Emmet Ryan an actor from Co Clare has signed with an LA management agency.
Shannon based Ryan was in the second most populous city in the United States for the IAM Master Class where he worked alongside fourteen other actors at the beginning of January. He impressed during this stint in Los Angeles and this led to him being signed by the Epiphany Management Group.
Epiphany has won the Cascade Capital Corporation Business Growth Award four years consecutively and was included on the 2014 INC 5000 list, a distinguished honour that is reserved for the fastest growing private companies in America.
Prior to his trip Stateside, Emmet spoke to The Clare Herald and upon receiving the news he was anxious to share it with our readers. Whilst recounting his highlights from the centre of the American entertainment industry, he emphasised how much of a learning experience it was.
“Even from the first day you learn so much, we got a crash course in business on the first day from Bonnie Gillepsie (Casting Director) she wrote a book called ‘Self-Management for Actors’ which is all about the business of acting and managing yourself as an actor. Even from the first class I had so much information gained and learned already. We did a week of classes with two acting coaches and that went really well. From thereon we belted into sessions with casting directors and that was the process going forward, we met with fifteen high-level casting directors in Los Angeles”.
All participants in the IAM Masterclass also performed a showcase for the casting directors and acted in two short films. Having secured representation in LA is a big step for Emmet in gaining exposure but the twenty eight year old is aware that it doesn’t mean he will be starring in a global blockbuster just yet.
“It’ll come over time, it’s not going to happen overnight, representation is a huge step towards a good goal but there’s still a long way to go. It takes time to build yourself and going over to LA it gives you such a great start and that’s why the course is so important and that’s why Marg Haynes (director of masterclass) is so important in the industry for actors like myself, the amount you get from it is crazy, the amount you learn number one and the amount of opportunities you gain from just doing the course from the people you meet and spend a couple of hours with, it’s invaluable that’s my debt of gratitude to Marg and to Ava for the work they do, it’s a one in a million course”.
Now that he’s got a taste of life in LA, Emmet is determined to get back there. “That’s the plan, it was all work I really got a flavour of the business and to be in classrooms with the casting directors was just unbelievable, you’re learning so much from each one and what each one wants from you, you’re completely taken in by it and I just put in the hard work and that was my main goal going over. It was mission accomplished really, I didn’t regret anything because I know I put my best effort into it”.
“That’s where I want to work, I want to contribute to Irish work I have all that stuff in my head that I want to do but I know going to LA is a big part of what I want to do aswell, it’s just where I want to be. I got on so well out there in class that I just want to get there but I obviously want to do Irish work because I’m from here, I want to be able to do Irish film aswell but my ultimate drive is to get back to LA”.
Marg Haynes is a Director of Curriculum and Talent Development at The Australian Institute for Performing Arts. She was also led the masterclass of which Ryan speaks so fondly about. The Hollywood producer and writer told The Clare Herald what made the Shannon actor stand out from the crowd.
“Emmet is unique. As an actor he is driven and dedicated. Emmet’s comedic timing and fearless approach to material was one of the elements that impressed the casting directors and managers who met him. His ability to then turn around and play dark, creepy characters sealed the deal”.
Acting is considered to an unreliable occupation without a steady income, we pitched this to Emmet who gave his take on the perception. “It’s true that’s my answer to that”, he laughed.
“If you want it bad enough you have to be willing to work and you have to be willing to make the sacrifices and be willing to be poor for a very long time. You have to sacrifice things and have to be willing to do it, that’s just my take on it because that’s what I do myself but I love every minute of it because I’m getting to do what I want to do for a living and you still get to act at the end of the day, eventually things will come and if they come great, you have to be patient and be respectful and treat it like a business, it takes time it’s not a overnight thing”.
His main goal is to return to LA and he is currently trying to sort out his VISA in order to do so. Having appeared in the well-received Irish film ‘A Date For Mad Mary’, the former St Caimins Community School student is hopeful for upcoming show will be given the green light by a national network. “I have a pilot in Ireland that’s being pitched now, that’s what’s out there for myself in terms of TV and film and now it’s just getting back into it. It’s such a worldwide thing these days that even if you’re not somewhere you can be”.