Who am I?
I am an actress born and bred in London. I have attended several part time and short acting course and I am now taking the step into full time training to advance myself and build a good foundation for a career as an actress.
What is this site for?
I have been offered a place to study acting full time at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles, USA.
This is an amazing opportunity and an amazing school with alumni such as: Robert Redford, Kim Cattrall, Danny Devito and Kirk Douglas.
Unfortunately as an international student I cannot apply for students loans or financial aid from either the UK or the US and in order to be able to take up my place I have to find another means of funding.
I am therefore asking for patrons or sponsors who have an interest in the Arts or even just are in the position to be able to help someone achieve their dreams and receive good training in order to advance their career.
So who am I and what am I all about?
From a young age I have had an interest in acting. As a child my mother took me to the theatre and I attended after school drama clubs. I also took theatre studies A Level which furthered my interest in acting from a performance and critical point of view.
After graduating from University College London, I took an evening class at The City Lit called "Ways into Text 1". This was the course that gave me the impetuous and confidence to consider pursuing a career as an actress for that I have to thank Ronnie McCann an enthusiastic and encouraging teacher who gave me my first push.
I then went off traveling cutting my trip short to return to apply for drama school. On my return I took part in a short audition course at The Academy Drama School and sent of my applications blissfully unaware of what lay ahead of me! It didn't take me long to learn what a difficult process it is to get into drama school and the huge amount of competition there is from incredibly talented individuals. Unsuccessful that year I decided to be pro active and applied for and was accepted on the one year acting foundation course at The Arts Educational Schools London (Arts Ed).
This is where I learnt just how little I knew about acting!
But Nicola Cussons, the Course Co-Ordinator, saw something in me and took a chance and gave me a place on the foundation course for which I am forever grateful. It was the best year of my life. Hard work but so rewarding. I learnt so much and really feel like I grew as an actress. It all culminated in a showcase which was a fantastic experience.
Whilst I had been doing my foundation course I had also been auditioning for full time courses and when they weren't going so well 2 things came out of the blue. One was a course run by the British American Drama Academy, the "Midsummer in Oxford" programme, a month long course based in Oxford with some incredible teachers from the acting industry and some amazing master classes. I applied and was accepted and off I went a week after finishing my showcase at Arts Ed.
I really cannot find the words to describe my experience at BADA. It was the most amazing time of my life, and I know some of the friends I made there will be lifelong friends. The teachers were incredibly talented people who took time out of their lives to help us and gave us such good support and guidance.
The second thing that came out of the blue was my application to AADA. A friend from my course at Arts Ed, Fiona, had been accepted onto the acting course at AADA in New York and suggested I apply. It had never occurred to me as the fees were so high and I knew I couldn't get student loans to study in America.
However, Fiona convinced me to just apply and worry about the money later, pointing out that if I got into a course in UK with no funding I’d be in the same boat. So I did and the morning after my showcase I woke up to find a letter waiting for me from America offering me a place! I think those couple of weeks with the showcase, that letter and starting the BADA course were perhaps some of the happiest of my life. I felt I was really beginning to achieve my dreams.
Why am I looking for support and what do I need?
So here I am now at the later bit worrying about the money! I am asking people in a position to do so to please help me achieve my dreams by helping me to get a good training at a good drama school to open the doors into the perilous world of a professional actor.
If you would like to sponsor me or become a patron there is not much I can offer back I am afraid to be honest! What I can offer is notice of all my public productions whilst at drama school and after, regular updates on how I am getting along and a passion and ambition to succeed. If you think you would be interested in helping me achieve my goals please contact me at toni@tonicraig.co.uk.
Finally, thank you for your time and interest in my career. Even if you are unable to help financially, any advice, guidance or simple encouragement is always appreciated.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
