Hi,

Moving to Zurich in the next few weeks and wondering if there's any work to be had in acting there! I'm an English actor and do plenty of voice-overs, tv commercials and the odd film (odd as in occasional and also odd) in Southern Europe so eager to do more in CH.

Also got into film making over the past few years so hope to be keeping that going if there are other cast/crew people out there wanting to get together and make something happen!

Cheers,

LockedOff

So, what adverts, films and voice overs have you done then ?

Voice overs mainly for EFL books and a documentaries about Greek islands. Adverts range from mobile phones to condensed milk to a very memorable one where I played a barman opposite a Japanese James Bond.

Are you in the business?

My name is Tekei. Hoshi Takei.

A legend in its own lunchtime.

No. Just being nosey :-)

you could try the English theater group of Zug. this is their website http://www.etgz.ch/cms/index.php

or possibly this comedy group
http://www.zcc.ch/

there may be some professional entertainers that work with these groups. maybe they can give you some positive feedback as well
good luck
Doug

Thanks - I had contacted the ZCC before but hadn't heard of the other so I'll take a look.

Tricky one! The amateur scene is just that. The professional scene here is a closed-shop amongst the swiss. It's like the UK in the 1970's - they're subsidised to the hilt for production and wages but these funds aren't available to the likes of us unfortunately.

There's only one english actor I know of here who is in any way working amongst the natives on equal-ish terms and his name is Peter Tate/Phil Hayes - he actually got onto mainstream TV here speaking english a year or so ago - a first.

There's a few others knocking about doing bits and pieces, Howard Productions in Geneva bring-over a few pro productions each year and Simply Theatre down that way run courses too. There's work in voice-overs to be had if you are 'approved' by the members (!?!?!?). Just like the UK you'll need to have your best brown nose about you but be warned, you won't get paid swiss rates. If you get any 'job' you can guarantee you'll be bought much cheaper than if you were a local.

I'm looking to do some further work here on the cultural side over and above comedy shows (it's very much needed) so I'm more than interested to talk with anyone that wants to try and liven things up round these parts - feel free to get in touch!

Break a leg!

That's very interesting in a good/bad kind of way. It's all about who you know rather than what you know or even how good an actor one happens to be! - particularly obvious if you see the state of some tv productions over here!

Do you know of any decent agents in Zurich? The ones here only work for commercials (tv and film is all by word of mouth only).

And would definitely like to meet in person to talk about things when I'm there. Will PM you closer to the time if I may!

Like any business, who you know matters but getting to know anyone here is a job in itself if you aren't employed - and that's just with the non-swiss! Talent these days needs to come with tunnel-visioned, ruthless ambition when you are up against artistically bankrupt phenomena like Lloyd-Webber's search for a new Dorothy or Cowell's array of talent-free tripe that now infects every TV set in the world. Why pay for talent when you can get members of the public to do it for free/cheap? These problems exist for anyone in the creative industries today - here there are added dimensions/complications within the established creative status quo.

Agencies here I'm not too familiar with though I know they are out there and potentially interested in english voices/talent - on the cheap!

Please do get in touch! It's a very hard existence here trying to get by if you aren't one of the (vast majority) of people employed by local industries. Any collaborators with an eye on raising the bar for english language cultural activity here is very welcome through my door! Please knock when you get here.

By the way, over here I did the 48 hour film project which was a great way to network; we ended up forming an informal group and made several more films afterwards. I see they have one going on in Geneva this year (http://www.48hourfilm.com/geneve/) which might be worth going for if we can get a few like-minded people to help out.

Hi, my name is Dominic, I am from York in Enland, and I am 19.

I am an actor by trade and have worked in theatres, filmed, schools and toured performances all over York. I have done musicals such as We Will Rock You, Tommy, Bugsy Malone, Scrooge.

I am pretty creative, I like to think I can write, I have done bits and bats.

I live in Zürich, only moved here recently so i am still getting to grips with the city and the German. I am hoping to go to the Zürich drama school next year, as you have to understand and speak german...so that is my main priority.

But I am also wanting to get to know some people and get networking

This is getting better.

We've made a few films here and there's an idea I have been working on for some time for a short film which requires

* 2 younger men
* pretty and young "trophy" wife
* middle-aged man

and a dog!

Maybe we can all hook up soon and see if we can't try to put something together for this - or indeed any other - idea!

I worked previously in a company here that was in this industry and what I learned from it is that the Swiss acting profession is, as suggested, very small, very subsidized and very insular. The main reason for this, from what I can gather, is that you don't really have one acting industry here as much as three, based upon language (with some minor crossover between them) and film / TV are almost completely dominated by Germany, France and Italy respectively.

As a result there are very few agents/agencies for actors in Switzerland and most Swiss actors are represented by agents in the surrounding countries, where the bulk of production takes place. What remains in Switzerland is very small and very closed.

Would be very interested in meeting up when you'll do. I act - make up can do wonders

When I first read your post, I was tempted to say don't make the mistake of giving it up and coming here because if you do, you'll feel very unhappy (professionally), like no one really understands your needs, your world, your creativity/ talent. If you're getting paid to do what you love, hold on to it!!

Don't want to demotivate you but I've been paying the price of coming from a field where I did many different things like you, was with like minded, fun people, worked alot. I did assume one can definately find work and get back into it, but hey you live and learn. Just be prepared to spend alot of time doing zilch and getting it everytime you try - and then to be able to keep paying those endless bills in Switzerland be forced to work as a waitress/painter/cleaner - take your pick. Two sides to every story and that was mine.

But hey - life is full of suprises and you never know when one is headed your way. You'll never know how things will turn out for you unless you try. So cheers to new beginnings and welcome to the land of cheese, chocolates and much natural beauty. Good Luck! Be positive and I hope things work out for you.

Thanks for all those kind words!

Over here there is little work around, just odds and sods really, so I figure CH will be pretty much the same. In fact, that's why we got into making our own films because there wasn't enough professional work about to fill the week. It's proved very useful and led on to other things as well - which I might start trying out when I finally move.

Anyway, I think the signs are that there are people about who want to get together and do something so definitely this is an avenue worth exploring sooner rather than later!

Maybe you could be the voice of Globi for English speakers.