated – SO many of our former students have had notable successes during the last 12 months!

Alumni news:

Elena Delia appeared in the premier of ‘The Motive and the Cue’ – it was sold out at the National Theatre in June, but will be opening at the Noël Coward theatre from 9 December 2023!alumni news

Nino Furuhata appeared in the world premiere of ‘My Neighbour Totoro’ at the Barbican Theatre, for the RSC, from November 2022
Rodrigo Penalosa has been cast in ‘The Tempest’ with the RSC,  showing in 2023

Julia-Maria Arnolds won ‘Best Female director – short film’ 2021 Vancouver independent film festival for her film HOPE.
Samuel Arnold has finished filming the next series of ‘Emily in Paris’.
Basil Eidenbenz completed filming on series two of ‘The Witcher’ – screening from 17 December 2021
Nino Furuhata appeared in a new play ‘After Life’ at the National Theatre,  June 2021
March 2020:
Conor Berry plays the lead role and has won a best-actor award in multi-award-winning feature film SCHEMERS.
Ella Rumpf has won European Shooting Star 2020 at the Berlin Film Festival. She is a series regular in FREUD, on Netflix.
Lukwesa Mwamba has appeared in EAST ENDERS and CARNIVAL ROW
Samuel Arnold is a series-regular in new TV series EMILY IN PARIS featuring Lily Collins
Lujza Richter appeared in BBC1 series DRACULA written by Mark Gatiss
Julia-Maria Eiben (now Arnolds) wrote and starred in short film WHY?, selected for the 2020 London Independent Film Festival – likewise, Mike Hanratty and Hector Moss wrote and starred in their short film DOORBELLS AND GUNSHOTS

April 2018:

Nicola Perot recurring role in Genius – series 2.
Mireia Oriol played Clara, the young lead in feature film ‘El Pacto’ opposite stars Belén Rueda and Darío Grandinetti.

March 2018:

Great to see GFCA 2013 alumnus Richard Mason featured in Empire magazine! His lead role as Scott in feature film SCOTT AND SID – watch the trailer. Read another great article about Richard in Birmingham Living magazine.

February 2018:

PG 2015 alumnus Margaux Billard features in this promo for Eurostar ‘See More in One Trip’. This is the second time an alumnus has been booked – Maëva Demurger can still be seen in her role for Eurostar in ‘A Travel State of Mind’
2014 alumni – Leo Hatton featured as Jean Ward in an episode in the fifth TV series of Endeavour –  ‘Colours’ and Michael Hanratty appeared in the 2019 Vault new theatre Festival, in dark comedy ‘Consumables’, and toured with spine-tingling play ‘The Turn of the Screw’

January 2018:

Film critic Mark Kermode named his top ten feature films of 2017 – number one was ‘Raw’ – featuring Ella Rumpf! Another vote for Ella as ‘Variety Unveils 10 Europeans to Watch for 2018’

December 2017:

USA premiere in New York for the award-winning Daniel Day Lewis film Phantom Thread, featuring alumnus Lujza Richter as Princess Mona Braganza. And catch Nikki Angus, in the restaurant scene!

October 2017:

Alumnus Duarte Ventura has written, & acts in a new play ‘Painting’, directed by actor-director alumnus JuliaMaria Eiben, at the White Bear Theatre.

August 2017:

2015 alumni – Marianne Chase devised a 1-woman show, and performed in the Edinburgh Festival: ‘raucous, sweet and very funny!’ Hector Moss was the lead in a play in the same festival season, and was then touring for a month in India.
PG 2012 alumnus Anna Brooks Beckman appeared in a devised play ‘Seven’ at the Cockpit Theatre, in the Camden Fringe Festival
Alumni Tom Sharp and Ben Manz play ‘Anglais 1 & 2’ in feature film ‘Bonne Pomme’ starring Gérard Depardieu and Catherine Deneuve.
GFCA professional member Jason JulienConnage has won multiple awards for his latest short film, an ambitious 3-hander period-drama ‘Valentine Jacobs’ featuring alumnus Michael Hanratty

July 2017:

We are pleased that this year’s Foundation Acting Diploma 2017 students have achieved an average mark of 74% in their ATCL examinations, maintaining the excellent standard of previous years.
Studio member Jason JulienConnage won Best Original Screenplay at the Madrid International Film Festival for his debut short film ‘Rodeo King’
Studio member Candis Nergaard was the lead on BBC Radio 4 (and on iplayer) in DH Laurence’s ‘The Gypsy’.

June 2017:

Giles Foreman was invited to address 150 members of SAG-AFTRA in Los Angeles, and a few days later again in New York, during one of his trips to the USA. He focussed on the Centre’s core teaching of Character Analysis, the pioneering work of Yat Malmgren and Christopher Fettes, and presented through the book A Peopled Labyrinth.

February 2017:

Oscar-ceremony News

La Femme et le TGV – featuring PG alumnus Lucien Guignard, and supported by GFCA Paris, GFCA London and Giles Foreman – nominated for Best live-action short film at the 2017 Academy Awards! Giles attended the award ceremony in Los Angeles, and was invited to lead the Q&A session after an industry screening in London hosted by Shorts TV. LA FEMME ET LE TGV – Press Release

Denialfeaturing PG alumnus Basil Eidenbenz – nominated for Outstanding British Feature Film at the 2017 British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAS)

Tiger Girl – with GFCA alumnus Ella Rumpf in the title role – opened the 2017 Berlinale Film Festival. Press conference interview.
Hollywood Reporter review: “the leads are two of Europe’s top up-and-coming actresses. Ella Rumpf is the cool, aggressive, mocking queen of attitude”

2016 PG graduates – Marc Bosch has signed with Imperium Management, and Joseph Russell has signed with Patrick Hambleton Management – congratulations to both! 2 other alumni have been signed up for high-profile feature-film roles – more details to follow, as soon as we can release them!

October 2016

La Femme et le TGV - Oscar-nominated

La Femme et le TGV

La Femme et le TGV“, directed by Timo von Gunten (Switzerland) featuring PG 2013 alumnus Lucien Guignard has won Best Short Film at the Sitges International Film Festival! October 19, 2016; and the Audience Choice ‘Narrative Short’ Award, at Heartland Film Festival!

September 2016

Maëva Demurger is Kamilah Al-Qadi in 3 episodes of award-winning US TV series ‘Tyrant

August 2016

2015 graduate Conor Berry has been cast as the lead in SCHEMERS, an exciting youth culture/music orientated feature film set in 1979, being shot in Dundee.
Basil Eidenbenz appears as Lohlein in the popular new ITV costume-drama VICTORIA.

June 2016

With support from GFCA, 10 actors from the 2014 & 2015 graduating groups presented a double-bill of plays by Arthur Kopit, directed by Dannie-Lu Carr; with AD Althyr Pivatto (Actor/Director/Instructor route 2015)KOPIT PLAYS

April 2016

London release for the feature film starring Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Oldman, Kevin Costner –
‘Criminal’ – with alumnus Diana Dimitrovici.

March 2016

2015 graduate Samuel Arnold has just booked a role in a forthcoming French TV drama series.
2013 group alumnus Basil Eidenbenz is now filming 6 episodes of new TV costume-drama Victoria, as Lohlein – due on our screens this Autumn.

February 2016

Oscar-ceremony News

We are delighted that STUTTERER, featuring post-graduate 2013 alumnus Richard Mason, has won the Oscar for Best live-action short film at the 2016 Academy Awards.

Stutterer - Oscar-winning Short film

Stutterer – Oscar-winning Short film

2012-2016

2016: Giles directs Oleander, the pilot for a TV series set in Luxembourg and written by Tara Donnell.

September 2015: GFCA is proud to publish and launch the defining book on Character Analysis written by Christopher Fettes, after having designed and printed it over a 3-year development period.

June 2014: Giles directs Maureen Lipman, Philip Franks and David Sibley in short film Job’s Dinner, released this month.

2014: Studio Member Rami Nasr cast as ‘Mr Sweet’ in feature film ‘Petroleum Spirit’

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