Last Tuesday I was invited to speak at an Equity Audiobook event in London and I think it went incredibly well.  There was almost 100 people attending and I had the opportunity to speak about the ACA, our manifesto and aims, and where we and Equity need to go next.

The event was held at Spotlight in Leicester Square, and was packed to the rafters with narrators/actors.  It was extremely nice to see so many old friends, and to have the chance to meet and make some new ones.

For my half hour, I ran through the ACA Manifesto, explaining the purpose of the organisation and how it helps us all if we bring together the interests and aims of EVERYONE involved in the creation of audiobooks. There was a genuinely warm reception to what I had to say, and I was given some time to do a Q&A and share a few industry tid-bits, including the way production budgets break down.

Following me, our very own Helen Lloyd gave an illuminating talk about remote-recording. This was, again, very well received and the audience learned a great deal about this important sector of our industry,

After Helen and I, Cathy Sweet ran through the new Equity audio manifesto. This ties-up closely with the ACA one, with more obvious focus on narrator-specific issues. This is a fantastic move on Equity’s part, and will strengthen both our proposals moving forwards.

This was the first time I have had a chance to bring the ACA out into the real world, and it was a great first event.  I would like to thank Cathy and the Audio committee for inviting me, and for their continuing support and partnership. We have some plans for how to start 2020 and move the manifesto aims forwards.  It is going to be an exciting year for all of us.

If you would like to help the ACA please reach out to me at any time and I’ll be grateful for your advice and wisdom.

Neil 🙂