SEE OUR STUDENT SUCCESSES

Hans Zimmer has scored over 100 films, grossing more than 13 billion dollars at the box office worldwide. He has been honored with an Academy Award, two Golden Globes, and three Grammy’s. In 2003, the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers presented him the prestigious Henry Mancini award for Lifetime Achievement for his impressive and influential body of work.

Hans’ interest in music began early, and after a move from Germany to the U.K., would lead to playing with and producing various bands, including The Buggles, whose “Video Killed the Radio Star” was the first music video to ever appear on MTV. But the world of film music was what Hans really wanted to be involved with. Not long after meeting established film composer Stanley Myers, the two founded the London-based Lillie Yard Recording Studios together, collaborating on such films as My Beautiful Laundrette.

It was Hans’ solo work in 1988’s A World Apart, however, that gained the attention of director Barry Levinson, who then asked Hans to score Rain Man, Hans’ first American film. Levinson’s instinct was right – the score’s Oscar nomination that followed would be the first of seven.

With Hans’ subsequent move to Hollywood, he expanded the range of genres of film music he explored, and his first venture into the world of animation, 1994’s The Lion King, brought Hans the Oscar. The Lion King’s soundtrack has sold over 15 million copies to date, and The Lion King Musical has gone on to win a Tony Award, and to become Broadway’s ninth-longest-running show in history.

A number of scores for animated films have followed, including co-writing four Bryan Adams songs for Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, including the Golden Globe nominated “Here I Am.” Most recently Hans has scored The Simpsons Movie, Kung Fu Panda and collaborated with will.i.am in Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.

Hans’ career has been marked by a unique ability to adeptly move between genres – between smaller films and comedies (such as Driving Miss Daisy, Peter Weir’s Green Card, Tony Scott’s True Romance, Ridley Scott’s Thelma and Louise, James L. Brooks’ As Good As It Gets, Nancy Meyers’ Something’s Gotta Give, and The Holiday) and big blockbusters (including Tony Scott’s Crimson Tide, John Woo’s Mission: Impossible 2, Ridley Scott’s Hannibal, Black Hawk Down, Edward Zwick’s The Last Samurai, Gore Verbinski’s The Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy, Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins, and Ron Howard’s The Da Vinci Code).

In the middle of Hans’ unparalleled pace of taking on new projects, his ability to innovate, to re-invent genres is what is perhaps most striking. The film scores Hans has done this for speak for themselves, whether it has been for drama in Barry Levinson’s Rain Man, action in Ridley Scott’s Black Rain, war in Terrence Malick’s The Thin Red Line, or most recently the dark comic book world of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, for which he received another Grammy.   

It was Hans’ unique take on the historical in Gladiator that earned him another Golden Globe. The album sold more than three million copies worldwide and spawned a second album “Gladiator: More Music from the Motion Picture.”

Hans’ roots in performing never left him, and in 2000, Hans performed his film music live for the first time in a concert at the 27th annual Flanders International Film Festival in Ghent, Belgium. With a 100-piece orchestra and 100-piece choir, he performed a number of newly orchestrated concert versions of a selection of his work. The concert was recorded by Decca and released as a concert album entitled “The Wings of a Film: The Music of Hans Zimmer.”
His background in collaboration and mentoring never left Hans either, and he created a Santa Monica based musical ‘think tank’, Remote Control Productions, in order to build a creative environment to nurture the talent of those new to the composing world. In the process, he has launched the careers of an unparalleled number of film and television composers, including John Powell (the Bourne Trilogy), Harry-Gregson Williams (Shrek, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason), Geoff Zanelli (Disturbia), Heitor Pereira (Curious George), Henry Jackman (Monsters vs. Aliens), James Dooley (Pushing Daisies), James Levine (Nip / Tuck, Damages), Ramin Djawadi (Iron Man), Rupert Gregson-Williams (Hotel Rwanda), Steve Jablonsky (Transformers), and Trevor Morris (The Tudors).

Hans has received a total 8 Golden Globe Nominations, 9 Grammy Nominations, and 7 Oscar Nominations, for Rain Man, Gladiator, The Lion King, As Good As It Gets, The Preacher’s Wife, The Thin Red Line, and The Prince of Egypt. He has also been honored with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award in Film Composition from the National Board of Review.

None of this has slowed down his pace. In 2008 Hans scored six films, including Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar 2, Frost / Nixon, and The Dark Knight and Ron Howard’s Angels & Demons. His upcoming films include Guy Ritchies’ Sherlock Holmes starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, and Gore Verbinski’s Rango.

Emily Blunt, Hurtwood’s home grown international film star needs no introduction. The star of Christopher Nolan’s record-breaking blockbuster ‘Oppenheimer’ is, in the words of The Guardian, the “biggest British female movie star of her generation”. Emily has worked with the greatest names in the business - Cillian Murphy, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr, Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Anthony Hopkins, Johnny Depp, Tom Cruise, Bruce Willis and her husband John Krasinski to name but a few.

So where did it all begin? Emily joined Hurtwood in 1999 and featured in numerous Hurtwood productions, most notably as the lead in ‘Accidental Death of an Anarchist’. In the summer holidays of 2000 Emily starred in the Hurtwood production of ‘Bliss’ (written by ex-student Paul Sellar) at the Edinburgh festival. Acting alongside her Hurtwood mentor and professional actor Adrian Rawlins, known affectionately at Hurtwood as ‘H’, she was soon spotted by H’s agent Ken McReddie. There was no need for Drama School for Emily, as six months after she left Hurtwood, she was sharing the stage with Judi Dench, Peter Bowles and Julia McKenzie in ‘The Royal Family’ directed by Trevor Nunn. Then came her breakthrough into film with her role as Tamsin in the 2004 ‘My Summer of Love’ for which she won the Evening Standard British Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer. In 2005 Emily won a Golden Globe for her titular role as an emotionally troubled young woman in the British TV drama ‘Gideon’s Daughter’ with Bill Nighy and Miranda Richardson. Soon Emily was taking Hollywood by storm as a fashion editor’s assistant alongside Meryl Streep in ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ which earnt her a BAFTA nomination. The rest is history and listed below are a selection of her most famous roles:

The Devil Wears Prada 2 (2026)

The Smashing Machine (2025)

The Fall Guy (2024)

Oppenheimer (2023)

Disney's Jungle Cruise (2021)

Wild Mountain Thyme (2020)

A Quiet Place Part II (2020)

Mary Poppins Returns (2018)

A Quiet Place (2018)

The Girl on the Train (2016)

The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016)

Sicario (2015)

Into the Woods (2014)

Looper (2012)

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2011) – alongside Hurtwood actor Tom Mison

The Adjustment Bureau (2011)

Gulliver's Travels (2010)

The Young Victoria (2009)

Sunshine Cleaning (2008)

The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

Harry left Hurtwood in 2015 and went on to train as an actor at Drama Centre London.

During his time there, Harry performed in a broad spectrum of productions including 'Twelfth Night', 'Three Sisters' and 'Some Voices'. He also took time out to work professionally in the ITV series 'Marcella', Sam Smith's 'Too Good at Goodbyes' music video, and a Burberry campaign. Before graduating in 2018, Harry left the school early having been cast as Dorilant in 'The Country Wife' at the Chichester Festival Theatre. Later that year he starred in the London debut of Martin Sherman’s 'Gently Down the Stream’ and had a guest role in ‘Letter for the King’ for Netflix.

Most notably, Harry appeared as Robert Spearing in HBO's 'Industry' and as Dylan Rees in the Sky Original thriller ‘Under Salt Marsh’. Harry also starred alongside Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga in The Joker sequel ‘Joker: Folie a Deux’.

Emily (Hurtwood 2000-2001) is without doubt Hollywood Royalty. She won the Best Actress Award at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival and is the lead female role in Guy Richie’s 2023 film ‘The Covenant’ alongside Jake Gyllenhaal.

From Hurtwood, Emily went to study Acting at LAMDA and she has never been out of work since. She has worked alongside some of Hollywood’s greatest stars, playing opposite Lily James in the ‘Pursuit of Love’ and Danny Dyer and Louis Winston in the horror/comedy ‘The Basement’. Her numerous film credits include ‘The Calling’, ‘28 Weeks Later’ and ‘Rise of The Footsoldier’.

Her television credits are equally extensive including ‘Tess of The D’Urbervilles’, ‘Unforgiven’, ‘Party Animals’, ‘Miss Marple’ and ‘Afterlife’. Emily also played a leading part in BAFTA award winning Jimmy McGovern series ‘The Street’. Emily other has major projects in the pipeline, apart from those with Guy Richie. She is working alongside Scarlett Johansson and Sienna Miller in Kristin Scott Thomas’ directing debut ‘My Mother’s wedding’. Emily is making such a name for herself in Hollywood that she may soon be competing with our other Emily, Emily Blunt, for the title of most successful female actor from Hurtwood!

Maxim is an established actor with many top film and tv credits under his belt, most notably playing Isildur in Amazon’s ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ and in BBC’s ‘Years and Years’ alongside Russel Tovey. 

Maxim found screen-time before joining Hurtwood as he worked with Rowan Atkinson, playing a key role in the 2007 film ‘Mr Bean's Holiday’. Maxim joined Hurtwood in 2012 where he shone in a variety of productions, citing Hurtwood as a place which “doesn't try to make you into a specific type of person. It just brings out who you really are”.

After leaving Hurtwood in 2014, Maxim was welcomed into the National Youth Theatre which quickly led on to a successful stint as a regular in ‘Hollyoaks’. Maxim subsequently made the switch to the BBC in 2019 where he starred in the popular Drama ‘Years and Years’ alongside Emma Thompson and Russell Tovey. Maxim would then go on to appear in 2019’s ‘Last Christmas’ and ‘Doctor Who’ before landing his biggest role to date, as ‘Isildur’ in the Amazon Series, ‘The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power’. Maxim was also honoured with the title of ‘Mr Vogue’ in Vogue's September 2022 issue.

TV and Film legend Nikki Amuka-Bird boasts an illustrious career on screen and stage spanning over two decades, and shows no signs of slowing down. Nikki has appeared in prime-time shows such as ‘Doctor Who’, ‘Holby City’, and ‘Casualty’, as well as hit films ‘Jupiter Ascending’ and 2023’s ‘Knock at the Cabin’. 

Nikki attend Hurtwood in the early 90’s and was a keen dancer, she would regularly be seen in musicals and other productions. After Hurtwood, Nikki went on to study drama at LAMDA.

Theatre was Nikki’s first step as she began her career with the Royal Shakespeare Company. She would go on to feature in various productions, including ‘Welcome to Thebes’ at the National Theatre and ‘Twelfth ‘Night’ at the Bristol Old Vic; for which she earned an Ian Charleson Award nomination for playing Viola. Nikki became a soap opera regular, appearing in ‘The Bill’, ‘Casualty’, ‘Holby City’ and ‘Doctors’. Other TV credits include ‘Doctor Who’, ‘Luther’, ‘Torchwood’, ‘Silent Witness’, ‘Inside No. 9’, ‘Avenue 5’, and ‘Death in Paradise’. Nikki is also no stranger to the big screen, appearing in ‘The Omen’, ‘Jupiter Ascending’, ‘Cargo’, ‘A Private War’, ‘The Outfit’, and 2023’s ‘Knock at the Cabin’. She also is working on ‘Jericho Ridge’ which is due to be released later this year.

Hurtwood legend Tom Mison is internationally known for his roles in hit TV shows and films,  such as Fox’s ‘Sleepy Hollow’, BBC’s ‘Salmon Fishing in the Yemen’ HBO’s ‘Watchmen’ and ITV’s ‘Lost in Austen’. Amongst his TV and film credits, Tom also has a successful theatre background, performing in many top UK and US theatres. 

Tom joined Hurtwood in the late 90’s and soon shone in various musicals and productions, alongside other Hurtwood legends such as Emily Blunt and Jack Huston no less. After Hurtwood, Tom went on to study at the Webber Douglas Academy to take the next steps in his stage and screen career. 

Theatre would be home to Tom’s first productions as he appeared in ‘Hamlet’ at the Old Vic Theatre in 2004, other credits over the years include ‘Posh’ at the Royal Court Theatre, ‘When the Rain Stops Falling’ at the Almeida Theatre and ‘As You Like It’ at Soho Place in 2022. 

Tom made his film debut in 2006, appearing in ‘L’Entente cordiale’, before appearing in many more over the next decade such as ‘Heroes and Villains’, ‘One Day’ and ‘Salmon Fishing in the Yemen’. Tom has also starred in many hit TV shows such as ‘Lost in Austen’, ‘Agatha Christie's Poirot’, ‘Sleepy Hollow’, ‘Bones’, ‘Watchmen’, ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’ and 2022’s ‘The Ex-Wife’.

Jack is an international film star most known for ‘American Hustle’, ‘Ben-Hur’, ‘House of Gucci’ and Martin Scorsese’s Netflix hit ‘The Irishman’. Alongside his Hollywood blockbusters, Jack also had other major credits in TV such as playing Odis Weff in Amazon’s ‘Fargo’ and Richard Harrow in the HBO series ‘Boardwalk Empire’. Jack has also been tipped to be the next 007.

Jack joined Hurtwood in 2001 and starred in our musical ‘Guys & Dolls’ and our production of ‘Accidental Death of an Anarchist’ alongside future Hollywood megastar Emily Blunt. Following Hurtwood, it was TV that came calling and before long Jack had made his screen debut in the series ‘Spartacus’ in 2004, portraying Flavius. This would lead to numerous roles in TV shows and movies such as the lead role in the film ‘Neighborhood Watch’, plus key roles in ‘Shrooms’, ‘Outlander’, ‘The Garden of Eden’ and in the TV movie ‘Miss Austen Regrets’. It would be in 2010 when Jack would land a role in the blockbuster saga of ‘Twilight’ in the third instalment portraying the villain Royce King II, which kickstarted his Hollywood career.

Ella Mills is known for her internationally successful plant-based food brand ‘Deliciously Ella’, which is valued at over £60 million. She has become a healthy eating guru with over 2 million social media followers and over 30 plant-based products in supermarkets.

Ella attended Hurtwood in the mid 2000’s, studying Art, History and French. After Hurtwood she went on to attain a History of Art degree at the University of St Andrews. 

From what started as a humble food blog in 2012 named ‘Deliciously Ella’, became in less than ten years, the world-famous brand we know today. Her purpose was to share her diet in which processed foods, sugar and meat were replaced with healthier options, but in doing so she has created a multimillion-pound business empire. Ella’s blog exploded in popularity and in 2015 she published her ‘Deliciously Ella’ cookbook. Which was followed by ‘Deliciously Ella Every Day’, ‘Deliciously Ella: Smoothies & Juices: Bite Size Collection’ in 2016, and ‘Deliciously Ella with Friends’ in 2017. Her 2018 ‘Deliciously Ella: The Plant Based Cookbook’ earned the accolade of the fastest selling vegan cookbook of all time.

This success led Ella to branch out into the official food brand, starting with ‘energy balls’ she eventually expanded to sell a range of over 30 products including oat bars, smoothies, peanut butter and granola. The Deliciously Ella brand continues to grow and has also branched out into the United States.

Luke has one of the best roles in the West End – Hercules in the new Disney musical at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Luke is no stranger to the limelight as his previous theatre credits include ‘As You Like It’ for the RSC, ‘SuperYou’ at the Lyric Theatre, ‘Assassins’ at Chichester Festival Theatre, and ‘The Prince of Egypt’ at the Dominion Theatre. Anne Quart, Executive Producer of Disney Theatrical Group said: “Luke’s remarkable depth as an actor delivers all the weight and power the character demands, but it’s his magnetism and presence that elevate this mythic character into a relatable young man, finding his way in the world and learning what it means to be human. The Hercules team has fallen in love with him and know that audiences will feel the same.” 

Luke stated “All the Drama I did at Hurtwood was the catalyst for everything I am doing now. The shows at school were so professional that the transition into the West End didn’t seem like much of a gap. ‘We Will Rock You’ at Hurtwood turned out to be a life changing moment for me as the school had invited someone from my future acting agency, Curtis Brown, to watch and the rest is history.” His big break was playing the lead role in the 1960s musical ‘The Fantasticks’, directed by Amon Miyamoto in the West End Duchess Theatre. This led to the role of Anthony in Sondheim's ‘Sweeney Todd’ in the Chichester Festival Theatre West End transfer, performing alongside Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton. On Imelda’s advice he went to RADA, and on his return, he blew audiences away portraying the lead character in the West End production of ‘The Prince of Egypt’. Luke’s performance was hailed by critics, with Alex Wood from ‘WhatsOnStage’ saying “Luke Brady holds the show together with a near-Herculean power”. Perhaps he had a premonition as Luke is now playing Hercules himself!

Towa Bird, labelled “Gen Z’s Joan Jett” by Vogue, is joining Billie Eilish as her special guest on her ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour’ around America. Towa’s acclaimed debut album ‘American Hero’. has been universally praised by Billboard, Vanity Fair, DAZED and Rolling Stone with the latter describing her as the “rock and roll firecracker we need right now”.

Towa kickstarted her music career on TikTok. After Hurtwood, she began posting singing videos and covers, going viral during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her life was turned upside down when Olivia Rodrigo having discovered her on social media, asked Towa to be a part of her Disney+ documentary, ‘Driving Home 2 U’.

Discover the extraordinary career of International House and Techno DJ duo ‘Eli & Fur’, comprising of Eliza Noble and Jennifer Skillman. From playing Glastonbury and Coachella, to hitting 2.3 million monthly listeners on Spotify, they are a driving force in the House and Techno scene.

Eliza and Jennifer both attended Hurtwood in the mid 2000’s and studied a mixture of Music Technology, Media Studies, English Literature, and Art & Design. It was Music Tech which was to become a life changer for them. After Hurtwood, Eliza went on to study Commercial Music at Bath Spa University whilst Jennifer took a gap year. In the years that followed, they have taken the music industry by storm with their electrifying performances and sensational energy. With over 2.3 million monthly listeners on Spotify and 50 million views on YouTube for their hit song 'You're So High', Eli & Fur have carved a niche for themselves in the competitive electronic dance music (EDM) scene. The duo released their debut EP 'Illusions' in 2013, and their most recent album 'Found in the Wild' was released in 2021.

Eli & Fur are signed to record labels 'Defected Records', 'Anjunadeep', and 'NYX Music', and have collaborated with industry heavyweights such as Camelphat, Disciples, Danny Howard, and Booka Shade. They have also graced the stages of world-famous festivals such as Coachella, Glastonbury, Tomorrowland, and Creamfields. Their talent has not gone unnoticed, with the duo winning several accolades such as 'Best Producer' in the Bass Music Awards, 'Best Breakthrough DJ' at DJ Magazine's 'Best of British', and 'Best Breakthrough Artist' in the IDMA Awards.

Eli & Fur's upcoming gigs will see them hit the decks in North Carolina and Vancouver, where they will undoubtedly bring their signature sound and high-energy performances to their fans. With their unique blend of house and techno, Eli & Fur continue to be a driving force in the EDM scene, captivating audiences around the world with their electrifying beats and unmatched talent.

After Hurtwood, having trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, Olivia's career took off in 2022 with her television debut as Alice Mays-Smith in the period drama 'Hotel Portofino', which premiered on BritBox. The series which has proven to be a major success now in its third season, stars three Hurtwood ex-students, as Louisa Binder and Bethan Cullinane also have major roles in the series which can now be watched on ITVX, Amazon Prime and Apple TV.  2022 proved to be an extraordinary year for Olivia as she also starred in her first major feature film the blockbuster 'RRR' a fictionalised tribute to two Indian revolutionaries who struggled against oppression by the British Raj.  In the Indian - Telugu language historical action drama, directed by S. S. Rajamouli, Olivia was highly praised for her role of Jennifer. Olivia has now also joined the cast of the critically acclaimed HBO Asia thriller 'The Head' for its second season, portraying the character of Rachel Russo.   

Ben's current work includes Red Sonja (2025), The Rats: A Witcher Tale (2025) and Fackham Hall (2025).  In 2024 Ben stars alongside Austin Butler in Apple TV+ epic series ‘Masters of the Air’ produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. It has not taken Ben long to realise his acting dreams. In 2015 Ben starred in Hurtwood’s production of ‘Grease’, the musical made famous by the icon John Travolta. Having been talent spotted by agents in the Hurtwood audience, Ben has not stopped working since.

Initially he was cast as ‘Iggi’ in ‘The Evermoor Chronicles’, then as ‘Max’ in ‘The Lodge’ and as ‘Ralen’ in the science fiction series ‘Pandora’. His big break was as the ‘Young James’ in ‘Anatomy of a Scandal’ and then a mere six years after playing ‘Kenickie’ on the Hurtwood stage, Ben found himself filming alongside the Hollywood legend John Travolta himself in ‘The Shepherd’ which launched on Disney+ in December 2023. Spielberg was waiting and the rest is history.

LIZZIE DAVIDSON WINS A BAFTA!

Lizzie Davidson is Hurtwood’s BAFTA award winning actress and writer. Her BBC comic hit ‘Such Brave Girls’ won the 2024 BAFTA for ‘Best Scripted Comedy’, which is THE coveted award in this country, awarded over the years to all the greats including Porridge, Fawlty Towers, Derry Girls and The Office.The reviews were superb with The Observer calling Lizzie ‘brilliant’ stating ‘If you’re a fan of laughing, please watch this.’

A Drama scholar at Hurtwood, Lizzie was always on stage at the heart of many Hurtwood productions from our Christmas Musical extravaganza ‘Chicago’ to our many rock and pop concerts.

‘Such Brave Girls’ brings to comic life the tensions of single-parent family life, female neurosis and frustration, sisterhood and sibling rivalry. The fight to translate the pilot into a commissioned series took three years and Lizzie and her sister Kat Sadler were delighted when their ‘comedy hero’ Simon Bird came on board to direct. The rest is history so watch out for the second season which has just been commissioned.

After leaving Hurtwood House, where he was part of the Hurtwood Film Academy, Finn Bruce began directing and producing documentaries before gaining on-set experience on major productions including Top Gear, The X Factor, Downton Abbey and Les Misérables. He later worked with Blink TV and Sky News, and co-founded The Gentleman's Journal, where he was Creative Director.

He went on to direct and produce films including Tucked, which won the 2018 Grand Jury Award for Outstanding International Narrative Feature, and Swede Caroline, winner of the 2022 “Spirit of Raindance” award, as well as Paul Dood's Deadly Lunch Break, Tank 432 and Tracks. He also produced Sumotherhood for Paramount Pictures.

Finn now runs the London-based Belstone Pictures, continuing to develop and produce new projects as he expands his work across the film industry.

Kiera is currently cast in ‘The Hunger Games: On Stage’, the world’s first theatrical adaptation of Suzanne Collins’s iconic story. Staged in the purpose-built 1200 seat Troubadour Canary Wharf, she is first cover for Katniss/Swing, playing the starring role every Sunday from November 16th.

Kiera has been living the dream since she left Hurtwood in 2022 to study Musical Theatre at Mountview. Kiera stated “I am so grateful to the Hurtwood team for all their help getting into Mountview. I know that if I had stayed at my previous school there is very little chance that I would be doing what I am doing today.” 

Prior to Mountview, she played Violet in the feature film Wonderwell, alongside Carrie Fisher and Rita Ora in 2016. The film was released on streaming platforms in 2023.

After graduating Hurtwood in 2015, Sebastian Schub moved to London and began busking on the streets from a young age, later performing across London and Dublin as he built a grassroots following. 

He broke through with his debut single Sing Like Madonna (2024), which has amassed over 36 million streams on Spotify and charted in the UK Top 20, quickly establishing him as a rising voice in contemporary indie-folk. 

Following the success of the track, Schub has released further singles including I Can’t Believe We Never Went Out Dancing and his debut EP, while touring internationally including supporting global sensation, Noah Kahan, on his sold out tour. Now signed to a major label and continuing to write and perform new material, he is building momentum as one of the UK’s most promising emerging singer-songwriters.

It is difficult to imagine a more perfect start to an acting career. After Hurtwood Honor took up her place at the London Drama School ALRA and was signed to the acting agency ‘Revolution Talent’ in her final year.  The very next week she found herself in an audition for one of the biggest shows of the moment. Many actors spend years waiting for their break, but Honor was instantly cast as District 12 resident ‘Barb Azure’ in ‘The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’.

After her screen debut, Honor was delighted to be cast in another groundbreaking role alongside Hollywood Royalty Graham McTavish, Susie Porter and Stan Steinbichler in ‘Dirty Boy’, directed and written by Doug Rao. ‘Dirty Boy’ is a psychological thriller that centres around a religious cult and the story follows a reclusive schizophrenic who realises that he is being framed by cult leaders for a series of ritualistic murders. Honor’s character ‘Hope’ is one of the involuntary members of the ‘Flock’ and filming took the cast to Ausseerland in Austria, famous as the backdrop for ‘The Sound of Music’. 

Hurtwood is very proud of Honor and speaking to her last week she reflected “I feel very lucky to have had this success this early into my career. The high calibre production values of the Hurtwood shows served as a wonderful introduction to working towards performing professionally and Hurtwood helped me to pursue Drama School through their brilliant Drama School programme.” 

TV legend Amelia Curtis has starred in a large variety of products over her career spanning for nearly three decades. Amelia’s credits include ‘The Bill’, ‘Eastenders’, ‘New Tricks’, ‘Coronation Street’ and ‘Kevin & Perry Go Large’ to name a few. 

Amelia joined Hurtwood in the mid 80’s with a passion and drive for acting, and was regularly seen starring in the various productions. After Hurtwood, Amelia went on to study at Rose Bruford before earning her big break. Before becoming the British TV legend we know of today, Amelia first began her career in 1994 where she starred in the long-running ‘The Bill’, before appearing in ‘Eastenders’, and ‘London Bridge’ in the 90’s. The 2000’s came along and Amelia added more credits to her repertoire, including prime-time shows such as ‘Casualty’, ‘New Tricks’, ‘Holby City’, ‘Empire’, and hit film ‘Kevin & Perry Go Large’. 

Heading into her 3rd decade on the TV, Amelia continued to add hit shows to her portfolio, such as ‘Emmerdale’, ‘Coronation Street’, ‘Doctors’, ‘Waterloo Road’, The Syndicate’, and ‘Love, Lies and Records’.  During her long-career on the screen, Amelia also regularly appeared on stage too, in productions such as ‘Eskimo Sisters’ in Southwark Playhouse and ‘Les Liaisons Dangereuses’ at Belgrade Coventry.

Following Hurtwood, Joshua attended Cygnet Training Theatre in Exeter.

He earned his first major role in the British Gangster Film, ‘The Big I Am’ in 2010, followed shortly after by his debut in the West End production of ‘Mamma Mia!’, playing Sky.

A few more Film roles such as ‘Frankenstein’s Army’ and ‘Her Pen Pal’ saw Joshua take the next steps in his career.

Television would soon be added to Joshua’s portfolio as he landed a recurring role in the 2013 hit ‘Rogue’. Other TV credits include Folgelman’s award-winning comedy ‘The Neighbours’, ‘Galavant’, ‘No Tomorrow’ and more recently in 2022, ‘Monarch’.

Hollywood star, Vanessa Kirby's career began when she attended Hurtwood's Shakespeare Drama Summer School, run in conjunction with RADA. Having studied at Exeter University, the BAFTA award winner and Oscar nominee learnt her craft by working with Hurtwood's Director in Residence, Andy Johnson. Using Hurtwood's contacts, Andy introduced her to agent Ken Macreddie and the rest is history. Vanessa Kirby said in an interview with The New Scotsman: "I owe so much of my success as an actor to Andy. He is a truly ground-breaking creative mind - what he taught me as I started, I have carried with me in every day of my career so far. He is a spectacular teacher and champion - one of those rare ones who understands the work is not only about skill, but belief and mindset. He is one in a million." 

Vanessa’s breakthrough role was as Princess Margaret in Netflix’s award winning historical drama ‘The Crown’, for which she won a BAFTA for ‘Best Supporting Actress’ in 2018. Other credits include:

‘Me Before You’ (2016)

‘Mission: Impossible - Fallout’ (2018)

‘Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw’ (2019) (Nominated for Best Supporting Actress - National Film and TV Awards UK) 

'The World to Come' (2020) 

‘Pieces of a Woman’ (Winner of  Volpi Cup for Best Actress at Venice International Film Festival and Nominated for an Oscar - ‘Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role’ in 2021) 

2023’s ‘Napoleon’ (Nominated for AACTA Award - 'Best International Supporting Actress')

Celeste has showcased her full repertoire of writing and acting skills across a number of Television productions, most notably portraying her comic side as Princess Eugenie in Channel 4’s ‘The Windsors’, Kayleigh Hudson in BBC’s ‘This Country’ and Lauren Richards in the BBC TV series 'Wanderlust'. She has most recently been announced as part of the upcoming Saturday Night Live UK cast alongside ex-Hurtwood student Ania Magliano.

At Hurtwood, Celeste took to the stage as she played the lead role in our musical production ‘Summer Holiday’. Also, she was known for showcasing her comedy in regular talent shows. After Hurtwood, Celeste went on to earn a first-class degree in English at Emmanuel College Cambridge. 

Celeste began to hone her comedy writing and before long was appearing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, alongside her comedy partner, Freya. This would begin the duo’s success as they secured an original comedy series called ‘Lazy Susan’ on the BBC.

Daisy is a model and actor who's career has set off to a flying start having already worked with industry giants such as Prada, Armani, Gucci, Burberry, YSL and more.

Daisy joined Hurtwood in 2016 and studied Drama & Theatre, Dance, and Media Studies, whilst showcasing her talent in two remarkable musicals, 'Rent' and 'Urinetown.'

Post-Hurtwood, Daisy set out to reignite her modelling career after being scouted by 'Select Model London' in 2013. However, the unexpected arrival of covid forced her to adapt her plans. Undeterred, Daisy utilised the power of social media and leveraged platforms like Instagram and TikTok to accelerate her career from the comfort of her home. Through captivating content, she amassed an astounding 2 million followers across these platforms, propelling her towards success. Daisy also has some TV and Film credits to her name, most notably BBC's 'London Kills', Netflix's 'Geek Girl' and films 'Better Get Better' and 'How to Have Sex' in 2023.

In the modelling realm, Daisy's career has skyrocketed to new heights. Collaborating with industry giants like Prada, Armani, Gucci, Burberry, Tommy Hilfiger and Yves Saint Laurent, she has become a sought-after face in the fashion world. Currently, Daisy proudly represents COACH as the face of their handbag campaign, solidifying her status as a rising star in the industry.

Ward Thomas are a number One selling English modern country-pop duo, composed of twin sisters Catherine and Lizzy Ward Thomas, who both attended Hurtwood in the mid 2000’s.

The band has been called "Britain's first country stars". Along with The Shires, they are producing modern country music with a British twist in a genre dominated by American singers and bands. Fellow country singer, Crissie Rhodes of The Shires, describes their music as written "from a British perspective". While people have been able to appreciate the American sound, they can connect with the themes of British lyrics." 

Cartwheels, their second studio album became the first album by a UK country act to reach number One on the UK Albums Chart surpassing the previous record by The Shires. It has since gone silver in the UK. 

The duo’s third album ‘Restless Minds’ peaked in the UK album charts at number 8 whilst topping the UK Country album chart. 2020 saw the release of their fourth and most recent album ‘Invitation’ which once again ranked amongst the top UK Country album sales.

Waleed’s well-rounded career in Film, TV, and Theatre has spanned over two decades. During this time Waleed has worked with acclaimed directors Chris Morris on ‘Four Lions’ and Oscar winning Suzanne Bier on ‘Brodre’, plus appearing alongside Tom Hanks in 2015's ‘A Hologram for the King’, and alongside Penelope Cruz in 2022’s ‘The 355’. 

Waleed joined Hurtwood in the mid 1990’s and found himself at home in the theatre, showcasing his talent in a variety of productions. After leaving Hurtwood, Waleed went on to study at Liverpool Uni, before completing his postgraduate at Mountview Academy. 

Theatre was where Waleed got his big break and was seen in productions such as  ‘The Arcola’, ‘Theatre 503’, ‘The Pleasance’, and 'The Container'. Waleed was also winner of a Fringe First and The Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award at the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe. TV and Film soon came calling and over the next decade shows such as ‘Spooks’, ‘Judge John Deed’, ‘The Whistleblowers’, ‘The Bill’, ‘Murder Prevention', ‘Last Flight to Kuwait’, 'Tyrant' and Netflix’s hit show ‘Mosul’. were added to his credits. Waleed has also appeared in various films such as BBC/HBO co-production ‘Dirty War’, ‘Four Lions’, ‘Brodre’, ‘A Hologram for the King’ and also in 2022’s ‘The 355’.

After leaving Hurtwood in 2017, Callum Henderson went on to train in Musical Theatre at the Guildford School of Acting. A Performing Arts Scholar, he was a standout presence at Hurtwood, taking on lead roles in the Hurtwood musicals including Danny in 'Grease' and Roger in 'Rent'.

Since graduating, Callum has built an impressive theatre career with roles in the West End includong 'Grease' (playing Roger this time), 'From Here To Eternity',  'The Show Must Go On', '9 to 5' on its UK Tour and 'Bonnie and Clyde' on its UK and Ireland Tour.

He is currently appearing at the Prince of Wales Theatre in 'The Book of Mormon' as Elder Young and as First Cover Elder Price, marking another major credit in an already exciting stage career.

From the Hurtwood Concert to the O2 Arena!

Singer-songwriter Cassa Jackson has performed at arenas across the UK, including four times at the O2, London. Her relatable songs about relationships, including ‘Suits U’ and ‘Parallel Universe’, have exceeded 15 million streams online and her singles ‘Sophie’ and ‘Right Girl, Wrong Guy’ have been played on Radio 1. With nominations for an iHeart Radio Award for ‘TikTok Songwriter of the Year’ and an AIM Award for Best Live Performer under her belt, Cassa has supported many industry legends including Blue, The Jacksons and JLS.

Cassa’s songs have taken her to festivals all over the UK including the Isle of Wight Festival, Cambridge Club Festival (with Diana Ross) and Mello Festival (with Rag ‘n’ Bone Man). Cassa has even collaborated with the famous DJ Steff Da Campo who made his name in the global electronic music scene.

Cassa is not your average songwriter. Her First-class Honours degree in French and Spanish from Bristol University means that she has the versatility to write and perform in those languages too. Indeed, her international outlook has taken her to shows in Gran Canaria and to South Africa, where she performed on the nation’s leading morning TV programme 'The Expresso Show' and at the Pink Loerie Mardi Gras and Arts Festival. Cassa has sold out headline shows in London at 'The Grace' and the prestigious 'Omeara', amongst others.

Watch out for Cassa this year as she releases more music and embarks on her first headline tour.

Follow Cassa's music on spotify here

Alex Baranowski (Hurtwood 1996-1999) is a composer well known for his work in television, film and theatre. Most notably he worked on ‘True Things’ in 2021 which won Best Original Score at Les Arcs Film Festival and he was nominated for Breakthrough Composer of the Year from the International Film Music Critics Association. Alex composed the music for ‘The Windermere Children’ which won a BAFTA and during the pandemic he was busy with the pilot for the BBC 1 comedy ‘Staged’ starring Michael Sheen and David Tennant, which became a major hit.

At Hurtwood Alex found himself at home in the theatre and Music Tech studios working on the sound team for many of our musical productions. Upon leaving Alex went to LIPA to study Sound Technology and he subsequently found work at the National Theatre where his work included ‘Hamlet’ directed by artistic director Sir Nicholas Hytner, and Danny Boyle’s ‘Frankenstein’ which starred Benedict Cumberbatch. Alex has also worked on ‘Othello’ with Dominic West at the Sheffield Crucible and ‘The Merchant of Venice’ with Patrick Stewart at the RSC’s Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Alex’s film scores include ‘True Things’ produced by Ruth Wilson and Jude Law, which won Best Original Score at Les Arcs Film Festival and ‘ A Gaza Weekend’ directed by Oscar nominated Basil Khalil. He has also worked on ‘Coca-Cola: The Letter’, the children’s show ‘Pop Paper City’, and Channel 4’s ‘Made in England’. He even worked with fellow ex-Hurtwood student Georgina Hurcombe on ‘I Won’t Go’. He has also collaborated with artists such as ‘The xx’, ‘Jungle’, and Peter Hook of ‘Joy Division’. 2023 looks set to be as busy as ever for Alex, with releases of the BBC series ‘Rain Dogs’, Film 4 comedy ‘A Gaza Weekend’ and his own new EP on Apple Music and Spotify.

After leaving Hurtwood in 1998, German actress, Hannah Herzsprung, began her acting career as Mimi in the TV series Aus heiterem Himmel where she stayed for two years.

She took over the Tele 5-Clip-Show musicbox with her sister Sara at the end of 2002. She also started studying Communication Sciences in Vienna.

She has had many television roles, including Jule in Das Böse Mädchen and since 2003 Vera in the series 18-Allein unter Mädchen. In 2003 she also had a part in Unter Verdacht: Beste Freunde and a smaller role in the sketch-comedy Tramitz & Friends.

Her roles became more ambitious with the television film Emilia - Die zweite Chance, where she played a patient with Borderline personality. In 2005 she received her first leading role as the murderer Jenny in Vier Minuten by Chris Kraus. January 19th 2007, she received the Bayerischen Filmpreis for best new female talent. In 2005 she played a suicidal youth in Das wahre Leben by Alain Gsponer. She ended her studies in Vienna and moved to Berlin in order to participate in these two films. For Das wahre Leben she was awarded the 2007 Deutschen Filmpreis for best supporting role and the Adolf-Grimme-Preis in 2009.

In 2007 Herzsprung played the terrorist Susanne Albrecht in the screen adaptation of the book Der Baader Meinhof Komplex as well as the leading role of Daniela in the film 10 Sekunden. In 2008 she played the role of Julia in Stephan Daldrys' film Der Vorleser. She also played the role of Charlotte in Uwe Jansons' adaptation of Goethe's Die Leiden des jungen Werther, as well as in Jo Baiers' television movie Liesl Karlstadt und Karl Valentin as young Liesl Karlstadt.

Hannah has remained a prominent name in German Film and TV over the past decade with numerous credits. Most prominently in ‘Babylon Berlin’ from 2017-2020 and most recently, ‘Juntas no crime’.

Fabien is a pioneer in the world of cinema, famous for creating the now $100 million dollar franchise 'Secret Cinema'.

Fabien studied A Levels at Hurtwood in the mid 90s, particularly excelling in Theatre Studies and Business Studies. He was a regular assistant in Hurtwood productions.

After leaving Hurtwood, he went on to study at the prestigious New York Film Academy. Having worked as a runner and assistant producer, Fabien set up his own short film company called ‘Future Shorts’ in 2003. In 2007 Fabien founded the now world-famous ‘Secret Cinema’, an immersive film experience which allows the audience to step inside the story and become part of the action. Secret Cinema became a cultural phenomenon and has sold over a million tickets to 70 shows.  The most popular productions have immersive, real-life adaptation of 'Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back', ‘Casino Royale’ and ‘Stranger Things’. In 2011, Fabien launched ‘Secret Restaurant’, where guests are treated to a gastronomic evening in a specially designed location, adapted to the cinematic concept. Secret Cinema was sold to a US buyer in 2022 for $100 million. Fabien founded ‘Secret Protest’, a movement to raise awareness of the plight of refugees globally. In 2022, Fabian collaborated with Ukrainian pop duo 'Bloom Twins' for a fundraising evening to help those fleeing the war in Ukraine

After leaving Hurtwood House in 2017, Sophie May began building her career as a singer-songwriter, initially performing at small London venues and sharing early demos online, where she quickly developed a dedicated following on social media, with around 230,000 followers on TikTok and 100,000 on Instagram. 

She gained wider recognition with her breakout track Lover Boy, which has amassed over 12 million streams and became one of her most defining early releases. She was also approached to write a song for Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, with her contribution going on to surpass 5 million streams. Alongside this, her EPs and singles such as With the Band and Bad Man helped establish her as a rising voice in indie-pop and folk-influenced songwriting.

Sophie continues to release music and perform live while developing new projects and growing her international audience. Her debut album 'Stars and Teeth' is out now!

Ryan Heenan has seen his career go from strength to strength with a plethora of stage performances already under his belt, most notably playing Frankie Valli in the Jersey Boys UK Tour.

Ryan made a name for himself here at Hurtwood where he was the leading role in two productions, portraying none other than Jean Val Jean in Les Misérables and Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors. Having excelled in A Level Theatre Studies, Music Technology, and French at Hurtwood nearly a decade ago, Ryan went on to further enhance his skills at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

Since leaving Drama school, Ryan has made key appearances in Back to the Future: The Musical, The International tour of Titanic, Grease, and Peter Pan.

As well as being an excellent actor, singer, and tap dancer, Ryan also boasts other skills such as being fluent in French, a keen skier, and pianist.

Check out rising star Jessica Madsen who has already played a key role in the award-winning Netflix show ‘Bridgerton’, as well as Blockbusters 'Rambo: Last Blood' and 'Leatherface'.

Jess joined Hurtwood in 2008 and studied Theatre, Media and English Literature, but it would be the stage where she shone the brightest, appearing in the productions of ‘Back to the 80’s’ and ‘All Shook Up’. 

After Hurtwood, Jess trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where she graduated in 2013. Soon after, she made her TV debut in the series ‘Breathless’ which aired on ITV in late 2013. Beforelong, she was on stage at the famous Edinburgh Fringe Festival, featuring in the production of ‘Swimming’. A variety of TV stints followed in the coming years such as ‘Babylon’, ‘Holby City’, ‘Mr Selfridge’, and lastly ‘Tina and Bobby’ in 2017. The silver screen would soon be added to Jess’s portfolio, featuring in 2017’s horror hit ‘Leatherface’, 2019’s ‘Dark Light’ and finally blockbuster ‘Rambo: Last Blood’.

It would be in 2020 when Jess staked her biggest claim to the TV screen yet, landing a key role in the hit multi-award winning Netflix show ‘Bridgerton’, playing character ‘Cressida Cowper’. ‘Bridgerton’ will be releasing the much anticipated 3rd season in mid 2024 and we eagerly await to see more of Jess.

After leaving Hurtwood House, Rose Glass went on to study at the National Film and Television School, where she developed her distinctive voice as a filmmaker.

She rose to prominence with her critically acclaimed debut feature Saint Maud (2019), a psychological horror that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and earned widespread praise for its bold direction and atmosphere. She followed this with Love Lies Bleeding (2024), a genre-blending thriller starring Kristen Stewart, further establishing her as a striking new voice in contemporary cinema.

Rose continues to expand her career in film, developing new projects and building on the international success of her work, with a growing reputation for distinctive, character-driven storytelling.

Antonio is a well-established film and TV star most known for his role in the blockbuster film ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’ and in TV’s ‘Line of Duty’ and ‘Call the Midwife’.

Antonio attended Hurtwood between 2003 and 2005 and went on to secure a place at RADA. After graduating in 2008 he has played roles in the West End including Louis in Arthur Miller’s ‘A View From The Bridge’, Miss Trunchbull in ‘Matilda’ and a key ensemble figure in the award winning production of ‘ENRON’. Other theatre credits includes the Marivaux comedy ‘The Game Of Love And Chance’ at the Salisbury Playhouse.

During the 2010’s Antonio appeared in a variety of TV and Film, such as ITV mini-series ‘Titanic’, BBC’s ‘Line of Duty’, ‘The Alienist’, and blockbuster film ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’ performing alongside Colin Firth, Pedro Pascal, and Channing Tatum. Antonio has also worked as a voice actor in popular kids TV show ‘Thomas & Friends’ in 2019. Antonio has started filming for the second season of HBO’s hit show ‘House of the Dragon’ alongside Matt Smith. 

After leaving Hurtwood in 2010, Georgina Beedle trained at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama before moving into screen work.

She has appeared in a number of major productions, most notably Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024) alongside Willem Dafoe, as well as the HBO/Sky series Catherine the Great (2019). Her earlier film work includes Tank 432 (2015) and Apocalypse Pompeii (2014), as well as a range of television roles including Dalgliesh and Doc Martin.

Georgina continues to build her film career with upcoming roles in Lords of War and Purgatory, both currently in post-production, marking her progression into larger international screen projects. 

Former Hurtwood student Tom Lucy has become one of the brightest names in the UK comedy scene, with a string of successful performances on TV, in theatres, and at festivals around the world. 

Tom joined Hurtwood in 2012 excelling in Theatre, English and Media A Levels. He quickly made a name for himself by performing his stand-up routines at Hurtwood’s lunchtime concerts and compering charity gigs.

After Hurtwood, Tom went on to study Theatre and Film at Bristol University, where he took every opportunity to perform. It wasn't long before he was signed by agent Rick Hughes from ‘Off The Kerb Productions’ who represent the biggest names in the industry. Since Bristol, Tom has appeared on a variety of TV shows, including ‘Comedy Central Live’ (Comedy Central), ‘Stand Up for Live Comedy’ (BBC), ‘Unforgivable’ (Dave), ‘Dating No Filter’ (Sky), ‘Love Island: The Morning After’ (ITV), and many more. In 2016, he won the prestigious ‘Leicester Mercury Comedian of The Year’ award, and in 2017, he was named The Sun's ‘Best New Comedian’. Tom has also become something of a darling of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and he has enjoyed three sell-out runs in 2017, 2018, and 2022. He has also toured internationally opening for comedy stars such as Kevin Bridges, Aziz Ansari and Michael McIntyre. Tom’s great influences were Lee Evans, Billy Connolly and Michael McIntyre and therefore working with such a comedy legend (McIntyre) was a highlight of his career so far. Indeed, Michael was so impressed by Tom that he asked him to write material for him! Tom’s star continues to rise and he is about to embark on a nationwide tour supporting Jack Whitehall.

After leaving Hurtwood in 2015, Issy Ferris went on to form the acclaimed musical duo Ferris & Sylvester, quickly gaining recognition for their powerful blend of Americana, folk and blues influences.

Alongside Archie Sylvester, Issy has built a strong reputation on the UK live circuit, with standout performances at major festivals including Glastonbury and sold-out headline shows across the country. Their debut album Superhuman received widespread critical acclaim, earning praise from the likes of Rolling Stone and BBC Radio 2. Their most popular track, Better in Yellow, has amassed over 2 million streams, helping to grow a loyal and expanding fanbase.

Known for her distinctive vocals and emotive songwriting, Issy continues to tour internationally with Ferris & Sylvester, establishing the duo as one of the most exciting acts in the UK roots scene.

After leaving Hurtwood in 2007 with an A in Music Technology, Giles Thomas went on to study BA Sound Technology at LIPA, before building a career as a composer and sound designer across theatre, live performance and screen.

In 2026, he won the Olivier Award for Best Sound Design for his work on Kenrex, a gripping true-crime thriller starring Jack Holden, who also won the Olivier Award for Best Actor for the production.

Giles’ other notable credits include sound design and composition for acclaimed productions such as Cruise (Duchess Theatre/West End), The Choir of Man (Arts Theatre and international tour), and The Last Five Years. His work is known for its precision, atmosphere and integration of music and storytelling, establishing him as one of the leading sound designers working in British theatre today.

Arden has taken the world of Hollywood and the Chinese film industry by storm, playing a vital role in the direction of a variety of productions, such as short films and advertisements for major brands. 

At Hurtwood, Arden was known to throw himself into every media-based opportunity on offer, to utilise the facilities and expand his portfolio. After Hurtwood, Arden became an undergraduate at Loyola Marymount in Hollywood. Arden was awarded the ‘Best Cinematographer’ award during his time here and would set the tone for what was set to follow. 

Since then, Arden has worked continuously on everything from feature films and shorts to web series’ and music videos. Alongside commercials for Coca-Cola and Citibank, his films include ‘Starcrossed’ starring Mischa Barton and ‘The Great Wall’ starring Matt Damon no less. Most recently he has written and directed ‘Tigerine’ reflecting common themes in Chinese society.

Ania is a British comedian and comedy writer. Most recently she joined the cast of Saturday Night Live UK alongside ex-Hurtwood student Celeste Dring. She has appeared on Taskmaster Series 20 alongside Maisie Adam, Phil Ellis, Reece Shearsmith and Sanjeev Bhaskar. In 2025/26 she is on her stand up comedy tour Peach Fuzz selling out theatres across the UK.

 Her rise to prominence came via stand-up: her debut hour, Absolutely No Worries If Not, won the Best New Show award at the Leicester Comedy Festival in 2022 and earned strong reviews at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. From there, further Edinburgh shows (such as I Can’t Believe You’ve Done This) and national tours followed, marking her out as a comedian who writes honestly about life, relationships and growing up in her mid-twenties. 

After leaving Hurtwood in 2016, Ania went on to study at Girton College Cambridge, where she was a member of the famed Cambridge Footlights and co-founded the female/non-binary comedy collective Stockings Comedy.

Leah left Hurtwood and was snapped up by top model agency Models One, fronting campaigns such as Burberry, Monsoon and Babyliss and she is now signed to Select Model Management.

Leah is also active a singer/songwriter. Her first single, Contact High, achieved intense critical acclaim and reached the number 2 club-chart position in Music Week. Leah has also released her follow up single ‘Orbit’ which features remixes by Artful Dodger on Wooden Records. Amongst many other gigs, Leah and her band have supported David Bowie on tour.  

In 2022, Leah announced a new art venture, where she will be working alongside her father, Ronnie Wood, and other activists in the ‘One Planet, Once Chance’ exhibition to increase climate change awareness.

Toby joined Hurtwood in 2013 and soon found himself at home in the theatre, appearing in the musical productions of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ and ‘Chicago’. After Hurtwood, Toby graduated from the BA Hons Musical Theatre course at the Arts Educational Schools, London.

Upon completing his course, Toby made his professional and West End debut as Marius in ‘Les Misérables’ at The Queen's Theatre. After a year of performances, Toby left Les Mis to join the cast of the ‘Mamma Mia’ UK and Ireland Tour, playing the role of Sky.

In 2023, Toby was cast as Ned Scheebly in ‘School of Rock The Musical’ for the international tour.

Leonie Biney has emerged as an exciting new voice in the UK singer-songwriter scene, quickly building a loyal following through her distinctive sound and honest, intimate songwriting.

She gained widespread attention with her viral track Beach Song, which has amassed 3.5 million streams on Spotify, marking her breakthrough moment and introducing her to a global audience.

Since then, Leonie has taken her music on the road with a growing live tour, connecting with fans across the UK and beyond. With her new EP 'When You Turn Around' is out now!

Sander left Hurtwood to study at RADA in 1992.  He has been a special effects and model maker for Hollywood films.  He has worked on such epics as Batman Begins, The Brothers Grimm, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Entrapment, The World Is Not Enough, Event Horizon, Agora, The Nutcracker in 3D, Die Another Day, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Muppet Treasure Island and  Edge of Tomorrow.

With 20 years experience in the business he is now a 'supervising prop maker ' and recent projects have included Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and No Time To Die.

Dan started working in theatre sound on Hurtwood's Christmas musical Copacabana, mentored by Jon Clarence, one of many industry practitioners who come in to work on Hurtwood's bigger shows. That summer Jon set Dan up on work experience, working on shows across the West End including We Will Rock You, Tonight’s The Night and The Lion King.

Having graduated from LIPA, Dan went straight out to work on large scale touring shows. His first major tour was ‘The Producers’, where, as Number Two Sound, he often operated the desk, mixing the likes of Peter Kay and Joe Pasquale to thousands of people. In 2008 he spent nine months as the lone sound engineer on an international tour of Matthew Bourne’s Edward Scissorhands including the Sydney Opera House. He has also worked on a diverse variety of shows including Blue Man Group in the West End, Spyski for the Lyric Hammersmith and Been So Long at the Young Vic, working alongside Tony and Olivier award winning Sound Designer Paul Arditti.

Dan says "This is hopefully just the beginning of a long and exciting career. It has all been possible because Hurtwood gave me the opportunity to learn new skills and work alongside some of the best in the business. Taking that opportunity has set me on this path, and it is something I am very grateful for. The last few years have been a huge adventure, and long may it continue!"

Dan is also the founder of spatial audio-mixing software, 'Innovate Audio'.

Dani went from Hurtwood to study at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. From there she established herself as a singer-songwriter on the London music scene, performing with the Urban Voices Collective and appearing at major events including the Proms and the BAFTAs.

She gained attention with her breakout track 'She Swam Higher' (2023), which has amassed over 2.5 million streams and became one of her most recognised releases, showcasing her emotive songwriting and distinctive vocal style. She went on to build further momentum with her debut EP Monologues and singles such as Omniscient, earning BBC Introducing support and winning ‘Best Songwriter’ at the Unsigned Music Awards.

Dani continues to write and release new music, developing projects including her multi-EP series Catharsix while collaborating with major artists and working toward her debut album, cementing her reputation as a versatile performer and songwriter.

Tanroh can claim more than 400 performances in both Noh and Kyogen theatre at The National Noh Theatre, The National Theatre, Japan, and on tours of the USA and Europe. He also performed in Kyogen Of Errors at Shakespeare's Globe.

After leaving Hurtwood in 2006 Hurtwood drama teachers helped him devise a one man show Kyogen - Raw and Uncooked which performed very successfully at the Edinburgh Fringe 2006.
Tanroh then studied theatre at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama where he became their first ever Japanese graduate. While there he was picked to work with Peter Brook, Complicite and with Roberto Romei on The Game of Truth at Prima del Teatro.

He is also a Japanese Movement Consultant, working recently on a Midsummer Night's Dream directed by Jonathan Man at the Southwark Playhouse.

Other credits include Shogun's Total War2 (video game), 47Ronin with Keanu Reeves, and the Cohen Brothers' film Gambit with Colin Firth, Cameron Diaz, Alan Rickman and Stanley Tucci, directed by Michael Hoffman.

Tanroh runs his own successful theatre company  "Tea Leaf Theatre" and is also one of the founders of The Improsarios.

At Hurtwood Gareth Donkin had big involvement in the music and theatre scene. He featured in many on the concerts as well as having lead roles in both Musicals including Mark Cohen in Rent and Bobby Strong in Urinetown. Gareth has gone on to establish himself as a distinctive voice in the contemporary R&B and soul scene, known for his smooth production style and introspective songwriting.

Working as both a singer and producer, Gareth has built a global audience through his genre-blending sound, with music that combines elements of jazz, hip-hop and electronic influences. His track Dreaming has proved particularly popular, amassing over 2.5 million streams on Spotify. Online he has established himself as a "one-man-band" artist playing multiple instruments (like bass, keyboards, and drums) to create impressive, complex tracks. His rise was driven by a mix of viral covers, high-streaming singles and critical acclaim for his debut album, Welcome Home (2023), which brought him attention from major tastemakers like BBC Radio, Jazz FM, and Billboard, which described him as a "soul-savant".

His brand new album 'EXTRAORDINARY' is out now!

Bethan Cullinane is best known for her role in the period drama Hotel Portofino, where she appears as one of the central characters in the hit BritBox series. Now in its third season, the show has become a major international success and is available on ITVX, Amazon Prime and Apple TV. Bethan stars alongside fellow Hurtwood alumni Louisa Binder and Olivia Morris, highlighting the strength of Hurtwood’s presence within the series.

Other TV credits include Trigger Point (2024) and Dangerous Liaisons (2022). Bethan has also been involved with the Royal Shakespeare Company included plays such as King Lear, Cymbeline and Hamlet.

Tom Hill forms part of the band Purple Melon. Shortly after the band's formation Tom met a trio of young filmmakers and together they came up with the idea of filming the group's journey (teaser snippets of the footage can be viewed on YouTube, MySpace, Vuze and their web site). In September 2006 they played their first gig, at the Barfly in Birmingham, and were immediately asked to play again--eventually becoming the first act to gain a four-month residency at the club. The group relocated to London, where they promptly found and fell in love with the Troubadour Club and its bohemian, laid-back and classily cool atmosphere. While in London the group attracted the attention of many leading producers, ultimately deciding to work with Paul Stacey (Oasis, Black Crowes). They recently relocated to Los Angeles to put the finishing touches on the album and begin winning over North American fans through extensive gigging including
The Roxy, West Sunset Boulevard, and The Casbah.

Their track "Kings of the World" was selected for the sound-track of the Rupert Wyatt film 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes'.

After training as a dancer for two years, Jessie ran away to join Zippos travelling circus school, The Academy of Circus Arts, for a season, where she learnt to perform static trapeze and Spanish web. After a brief one-month stay at the University of Cambridge, studying music, she left to continue her true love - circus - and joined the training course at The Circus Space in London. There, she took up hula-hooping and co-founded the hula-hoop company Hoop La La with friends Craig and Tina, whilst developing her aerial skills on both swinging and static trapeze. The company won a GOP variety prize for comedy at the 'Sol y Circo' circus competition and appeared on the last ever Blue Peter to be filmed in the London BBC centre. Jess' act reached the semi finals of Britain's Got Talent 2008, and Jess also holds no less than three Guinness world records in hula hooping.

Drawing on all her skills, Jessie works in a variety of different fields within the performing arts, from circus to TV, cabaret to workshops, and is constantly looking to expand her horizons. She mainly performs the doubles trapeze, hula hoop and a new acrobatic roller skating act - one of the few acts of its kind to performed by two girls in the world!

Paul is a playwright who left Hurtwood in 1989 and went on to study drama at Bristol University. His plays include The Bedsit, 2Graves The Dead Move Fast and Worlds End.

The Bedsit featured James Ellis at the Tabard Theatre, transferring to the BAC as part of the Time Out Critics Choice season in 1999 before being performed at the assembly rooms at the Edinburgh Festival. Other plays by Paul performed at the Festival include Dark is the Night and The Waxwork which formed a double bill of mystery and suspense, and a comedy thriller Cell G 159 that was revived the following year as The Dead Move Fast featuring Sylvester McCoy.

2Graves premiered at The Pleasance Theatre, Edinburgh 2006 before transferring to London where it reopened The Arts Theatre. The production featured an original score from Oscar Nominated composer Michael Nyman and 2Graves marked Paul's West End debut.

Hurtwood was excited to premier Paul's play 'Worlds End' before it was performed at the Pleasance Theatre, Edinburgh, transferring to The Trafalgar Studios, London, in 2008.
Previous commissions have also included the National Theatre, Warp X Films (a joint initiative between Film 4 & UK Film Council), BBC Radio 3 and Central School of Speech and Drama. His work has been developed at the NT studio, The Bush Theatre, Soho Theatre and The Old Vic. and his plays have been produced in Dublin and Chicago.

In the last few years, Paul’s features include Radio, such as The Moonflask, a 60-minute Saturday Drama which was first broadcast in 2014 on BBC Radio 4. The Gold Killing, a two-part BBC Radio 4 drama, was first broadcast on 4 July 2015 and was ‘Drama of  the Week’. Plus his latest feature, ‘How To Build a Supertower’, was also produced by the BBC. All four episodes went out daily on Radio 4 as the Afternoon Play during its initial broadcast from Sept 2nd-5th 2019 and was 'Drama of the Week'.

Emma is now known as Edei. She can count no less than Bryan Adams and Rod Stewart as supporters and Gary Barlow has declared himself a huge fan.

Her first album was produced by Eliot Kennedy, the Grammy Award winner behind dozens of hits for Spice Girls, Take That, Celine Dion and Blue. On the back of this, she supported Girls Aloud on tour in 2009.  Her single "Loved" was record of the week on Radio 2 for 5 weeks in 2012 and she supported JLS on their final arena tour. Her single was the 8th most played love song of 2012.

She is now living in the US, signed to a new independent label called RH Music and recently featured in 'Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again' as part of the ensemble.

Jenna Harrison, known to her school mates here as Clare, has had extensive TV, film and stage exposure and has also managed to front her own band.  Films include 12 Days of Terror, Ashes in the Sand, Telling Lies, Dinotopia,  Stranded, Heroes and Villains, The Magic Hour  and Against the Dark. Television includes Casualty & Jonathan Creek. Recent productions include The Knowledge of Others and Just for the Record.

Jenna's first major film appearance was in My Brother Tom.  By coincidence, she starred opposite actor Adrian Rawlins, who directs and works with us here when not engaged elsewhere.

Celia grew up in Singapore and in New York, before training at Hurtwood then going on to the London Studio Centre from which she graduated in 2003 with a BA Honours in Theatre Dance. West End productions include Parade at the Donmar Warehouse, Joseph at the New London Theatre and Candide for the ENO, and national tours include West Side Story, Guys & Dolls and Miss Saigon.

Celia returned to New York for the stage and her credits included Oklahoma!, The Great Unknown, Promised Land, Six Voices, One Love and Broadway Bares 19/20. As well as appearing on Broadway as part of the original Broadway cast of Matilda the Musical as a swing and as the children's dance captain.

After working in the Original Broadway Cast of  ‘A Christmas Carol’, Celia returned to theatre after the industry’s pandemic shut down in the West Coast Tour. In spring 2022, Celia played Meiko in ‘Eureka Day’ at Asolo Repertory Theatre and most recently, appeared in her 4th Broadway show 'Life of Pi'. 

Sisters Finja and Nike both trained at Hurtwood before returning to their native Germany where they have had succesful careers in German television and film.

Finja's credits include Inga Lindstöm (Lead role in two films), SOKO 5113, Morden im Norden, Wilsberg, Sekretärinnen, Unser Mann im Süden, and Hinter Gittern - der Frauenknast.

Younger sister Nike's credits include Inga Lindström, Stahlnetz, Zwei Profis, Der Staatsanwalt, Das Duo, Soko Stuttgart, Küstenwache, and the feature film Blackdeath alongside Sean Bean and Eddie Redmayne. She can also be seen in the English/German production "Bridges" alongside David Gant.

German readers might also recognise both of them from the popular German soap opera Unter Uns.

On leaving Hurtwood, Mark gained a place at Webber-Douglas drama school in London. Although gifted as an actor, Mark decided to focus on his music career. He was for a number of years involved in The Seed, (a kind of English Red Hot Chilli Peppers made up of mostly ex-Hurtwood students), but is now working as a solo artist and has produced a truly fabulous debut album, F Sharp.

Alex Zane gave Mark Hole’s My Friend Track Of The Week on his new ‘MySpace Mars Planets Radio Show and Tom Robinson is also a fan, playing Mark's tracks on BBC Radio 6, saying that the album was "superb. The production is flawless - deep, rich, modern and very slightly unsettling. Great stuff.”

Excellent reviews are flooding in. Chris Hughes, producer of Tears for Fears wrote to Mark saying "what an amazing record and what an amazing time you must have had making it. You should be very proud of it. It is a strong piece of work which doesn’t align itself to any current/passing trend. In fact, it stands head and shoulders above a lot of things supposedly relevant today. It sounds amazing in my car. Holy shit I love it!!!"

Tim Rice is quoted as saying the album is “very quirky with echos of the great Ray Davies" and Kevin Spacey met Mark and bought the album saying that "the cover picture (which is Mark lying down baring his bottom to the world) was worth the ten pounds alone"!

In the autumn of 2011 Mark supported Tori Amos on her European tour which included Paris, Rome, Russia, Norway, Germany and several dates in London including the Albert Hall.
Mark released his second Album "Always Follow Your Heart" and collaborations include award-winning producer and 'Rumer mentor' "Steve Brown", "Declan Gaffney" from the "U2" Crew, spending time in the studio with "Mr Jimmy Hogarth" himself and the legend that is "Amanda Ghost".

Mark has rebranded to 'Theholeofmark' and has most recently released his new album 2026 'Memory Hole ("The Seed" Still Lives)'

Caroline left Hurtwood and trained at the London Studio Centre gaining a BA(hons) in Theatre and Dance. She has then gone on to dance extensively on stage and screen. TV and film credits include Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd, TV’s Any Dream Will Do, Doctor Who, Gulliver’s Travels (with fellow alumni Emily Blunt), Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland, pantomimes, and pop promos and shows including Boyzone, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Mika, Star Pilots, Alex Kogan, Frank Musik, Duffy, Enrique Inglesias, Sophie Ellis Bexter, Bryn Christopher, Freemasons, Utah Saints, The Freaks, Rumblestrips, the Sugababes, Patti Labelle, Richard Grey and Sir Paul McCartney!  She has also appeared in many adverts including ones for Sony Playstation–Singstar, Head and Shoulders, the Ministry of Sound, Sony Errikson Phone Viral, KFC Commercial and Sainsbury's 'Spice' Christmas.

Caroline says "I'm eternally grateful to Hurtwood for all the experience and performance opportunities it gave me. They were brilliant times!"

Michael has the honour of being one of Hurtwood's first students to get into drama school, studying at LAMDA after leaving us in 1986. You may recognise Michael from early series of Hollyoakes  & Dream Team. Other TV credits include The Bill, Holby City, Judge John Deed, Coupling, Lock Stock..., Crossing the Line & Casualty.

He has also appeared extensively in theatre including at The Royal Court and the Bristol Old Vic.

Ali was with us in 1993,  and Involved himself in every project possible on the stage. He then went off to university to study law but Ali couldn`t resist doing what he loved best and in 1996 joined Central School of Speech and Drama.

Since then he has worked extensively as an actor, including playing at The Royal National Theatre in shows directed by Nicholas Hytner and Suzy Adriani, appearing on  numerous TV shows  including  a stint on Eastenders, and in feature films including The Rising: Ballad of Mangal Pandey.

After completing his A-Levels Charlie moved on to study at the London Studio Centre, leaving in 2006 with BA (Hons) degree in Dance and Theatre Performance. Since then he has worked continuously as a dancer and performer. Work includes 2 years dancing in Spirit of the Dance's Dancing Queen, and a year touring in Spirit of the Dance's Spirit of Christmas.

As a theatre performer, Alana’s credits included Frenchy & Rizzo in Grease (Piccadilly Theatre), Dominique/Resident Director in The Bratz Passion for Fashion Tour (UK Tour), Vittoraa in Maid of Mountains (Finborough Theatre), Annette & Stephanie in Saturday Night Fever (Apollo Victoria), We Will Rock You (Dominion Theatre), Annette & Doreen in the UK Tour of Saturday Night Fever and Virus, Princess Julia & Kim in the West End production of Taboo (The Venue).  

Alana is now a freelance makeup artist based in London working extensively both in fashion and for televison. Credits include Let’s Dance for Comic Relief, Strictly Come Dancing, Strictly It Takes Two, Strictly Dance Fever, Britannia High, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, The Paul O’Grady Show, Blue Peter, The Antiques Roadshow, the Southbank Show, Sky News, Children In Need and on the film God’s Wounds (RSA Films). Alana has also worked as a makeup artist on music videos by Lady Sovereign, Badly Drawn Boy, and The Kills. Recently she was makeup designer for Sadie Frost's one woman play Touched at the Trafalgar Studios.

Alana runs her own business specialising in makeup lessons and personal makeovers, as well working with several celebrity clients for various high profile events.

While finishing her A-levels Sam starred opposite Johnny Lee Miller in the BBC's Canterbury Tales. She went on to study English Literature at University College London but left early to play Ophelia alongside Ben Wishaw in Trevor Nunn's acclaimed production of Hamlet. Theatre credits also include Pygmalion directed by Mark Oldnow. Other film and TV credits include Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Poliakoff Film 2, Without Motive, Intolerable, Gideon's Daughter, Born and Bred, Coming Up, Casualty, Happiness, 20 Things to Do Before You're 30, The Bill and Touch the new Tim Kring/Kiefer Sutherland series for Fox.

Sam also works as a writer and director, has a production company Silent Kisses Productions, and has written and directed the films Sewn Up,Marigolds, Soaan, and Scenes of an Adult Nature. Films have been given five stars by the BBC film site and have won awards at festivals in the US and UK.

Emma left Hurtwood and went on to study at Central. She was recently featured as Mary Crusoe in the NBC American TV series Crusoe. She has also appeared on TV in My Family, I Hate this House, the Bronte Sisters, and in Julia Jekyll & Harriet Hyde and also in films including 3 & Out and Euphoric Scale. Emma is also an in demand voice-over artist, including voicing adverts for Specsavers, Vodafone and Witch. She has recently shot a Christmas advert for Debenhams which will feature her skating around in fake snow!

Emma's website is www.emmabarnett.co.uk



 
 

Film and TV credits include Titus with Anthony Hopkins, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Velvet Goldmine, The Sea Change and A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Osheen is becoming more well known as a director too.

Adrian had great success as an actor following his training at Hurtwood and LAMDA. TV, Radio and theatre credits include Doctors and a long spell at the National Theatre including productions of Battle Royal,  Sladek,  Wicked Problems, Albert Speer directed by Trevor Nunn, with whom he also worked in the 2001 TV adaptation of the Merchant of Venice.

He left acting to become a playwright in 2005 and his plays are often heard on Radio 4. His debut play for radio The Waterbucks was nominated for the Richard Imison Radio Awards and his other plays include Onysos the Wild, The Road to Calvary, A Man Cut in Slices, The Mouse House, A Special Kind of Dark, The Sound of Roses, an adaptation of Maupassant's 'Une Vie' and a modern adaptation of Balzac's 'The Wild Ass's Skin', which was runner up for the Prix Italia 2011. He is currently working on a 3 part adaptation of All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren, and lives in France.

Katherine left Hurtwood and trained at RADA.  Her recent credits include playing Patsy in the world premiere and UK number one tour of Terms of Endearment with Linda Gray, an open air tour with The Changeling/Hazlitt Theatre company playing Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew and Polly Peachum in a new musical version of The Beggar's Opera by Grant Olding. Her first role upon leaving RADA was as Rachel for a spin off series from The Bill for ITV, Beech is Back.

Other theatre credits include the title role in the RSC's Alice in Wonderland, Trixie in Andrew Lloyd Webber's West End production of Daisy Pulls it off, Sorrel in the Manchester Library Theatre's Game Plan, Meg in The Chimes at the Southwark Playhouse and tours including Laurel in the The Chalk Garden and Penny/Antonia in The Shell Seekers. Katie has recorded numerous radio dramas for Radio 4 including George Silverman's Explanation with Paul Schofield.

Film credits include: Three Minute Moments, All Enquiries Productions and most recently Prisoners of the Sun for Miromar/Cinemakers.

Katherine has recently finished playing Miss Casewell in the 59th year of The Mousetrap.

She is also is a visiting drama teacher at Hurtwood.

After leaving us Mark trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

Television includes: The Canterbury Tales – The Pardoner’s Tale (BBC), Hotel Babylon (BBC), Abroad (Big Tree Productions), Holby City (BBC), Hollyoaks (Lime Pictures), Doctors (BBC),The Missing (New Pictures for BBC1), and Unforgotten (ITV).

Theatre includes: Epping Forest (Watershed Arts Theatre); The Nativity (Theatre Royal, Bristol); As You Like It, Troilus And Cressida, Pericles and Three Sisters (Tobacco Factory); The Revenger's Tragedy and You Can't Take it With You (Southwark Playhouse); A Wife To James Whelan (New Diorama Theatre), and Betrayal (York Theatre Royal).

Film includes: the short films The Overcoat (Eom Films) and Mr Perfect (Zogfilms), various voices for Flushed Away (Aardman), Corpse Bride (Pathé), Valiant (Disney), The Comedian (The Bureau/Celluloid Dreams) and Camilla In Wonderland (NFTS/Quiddity Films).

Radio includes: The Ladies’ Paradise (Christchurch Studios), The Go-Between (BBC) and Wedding Bells (Tin Can Podcasts).

When not performing, Mark runs a carpentry business in London,  Hesketh Design, which he says was inspired by his days at Hurtwood building sets for South Pacific & Cyrano with Alan Morgan.

Having left Hurtwood, and studying on a Presenters Inc course, Olly is now one of the key presenters on the children's TV channel Nickelodeon, hosting the Teenick strand, targeting girls aged between 10 and 14. Produced inhouse, it airs between 5pm and 7pm, seven days a week, and hosts pop acts and LA features, as well as visits to UK events such as Camp Bestival.

Olly was nominated for a Nickelodeon Kids Choice award in  2010. Olly has also had a column in Sky magazine in which she gives a monthly guide to what’s hot to watch in Children's television.

Kate was talent spotted by veteran UK producer Glyn Johns who was most impressed by her vocal talents and recommended that she travel to Los Angeles and team up with his son Ethan, also a well known producer. Johns found Aumonier session work on Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt’s Grammy-nominated duo album, Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions.

In 2000, Aumonier returned to the UK where she began a residency at "The Kashmire Klub", one of London's up-and-coming venues. She opened for A-ha at the Royal Albert Hall and toured the country. She then teamed up with fellow songwriter Tim Lind and began writing material for a planned solo project. This later moved closer to fruition when she signed a recording contract with the "When!" offshoot of Sanctuary Records. The four-track Fall From Grace EP was released at the end of 2003 and overall attracted good reviews with attention being paid to her raw vocal talent and her ability to craft sumptuous, melodic pop rock songs. All of the tracks from the EP were included on her debut album "Here I Am", which was released in July 2004. In 2005 she performed at the Isle of Wight Festival.

Amelia, now known as VIolet, began her musical career as a singer and songwriter working with the staff of Nemo Studio, Hamburg, Germany. During her time at Nemo, she wrote material for the Spanish singer Princessa's I Won't Forget You album. She also began working on her debut solo album with producer Frank Peterson and contributing to many of his other projects.

Violet has written for, toured with and provided vocals for many albums by the Gregorian chant project, Gregorian. She has also toured with and written for her sister Sarah. She also toured with Jade Villalon of the band Sweetbox and is featured on the Sweetbox Live DVD.

Violet is working with Dean James, Glen Scott and Subject 13 on her untitled solo album for Etiquette Recordings. This album will contain songs including "Twisted Angel", "Automatic", "Innocent Rejection" and "It's all in your Head".

After having completed his English Degree at the University of Leeds, Sam went on to study on the postgraduate Musical Theatre course at the Royal Academy of Music.

Since leaving there in July 2009 he has been constantly in employment including starring in Salad Days at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith, the lead in Crazy for You at the London Palladium for the 24 hour musical (yes just 2 days to prepare), Christmas pantos, and cover (understudy) to the lead role of Princeton/Rod in Avenue Q on Shaftesbury Avenue.

He has been doing a large amount of cabaret in 2011 and will be doing the 25th Anniversary Tour of the Phantom of the Opera starting next January and finishing in 2013!

Gabby left Hurtwood and exploded onto the London music scene, to cause one of the biggest reactions seen in years.

Causing a reaction is becoming a habit for the instantly recognisable girl with a petite frame, mane of red hair and the vocal ability of a lioness. Although classically trained, her diverse musical tastes include pop, rock, folk, jazz, funk and experimental and that shines through in every song. Critics are agreed, Gabby Young is a true original.

In 2012, with a list of accolades as long as a pair of stripy tights, Gabby Young And Other Animals, (otherwise known as the “World’s Finest Purveyors of Circus Swing” – Clive Anderson, Loose Ends, BBC Radio 4) released their new highly acclaimed second album, ‘The Band Called Out For More’ in June.

Over the last year they have been played numerous times on BBC R2 (especially by Graham Norton and Paul O Grady), been touring all over the world, picked up 5 4 star reviews in the national papers including The Guardian, The Mirror and The Sun. After headlining KOKO last October, Gabby was asked to headline and curate New Year’s Eve at the South Bank. Gabby run's her own record label Gift Of The Gab Records and also has an online and pop up shop Gabberdashery.

You can find out more about her at her website.

Kimberley, now know as Kimberley Windsor,  left Hurtwood and went on to do a foundation year at LAMDA before going on to study at the Drama Centre from 2005-2008. Since then she has worked in theatre, film, television and on voice overs and also represented her college for the BBC Carleton Hobbs Awards in 2008.

Theatre credits include Casper Van Dien's Cinderella, Sun Moon Stars Rain, Kathy Acker Mobile Library, Acker Out Loud, The Fifty Year Itch, One for the Road, Lady Macbeth in Classical Medley and a national tour of Jane Austen's Emma.

Films include Big Font Large Spacing (working title - Avoiding Christian Bale), Drifting Through Emptiness, Celebrations, Pushing Mundane, Charlotte Bach Project, The Money Shot, Zlata in Zlata's War, Life & Other Disappointments, Cuckoo, and Kettled.

You might also recognise her from her role as a Silent Movie Heroine in the MacDonald’s 2 for 1advert!

She has also started a company called Audition Plus which coaches people for drama school auditions. Their website is www.auditionplus.weebly.com

Sabrina left Hurtwood and continued her dance training, obtaining quialifications from LAMDA, ACE, AASFP, NASM, Les Mills, Schwinn, Yoga (Yin/ Restorative) and from the Pilates Institute.

She has gone on to perform internationally as a dancer with such artists as James Brown, Macy Gray, Blondie, Mariah Carey, Marcia Hines, INXS, U2, Shaggy, Elton John and Craig David.

She has also danced and modelled for advertising campaigns including Dior, BMW, Phillip Morris, Motorola, Adidas, L'Oreal, Hugo Boss, HK Jewelry Show, HK-TDC, Garnier, Jack Morton, CLSA, Hong Kong Land, HSBC, Mandarin Oriental Spa and Hotel, Triumph and for events including Top of the Pops, WOMAD and for the Hong Kong Fashion Week, Rugby Sevens & Cricket Sixes and has had a regular sponsorship deal with NIKE.

Theatre credits include productions of A Chorus Line (Valerie), Grease (Rizzo) and West Side Story.

She also works as a fitness trainer and events have included International Presenting at the Australian Fitness Convention (Gold Coast), Pre-Olympics Masterclass (Beijing), Nike Fitness Convention (Hong Kong- 5, 6, 7, 8) and Les Mills Quarterly (Taiwan).

She also coaches the figure skaters that represent Malaysia in the Winter Olympic Games.

See more on her website www.sabrinasaw.com

Annabel Spurrier qualified in all aspects of Film, TV and Theatre makeup and hair including wig fitting, wig dressing and styling. She has gone on to work for films and TV including feature films The Manual, and Seamonsters, and short films including Lifestyle Concept, The Old Boys, Allema, Hit or Miss, They Walk Among Us, and Meeting Monica.

She was lucky enough to work with the still very beautiful Rita Tushingham recently in a feature, and regularly does hair and make-up for the BAFTAs. She also recently worked with a client for an Elton John event.

Lucy, (Lucy Bigland as she was when she was at Hurtwood) is now a highly respected voice over artist. She trained as an actress and performed in and produced numerous productions. She got her first voice over campaign in 1999 when a creative heard her and cast her for his Volkswagen campaign. This swiftly led to representation and loads more work!  Radio 1 snapped her up as their exclusive station voice and this led to imaging and promo work for MTV, Rapture, GMTV, Pop Idol, Kiss, Galaxy, ITV2 and the BBC to name a few.  She continues to work for Virgin Media, Red Bee media, CBS Reality and Food Network and has narrated three series of ‘Young Talent of the Year’ for BBC3.

Her commercial work is extensive and her most recent campaigns include Max Factor, Clairol, Garnier, Pampers, Seven Seas, Asda, Muller, The Observer, Mac, Baileys and the X Factor. Lucy also provides continuity for Zone Reality and Zone Horror, and has also presented shows on Smooth FM and Essex FM.

She is the Female voice of Daybreak and is the voice of Strictly Come Dancing 2012.

You can see (and hear) more about her at her website www.lucy-irving.co.uk

After leaving Hurtwood, a stint of work experience at CNN in Hong Kong inspired Tumshie to train as a journalist going on to complete an honours degree in Broadcast Journalism at the University of Leeds. Tumshie secured her first job within days of leaving university and cut her teeth reporting on the Soham murder trial, grilling Alistair Campbell and interviewing pop stars.

The following year the bright lights of London beckoned and Tumshie moved to work as a freelance journalist for numerous radio stations including Virgin Radio and the Heart group.

Until recently a news presenter on Absolute Radio, Tumshie has covered some of the biggest events in the UK, breaking stories from the London bombings live on-air and reporting from the centre of the G20 riots to interviewing Angelina Jolie and the Killers, and presenting backstage at London Fashion Week.

Tumshie has won two awards at the New York Festival Radio Awards and has been nominated for an Arquiva Commercial Radio Award.

After gaining a BA Hons English Literature degree with 1st Class Honours from Exeter University Caroline has gone on to appear in several films including Love.net, Fever, The Drowners, East Meets Barry West, Temptation, Flushed, The Letter, and Dead Man's Lake. Theatre work includes Measure for Measure (Liverpool Playhouse), Twelfth Night (Greenwich Theatre), Mr Vertigo (North Wall, Oxford), 100 Words (Soho Theatre), productions with MOPA Theatre Company, Gobsmacked Productions, The Company at the North Wall, Old Vic New Voices,  Spencer House Cabaret, Barnfield Theatre Exeter,  FATCAT Theatre Company and in several plays with the National Youth Theatre including the role of Juliet in Measure for Measure. She was also Lisa Houseman in the West End production of Dirty Dancing.

Recently she has been filming for Russell Howard's Good News, and playing the lead role of Em in the modern world premier of Fair Em at the Union Theatre.

This metal band features ex-student Austin Dickinson on lead vocals, son of Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden. Created in 2008, Rise To Remain have toured with bands such as Trivium, Five Finger Death Punch, Shadows Fall, The Haunted and played festivals including Download and Sonisphere.

They are currently wowing the critics, winning the  Best New Band award at the 2010 Metal Hammer awards and the Kerrang! Best British Newcomer award 2010. They tour extensively this summer including dates at the Southampton Guildhall, Wolverhampton Civic Hall, Manchester Apollo and at the Sonisphere Festival at Knebworth. See more on their myspace page. Their first album is out soon.

Stephanie went on to train at the Academy of Contemporary Music. The following years involved a stint as the in-house session vocalist for an Edinburgh recording studio where she lent her vocals to many a musician, jingle or television and radio advert for clients including The Sun Newspaper, ITV and BBC Scotland.

Live performances (vocals and ceilidh calling) have found Stephanie in venues as diverse as the Carling Academy in front of a 2500 strong audience, a prestigious slot on Hogmanay at the world famous Gleneagles Hotel, to a gig at a Caledonian Society ball at the Muson Centre in Nigeria. Stephanie has completed long term contracts throughout Africa (Sheraton Hotel group) and the Middle East (Jumeirah Hotel group) and is currently half way through a 6 month contract performing 6 nights a week in Dubai.

Fergus is now more commonly known as Bandolino, professional street musician, one man band, troubadour, and singer songwriter. He has toured extensively in Europe and beyond. He plays 15 instruments, (including four rubber chickens) simultaneously, and writes his own material travelling from country to country, city to city to making his living.

He also holds workshops and seminars imparting the skills and knowledge he has gained as a street musician to students of music and the performing arts.  

See his website here.

George studied Technical Theatre and Set Construction at RADA. After RADA he predominantly worked at Bowerwood’s in Guildford, who are known for building high quality theatre sets. Having a greater interest in the metal elements of scenery drew him towards setting up his own very successful fabrication and blacksmith workshop. However, after working in one too many damp fields mending estate fencing, he returned to theatre and Bowerwoods, before returning to RADA to become Deputy Head of Construction, predominantly teaching the metal elements of scenery building and engineering.

He has now founded Clockwork Scenery, creating high-end hand crafted scenery for a variety of clients, from theatres to exhibitions, TV to film. See their website here.

After leaving Hurtwood Rob went on to study English Literature at the University of East Anglia where he was also a keen budding journalist, winning the Guardian Student Travel Writer of the Year Award in 2005. He went on to gain an MA in International Relations before embarking on a career as a writer and performer.

He formed the musical theatre group Barbershopera in 2007 and developed the full-length a-cappella musical Barbershopera! which went to the Edinburgh Fringe 2008 and received rave reviews, as well as two Musical Theatre Matters Awards (Best New Musical and Best Lyrics). The show then toured nationally.

The group's next production, Barbershopera II, debuted at Edinburgh 2009 where they retained their Musical Theatre Matters Best Lyrics award. This show, in a newly extended version, played London’s glittering West End, at Trafalgar Studios for five weeks in January/February 2010. It has also played the Daegu International Musicals Festival in South Korea, where Rob won the Best Actor  award.

In 2010 Barbershopera! was recorded and broadcast as an Afternoon Play on Radio 4 featuring John Sessions as the narrator. Barbershopera II also toured internationally, and their  third show Barbershopera: Apocalypse No! performed at the Edinburgh Fringe 2010 and in Plymouth, winning more awards, including best lyrics for the third year in a row. A revised version of the show transferred to London's Trafalgar Studios and went on to tour the UK in 2011. Barbershopera now has two albums of songs from shows on sale, and in addition has made several Youtube music videos, including the royal wedding song 'I Could Have Married Kate' which received 40,000 hits in April/May 2011.

Aside from Barbershopera, Rob is a freelance songwriter, musician and actor. He was a lead solo singer for the official royal wedding band in Hyde Park playing to 300,000 people in April 2011. He recently co-wrote comedy songs and score for a new E4 entertainment show called 'Playing It Straight' which will air in January 2012 - Rob will also appear regularly in the series as Pablo the Troubadour. He is currently working on a solo album, to be released in early 2012.

Rob is also a company director of The Complete Works, a charity working with young people through performing arts and works regularly with Mousetrap Theatre Company in London.

Anna trained at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

Theatre Includes: Liesl/Understudy Maria in The Sound of Music (The QNCC - Qatar), Wendy in Peter Pan (Malvern Festival Theatre & Assembly Halls Tunbridge Wells), Understudy Annabella Schmidt/Margaret/Pamela in The 39 Steps (West End & UK Tour); Rose Seller/Understudy Nancy in Oliver! (West End); Liesl in The Sound of Music (The First Group Theatre – Dubai & BIECC – Bahrain); Ensemble/Understudy Liesl in The Sound of Music (UK Tour).

Voiceovers include: Campaigns for Peppa Pig, Marks and Spencer, Vodafone, Kia, DanMagi, Macmillan, Ninja Corp and Disney.
 

Upon leaving Hurtwood Jon initially came right back to work as a media technician, “re-earning my Grandparents money, and gathering more nous in the world of creative media!”

After leaving to chase a career in broadcasting, which actually led to managing a produce department at Tesco's, he decided that having exhausted radio stations in the UK to gain an avenue in the industry it was time to try somewhere else. He headed to Victoria in British Columbia, Canada. As luck would have it a position was available at Modern Rock station The Zone @913. After a trial period he gained the role of Evening/Weekends DJ & also has a week day segment at three called “Tea Time” (a look into the world of rock back in the UK).

He has interviewed the likes of Bombay Bicycle Club, Ed Sheeran, Cake, The Flaming Lips, Reggie Watts, Band Of Skulls & many more. His podcasts have also been voted amongst the best of comedy on Mixcloud. This sits him alongside such radio legends as Chris Moyles, Chris Evans & Dave Gorman. Recently he has also become the first evening/weekend DJ to get the Zone the #1 spot in that day part in its eleven year existence.

Follow Jon:
Facebook> facebook.com/thewilliamsofjon
Twitter> @williamsofjon
Mixcloud> mixcloud.com/williamsofjon
Instagram> instagram.com/williamsofjon

Beatie Wolfe has been hailed as the definition of a 21st century artist with a truly classic sound. Described as “ground-breaking" by The Independent, "ingenious" by Huffington Post & "bleeding edge" by WIRED, Beatie's career has taken her from being the artist who pioneered the World's First 3D Interactive Album App for her debut album 8ight - which led to a world tour with Apple - to being an Innovation Ambassador for London. For her new album Montagu Square - conceived at the former home and secret studio of Hendrix, Ringo, McCartney, Lennon & Yoko Ono - Beatie continues to innovate; releasing it as the world’s first Album Deck of NFC Cards and a Musical Jacket, cut by the Savile Row tailor who dressed Hendrix & Bowie in the ‘60s. Beatie is also the co-founder of a "profound" (The Times) new research project looking at the Power of Music for people living with dementia.

With echoes of Leonard Cohen throughout her songwriting - described by GQ as "beautiful melodies which envelop the listener as she delicately describes the poetry and tragedy of relationships" - and with a voice which her musical mentor Wynton Marsalis calls "simply captivating," Beatie Wolfe is both a must-see singer-songwriter and a powerful force of Innovation.
Beatie Wolfe's latest album Montagu Square is available to purchase now. This album follows her critically-acclaimed debut album ‘8ight’ which she toured across the UK & US.

Beatie Wolfe's website: www.beatiewolfe.com

Phoebe left Hurtwood and went on to graduate from the Slade School of Art with a BA in Fine Art Painting before going on to study 2D Character Animation at Central St Martins. She has exhibited work at the Royal Academy, Bonhams Bond Street and the Mall Galleries, and had her first solo exhibition at the Bahrain National Museum with a portraiture and oral history project entitled Bahrainona, exploring the diversity of the island’s population. This culminated in a published book of the same name.

Since beginning to animate, Phoebe has been commissioned to make work for BBC4, Smile For London, Sky, and production company 12foot6, exhibited moving image installations at the Old Vic Tunnels and 500 Dollars, and has been nominated for a number of awards for her handdrawn animation work, including Best Student Film in the Bradford Animation Festival, Best Animation in Rushes Soho Shorts, and Best Film twice in the British Animation Awards Public Choice. She was nominated and shortlisted for the Arts Foundation’s Fellowship in Animation for 2012, and won the first Sky Arts Ignition Futures Fund Award this year, which is providing the core funding to develop and produce a largescale multimedia narrative installation to be exhibited in 2013. Phoebe has a studio in Bermondsey, South London, and  has recently become a mentor on the St Martins Animation MA.

See more at her website here.

Jack left Hurtwood in 1993. He trained at LAMDA and since then has worked extensively on stage and screen.

TV & film credits include Doctors, House of Anubis, Spooks, The Tudors, Merlin, Eastenders, The Royal, Emmerdale, Wire in the Blood, Indigo & Jake, My Hero, The Birthday, and Sweetness Follows.

Theatre credits include Jack/The Senator/Kennedy in The Astronaut's chair (Drum Theatre Plymouth), Capt Iredale/Prussian Officer in The Conquering Hero, Richard in The Company Man, Adam Bede in Adam Bede, Daniel in Summer Again, John Abud in The Marrying of Ann Leete (Orange Tree), MacDuff in Macbeth (Octagon Theatre), Tybalt/Peter in Romeo & Juliet and Orsino in Twelfth Night at the Ludlow Festival, Henery Frey in Far From The Madding Crowd (English Touring Theatre), freder in Pains of Youth (Belgrade Coventry), Simon in Hayfever (York Theatre Royal), and Luther in The Daughter-In-Law (Watford).

He also appears as a villain's voice on the James Bond: Blood Stone video game!

He is currently playing Karl in the West End production of War Horse.

Since graduating Arts Educational with a First Class Degree in Acting, Daisy has worked on stage and screen.

Television credits include ITV Series Whitechapel and Lewis, and she filmed her first feature film in 2013, Halcyon Heights.

In 2014 she joined Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory in Bristol and played Celia in As You Like It and Chloe in Tom Stoppard's Arcadia.

She has enjoyed a separate career in Voice Overs, and has worked for Disney, Dreamworks, MTV, narrated BBC Documentaries, voice a recent Trivago commercial, and from 2015 will be the new voice for Capital FM.

After Hurtwood, Andy studied at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, and has since gone on to numerous high profile projects in both stage and screen. He has worked at such theatres as the National, the Hampstead and Shakespeare's Globe, and on TV projects such as 'A Young Doctor's Notebook' alongside Daniel Radcliffe.

He was part of Kenneth Branagh's 2013 return to Shakespeare in 'Macbeth' at the Manchester International Festival, which went on to a hugely successful New York transfer the following year. In 2015 he will be appearing in Ken's much hyped Disney feature 'Cinderella'.