Yesterday (February 17th ) renowned Irish film director Jim Sheridan officially opened Bow Street Acting Academy for Screen Acting, in Smithfield, Dublin 7.
Originally set up as The Factory by filmmakers John Carney (Once) Kirsten Sheridan (Disco Pigs) and Lance Daly (Kisses) Bow Street is now run by casting director Maureen Hughes (Love/Hate, Charlie), filmmaker Shimmy Marcus (Soulboy) and general manager Paul O’Connor.
Bow Street has trained over 120 actors including recent Sundance Festival winner Jack Reynor, Peter Coonan, Seana Kerslake, Brian Gleeson and many more. Bow Street is now seen as being at the forefront of training for the next generation of Film and TV actors. Acting coach Gerry Grennell who has worked with some of the biggest names in film including Marlon Brando, Tom Cruise, Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep to name but a few, is aligned to Bow Street. His unique concepts on screen acting form the foundation of all training methods at Bow Street.
Gerry Grennell said at the official opening “What Shimmy, Paul and Maureen are doing here at Bow Street is like no other acting academy in Europe. I am thrilled to be part of something right from the start”.
At last night’s official opening ceremony, the directors of Bow Street announced two major new partnerships with Screen Training Ireland and Spotlight UK. The collaboration with Screen Training Ireland will cement Bow Street’s reputation as the main training body for screen acting in Ireland whilst aligning itself with Spotlight UK, which is often referred to as the ‘home of casting’ with over 60,000 members worldwide, will open doors for Irish actors to avail of thousands of new acting roles worldwide.
Jim Sheridan said yesterday, “I’m delighted to see The Factory evolve into Bow Street Academy for Screen Acting. I’ve seen first hand the extraordinary calibre of actors coming through its programme for screen acting – both in class and on set. This building and this dream needs to be supported by us all.”
Maureen Hughes of Bow Street said “Last night was a very important one for Bow Street and we are thrilled to have had so many well known faces here to celebrate with us. As well as the full time year long screen acting course we are announcing tonight three new exciting acting courses – the advanced programme for screen acting, the beginners programme for screen acting and the young filmmakers academy for teenagers”.