Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 12, 1993 TAG: 9303120229
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
CASTING DIRECTOR TO HOLD SEMINAR
A seminar on film and television acting and production will be offered by casting director Beverly McDermott on Saturday at the Salem Civic Center.McDermott, one of the featured guests in last October's Rising Star multimedia convention at the civic center, has been involved in the casting of such films as "Goldfinger," "Thunderball," "Cocoon" and "Absence of Malice" and TV shows including "Miami Vice" and "Simon and Simon."
The workshop will run from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The cost is $90 in advance and $100 at the door.
Reservations and further information are available by telephoning 389-9400. Participants must be at least 14 years old.
The seminar is part of an outreach program created by the Rising Star convention with the goal of Rising Star expects to be a growing program that will attract producers, writers, directors and film stars to the area. Some of these folks come early and stay late to visit schools and community groups. Fred Eichelman making the Roanoke Valley a film center, said Fred Eichelman, a retired Northside High School social studies teacher now working on media projects.
Jerry Conner, who is involved in a Star Trek organization based in Princeton, W.Va., will be available to visit elementary classrooms in Virginia and West Virginia with a program on science fiction and the space program.
In April or May, depending on professional obligations, actress Deanna Lund will be offering a drama workshop aimed not only at would-be actors but people interested in role-playing or being natural in real-life situations.
Hal Clement, a writer of both science fiction and fact, will be available to visit science classes in the Roanoke Valley a week before the next Rising Star convention.
Lund and Clement are among the guests scheduled for Rising Star 2, set for Oct. 1-2 at the Salem Civic Center. Memberships are $7.50 before Aug. 1 and $10 afterward. Writing, art, directing, acting and costuming workshops are among those being offered.
Eichelman had been involved in the RoVaCon conventions held in the Roanoke Valley for 16 years and, since its dissolution, started working on the Rising Star convention held for the first time last October.
He said some of its outreach programs are free and others have a cost attached. The program has brought to Salem writers and artists who are willing to tailor programs to particular education interests in the region.
"In a sense, anything that we can do, we will do by request," he said. "Rising Star expects to be a growing program that will attract producers, writers, directors and film stars to the area. Some of these folks come early and stay late to visit schools and community groups."
Further information is available by writing Eichelman at 545 Howard Drive, Salem, Va. 24153. Telephone 389-9400.